Coach needed for Carbon Copy Cloner. I have a backup, but I can’t figure out how to restore it. I think I might not have created it correctly.
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Carbon Copy Cloner Restore
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Depending what you are trying to restore I expect te answer is on this page.
If you made a standard backup with CCC and you want to restore the whole volume you will need to reinstall macOS and migrate in from your CCC backup. Or Erase all data and settings then migrate from the CCC backup.
If you made a standard backup with CCC and you want to restore the whole volume you will need to reinstall macOS and migrate in from your CCC backup. Or Erase all data and settings then migrate from the CCC backup.
Thanks for the quick reply Mike. The age you cited is the page I cannot follow. When I try to restore a backup using CCC, I encounter a problem at Step 3 of this page. CCC doesn't offer me as a Source the backup I made earlier. I have successfully restored other backups, so this behavior is a mystery to me.
What are you trying to do? Restore some data from your backup or restore the whole drive?
Step 3 is only appropriate if restoring data, and when I try it, it offers my CCC Backup as a source. If this isn't happening for you contact CCC Support through the app in the Help section. Mike Bombich is very responsive. You can attach logs from Help as well.
If you are wanting to restore the whole drive you should erase all content and settings (as above) and when the machine restarts into Setup Assistant, choose the CC backup as the source for migration. Only do this if you are sure you have a valid standard CCC backup.
Step 3 is only appropriate if restoring data, and when I try it, it offers my CCC Backup as a source. If this isn't happening for you contact CCC Support through the app in the Help section. Mike Bombich is very responsive. You can attach logs from Help as well.
If you are wanting to restore the whole drive you should erase all content and settings (as above) and when the machine restarts into Setup Assistant, choose the CC backup as the source for migration. Only do this if you are sure you have a valid standard CCC backup.
Mike,
I'm trying to restore the whole drive from backup. Apparently I'm not interpreting the documentation correctly. Please tell me exactly what to do, and I'll do it.
Rick
As above....If you are wanting to restore the whole drive you should Erase all Content and Settings (as link above) and when the machine restarts into Setup Assistant, choose the CCC backup as the source for migration. Only do this if you are sure you have a valid standard CCC backup.
Do you have another backup, eg Time Machine? ....in case your current backup is not right, as you seemed to have some doubts about it earlier.
The relevant section on the CCC help page is "Using Migration Assistant to restore your startup disk from a CCC backup". There he states use Recovery and Disk Utility to erase the internal then restore, which you can certainly do, but the "Erase all Content and Settings" option I linked earlier is faster and safer for a Silicon Macs and Intel Macs with T2 security chip . I asked Mike Bombich why he did not include the Erase all content option and his answer was that wanted to keep it simple by having one set of instructions for all situations, including where user only had access to Recovery and Intel Macs pre T2.
Actually realize you haven't said what your Mac is so you may have to do it the Recovery/Disk Utility way.
EDIT Obviously erasing the internal drive is a big step, no problem if you are confident in your backups, but disastrous if not. In a forum like this there is no way of knowing individuals familiarity and confidence level with computers...so proceed with caution and at your own risk!
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First, Mike, let me express my sincere gratitude for your help and patience. You never know, in forums like this, what you're dealing with or if anyone appreciates the effort. I do. (To the moderator: Feel free to edit for appropriateness/privacy, but I hope the technical content is acceptable)
On your question about the hardware: I'm trying to restore to a Mid-2015 MacBook Pro, so it's Intel. I believe MBPs got Apple Silicon starting in 2020 or 2021. The backup was made from CCC on another identical MBP.
About me: I’m a newbie in MacRumors, but not new to computers, though mostly the software side. PDP-9,-10 Assembly, FORTRAN, Ada, CommonLisp, HyperCard, VBA, JavaScript, PostScript, Perl, AppleScript, some bash shell, … mostly avoiding modern stuff. Also the front side of Excel, which is gradually becoming a programming language. Probably omitted some languages / environments from short gigs. Been around long enough to appreciate the value of backups.
More case history: Let the name of the machine I’m restoring to be TARGET. It runs Sierra. Let the name of the machine that made the backup be CRASHED. It was also running Sierra. CRASHED and TARGET are identical hardware. CRASHED was formerly the workhorse in this stable. TARGET was in storage and idle. One day CRASHED crashed. The backup of CRASHED from the graveyard shift of the day it crashed is the only backup I have or will ever have. It’s sitting on a Seagate 8TB external drive. I want to restore that backup to TARGET.
