Time Machine and "might be a problem with your network"

Question

Time Machine and "might be a problem with your network"

Hi! My Power Mac is from 2008, and I'm in the middle of replacing my hard drive. Here's a summary of what I've gone through, including various trouble shooting...

OK, the hard drive dies (all of which I wrote about in an earlier thread and, I think, not very relevant for this thread). While waiting to buy my replacement, I created an external bootable drive, hooked up via FW800. I created a new User Account, and then I used the Migration Assistant to bring in all the user settings, files, etc, from my Time Machine. It took many hours and and during the stage when it was transferring files, it gave me the prompt: "There might be a problem with your network. The other Mac is not responding. Make sure that all of your network devices are connected and turned on. Also, make sure that your Ethernet cables are still connected properly to your computer and to the network, or if using AirPort, that the base station is in range and turned on." After clicking "Continue" got me nowhere, I clicked Cancel, and it was a very incomplete migration [no apps, no files]. I didn't sweat this since this external drive is a temporary solution anyway.

Tonight I came home with the new internal drive, installed it, installed Leopard, and began the Setup Assistant. I got the same prompt as last night. NOTE: This time with Setup Assistant; last night was with Migration Assistant.

I notice from reviewing the boards that this Time Machine glitch seemed to happen a few years ago, in Leopard, and maybe hasn't happened since. But I haven't read a thread with a solution. (Maybe I missed it?)

A few things come to mind:

1. Could there be an issue with the fact that the computer is only 10.5 and many of the files/apps may have been installed when I was running 10.5.8? I'm just tossing that out there. For instance, what if I set up an initial User account, then updated the software to 10.5 and THEN used Migration Assistant to bring in the older account?

2. Soon, since I'm reinstalling Leopard, I'll get the prompt to use Setup Assistant, and this time I'll just select account settings and apps. I'll bring in the files manually, later. Since the progress window seems to get hung up during the file-transferring stage, maybe I'll have better luck if I skip that.

If anyone has any suggestions, man, I'd be way grateful!

Thanks!

Mac Pro 2.8GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Nov 2, 2012 9:42 PM

Reply

Answer 1

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Nov 2, 2012 10:59 PM in response to Stephen Altobello1

Have you used Disk Utility to verify all drives... not verify Permissions?

What brand/model is this external drive?

Reply

Answer 2

Nov 3, 2012 6:36 AM in response to BDAqua

"Have you used Disk Utility to verify all drives... not verify Permissions?"

I'll give it a shot.

"What brand/model is this external drive?"

G-Raid 4tb.

Reply

Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Nov 3, 2012 11:28 AM in response to Stephen Altobello1

Let's see what the Verify Disks says.

Reply

Answer 4

Nov 3, 2012 12:56 PM in response to BDAqua

Disks verified. Nothing to fix. Everything verified.

I've now reinstalled the OS and successfully used the Setup ***'t to install my original user settings. Then I upgraded to 10.5.8. Fine. Then I opened the Migration ***'t to import in my Applications (only my applications, not my Files and Folders). Dead in the water. Same error issue.

Should I go to Snow Leopard? (Sadly, it will mean the end of my version of ProTools, which is why I've stayed with 10.5.8 this long.)

I've had a few days with a pattern of near-success, each step taking hours to arrive to the same conclusion, and it's becoming very frustrating to find that Time Machine isn't as reliable as I hoped it would be. I'm sure you've been in similar situations before, and I appreciate anything you suggest.

Thx.

Reply

Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Nov 3, 2012 2:22 PM in response to Stephen Altobello1

I gave up on TM a long time ago, seems like using a Bulldozer to try to build a hose of cards! 😟

To find out if it's system wide or user specific, try this...

Open System Preferences>Accounts, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.

Does it work in the new account?

Reply

Answer 6

Nov 3, 2012 3:33 PM in response to BDAqua

"Open System Preferences>Accounts, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account."

Let me give it a shot.

"I gave up on TM a long time ago, seems like using a Bulldozer to try to build a hose of cards!"

I'm starting to feel that way, too. I used the Setup Assistant on my wife's system, when she went from a laptop to a Mac Mini and it worked like a charm. I had high hopes for this in my current situation.

Look, if it ends up that I have to reinstall all my apps, well, that's not so bad. It would give me a good excuse to clean things up some. I just want to know if I should start that process or keep trying with the TM Migration Assistant. Jeez, it's a been a trying 3 days.

sma

Reply

Answer 7

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Nov 3, 2012 3:47 PM in response to Stephen Altobello1

I've had great success using Migration Assistant, but never from TM, always another Mac or Cloned Hard drive.

Last time I used TM, about the same problem as you, seemed to work fine Backing up, but the only way to test t is by using it... when I used it to restore the Mac would no longer even boot, luckily I had clones to restore it to operation.

People tell me they've improved it since, but when I have better ways that ALWAYS work & can actually be tested before need by being bootable... why should I use TM?

Reply

Answer 8

Nov 3, 2012 5:08 PM in response to BDAqua

OK, now I am really confused.

I tried this:

"Open System Preferences>Accounts, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account."

And the Migration Assistant worked for my Applications.

I'm not entirely sure what that means. Should I log out, log into my original Admin account, and try the Migration again, this time creating a new User Account name? I'll give that a shot, although I'm curious what you have to say.

(And, when this is all behind me, I'm curious about suggestions for Time Machine alternatives.)

sma

Reply

Answer 9

BDAqua

Level 10

239,363 points

Nov 3, 2012 6:08 PM in response to Stephen Altobello1

Not sure what it means, but might try trashing the timemachine.plist in your original user's Library>Preferences.

Reply

Answer 10

Nov 4, 2012 8:28 AM in response to BDAqua

"try trashing the timemachine.plist in your original user's Library>Preferences."

I didn't even get to that step. Here's what happened.

I went back to my original Admin account (the one I restored via Setup Assistant, from my Time Machine backup), and ran Migration Assistant again. I selected Applications only and when it gave me a prompt about the account name already existing. So, I created a new account name (TEMP 1, I called it).

All of my applications were restored.

Next, I tried it with all the files and folders. It didn't give me the duplicate name prompt this time. It copied all my flles and folders over.

Was it perfect? Well, a lot of the apps need some fresh registration and some upgrading, but I suppose that's to be expected. Or is it?

While I feel like this problem is in my rear-view mirror, I'm still interested in your suggestons for a Time Machine altenative.

Thanks again for your advice!

Reply