OrAnGeWorX

Q: Migration assistant issue.

Hello all

Here's the rundown of what I was trying to do and what I ended up with...

Source mac: iMac 20 beg. 2008, OSX 10.9.5

Target mac: iMac 22 end 2009, OSX El Capitan 10.11.x? unsure which final digit on the version but do know there was an update to, I imagine, the latest at 10.11.6 which I did not push.

Set up the migration assistant by direct ethernet cable, did not select everything as the source has 100s of GBs to transfer which aren't necessary and I'm not sure if this is what messed things up but when given the option to merge users (same named user on both), I chose not to.

Left it overnight and when I got up, source is running the same way as before, target is on, (fan and heat) but that's about it. Every 15-20 seconds, the cursor flashes at the top left corner then disappears to a spinning bars loader and cycles back endlessly.

Force powered down the iMac by holding the power button, powered back on... chime then apple logo and a progress bar underneath, never gets to the end and goes to black screen, just back lit with the symptoms described above...

 

I have no recovery partition, cmd + R doesn't do anything not does cmd + opt + R.

Shift when booting doesn't do anything.

Verbose and single user modes work. In verbose, after all the gibberish, I get the same symptoms, except no mouse pointer but the text square character at top left, I can also type but that disappears (weird)

Single user mode gets me to root user, tried fsck -fy a bunch of times, no problems.

Aside from all the above, I've scoured the net for about a day now with all possible similarities pointing to EC upgrades... but in my case, it isn't.

One link mentioned users/library/preferences and the deletion of com.apple. something something login...

checked into it, had two files with that name, one with an appended ~original (I believe) I did go ahead and delete both but that was to no avail.

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Fredo

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11)

Posted on Aug 19, 2016 12:17 PM

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Q: Migration assistant issue.

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  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Aug 19, 2016 12:20 PM in response to OrAnGeWorX
    Level 9 (58,145 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 19, 2016 12:20 PM in response to OrAnGeWorX

    Fredo,

     

    The easiest and most reliable method of using MA is to connect the source machines Time Machine backup EHD to the target machine via USB and then launch MA. It's really that simple. If the source machine does not have a TM backup, then a clone backup will work just as well and yes, connected via USB.

  • by OrAnGeWorX,

    OrAnGeWorX OrAnGeWorX Aug 19, 2016 12:59 PM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 19, 2016 12:59 PM in response to rkaufmann87

    Thanks for taking the time to answer me. Unfortunately, I have none of the backups you mentioned. Besides that, it's not the data that I'm worried about... I can back it all up as my source machine is still pretty much functional (using it to post on here). My problem is the target machine since it's been rendered useless since the MA procedure...

  • by macjack,

    macjack macjack Aug 19, 2016 1:12 PM in response to OrAnGeWorX
    Level 9 (55,682 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 19, 2016 1:12 PM in response to OrAnGeWorX

    Hi Fredo, when you use Migration Assistant you can exclude any items you do not want to move.

    Here is an Apple Support Topic that describes the migration process:

    Migration Assistant

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204320

    OrAnGeWorX wrote:

     

    Here's the rundown of what I was trying to do and what I ended up with...

    Source mac: iMac 20 beg. 2008, OSX 10.9.5

    Target mac: iMac 22 end 2009, OSX El Capitan 10.11.x? Every 15-20 seconds, the cursor flashes at the top left corner then disappears to a spinning bars loader and cycles back endlessly.

    Force powered down the iMac by holding the power button, powered back on... chime then apple logo and a progress bar underneath, never gets to the end and goes to black screen, just back lit with the symptoms described above...

     

    I have no recovery partition, cmd + R doesn't do anything not does cmd + opt + R.

     

    You say the "iMac" but you don't say which one?

  • by rkaufmann87,

    rkaufmann87 rkaufmann87 Aug 19, 2016 2:06 PM in response to OrAnGeWorX
    Level 9 (58,145 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 19, 2016 2:06 PM in response to OrAnGeWorX

    OrAnGeWorX wrote:

     

    Thanks for taking the time to answer me. Unfortunately, I have none of the backups you mentioned. Besides that, it's not the data that I'm worried about... I can back it all up as my source machine is still pretty much functional (using it to post on here). My problem is the target machine since it's been rendered useless since the MA procedure...

    Well  you should ALWAYS have a sound backup plan. Get an external HD, and create a Time Machine Backup. This should be your #1 priority rather than migrating info at this point. If you need info on TM please read Use Time Machine to back up or restore your Mac - Apple Support

  • by OrAnGeWorX,

    OrAnGeWorX OrAnGeWorX Aug 19, 2016 2:49 PM in response to macjack
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 19, 2016 2:49 PM in response to macjack

    I did mention that I was selective in the MA process but for ppl who don't know that it can be useful. Regarding the iMac but which one, I would've thought it was clear that it was the target, the one that was mentioned in the line above... my apologies.

     

    Thanks anyway

  • by macjack,

    macjack macjack Aug 19, 2016 2:59 PM in response to OrAnGeWorX
    Level 9 (55,682 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 19, 2016 2:59 PM in response to OrAnGeWorX

    OK, probably my confusion, but just want to be sure before i give advice.

    Start up in Safe Mode (If you haven't already)and see if the problem still occurs:

    Mac OS X: How to troubleshoot a software issue - Apple Support

    Restart holding the "shift" key.

    (Expect it to take longer to start this way because it runs a directory check first. Also give it a little time after start because it runs some maintenance routines in the beginning.)

  • by OrAnGeWorX,

    OrAnGeWorX OrAnGeWorX Aug 19, 2016 2:59 PM in response to rkaufmann87
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 19, 2016 2:59 PM in response to rkaufmann87

    While I appreciate your concern about backups and what not, I do not see how this is relevant to the issue at hand: an iMac that's pretty useless at the moment...

     

    The target machine is a new acquisition, the person who gave it to me, set it up and well, didn't seem to have done so properly as it's missing the recovery partition (cannot get into recovery mode or internet recovery mode)

    What I would have liked to do is simply get the system operational again... I have no files on it or anything that I'm afraid to lose, just the mind job of having to clean install OS and applications.

    But it seems no one has any idea what kind of problem this could be and nor has potential solutions...

    So while it may have been a great idea to back up a fresh clean install, I have a hard time believing that many ppl will actually go through with this process. This leaves me with one solution, bring back the machine and hope there's a back up or EC disks

     

    osx is a pain in my (__|__)

  • by OrAnGeWorX,

    OrAnGeWorX OrAnGeWorX Aug 19, 2016 3:04 PM in response to macjack
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 19, 2016 3:04 PM in response to macjack

    I can't go into safe mode... I've tried every single troubleshooting procedure from NVRAM clearing to PRAM to SMC ...

    What happens after the chime is the apple logo pops up and underneath a progress bar. Wether i press shift or not, the progress bar will get to about 75-80% and then i get that black screen with the mouse cursor in the top left corner...the only difference with shift depressed, is it's a tad longer.

  • by OrAnGeWorX,

    OrAnGeWorX OrAnGeWorX Aug 20, 2016 7:55 AM in response to OrAnGeWorX
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 20, 2016 7:55 AM in response to OrAnGeWorX

    *bump* after ASC update

  • by OrAnGeWorX,

    OrAnGeWorX OrAnGeWorX Aug 23, 2016 11:57 AM in response to OrAnGeWorX
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 23, 2016 11:57 AM in response to OrAnGeWorX

    double bump?