Early attempt to restore: I contacted Bombich Software for advice, and they told me to (a) reinstall the MacOS; (b) some other stuff that I never got to but will describe eventually if you want it. I tried to reinstall the OS following instructions at Apple.com. That failed for reasons I never tracked down in enough detail to be sure, but Apple Support recommended trying again over a hard wire connection to my cable modem, instead of Wi-Fi. That kind of connection required an Ethernet-to-Thunderbolt adapter, which I didn’t have. So I decided to pick up an adapter at the Apple store, and while I was there, have an Apple Genius reinstall the OS on TARGET. Fortunately, I made a CCC backup of TARGET first, because the Apple Genius erased things he shouldn’t have, I guess, because now I’m stuck.
#1 guess as to the next step: Restore TARGET to its pre-Apple-Genius state. Reinstall the OS on TARGET. Delete all files and directories in the ~/Documents tree.
#2 guess as to the next step: Reinstall the OS on TARGET. Delete all files and directories in the ~/Documents tree.
Questions/Corrections/SympathyCards?
On your question about the hardware: I'm trying to restore to a Mid-2015 MacBook Pro, so it's Intel. I believe MBPs got Apple Silicon starting in 2020 or 2021. The backup was made from CCC on another identical MBP.
About me: I’m a newbie in MacRumors, but not new to computers, though mostly the software side. PDP-9,-10 Assembly, FORTRAN, Ada, CommonLisp, HyperCard, VBA, JavaScript, PostScript, Perl, AppleScript, some bash shell, … mostly avoiding modern stuff. Also the front side of Excel, which is gradually becoming a programming language. Probably omitted some languages / environments from short gigs. Been around long enough to appreciate the value of backups.
More case history: Let the name of the machine I’m restoring to be TARGET. It runs Sierra. Let the name of the machine that made the backup be CRASHED. It was also running Sierra. CRASHED and TARGET are identical hardware. CRASHED was formerly the workhorse in this stable. TARGET was in storage and idle. One day CRASHED crashed. The backup of CRASHED from the graveyard shift of the day it crashed is the only backup I have or will ever have. It’s sitting on a Seagate 8TB external drive. I want to restore that backup to TARGET.
Early attempt to restore: I contacted Bombich Software for advice, and they told me to (a) reinstall the MacOS; (b) some other stuff that I never got to but will describe eventually if you want it. I tried to reinstall the OS following instructions at Apple.com. That failed for reasons I never tracked down in enough detail to be sure, but Apple Support recommended trying again over a hard wire connection to my cable modem, instead of Wi-Fi. That kind of connection required an Ethernet-to-Thunderbolt adapter, which I didn’t have. So I decided to pick up an adapter at the Apple store, and while I was there, have an Apple Genius reinstall the OS on TARGET. Fortunately, I made a CCC backup of TARGET first, because the Apple Genius erased things he shouldn’t have, I guess, because now I’m stuck.
#1 guess as to the next step: Restore TARGET to its pre-Apple-Genius state. Reinstall the OS on TARGET. Delete all files and directories in the ~/Documents tree.
#2 guess as to the next step: Reinstall the OS on TARGET. Delete all files and directories in the ~/Documents tree.
Questions/Corrections/SympathyCards?
Wow. Thanks for the extra info which provokes more questions!
My initial reaction is that all my replies have been assuming a much more modern OS and Mac. Things have changed a lot in the last 9 years. In particular the CCC backups you have made should be bootable, because Sierra does not have the separate System and Data volumes. However IMO the best option is still to use Setup Assistant on a freshly installed TARGET and migrate in from the Seagate CCC backup, as it puts a new clean Sierra system in place.
When Apple Genius reinstalled macOS on TARGET did he install over your data (leaving it in tact) or did he erase and install, effectively leaving you with a factory condition new computer?
This factory condition is the state you want to be in to migrate from a CCC backup using Setup Assistant, which is what runs when you launch a new or newly erased and reinstalled Mac, before creating a user account.
I assume from what you said that TARGET has macOS freshly installed by the Genius but that you currently have a user account so it does not now boot up to Setup Assistant? From this position you could use Migration Assistant to migrate in from your CCC backup of CRASHED. If the main user account on CRASHED is the same name as already exists on TARGET, Migration Assistant will detect this and ask if you want to overwrite it, to which I would advise yes.
