cbaz

Q: migration assistant - transfer 20 hours and counting: what do I do?

I am attempting to Migrate from a Macbook air with 10.7.x, to a Macbook 2015 10.11.x.

 

I checked the Mac site for instructions.  The only option it seemed was to use wi-fi:  ethernet not available on either, and no suggestion I could use Thunderbolt; Time Machine, it says, only works for 10.8.x upwards.

 

Everything started fine but I am now awaiting 20 hours on, and it seems stuck.  There is no time indication (other posters say their transfer is indicated in 9 hours or 6 hours or 1 minute remaining - there is no indication on my Macbook...)

 

I have checked the internet for hours to see what to do.

 

Some say yes, cancel the transfer, others say wait.  Some say restart the process using Thunderbolt, and Target Disk Mode.  Others seem to suggest Time Machine will work - I have never used Time Machine so that would be one experiment.. There is nothing to tell me whether I need to 'clean' my new Macbook.  All I can see i one person suggests I will have to set up a new user account.  It seems some suing Ethernet or Thunderbolt also have long delays. 

 

Am I going to have to do a manual transfer - I dread that because each time I have done it in the past my Mail has failed to work properly.

 

This is all so frustrating - par for the course I guess.  I have had Macs for more than 20 years and always have problems with transfers (and many other things) often because the instructions are not correct - or don't tell you all you need to know.

 

Some advice would be helpful. 

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2), macbook air 10.8.5

Posted on Sep 27, 2016 2:31 AM

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Q: migration assistant - transfer 20 hours and counting: what do I do?

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  • by cbaz,

    cbaz cbaz Sep 28, 2016 7:41 AM in response to cbaz
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 28, 2016 7:41 AM in response to cbaz

    I was right.  Another 3 hours on and not one extra byte has come across, despite the message "Transferring your system settings...".

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Sep 28, 2016 10:00 AM in response to cbaz
    Level 8 (49,683 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 28, 2016 10:00 AM in response to cbaz

    Or transfer by hand?

     

    That's an option, and transferring Mail won't be a problem at all if you use Mail's Import Mailboxes function: Mail for Mac: Import or export mailboxes. The reason you might not have been successful in the past is that El Capitan uses a completely new database format. Importing Mailboxes according to the above Apple Support document will perform the required conversion.


    Oh and I have checked with a local shop.. they want £99 plus VAT = £119 = c. $155 to do the job.


    Never let anyone other than Apple or an AASP touch your Mac. Anyone else will just make the problem worse and charge you for it.


    Ok Apple will charge $29 but they are not going to hang on the the hours necessary for transfer...

     

    No, but you can simply reference your case number and call them back at a convenient time. I highly recommend contacting them, because it may be a problem with Migration Assistant that they won't know about unless you tell them.

  • by cbaz,

    cbaz cbaz Sep 28, 2016 10:28 AM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 28, 2016 10:28 AM in response to John Galt

    In the end I went to Apple, where i was led me through transferring by hand - he appeared not to have any confidence in Migration Assistant.

     

    He got me up and running after 1hr 30.  Now I have a problem with Mail - that has always caused me problems in the past - WHY? 

     

    The only way I can get it is through Insecure Authentication.  Btinternet help is worse than useless.  But when setting up/editing accounts, Apple asks for info, you put it in and then it rejects it without any explanation.

     

    So my only solution is either a) to turn on 'insecure authentication' each time to get mail or b) back to Apple for another long session.

     

    Remind me not to buy another machine and never to upgrade... it's wasting my life.

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Sep 28, 2016 11:00 AM in response to cbaz
    Level 8 (49,683 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 28, 2016 11:00 AM in response to cbaz

    For that problem, please read Mail settings you might need from your email provider - Apple Support.

     

    Or, start a new Discussion, because that question is sufficiently unrelated to the original one regarding migration to justify continuing this Discussion.

  • by cbaz,

    cbaz cbaz Sep 30, 2016 1:18 AM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 30, 2016 1:18 AM in response to John Galt

    My problems have now been sorted - after 4 days.

     

    I have finally sorted my problems with the help of Apple guys direct.  Interestingly, neither of them suggested Migration Assistant - my feeling was they understood the problems its can cause.  So the transfer was done 'manually' which I probably could have done myself and saved huge amounts of time.  (And of course, I had to get out a hard drive and load other software - not sure I've loaded everything yet...)

     

    Mail as usual caused all sorts of problems.  The advice on the Mac support site did not always give full instructions - vital steps are missing - so it was back to the Apple guys to sort things out.  BT (British Telecom) were of no help as usual - blamed everything on Apple.  Yet BT's 'instructions' for changing passwords are wrong - they do not work.  And they are trying to get everyone to do it as a result of the Yahoo security breach...

     

    My other point is that Apple's own advice does not suggest using Thunderbolt in the part that dealt with 10.7 to 10.11, MBAir to MBPro - had it done so I'd have probably saved 1 day.

     

    Lesson to be learned for next:  don't rely on Migration Assistant and be ready for a long haul to get Mail working properly.

     

    But thank you anyway for trying to help.

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