Level 1

30 points

Restoring MBA from Time Capsule

After being told by a Genius at the Apple Store that I would need to do an erase and restore to solve my momentary blackout issue I have a couple of questions.

1. I was told that I can use my Time Capsule to restore by connecting it to my MBA with a USB cable since I can't connect with firewire. But when I checked the tech specs for TC it only states that the USB port on TC is for connecting up a printer. So, my question is can I or can't I?

2. After I do the erase and restore I will then run software update. But when I go to use TC to restore my apps and etc. won't it restore what was causing the problem with the blackout issue? I'm thinking it won't but I'd like to understand why.

The instructions for the erase and restore look to be pretty straightforward but if anyone has any tips that would help I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance for all your help.

iMac 10.1, iPod touch 32G, Time Capsule 1TB, macbook air 3.1, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Jun 23, 2011 11:10 PM

22 replies

drtime3r Author

Level 1

30 points

Jun 27, 2011 12:49 PM in response to JE13

NP JE13. I knew what you meant. But maybe you shouldn't be drinking so much coffee. Is that a Jadeite cup?

With regards to your post after this one; I think I've sold myself on doing everything all over again and making sure that I dot all the "I"s and cross all the "T"'s. Your comment about Migration Assistant being so picky really hit home. I know I made some questionable choices when I was using MA the first time through. This time I won't be so cavalier about what I do. I've learned a very good lesson. Just let the guys at the Apple store do it next time NOT! Why should they have all the fun. And if I do that I never, ever learn anything.

Thank you for all your help. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Richard

drtime3r Author

Level 1

30 points

Jun 27, 2011 9:10 PM in response to JE13

Ok Everybody,

this is where I am:

I have rerun my erase and install and software update. Everything went textbook perfect ( I think ). Now, can anyone tell me how I can select the particular backup I want from Time Machine? My last backup was the one I did after I got to this point the last time I did the erase and install. It doesn't contain all the data I'm missing. Can I delete the last backup somehow?

JE13, if I understood you correctly I need to make sure I have given my admin account read/write privileges. Is that correct? How do I do that?

I'll keep working on it myself and maybe I can ask better questions in my next post. Or, just maybe I can let you know I finally got things figured out.

Thank you one and all, Richard

JE13

Level 4

3,938 points

Jun 27, 2011 9:37 PM in response to drtime3r

Make sure you know the name you've used as administrator/primary user of the Air. You know Preferences>Users. Also, have a way to get to the back-up file on a computer. I don't have Time Capsule so I don't know it's ins and outs, but I assume you an hook it up to the MBA or some other computer and just open it up like a hard drive and see what you've got, yes?

Open up Time Capsule and click on the folder that is you back-up. "Get Info." (Click on it> File>Get Info.) Once you're in the "Get info" window, you will see "sharing & Permissions" and a little "+" in the lower left-hand corner of that area. Click on that. Now you can add the name of the MBA admin and give that Admin read/write privileges.

Now run Migration Assistant, following the steps, picking your back-up when the time comes. If there is still trouble, then, well, we'll know the read/write issue wasn't your issue. I hope you don't have any issues though, and that whatever you've done along the way has solved the problem and all is smooth sailing.

drtime3r Author

Level 1

30 points

Jun 27, 2011 10:13 PM in response to drtime3r

Hi JE13,

just got your latest post. I couldn't find the "Sharing and Permissions" icon. I will try again. Do you get to it from Finder? When I highlight the Time Capsule in Finder and open it when I click "Get Info" it doesn't really give me much info or options unless I'm missing something (highly possible). I will try it again.

I was doing some research and found the article below. The BOLD portion towards the bottom explains exactly what happened to me the first time. How do I change the name of the Time Capsule (or I assume whatever disk the backups are on)?

