Migration assistant failed to create user but has copied data

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Level 1

27 points

Migration assistant failed to create user but has copied data

Brand new MacBook Pro 16". During the initial setup, I selected 'restore from time machine' to transfer my last backup from the old system across. Didn't work. So I carried on setting up the machine with my Apple ID and then thought I'll use Migration Assistant to transfer the account later.

Machine set up okay with a new admin ID (same name as the old machine).

I ran Migration Assistant and selected 'replace user ID with the backup', all the data has been transferred over, applications etc. but at the final step it said "unable to create user" (or similar)

I appear to have all my data and applications on the new MacBook, but no user ID. I can manually change the file permissions to get at my data, but the data is all in a "jason_home" directory within Users that's different from the home.

Apple support is pretty much saying "wipe the machine, start from scratch and try again" which seems rather nuclear. Anyone else encountered this and have a better fix? It seems I just need to create the new user ID and associate it with what's been copied somehow?

They've now backtracked to "restore it from Time Machine in OS Recovery mode.

The old system was OS High Sierra 10.13.1 and the new MacBook is the latest Catalina OS.

Before I spend another day trying to restore, I though I'd ask if anyone had any better options. It seems this problem with Migration Assistant has been kicking around since the mid 2000s, so I'd have thought there was a better fix than "nuke your machine and start again" (like we all have infinite time to spend ;) )

Posted on Dec 20, 2019 11:18 AM

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Answer 1

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JP24 Author

Level 1

27 points

Dec 22, 2019 2:36 PM in response to Kappy

Yeah, it turns out that Apple Migration Assistant's option to "replace the existing user ID" doesn't actually seem to do what it says on the tin and fails because of permissions issues.

It then leaves you with your hard drive full of your actual data (it will go through the process) but fails to link it to a User ID.

In the end, I had no choice but to waste another day doing a complete wipe of my (brand new) macbook, reinstalling the OS from scratch, repeating the setup stage, where for some inexplicable reason the migration from time machine worked this time where it failed the first time I did precisely the same thing.

I'm up and running eventually, but it's been an exceptionally painful process. thanks for the reply!

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Answer 2

Ted Park

Level 1

109 points

Dec 22, 2019 2:44 PM in response to JP24

Just to add on, I think the point of confusion might be that the user ID most likely refers to the numerical UID (usually 501 for the setup user) and the username (short name) may or may not be the same between the TM backup and the system. At the same time, the numerical UID has to be unique for each user on a system, and the same is true for the username, but obviously, the same user ID doesn't correspond to the same user name on all systems.

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Dec 20, 2019 11:46 AM in response to JP24

If you created an account on the new computer using the same user_name as the account you wish to transfer, Migration Assistant will not overwrite an existing account with the same name. If you do not provide a new name, then MA will create one as old_name 2. You will need to log out of the account you created and log into the new account. If this isn't the result you want, then you have to delete the account MA made, create a new temporary account not using the name of the account you will transfer, then use MA again. This time it will transfer your old account in tact with the same username. Log into the account and delete the temporary account.

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Migration assistant failed to create user but has copied data

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