In 2024, I have found overwriting with Migration Assistant quite reliable, but it wasn’t always so, but I really can’t recall how it was in 2015. If you try this and it fails nothing is lost because you still have the backup on the Seagate to try again with Setup Assistant instead.
To use Setup Assistant you would need to erase and reinstall macOS again, either yourself or by the Genius, and have the Seagate attached when you boot. I don't know why you had trouble before but you could consider making a bootable USB thumb drive Sierra installer (best done using free MIST app).
There are some other options you could try using the bootability of the CCC clone but IMO they would be inferior.
PS Why are you writing off CRASHED Mac? Has it had a confirmed hardware failure? If only software you could be doing all the above on CRASHED instead of TARGET.
My initial reaction is that all my replies have been assuming a much more modern OS and Mac. Things have changed a lot in the last 9 years. In particular the CCC backups you have made should be bootable, because Sierra does not have the separate System and Data volumes. However IMO the best option is still to use Setup Assistant on a freshly installed TARGET and migrate in from the Seagate CCC backup, as it puts a new clean Sierra system in place.
When Apple Genius reinstalled macOS on TARGET did he install over your data (leaving it in tact) or did he erase and install, effectively leaving you with a factory condition new computer?
This factory condition is the state you want to be in to migrate from a CCC backup using Setup Assistant, which is what runs when you launch a new or newly erased and reinstalled Mac, before creating a user account.
I assume from what you said that TARGET has macOS freshly installed by the Genius but that you currently have a user account so it does not now boot up to Setup Assistant? From this position you could use Migration Assistant to migrate in from your CCC backup of CRASHED. If the main user account on CRASHED is the same name as already exists on TARGET, Migration Assistant will detect this and ask if you want to overwrite it, to which I would advise yes.
In 2024, I have found overwriting with Migration Assistant quite reliable, but it wasn’t always so, but I really can’t recall how it was in 2015. If you try this and it fails nothing is lost because you still have the backup on the Seagate to try again with Setup Assistant instead.
To use Setup Assistant you would need to erase and reinstall macOS again, either yourself or by the Genius, and have the Seagate attached when you boot. I don't know why you had trouble before but you could consider making a bootable USB thumb drive Sierra installer (best done using free MIST app).
There are some other options you could try using the bootability of the CCC clone but IMO they would be inferior.
PS Why are you writing off CRASHED Mac? Has it had a confirmed hardware failure? If only software you could be doing all the above on CRASHED instead of TARGET.
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First, Mike, let me express my sincere gratitude for your help and patience. You never know, in forums like this, what you're dealing with or if anyone appreciates the effort. I do.
On your question about the hardware: I'm trying to restore to a Mid-2015 MacBook Pro, so it's Intel. I believe MBPs got Apple Silicon starting in 2020 or 2021. The backup was made from CCC on another identical MBP.
About me: I’m a newbie in MacRumors, but not new to computers, though mostly the software side. PDP-9,-10 Assembly, FORTRAN, Ada, CommonLisp, HyperCard, VBA, JavaScript, PostScript, Perl, AppleScript, some bash shell, … mostly avoiding modern stuff. Also the front side of Excel, which is gradually becoming a programming language. Probably omitted some languages / environments from short gigs. Been around long enough to appreciate the value of backups.
More case history: Let the name of the machine I’m restoring to be TARGET. It runs Sierra. Let the name of the machine that made the backup be CRASHED. It was also running Sierra. CRASHED and TARGET are identical hardware. CRASHED was formerly the workhorse in this stable. TARGET was in storage and idle. One day CRASHED crashed. The backup of CRASHED from the graveyard shift of the day it crashed is the only backup I have or will ever have. It’s sitting on a Seagate 8TB external drive. I want to restore that backup to TARGET.
Early attempt to restore: I contacted Bombich Software for advice, and they told me to (a) reinstall the MacOS; (b) some other stuff that I never got to but will describe eventually if you want it. I tried to reinstall the OS following instructions at Apple.com. That failed for reasons I never tracked down in enough detail to be sure, but Apple Support recommended trying again over a hard wire connection to my cable modem, instead of Wi-Fi. That kind of connection required an Ethernet-to-Thunderbolt adapter, which I didn’t have. So I decided to pick up an adapter at the Apple store, and while I was there, have an Apple Genius reinstall the OS on TARGET. Fortunately, I made a CCC backup of TARGET first, because the Apple Genius erased things he shouldn’t have, I guess, because now I’m stuck.
