Transferring to a new Mac

[billlybob]

Good Day,
I am having a very frustrating issue. I got a new iMac.

I tried to restore my time machine backup (took 9 hours) says it was completed successful and ask me to reboot. Once I reboot I get the same welcome screen OS X does. Where I need to create user account, etc. Just like a new machine. Nothing was transferred.

I reinstalled OS X.

I tried to transfer my data over network. same issue. I then tried to complete the wizard and create a user account. Once completed. I noticed that the user account was there, but when I login nothing is.

This is driving me mad, what am I doing wrong?

PS. I even tried to bring both macs to the same OS X version.

Thank you

 

[honestone]

A couple of things:

1. What Mac OS was on the new iMac before you started the transfer?

2. I'm assuming your Time Machine backup was on an external drive/device, correct?

3. Regarding what was backed up from your older machine, did you insure that all your third party software was compatible with the OS on the new iMac?

4. You mentioned "I even tried to bring both macs to the same OS X version.". Were you trying to transfer stuff from the old Mac to the new one?

 

[billlybob]

New mac high sierra 10.13 old mac was originally 10.12, then I upgrade to 10.13. The timemachine backup was on my synology. I also tried to make a fresh/new backup to external drive. And also network transfer. I did not choose to transfer software, I will manually insttall.

 

[honestone]

This is somewhat confusing. Are you saying the new iMac came with High Sierra (OS 10.13, or OS 10.13.1?) already installed? And your old Mac (what exact Mac model was it?) had OS 10.12 (which version? There are 6 of them)? Also, you upgraded to High Sierra (again, OS 10.13, or OS 10.13.1) on the old Mac?

Given that you had the Time Machine backup on the external device (Synology device; I'm assuming like one of the devices pictured here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=syn...rome..69i57.3873j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8),

did you try, via Migration Assistant, to "migrate"/copy needed "stuff" from that device?

If I were you, here is the way to go:

1. Erase and Format the internal drive on the new iMac.

2. Perform a fresh, clean installation of High Sierra, OS 10.13.1, onto the iMac. You should first download OS 10.13.1 from the App Store onto both your old and new Mac. You would then connect the two Macs via the needed "cable", boot up your old Mac, and then boot the new one by holding down the T key. That will boot the iMac in Target Disk Mode, and it's internal drive will appear on the old Mac's desktop. From there, you can use the tools/software on the old Mac to "operate" on the iMac's drive, including launching the "Install macOS High Sierra" file and performing the fresh, clean installation of OS 10.13.1 onto the iMac.

3. Next, you could just "migrate"/copy your account "stuff" from the Time Machine backup to the iMac.

4. Finally, restart your iMac, and then perform the manual installations of your third party software. Again, remember to insure that such software is compatible with High Sierra,

Be aware that if the iMac came with an SSD, High Sierra will re-format it as APFS, but will leave your Synology device "as is".

 

[billlybob]

Sorry let me clarify. Brandnew mac, came with High Siera 13.1 Old mac was 12.1, I powered on both and tried to restore machine backup from NAS. The restore said it was successful I rebooted and was returned to the same welcome screen like a fresh install of OS X. I tried to create a new account and noticed the user account was already there, so I added 1 to the name. I then logged off and logined using that account. The account was made was made but no data was there. I choose only to transfer files/data not software. I then reinstalled OS X on the new and also upgrade my old mac to high sierra. I then used the network transfer instead of time machine backup. It took 9 hours to complete. Said transfer successful. and nothing was there. same issue.I am willing and ready to buy software, but not sure if it will work https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Prosoft Engineering/OEMBCKUP3S/

 

[honestone]

Not sure why there are/were issues with the Time Machine backup. Some more information would be helpful:

1. What exact model is your old Mac?

2. Does the old Mac work fine, and especially after upgrading to High Sierra (that step was really not necessary)?

3. Have you downloaded the latest version of the file for High Sierra, OS 10.13.1?

4. When you say "Old mac was 12.1", was that OS 10.12.1? (The latest version of Sierra is V10.12.6).

Here is something you could try:

1. Using the old Mac only (that assumes the answer to question #2 above is yes), start it up.

2. Go to the site:

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

and download SuperDuper! V 3.0. You can use it demo mode, and it will work fine for what you need to do.

3. Assuming you have room, make another partition on your Synology device that is "somewhat" larger than all the "stuff" on your primary partition on the old Mac.

4. Do as much disk cleanup on your own as you can on the old Mac. I suspect you don't have a robust disk cleanup/maintenance/repair program like Tech Tool Pro or Disk Warrior, but what you can also do is download, install, and run the excellent freeware program Onyx, available from here:

https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html

Make sure you get V3.3.9, the latest one for High Sierra.

5. Install and start up SuperDuper! (on the old Mac, of course). Perform the backup from the old Mac's primary (maybe one and only?) partition to the "new" partition you made on the Synology device in step #3 above. That will create a bootable backup.

6. Once #5 is complete, and while still on the old Mac, go to System Preferences and select Start Up Disk. It should show both the "primary" one on the old Mac, and the one you just made via the SuperDuper! backup. After clicking on the lock icon and entering your admin password, click on the icon for the backup bootable partition, and click restart. If your old Mac successfully restart from that SuperDuper! backup, you will then be able to get your new Mac "in shape".

Let's first see how things go with this. This whole strategy is based on the premise that your old Mac, even with High Sierra, works fine. And one more thing: for any third party software (ie, non-Apple) that you use, make sure each program is compatible with High Sierra. This site can help with that:

https://roaringapps.com/apps