To migrate data from a Time Machine backup

In Finder, press Command-Shift-U.
Double-click Migration Assistant.
Click "Continue" and enter an administrator name and password when prompted.
Select the "From a Time Machine backup or other disk" option, then click "Continue".
Select your Time Machine backup disk or Time Capsule (enter the user name and or password if prompted), then click "Continue".
Select the Time Machine backup you would like to restore (such the most current one you just made), then click "Continue".
Select Items to Migrate, then click "Continue". Note: The "Continue" button will be dimmed until the "Calculating…" stage is complete.

A user account sheet may appear if you have a user name on your Mac that is the same user name in your Time Machine backup. You will have to give the username in your Time Machine backup a new username to avoid conflicts. Note: This will create a new user account on your Mac to hold the data from the Time Machine backup. After migration, you can use the /Users/Shared folder to transfer data files the accounts.
Migration Assistant will begin the process of transferring the items you selected to migrate. When it is finished, click "Quit" to exit.

I'm feeling like I'm almost there now.

Regards, Richard

drtime3r Author

Level 1

30 points

Jun 28, 2011 9:40 AM in response to drtime3r

Ok Everyone,

this is what I now know. I am now an expert on erase and install (sort of). I have learned a huge amount about Disk Utilities. At this point I feel like I have confidence to avoid doing something wrong when I'm changing things (probably that's a dangerous type of confidence to have).

My MBA is working great. My issue with the screen blanking out momentarily seems to be history (fingers crossed). I've lost a few "To Do's" that I can recreate, maybe some pictures from Photo Booth (maybe not). I'm sure I won't have any trouble syncing my mail accounts from my iPod Touch. Got my iCal back and my Address Book (thank God).

The only thing that will be a pain to recreate is my Safari bookmarks. It seems like I should be able to retrieve them from Time Machine but I haven't figured that out yet.

Using Disk Utilities from my install media I was able to get one click away from restoring everything just the way it was before but of course there was a caveat. If I did that I would be restoring everything up to and including the software issue that was causing the screen to go blank. So, I learned an extremely valuable lesson. Several actually. Most importantly I learned how to restore my system using Time Machine and Time Capsule. I really feel like I know what I'm doing now. If I ever have a crash that isn't because of a software issue I know exactly how to get everything back now. And with a little more effort I'm reasonably sure I can figure out how to get everything I want out of Time Machine. Even Migration Assistant doesn't seem scary now. I think JE13 used the term "picky". Yes it is but when I gave it the respect it deserved it worked fine.

Thank you Cappy, Jason and JE13. You guys were great! I'm giving you all "Helpful Answer" points.

Kind regards, Richard

drtime3r Author

Level 1

30 points

Jun 28, 2011 9:53 AM in response to drtime3r

Kappy,

my apologies for misspelling your name 😊. I also didn't realize that I can only award two "Helpful Answers". I realize it's probably not a very big deal to you. Five points here or there aren't going to affect your standing in the least. Just wanted to let you know I appreciated your help.

Regards, Richard

JE13

Level 4

3,938 points

Jun 28, 2011 10:00 AM in response to drtime3r

Richard,

I'm very glad your problem is solved, even if it did leave you with some cleaning up to do. On the plus side for us, if anyone else on this forum has a similar problem, we'll now have you to walk them through it. And puzzled users can also find this discussion, too, which will help.

As per your question about "sharing & permissions"--in case you're still confused about that or someone reading this wants to know--in the "info" window there is a list of things with little gray arrows beside them. "General" "more info" "name" "preview" and "sharing & permissions." Click on that gray arrow and a window extends below. On "sharing and permissions' that window includes a list of who has what permissions to do what on a file. Like can they read only? or read/write?

If you click on your hard drive icon, go File>Get Info, you'll see all this.

This list, by the way, is locked, and you need to click on the little lock (and give your password) to access it. It allows you to change what people can do, and to add/subtract users for that file and what they can do. This is a very useful thing to know as I've had some strange instances where (for no reason I can ascertain) I've been noble to edit old Word files. When I click on the file in the Finder window and "get info" I find it's a "read only" and that means there's no editing it till I change it to "read/write." It's surprising how many things can be solved with that little info window 🙂

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Restoring MBA from Time Capsule