#1 guess as to the next step: Restore TARGET to its pre-Apple-Genius state. Reinstall the OS on TARGET. Delete all files and directories in the ~/Documents tree.
#2 guess as to the next step: Reinstall the OS on TARGET. Delete all files and directories in the ~/Documents tree.
I know I've left questions unanswered. I hope this latest truancy of info provides some illumination. For example, do we know enough to say that reinstalling Sierra is clearly the next step?
On your question about the hardware: I'm trying to restore to a Mid-2015 MacBook Pro, so it's Intel. I believe MBPs got Apple Silicon starting in 2020 or 2021. The backup was made from CCC on another identical MBP.
About me: I’m a newbie in MacRumors, but not new to computers, though mostly the software side. PDP-9,-10 Assembly, FORTRAN, Ada, CommonLisp, HyperCard, VBA, JavaScript, PostScript, Perl, AppleScript, some bash shell, … mostly avoiding modern stuff. Also the front side of Excel, which is gradually becoming a programming language. Probably omitted some languages / environments from short gigs. Been around long enough to appreciate the value of backups.
More case history: Let the name of the machine I’m restoring to be TARGET. It runs Sierra. Let the name of the machine that made the backup be CRASHED. It was also running Sierra. CRASHED and TARGET are identical hardware. CRASHED was formerly the workhorse in this stable. TARGET was in storage and idle. One day CRASHED crashed. The backup of CRASHED from the graveyard shift of the day it crashed is the only backup I have or will ever have. It’s sitting on a Seagate 8TB external drive. I want to restore that backup to TARGET.
Early attempt to restore: I contacted Bombich Software for advice, and they told me to (a) reinstall the MacOS; (b) some other stuff that I never got to but will describe eventually if you want it. I tried to reinstall the OS following instructions at Apple.com. That failed for reasons I never tracked down in enough detail to be sure, but Apple Support recommended trying again over a hard wire connection to my cable modem, instead of Wi-Fi. That kind of connection required an Ethernet-to-Thunderbolt adapter, which I didn’t have. So I decided to pick up an adapter at the Apple store, and while I was there, have an Apple Genius reinstall the OS on TARGET. Fortunately, I made a CCC backup of TARGET first, because the Apple Genius erased things he shouldn’t have, I guess, because now I’m stuck.
#1 guess as to the next step: Restore TARGET to its pre-Apple-Genius state. Reinstall the OS on TARGET. Delete all files and directories in the ~/Documents tree.
#2 guess as to the next step: Reinstall the OS on TARGET. Delete all files and directories in the ~/Documents tree.
I know I've left questions unanswered. I hope this latest truancy of info provides some illumination. For example, do we know enough to say that reinstalling Sierra is clearly the next step?
I find your latest reply (above, post#11) to my last post (post#9) rather strange. Much of it is word for word the same as your previous reply (post#8) and it doesn't seem to recognize anything I said in post#9, or answer any of the questions I asked.
OK, I'll try again. Looks like I pasted in the wrong draft. I apologize. Ignore that post.
When it comes to tech tangles, there are two main indicators that you're talking with someone knowledgeable. (1) Whenever you answer one of their questions, they have at least two more questions, and (2) they remember stuff about at least three previous generations of the relevant technologies. You’ve passed both tests. I’ll number your questions starting now, as Q01, Q02, … My questions are RQ01, RQ02, ….
Info01: Names of backups. I expect it will be useful to name the various backups in this nightmare, so here’s a summary my backups as of this date. CCC_KINSMAN is a CCC backup of TARGET from the state it was in in storage, before Apple serviced its battery. CCC_SEAGATE_8TB is a CCC backup of CRASHED from the graveyard shift of the day it CRASHED.
Q01: [Mike] When Apple Genius reinstalled MacOS Sierra, did he erase and install, or install-over-data? Short answer: He doesn’t know. Longer answer: He intended to “install over my data” and I did actually expect and understand him to be doing that. But after the reinstall, when we booted TARGET, we were surprised to learn that all my data was gone. I was concerned (even though I had the backup I’m calling CCC_KINSMAN (see Q02) back at my office). So the situation at that point was that neither of us could say with certainty what the state of TARGET was, though most likely it was cleanly wiped – as you say, a factory condition new computer. How it happened is a mystery for the ages. Anyway, I received a gift of the Ethernet-to-thunderbolt adapter. I can now do future MacOS reinstalls myself, though much slower than the Apple store, because they have local copies of all MacOSes (and pesumably iOses too) while I have to grab them from the Internet.
