Clone MBP hard drive for Mac Pro

Please explain how you made the clone. Carbon Copy Cloner & SuperDuper! will make a bootable clone or Disk Utility is another option.

http://bombich.com/

http://shirtpocket.com/

I can't say for sure but it sounds to me like it may be a hardware specific installation you have on the MBP. That's been the standard wisdom for OS installations but I have never actually encountered a case myself, though my transfers have usually been between similar models desktops.

Another things you could do would be to zap PRAM (if they still have that on newer machines). That stores system configuration information.

-Deleted duplicate post-

Sorry I missed that you were switching from Macbook Pro to a Mac Pro - that is unlikely to work.

The OS can have specific drivers that are selected based on the hardware. Sometimes it can work, but you are jumping across very different hardware.

It would be better to use an OS X installer to setup the Mac Pro. Then you can use Migration Assistant (or Setup Assistant during install) to migrate any Applications or User data etc.

Use Target disk mode (on the MBP) if you have the correct leads to connect the MBP to the Mac Pro

How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode - Apple Support

Here is info on the PRAM (NVRAM) for what it is worth 🙂

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

You could do a safe boot on the current system - that will clear the kernel caches, however I don't think that is is a good way to migrate an OS - clean install & then use Apple's tools to move data over.

OS X has never scanned for changes to hardware as far as I know (aside from simple things like more RAM). The installer is responsible for the initial detection that selects the appropriate drivers. There have been cases when one laptop will run on another model, but running a desktop from a laptop is not supported as far as I can tell.

If you had no other option you may be able to reinstall OS X over the cloned installation on the Mac Pro (causing hardware detection), but why bother - a clean install will guarantee a working OS.

Migration assistant or setup assistant should move the data for you, personally I prefer to avoid moving applications - especially if these have been added over a long time. You want to avoid older software & only install what you use IMO.

So a little background. Different Macs have different "builds" of their OSes:

Mac OS X versions (builds) for computers - Apple Support

"If you're using the Recovery Disk Assistant, you can only use the external recovery drive with the computer that created it."

Basically you can never use a clone of one computer to run on another unless they are identical. You will note in this list that there were even different builds of computers released in the same year.

So yes the most conservative method to do what you're trying to do is to update on your Mac Pro and use Migration Assistant to migrate all your apps, info and data from your MBP. Note you can't migrate backwards in terms of OS versions.

How did you make the Yosemite installer on the hard disk from the store download? That should be able to boot a Mac Pro.

Here is Apples guide on the subject…

Create a bootable installer for OS X Mavericks or Yosemite - Apple Support

I can understand why the cloned recovery partition would fail, however I have managed to make USB installers from store downloads to boot different models.

If you can't get it to boot again you will need to install 10.6 & use the store to update to 10.10 as you said, but that seems long winded & pointless.

It may simply be that this Mac Pro does not run 10.10. Not all Mac Pros can, you may be mixing up models, check the spec & confirm it is supported.

https://www.apple.com/uk/osx/how-to-upgrade/

youncester wrote:

1.

So... I have found out that you cannot download Yosemite from your laptop, and use that installer for you Mac Pro. It will pull the drivers for the laptop, and cause your system to go crazy if installed on a MP. So yea Spudnuty you're right for sure on that one. What I had to do to get up and running is, I had an old installer of Snow Leopard on my Mac. I just did a fresh install, then upgrade from SL to Yosemite.

2.

Even after going through the App market on my MP, the build that was downloaded does not include wifi/audio drivers (which works fine on previous OS versions). So i'm not sure if Apple is doing there. I found a hardware support option under "about this mac", and I am hoping Apple has some driver options for my wifi, and audio. It was getting late so I haven't looked into the drivers or completed the migration as of yet. Hopefully get to that later on today. 😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠

What you describe in 2 is not normal.

The App store versions of Yosemite will detect & install the correct drivers. If that is not happening either you are doing something wrong with how you get the installer & ran it or the hardware is not working as it should.

It is however normal to have issues when booting an OS from different models (as described in 1).

If the wifi & audio is a third party add on you will need extra drivers from the manufacturer, but built in stock hardware should just work.

I would suggest running an Apple hardware test (on the original disks or try holding D at boot). If the issues continue contact an Applestore & look at getting it checked.

" I had an old installer of Snow Leopard on my Mac"

Which Mac? The Pro? Was it a .dmg? Did you create a bootable USB or external FireWire install image from that .dmg? Where did that .dmg come from. Was it from a "retail installer" or a "machine specific" installer (Gray.)

In my experience if you're booted into the Mac Pro w/ a defective or corrupted OS then open the .dmg and mount then install from that you will get the same "build/corrupted build" that you originally had.

What needs to happen is you need to make a bootable USB stick or FireWire external of that .dmg.

http://www.macworld.com/article/2023548/dvd-less-snow-leopard-installation-on-ol der-mac.html

Boot the Mac Pro from that and install from that boot.That should go right, As Drew says, any third party wifi or audio cards won't have the correct drivers but I don't think that's your case.

youncester wrote:

The wifi, and audio worked perfectly normal when I did a clean install to SL. It also works fine when I boot to my old hard drive. I used wifi (while on SL) to download Yosemite from the app market, and how can I screw up going to the app market and downloading Yosemite directly from my MP? I get I messed up trying to clone the drive from my MBP, but there is not much you can mess up downloading the update directly from the App store. Also, there is no third party hardware. Thank you for your help on this....

I agree, downloading via the store should just work, I was unsure if you used other tools or just the standard 'download & run' install from the App store.

If you went via a tool like diskmakerx.com to create a USB installer it could cause issues, but I'd expect others to have reported that.

Apples own createinstallermedia should work well (& has done so in my experience).

Create a bootable installer for OS X Mavericks or Yosemite - Apple Support

I'd contemplate a full clean install of 10.10 instead of starting from 10.6, but it is probably getting to the point where you are bored of this & want help from the store or Apple 🙂. Use Disk Utility in the installer to wipe the boot partition before installing.

Don't forget all the regular 'resets' that may alter how an Mac behaves…

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode? - Apple Support (a side effect of this is that kernel caches will be rebuilt)

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH14201 Incompatible login items - probably not an issue here but worth disabling the login items as a test.

See if they have an effect before you start over… sorry it's unclear to me what is happening here.