Restore time machine from backup, stuck on Apple screen

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Level 1

4 points

Restore time machine from backup, stuck on Apple screen

A Macbook Pro I've restored from a TM backup is stuck in a spinning marker in the Apple bootup screen. Any suggestions to get it booting? Thanks

Pro, Macbook Pro / Air, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Feb 1, 2011 6:05 PM

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Answer 1

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Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Feb 1, 2011 8:14 PM in response to johndoe65535

See #E8 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

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Answer 2

johndoe65535 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 2, 2011 5:23 AM in response to johndoe65535

Thanks. The fixes don't seem to apply directly, as I'm using a Snow Leopard Disc to restore - and obviously I can't boot the system to apply the cumulative patch.

The first thing I did on seeing it wouldn't boot was repair permissions / disk, but no go.

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Answer 3

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Feb 2, 2011 8:13 AM in response to johndoe65535

Why did you restore? If there was a problem on your Mac, that may have corrupted your installation of OSX, and those changes were backed-up, so a restore will bring them back again.

Try the restore again, but select an earlier backup, from before the trouble started.

If it still doesn't work, just install OSX (don't erase the disk). Then install the "combo" and repair permissions.

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Answer 4

johndoe65535 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 2, 2011 8:44 AM in response to johndoe65535

Reason: Disk change (not due to fault). I ran a Time Machine backup specifically before the disk change. I have tried both that and the previous Time Machine backup with the same results.

The install migration from Time Machine works. However I want all my product activations back as well as other info not transferred as part of a post-OS-install Time Machine restore. An OS X install would, I imagine, be the same as a migration. Or am I misinformed?

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Answer 5

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Feb 2, 2011 8:57 AM in response to johndoe65535

johndoe65535 wrote:
Reason: Disk change (not due to fault). I ran a Time Machine backup specifically before the disk change. I have tried both that and the previous Time Machine backup with the same results.

The install migration from Time Machine works. However I want all my product activations back as well as other info not transferred as part of a post-OS-install Time Machine restore. An OS X install would, I imagine, be the same as a migration. Or am I misinformed?

If you just install OSX, that replaces the current version of OSX without disturbing anything else. Then use the "combo" to get back to 10.6.6.

But if you erase your HD, install OSX, and use +Setup Assistant+ or +Migration Assistant,+ yes, that may require some 3rd-party app reinstallation and/or registration.

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Answer 6

Feb 2, 2011 9:07 AM in response to johndoe65535

I am having the same issue. When I attempt to restore my information from time machine, the restore seems to go well. But..right around the moment of 70% or so on the progress bar, (with about 20 minutes remaining) the "restore was successful" box pops up and prompts me to restart the machine. Upon restart I can not get past the white apple screen. I've tried just installing OSX and then using migration assistant, but migration assistant does not recognize my time machine external. Any thoughts?

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Answer 7

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Feb 2, 2011 9:22 AM in response to champ2153

champ2153 wrote:
I am having the same issue. When I attempt to restore my information from time machine, the restore seems to go well. But..right around the moment of 70% or so on the progress bar, (with about 20 minutes remaining) the "restore was successful" box pops up and prompts me to restart the machine. Upon restart I can not get past the white apple screen. I've tried just installing OSX

When you do that, has all your data been restored? If so, just download and install the "combo" update to get back to 10.6.6.

and then using migration assistant, but migration assistant does not recognize my time machine external. Any thoughts?

Try repairing your backups, per #A5 in [Time Machine - Troubleshooting|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/Troubleshooting.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

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Answer 8

Feb 2, 2011 9:46 AM in response to Pondini

I did a fresh install from my snow leopard disc so none of my data was restored. After running the verify and repair on my time machine volume I get the green "volume appears to be OK" message.

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Answer 9

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Feb 2, 2011 10:18 AM in response to champ2153

champ2153 wrote:
I did a fresh install from my snow leopard disc so none of my data was restored.

Then I'm confused. When did you do that? And how were you trying to restore your data?

A full system restore doesn't involve installing OSX, just using the Snow Leopard disc to restore everything from your backups, per #14 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).

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Answer 10

limies

Level 1

9 points

Feb 3, 2011 1:38 PM in response to johndoe65535

I had the same problem
see my earlier thread
http://discussions.apple.com/messageview.jspa?messageID=13032707&stqc=true

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Answer 11

johndoe65535 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 3, 2011 2:40 PM in response to Pondini

The reinstall + combo install worked - but the problem is, the end result was the same as a Migrate. In the end I figured that there's maybe some stuff which doesn't get Time Machine'd and gave up. I considered in that case starting with a Migrate but in the end just left the new install as is. Thanks

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Answer 12

Feb 4, 2011 7:17 AM in response to Pondini

OK, I got it to work...but here is what I had to do.....

1) Reinstall OSX on my original HDD while preserving the user accounts and information. This step essentially reverted my OS back to 10.6

2) I downloaded and installed the 10.6.5 combo pack upgrade. Then, I did a whole new time machine backup. This way, the time machine backup will be set at 10.6.5 as the latest version.

3) I switched the new HDD in and attempted a restore from time machine and it worked beautifully.

I probably could have did the time machine backup and restore before downloading and installing the 10.6.5 combo pack upgrade, but I don't think it would have made a difference whether I did that before or after.

The important thing to note is that I did not have to delete any of my third party apps. This problem is clearly due to some sort of glitch in 10.6.6 and I hope Apple gets on it to fix this bug!

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Answer 13

Feb 8, 2012 2:38 PM in response to Pondini

I am in the middle of restoring my Mac from a time machine back up. The restore looked like it was going ok, took about 2.5hrs but have come back to check the progress and it's now stuck on the white screen with apple logo and spinning wheel. Been like that for 2 hours now.

I can leave it all night, but think if it hasn't cleared by now it probably never will. Though does anyone know if can I damage the hard drive if I power down before completing the restore process?

I am running Lion on OSX 10.7. Lion massively slowed down the mac hence was trying to clean install.

Thanks

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