Q02: Why I’m writing off CRASHED: Answer: I took CRASHED to the Apple store to have them assess the damage. They ran three sets of hardware diagnostics. It passed the first two, which took about an hour. They didn’t identify the diagnostics and I didn’t ask. (Note to all readers: From now on, when Apple geniuses run diagnostics on my equipment, I’ll be noting the name of the diagnostic and the results. This might be useful to any MacRumors folk who might later try to help me if Apple can’t.) CRASHED failed the third diagnostic – some kind of looping behavior set in. I still have CRASHED and I can pursue this thread if you think it might pay off. They also found that CRASHED couldn't be booted as a disk, so I can't get my data from it.
Info02: A bit more about TARGET: the reason TARGET had been idled and put in storage is that it was exhibiting battery swell. So before I decided to put it back in service, I asked Apple to service the battery. Before I gave it to Apple I made a CCC backup, which I will be referring to as CCC_KINSMAN.
RQ01: I’m nervous that CCC_SEAGATE_8TB is the only copy I have. How can I clone it? I’d like to have a copy just in case.
Q03: [Mike] I assume from what you said that TARGET has macOS freshly installed by the Genius but that you currently have a user account so it does not now boot up to Setup Assistant? Answer: Sadly, no longer. I’ve been experimenting and exploring, so it has lots of my data files at this point. I can delete my data, but would that be close enough to what I need?
When it comes to tech tangles, there are two main indicators that you're talking with someone knowledgeable. (1) Whenever you answer one of their questions, they have at least two more questions, and (2) they remember stuff about at least three previous generations of the relevant technologies. You’ve passed both tests. I’ll number your questions starting now, as Q01, Q02, … My questions are RQ01, RQ02, ….
Info01: Names of backups. I expect it will be useful to name the various backups in this nightmare, so here’s a summary my backups as of this date. CCC_KINSMAN is a CCC backup of TARGET from the state it was in in storage, before Apple serviced its battery. CCC_SEAGATE_8TB is a CCC backup of CRASHED from the graveyard shift of the day it CRASHED.
Q01: [Mike] When Apple Genius reinstalled MacOS Sierra, did he erase and install, or install-over-data? Short answer: He doesn’t know. Longer answer: He intended to “install over my data” and I did actually expect and understand him to be doing that. But after the reinstall, when we booted TARGET, we were surprised to learn that all my data was gone. I was concerned (even though I had the backup I’m calling CCC_KINSMAN (see Q02) back at my office). So the situation at that point was that neither of us could say with certainty what the state of TARGET was, though most likely it was cleanly wiped – as you say, a factory condition new computer. How it happened is a mystery for the ages. Anyway, I received a gift of the Ethernet-to-thunderbolt adapter. I can now do future MacOS reinstalls myself, though much slower than the Apple store, because they have local copies of all MacOSes (and pesumably iOses too) while I have to grab them from the Internet.
Q02: Why I’m writing off CRASHED: Answer: I took CRASHED to the Apple store to have them assess the damage. They ran three sets of hardware diagnostics. It passed the first two, which took about an hour. They didn’t identify the diagnostics and I didn’t ask. (Note to all readers: From now on, when Apple geniuses run diagnostics on my equipment, I’ll be noting the name of the diagnostic and the results. This might be useful to any MacRumors folk who might later try to help me if Apple can’t.) CRASHED failed the third diagnostic – some kind of looping behavior set in. I still have CRASHED and I can pursue this thread if you think it might pay off. They also found that CRASHED couldn't be booted as a disk, so I can't get my data from it.
Info02: A bit more about TARGET: the reason TARGET had been idled and put in storage is that it was exhibiting battery swell. So before I decided to put it back in service, I asked Apple to service the battery. Before I gave it to Apple I made a CCC backup, which I will be referring to as CCC_KINSMAN.
RQ01: I’m nervous that CCC_SEAGATE_8TB is the only copy I have. How can I clone it? I’d like to have a copy just in case.
Q03: [Mike] I assume from what you said that TARGET has macOS freshly installed by the Genius but that you currently have a user account so it does not now boot up to Setup Assistant? Answer: Sadly, no longer. I’ve been experimenting and exploring, so it has lots of my data files at this point. I can delete my data, but would that be close enough to what I need?
OK Thanks. That all makes sense.
