Alternative to Archive & Install?

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Alternative to Archive & Install?

After trying to install Pocketmac Phone my boot disc fails to launch because of a Kernel Panic. I have been searching forums all over the internet and this appears to be a common problem with no solutions except reinstall the OS.

I've backed up all the contents of my startup disk and I'm running off an external startup drive.

Since I havent been able to repair this kernal panic I'm about to reinstall the OS but I dont want to do an archive and install and have the "previous system" folder nonsense. I'd rather start fresh.

When I backed up my Library (App. Support Folder) I got the warning "some of these files cannot be copied because blablabla..."

What I want to know is how do I do a fresh install so that my permissions and licenses from my Application Support folder can be copied so I dont have to reinstall ALL my apps.

Is there a workaround using archive & install or import from a previous system? how about making a disc image? Any help appreciated. Thanks!

1.8Ghz PowerPC G5 / 2Gb DDR, iBook G4 1.33Ghz w/1256 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Nov 28, 2006 12:55 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 28, 2006 1:27 PM in response to SLODuke

Hi there,

I'd clone your complete system to another volume using Carbon Copy Cloner. Make sure to check its settings. It should not be set to "create a disk image". Then boot from your install media, partition & initialize your harddisk. Install OS X and use the Migration Assistant at the end of the setup. You can then select what to migrate (your Apps, your User account, etc.).

You can also skip this step and create a fresh user account instead. Thereafter you can start the Assistant manually from /Applications/Utilities/Migration Assistant.app. Be aware that this will create a second user account.

If you only want 1 user account you need to use the Assistant directly during system setup OR you could try to manually copy over all your stuff from the clone afterwards.

Good luck
Björn

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Answer 2

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Nov 28, 2006 2:20 PM in response to SLODuke

SLODuke"

Welcome to Apple Discussions.

You can copy some things by dragging, but to be able to copy system files, you must, as Bjorn pointed out, clone your HDD using a utility like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper. If your external HDD is a Firewire HDD, make sure you make it bootable. CCC gives you greater flexibility in terms of files you can edit out, but I prefer SuperDuper because of it's simpler interface. It defaults to making bootable, but be sure to check Options in SD, or Preferences in CCC to be sure Make Bootable is checked.

Please do not hesitate to post back with further questions or comments.

Good luck.

cornelius

Message was edited by: cornelius

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Answer 3

SLODuke Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 1, 2007 3:15 PM in response to Björn Herrmann

Thanks Björn and Cornelius,

I finally have my computer back to normal! I had a few complications but they were all overcome. Here is how I did it.

I used your advice to make a bootable disk image with carbon copy cloner. 231.79 Gb! This had my entire hard drive. I tested it to mount which was successfully. Then I formatted the HD and reinstalled OSX. I wasnt able to use Migration Assistant however because of this reason: although my 300GB external hard drive was mounted in the Migration Assistant's window of available drives the disk image of my hard drive could not be mounted from the Migration Assistant window. It was merely an unmounted disk image within a volume and it did not show up.

So I went ahead as you suggested and "skipped this step and created a fresh user account" At that point I opened the Migration Assistant.app and created a second user account once I had mounted my old hard drive disk image "HD.sparseimage" [ see image above] It took a few hours but in the end it sucessfully restored ALL of my settings, down to my desktop background picture and placement of desktop files! All applications work, my bookmarks and firefox settings are all just like they used to!

After that I was having issues with folder permissions when I was logged into my restored account so I selected all the folders within the drive and used the shortcut Control ⌘I to get info for multiple items, changed all the permissions to my restored user, and clicked "Apply to Enclosed Items"

Then I deleted the empty user account which was created by default durring the fresh install of OSX.

Danke Schön!

Now I'm using PocketMac for Blackberry 4.0 which is funded by RIM (makers of Blackberry) and it actually works without crashing your OS! My advice to PDA/Windows Mobile 2003 users is to either sync with a PC or try Mark/Space Missing Sync.

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Answer 4

Feb 2, 2007 1:05 AM in response to cornelius

I'm glad you've made it. Next time be sure to uncheck "Make Disk Image" in CCC an check "Make Bootable". Then you could have used the Migration Assistant right away. Maybe I wasn't too clear about that one in my last posting.

Have fun!
Björn

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Answer 5

cornelius

Level 6

17,826 points

Feb 5, 2007 6:30 PM in response to SLODuke

SLODuke:

Congratulations! You resolved your issue quite nicely.

In future, may I suggest that you use SuperDuper for your cloning needs. It is a lot easier to use, and does a better job, unless you need to edit out parts of your HDD contents, in which case CCC allows you that option.

If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to post back and ask them. Otherwise, if you consider that your issue has been satisfactorily resolved, please mark any reponses that were helpful or the one that led to the solution of your question, and mark your question answered.

Good luck.

cornelius

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