Migration Assistant via ethernet but used wifi instead

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Level 1

30 points

Migration Assistant via ethernet but used wifi instead

Was migrating data from an older imac to a newer imac but ran into something that stumped me. The older imac was on Sierra 10.12.5 but the newer one was on a lower OS than that. Connected an ethernet cable between the two imacs which created a self-assigned IP address which is understandable. Managed to turn the wifi off for the older imac since it was still signed into the computer. The newer imac was still at the setup assistant since it was never set up yet. Tried deselecting the wifi network so it was not connected. Started migration assistant on the older imac and got to the migration assistant screen on the newer imac from setup assistant. The older imac became visible on the new imac. Selected the new imac. Then a message popped up saying the imac needed to be updated. I am assuming that is because the OS of the older imac was on a higher OS update than the new imac hence why it needed to be updated first. Of course the update was taking a long time, possible over 30 minutes.

Problem with this scenario is that obviously the update was happening over wifi since the ethernet cable provided no internet based on the way it was hooked up (not connected to any router, just connecting the two imacs). Does that mean the migration will happen over wifi? In which case, how do you make sure the migration happens over ethernet? Should you first set up the new imac and log into a user, update the OS, make sure to turn off Wifi completely and then try the migration again? And to be honest, even if you disable the wifi while logged in, will that necessarily change anything once you get to the migration assistant screen? Has anyone successfully migrated data over ethernet with more recent versions of the OSX? Just cause it seems somewhat annoying to have to purchase an adapter to transfer data say from firewire to thunderbolt for a one time purpose of migrating data. But ethernet cables most people have laying around somewhere. And wifi just seems risky and unreliable for this purpose. Unless, has anyone had good success over wifi as well? Please share your migration stories lol.

Posted on Jul 2, 2017 12:15 AM

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Answer 1

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,210 points

Jul 2, 2017 8:42 AM in response to Jfalconebmop

I don't understand how you make the assumption that the migration will occur over WiFi. If the iMac needs an update and the only internet connection is WiFi, that is what it will use. That doesn't imply in any way that Migration will happen over WiFi. The Mac can have a multitude of network connections at the same time. It will use the top-most network Service which provides internet in order to route internet traffic.

If you want to make sure it doesn't migrate over WiFi, disable WiFi on both Macs.

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Answer 2

Jfalconebmop Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 2, 2017 10:36 AM in response to Barney-15E

Ya we did disable the wifi on the older iMac but how do we disable the wifi on the newer one if it has not been setup yet. We were still at the setup assistant. It was being set up for the first time. We had already connected it to a wifi network. We even tried going back a few screens and purposely tried connecting to another wifi where we did not know the password in order to make sure it did not connect. But I think it remained connected to the same wifi since it started performing an update which was necessary. Plus, I'm under the impression that even if you disable the wifi after logging in, I'm not sure it will disable it once at the migration assistant screen. Not to mention, you would need internet to first update the OS of your mac before you can migrate a backup from a higher OSX.

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

122,210 points

Jul 2, 2017 10:43 AM in response to Jfalconebmop

Jfalconebmop wrote:

Ya we did disable the wifi on the older iMac but how do we disable the wifi on the newer one if it has not been setup yet. We were still at the setup assistant. It was being set up for the first time. We had already connected it to a wifi network.

Regardless, the Mac can connect to many networks simultaneously. Only one will be used for Internet things.

Turning off WiFi on the older Mac will prevent it from being used, no matter what you are doing.

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Answer 4

Jul 3, 2017 11:58 AM in response to Jfalconebmop

we don't know how much data was transferred, therefore saying "1/2 hour". well 1/2 hr would be as fast as ethernet from where i sit.

how did you determine the packets did not go over ethernet?

also: you can't "diagnose" connectivity problems on a machine first being installed. you'd have to install then run migration assistant after install to be sure.

very possibly your ethernet cable is flaky. 3rd party cable go bad frequently, they are not very well made

also you didn't say you restarted the whole process after disabling wifi. once the new mac sees the wifi it should continue to believe it is available. and infact on the old imac the wifi may not have been disabled completely (because processes were still using it). "tried deselecting the wifi" really doesn't say much about automaton machine state.

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Answer 5

Jfalconebmop Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 5, 2017 8:15 AM in response to QuietMacFan

Mac OS was already installed on the new iMac. It just needed to update to the latest version of Sierra. I think the iMac shipped with Yosemite or something. The OS of the older iMac was the latest version of Sierra. So before the migration started, there was a prompt to update. This is what led me to believe it was happening over wifi since the Ethernet was not plugged into an internet source, it was simply connected between the two iMacs. I will get back with the result as to what ended up happening. I left before the update was complete. After that I'm not sure what happened.

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Answer 6

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Jul 2, 2017 8:30 AM in response to Jfalconebmop

Read the steps in the article : macOS Sierra: Transfer your info from a computer or storage device

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Answer 7

Eric Root

Level 10

685,245 points

Jul 2, 2017 8:25 AM in response to Jfalconebmop

What happens if you attach both computers to the router using Ethernet cables?

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Answer 8

Jfalconebmop Author

Level 1

30 points

Jul 2, 2017 10:38 AM in response to Eric Root

We only had one Ethernet and the router was in another part of the house. The apple article said you could plug the Ethernet between the two iMacs as an option.

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