New Q: Does CCC_KINSMAN have same data on it as CCC_SEAGATE ? I assume not since you main objective is to get TARGET running with the data from CRASHED. If not same data then CCC-KINSMAN is not useful. If it is the same data then you don’For your t need another backup of CCC_SEAGATE,
Yes you can make a clone of CCC_SEAGATE if you have another drive to clone it to, using CCC.
For your prime objective of putting CCC_SEAGATE onto TARGET the best option is the same as I said earlier:
1. Erase TARGET (from Recovery) and reinstall Sierra. Do this with CCC_SEAGATE connected so that when you boot TARGET after the reinstall, Setup Assistant will see CCC_SEAGATE as available to migrate in. Choose all types of data, eg apps data settings etc from the migration dialogue.
Second best is:
2. Boot up TARGET as it is, with CCC_SEAGATE attached, and open Migration Assistant from the Utilities folder. Use Migration Assistant to migrate all data types in from CCC_SEAGATE. Is the current main user name in TARGET the same name as the one in CRASHED (hence also in CCC_SEAGATE)? If yes, then MA should ask if you want to overwrite that User. Answer yes. If it works that is good because it means the user in the restored TARGET will have UUID=501. If the user name on CRASHED/SEAGATE is different then it will be migrated in as a second user and have UUID=502. This may never matter but it can cause permissions issues if you have external data drives. If you end up with two users then then you can delete te original user (unless you think there is anything useful on it).
I prefer option 1 because it avoids the UUID issue and because my experience was that Migration Assistant may not have been as reliable in 2015 as it is now.
If you try Option 2 first and it fails you can abort and start again with Option 1.
New Q: Does CCC_KINSMAN have same data on it as CCC_SEAGATE ? I assume not since you main objective is to get TARGET running with the data from CRASHED. If not same data then CCC-KINSMAN is not useful. If it is the same data then you don’For your t need another backup of CCC_SEAGATE,
Yes you can make a clone of CCC_SEAGATE if you have another drive to clone it to, using CCC.
For your prime objective of putting CCC_SEAGATE onto TARGET the best option is the same as I said earlier:
1. Erase TARGET (from Recovery) and reinstall Sierra. Do this with CCC_SEAGATE connected so that when you boot TARGET after the reinstall, Setup Assistant will see CCC_SEAGATE as available to migrate in. Choose all types of data, eg apps data settings etc from the migration dialogue.
Second best is:
2. Boot up TARGET as it is, with CCC_SEAGATE attached, and open Migration Assistant from the Utilities folder. Use Migration Assistant to migrate all data types in from CCC_SEAGATE. Is the current main user name in TARGET the same name as the one in CRASHED (hence also in CCC_SEAGATE)? If yes, then MA should ask if you want to overwrite that User. Answer yes. If it works that is good because it means the user in the restored TARGET will have UUID=501. If the user name on CRASHED/SEAGATE is different then it will be migrated in as a second user and have UUID=502. This may never matter but it can cause permissions issues if you have external data drives. If you end up with two users then then you can delete te original user (unless you think there is anything useful on it).
I prefer option 1 because it avoids the UUID issue and because my experience was that Migration Assistant may not have been as reliable in 2015 as it is now.
If you try Option 2 first and it fails you can abort and start again with Option 1.
Q04 [Mike] Does CCC_KINSMAN have same data on it as CCC_SEAGATE ? Answer04: No, though there is a bit of overlap. TARGET was being used for (mostly automated) tasks when it developed battery swell. I then took it out of service and replaced it with CRASHED, which operated just fine for about two years. In other words, CCC_KINSMAN is a snapshot of CRASHED from two years ago. Useless to me now. Nice try though. 
RQ03 Continued: Answer to RQ03: [Mike] Yes you can make a clone of CCC_SEAGATE if you have another drive to clone it to, using CCC. [Rick] Good. I’d like to do that ASAP. CCC_SEAGATE_8TB is on an 8 TB Seagate drive. The spare drives I have right now are 2TB Seagate mobile drives. Assuming that the data in CCC_SEAGATE_8TB is less than 2TB in size, is cloning possible? If so, I’d like to perform all subsequent work with the clone and leave CCC_SEAGATE_8TB in safe storage. The clone’s name will be CCC_SG_CLONE1.
