Time Machine: Stuck in preparing to restore

Question

Time Machine: Stuck in preparing to restore

Hello community.

issue: I am using Time Machine to restore MAC OS Mojave from an earlier date to a 1TB external HD hooked to the USB 3 port. On my late 2013 Mac Pro. The problem is I choose the backup from the external drive Time Machine is on then choose the external drive to restore to and the screen stays in “preparing to restore” and I’ve left it for 8 hours at the longest with no change.

why? Because I need to run Mojave so I can still use my expensive Adobe CS 5.5 suite. No I do not want to pay monthly for the new cloud suite. When I upgraded to the 64bit OS I lost any ability to run my 32 but programs. (If anyone has any other options for me to run this on the 64 bit system I’m all ears.

I thought this was the easiest way to be able to boot the machine in my older OS but this has been an issue. Any help is appreciated.

Mac Pro, macOS 12.6

Posted on Jul 18, 2023 6:30 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 18, 2023 9:16 PM in response to a brody

I was able to use the internet install recovery option so thank you for that. Instead of partitioning the internal drive I was able to load the recovery onto the new external drive. For purposes of anyone else reading this I will explain:

Command - shift - opt/alt - R
restore to desired drive
restore from Time Machine may not list the older backups you want, choose to skip this unless you see them available. I did not at this time.
if you try to sign into your Apple ID while setting up the OS you will not be able to skip past the “Agree to the terms” part. Choose not to sign in and setup a new computer account. You can sign in later
restart the computer and hold down command + R .
choose to restore from Time Machine and choose the backup file you need
choose the same HD you just loaded the old OS on and it will work

very annoying and not very straight forward but this will do what I need. Now to figure out if I need to setup two separate Time Machine drives. I still may just buy another late 2013 model and run Mojave dedicated since they are a cheap option now.

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Answer 2

a brody

Level 10

85,482 points

Jul 18, 2023 6:49 PM in response to Joshua Vereen

If you are already running Monterey and want to install Mojave, first:

Run Disk Utility to create an HFS Extended GUID partition on your Mac Pro 2013. Make sure it big enough for Photoshop CS5 and the operating system and any temporary files you want.
Then run internet restore command-shift-option-r at startup to install the operating system that came with your Mac Pro onto the partition you want to install Photoshop onto.
Then upgrade your system to Mojave.
Use the Setup Assistant then to bring your Time Machine backup.

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Answer 3

a brody

Level 10

85,482 points

Jul 18, 2023 7:23 PM in response to Joshua Vereen

It sounds like it is stalled because it doesn't have room to restore all the backups. Always restore to as big a drive as the backup or bigger.

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Answer 4

Jul 18, 2023 7:21 PM in response to a brody

Thank you. But will this work with an external drive? I do not want to partition the already small 250gb internal drive. I tried this the first go around before upgrading and had issues. I will upgrade in the future but I still wanted to use the external 1TB .

my question is if I want to do this and I try the internet recovery will everything stay the same in the internal? And the recovery gets to a point I choose what drive to choose I take it I will have the option to choose the external?

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Answer 5

Jul 18, 2023 7:26 PM in response to a brody

It’s a 1TB drive. The internal drive is only 250gb

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Time Machine: Stuck in preparing to restore

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