RQ04: How to use CCC to clone a drive. I found these instructions at Bombich.com for cloning a drive:
1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Choose the volume that you want to clone from the Source selector
3. Choose a properly-formatted volume from the Destination menu
4. Click the Clone button
These instructions look OK to me, mostly, but I have one question. Bombich says that when formatting the destination drive, I should “set the Scheme to GUID Partition Map, then click the Erase button.”. But I don’t see anything that allows me to set Scheme. Advice? Is this stuff just not implemented in Sierra?
RQ03 Continued: Answer to RQ03: [Mike] Yes you can make a clone of CCC_SEAGATE if you have another drive to clone it to, using CCC. [Rick] Good. I’d like to do that ASAP. CCC_SEAGATE_8TB is on an 8 TB Seagate drive. The spare drives I have right now are 2TB Seagate mobile drives. Assuming that the data in CCC_SEAGATE_8TB is less than 2TB in size, is cloning possible? If so, I’d like to perform all subsequent work with the clone and leave CCC_SEAGATE_8TB in safe storage. The clone’s name will be CCC_SG_CLONE1.
RQ04: How to use CCC to clone a drive. I found these instructions at Bombich.com for cloning a drive:
1. Open Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Choose the volume that you want to clone from the Source selector
3. Choose a properly-formatted volume from the Destination menu
4. Click the Clone button
These instructions look OK to me, mostly, but I have one question. Bombich says that when formatting the destination drive, I should “set the Scheme to GUID Partition Map, then click the Erase button.”. But I don’t see anything that allows me to set Scheme. Advice? Is this stuff just not implemented in Sierra?
When you select the drive you want to format in Disk Utility on the left sidebar, then select the "Erase" along the top, you should see something like this where you can select the Partition Scheme and the file format:
In this screenshot I have expanded the Scheme dropdown to show the options.
Ah. Perfect. Thanks for the explanation. Bombich doc evidently has room for improvement. You certainly know your stuff.
RQ05: Next obstacle: I've discovered (belatedly) that CCC_SEAGATE_8TB has 3.8 TB of stuff on it. I now recall that I was also using the drive as storage, a practice that I now recognize as an abomination. I can't clone the whole 3.8 TB because I don't have a spare drive that big. Anyway, I don't need to clone those stored materials; I want to clone only the CCC data. Is there a way to do that in CCC? (I expect there is).
RQ05: Next obstacle: I've discovered (belatedly) that CCC_SEAGATE_8TB has 3.8 TB of stuff on it. I now recall that I was also using the drive as storage, a practice that I now recognize as an abomination. I can't clone the whole 3.8 TB because I don't have a spare drive that big. Anyway, I don't need to clone those stored materials; I want to clone only the CCC data. Is there a way to do that in CCC? (I expect there is).
CCC has an option to exclude what you don't want, should work, but outside my experience. I have only used CCC to backup a volume to a volume.
OK, thanks. I'll have to put off cloning CCC_SEAGATE_8TB till I get another drive. Back to the main thread.
Since failure of Option 2 is non-fatal (As you say, if it fails I can abort and then go with Option 1), I prefer to try Option 2. Your description of the Option 2 procedure might be perfectly adequate for someone more experienced than I, but not for me. So I'd like to rewrite it in terms I can understand first, for your review and correction. I'll have OPTION2_Rev 1.0 (Rev 1.0 of the procedure for Option2) by 1200 Sunday, 5 Oct, New York time. I expect I'll have questions. Thank you once again for your patient efforts.
It's a little off-topic...
But there is a legacy option for making a cloned bootable drive. I am using that now. But it's not recommended. And they write you should use it only with Thunderbolt connection for booting because USB can make problems, but may work too.
I now have an external USB-SSD with a bootable partition of CCC and SuperDuper. I wonder if this really works. Didn't try it yet.
The options of both backup apps are strange too, if you want to keep old data and not just clone. I am never sure what they are really doing and rely on TimeMachine for that.
It all got very strange with APFS. I don't really understand how it works. Everything was so much easier with HFS.
I also have sometimes corrupted external drives with APFS and a "wasn't ejected correctly" message. Even it was already gone from the desktop and I pull it out.
And TimeMachine backups sometimes are not finishing somehow.
What are the best backup options? That I don't need several to be sure I got everything?
Edit: I never did a real restore from CCC or SuperDuper backups. Just copied files that I needed back to my internal drive.
But there is a legacy option for making a cloned bootable drive. I am using that now. But it's not recommended. And they write you should use it only with Thunderbolt connection for booting because USB can make problems, but may work too.
I now have an external USB-SSD with a bootable partition of CCC and SuperDuper. I wonder if this really works. Didn't try it yet.
The options of both backup apps are strange too, if you want to keep old data and not just clone. I am never sure what they are really doing and rely on TimeMachine for that.
It all got very strange with APFS. I don't really understand how it works. Everything was so much easier with HFS.
I also have sometimes corrupted external drives with APFS and a "wasn't ejected correctly" message. Even it was already gone from the desktop and I pull it out.
And TimeMachine backups sometimes are not finishing somehow.
What are the best backup options? That I don't need several to be sure I got everything?
Edit: I never did a real restore from CCC or SuperDuper backups. Just copied files that I needed back to my internal drive.
I haven't followed everything in this thread, but thought I'd just chime in.
If I was to completely restore a volume, I'd just create a new task in CCC, select the backup volume as source, and select the erased empty volume as destination. If the source contained folders that I didn't want restored, I'd just deselect them in 'Task Filter' in the task window.
If the destination volume is the currently running boot disk, this won't work, and you'd have to either have a second boot drive w/CCC to do the procedure from - or you could boot from Recovery and use Disk Utilities to restore from source to destination (no task filter here).
Side note: On post Catalina macs (with the separate SSV system volume) there are several ways to install macOS and restore the Data volume, my favourite: Create an empty volume, restore a Timemachine or other type of backup to it, and then use a bootable USB installer and tell it to install on the volume you just restored. The installer will see that there is a Data volume with user account(s) and use it in the 'volume group' it creates that constitutes your new bootdisk.
(I have only done this with USB bootable installers, but I can't see why it wouldn't work with the internet installer also.)
If I was to completely restore a volume, I'd just create a new task in CCC, select the backup volume as source, and select the erased empty volume as destination. If the source contained folders that I didn't want restored, I'd just deselect them in 'Task Filter' in the task window.
If the destination volume is the currently running boot disk, this won't work, and you'd have to either have a second boot drive w/CCC to do the procedure from - or you could boot from Recovery and use Disk Utilities to restore from source to destination (no task filter here).
Side note: On post Catalina macs (with the separate SSV system volume) there are several ways to install macOS and restore the Data volume, my favourite: Create an empty volume, restore a Timemachine or other type of backup to it, and then use a bootable USB installer and tell it to install on the volume you just restored. The installer will see that there is a Data volume with user account(s) and use it in the 'volume group' it creates that constitutes your new bootdisk.
(I have only done this with USB bootable installers, but I can't see why it wouldn't work with the internet installer also.)
What you say is an option, but as I mentioned earlier I don't think that way is as good for two reasons:-
1. Since OP has Sierra (which does not have an immutable, incorruptible Signed Sealed System Volume, cloning back will not put a fresh system in place on his internal.
2. As you say, because the destination is his internal drive he would need to create an external bootable drive to do this. Although in theory it should be possible to avoid this by booting fron the clone he already has on his external and running CCC from that to restore direct to the internal. I have never done this and booting from an external HDD is an exercise in frustration because of the slowness. He only has one copy of the clone so methods which migrate from it will leave it in tact for second attempts. Once he starts booting from it there are risks of it having a problem.
The legacy option is not relevant to the OP because his CCC clone should be bootable anyway, because he is running Sierra which predates the separate SSSV (Signed Sealed System Volume) and Data volume, which started in Catalina. The difficulty of cloning the SSSV eventually caused Mike Bombich of CCC to make bootable clones a best endeavours legacy option only.
Just a word of caution here. I have been in the situation of helping people do major tasks like this on forums many times. My experience is that forums are best kept to the level of pointing in right direction and discussing methods, and not step by step detailed instructions of the whole process.
I am not sitting at your machine able to see everything that happens and what snags might arise. Your situation is complicated by the fact that it is nine year old software and hardware which I have not used for years, and aged 77 my memory is not what it was. It is additionally complicated because you have added data to the clone and I don't know how you have done that or what the implcitations are (there may be none, but it is outside my experience). The fact that you have done this and had a pretty basic question about formatting, does not give me confidence that proceeding this way will be successful.
Since a bad outcome from this whole exercise would be catastrophic for you, my strong advice is to take your MBP and SEAGATE drive down to the Genius, explain what you want to do, and pay for it to be done. Showing him this thread may help.
I know this is not the advice you want and if you don't want to do this and prefer to create your step by step instructions, I will look them over and comment where confident. A further dialog with Mike Bombich might be prudent.