HELP !! ... Can't retrieve Files/Contacts/Calendar info.. 10.68 > 10.10.5

[KyleObr]

So ... the story goes as follows ...

I'm upgrading MacPro's / 1.1 > 5.1 Mac Pro / OS 10.68 > 10.10.5 ..
Originally I thought I would transfer info through Firewire via Migration assistant. Silly me .. Didn't realize there were 2 different connections for FW 400/800 and the 5,1 machine didn't have a 400 input .. arrghh. Didn't really have time to get adapter so I figured I'd pull the main drive (which had all the Apps / contact info etc.) and drop it in the 5,1 .. transfer w/migration assist, then put it back in the old machine as I may still have some use for it.

Sooo ... I chose all the apps that didn't have a line through them (still on the transferred drive),inclusive w/PS & LR (CS6), used Migration assistant and thought .. Gee, that was easy .. Ha! First off, I couldn't find any of the Apps that had theoretically transferred yet the Drive had less space for sure. And nothing showed up in my contacts app much less the calendar. Nor did Sound card info show as far as porting Stereo out to the card, but I'll bug their Tech support when I upgrade that whole thing, as soon as I figure this out.

Then i did some research and thought I could upload at least the contact files to ICloud or DropBox, if 10.68 doesn't see ICloud. Put the Old drive back in the 1,1 MP, pushed the power Button, heard the drive clicking ... but no image of any kind on screen. Killed it, attempted again to no avail .... Now I'm really Happy ... NOT !! Put the drive back in the 5,1 thinking there's got to be a way this can work but for the life of me I can't figure out where to at least find the Contact info ---- I also went through the contact process again thinking perhaps I'd missed something the first time. The startup drive got heavier bit I still don't see anything

You might say I'm lost .. definitely out of my zone !! All help is appreciated
Thank you

 

[KyleObr]

Really up a creek w/o a paddle here folks ... Nobody has an idea as to what I can do ?

 

[BrianBaughn]

To clarify...the drive won't boot in the old Mac but it mounts OK in the newer one?

 

[KyleObr]

To clarify...the drive won't boot in the old Mac but it mounts OK in the newer one?

At this point ... yes, which I find very odd .. disturbingly so. The drive itself is no more than about a year old as I had replaced it with an updated OS (for that machine - 10.68)

I'm guessing on the older one it's the machine of coarse, not the drive.

 

[BrianBaughn]

There could be some corruption on that drive that is both keeping it from booting on the old MP and messing up the migration while in the newer MP. Sometimes there's no warning or message that helps.

Do you have a spare hard drive of equal or greater size? How big is the old hard drive and how much free space is on it?

 

[KyleObr]

There could be some corruption on that drive that is both keeping it from booting on the old MP and messing up the migration while in the newer MP. Sometimes there's no warning or message that helps.

Do you have a spare hard drive of equal or greater size? How big is the old hard drive and how much free space is on it?

Drive is 1Tb ... Used 206 GB so far. Purposely kept it light and drive is not that old. I can access files in the drive in newer MP. Just cant figure out how activate them in the correct App.

I think I may have just discovered the files for the Address book (see below) but getting them where they're supposed to be ...?

In fact, this file/PNG was just uploaded from the transferred drive. It was on the Desktop but i couldn't easily access it so I copied it over to said drive ..

 

[organicCPU]

On El Cap it's
~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/Metadata/*.abcdp
Hope on Yosemite the same.
All .abcdp-files should be clickable to open in Contacts App

 

[KyleObr]

On El Cap it's
~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/Metadata/*.abcdp
Hope on Yosemite the same.
All .abcdp-files should be clickable to open in Contacts App

OK ... so we're getting warm at least
And your right .. the files I found have that path (yeah) but how do I get them into "Contacts" ?

If I go to "Import Files" within the Contact App and find my way down that path on the Transferred Drive (Main - transferred Drive from MacPro 1,1). but when I get to "Address Book", I'm looking at a folder with a Negative sign on it ..

If I copy the correct file to another drive so I can access it otherwise, the file is Greyed out

Or .. I click on to upload directly to Contacts .. and the Contacts App is Greyed out !!

 

[organicCPU]

What I can see on your screenshots looks like the databases, not the contacts. You'll find the contacts data in the Metadata-folder, images in the images folder. I checked Mountain Lion 10.8 and the structure is quit equal to 10.12. I don't have access to 10.6. Maybe that differs. If you get the .abcdp-files from the old (Main) drive, you can just open them with your Contacts App and don't need to put them in place. That could mess up your database files.
- Can you open your Contacts App on the new Yosemite OS?
- To access the Folder with the minus sign, you need to modify privileges if you don't run in Target Disk Mode (The adapter thing, I know). You know how to do that?

 

[KyleObr]

View attachment 685343
What I can see on your screenshots looks like the databases, not the contacts. You'll find the contacts data in the Metadata-folder, images in the images folder. I checked Mountain Lion 10.8 and the structure is quit equal to 10.12. I don't have access to 10.6. Maybe that differs. If you get the .abcdp-files from the old (Main) drive, you can just open them with your Contacts App and don't need to put them in place. That could mess up your database files.
- Can you open your Contacts App on the new Yosemite OS?
- To access the Folder with the minus sign, you need to modify privileges if you don't run in Target Disk Mode (The adapter thing, I know). You know how to do that?

Umm ... I'm a complete neophyte in Geek ... you guys Rule (y)

Yes, I can open Contacts in Yosemite ..
I can get to the abcdp Files starting at the HOME Icon. When I clicked on them to open directly it brought up ...

Which is when I got to the last image of previous post after I went to find the Contacts App.

Incidentally, there is nothing in my Metadata folder ?

 

[organicCPU]

Probably you clicked on an .abcddb-file. That should be just a helping database file and has no standard application to open it. You didn't click an .abcdp contacts file or other vCard file so far and need to locate them.

I can see a tarball archive file called 'Migration 2...47.abbu.tbz'. Try to copy this (hold ALT while dragging) i.e. to your desktop, then double-click on it to expand it. If double clicking doesn't work, tell us. There is a good chance that you'll find your contacts in there. Otherwise you need to access that folder with the minus sign on the old drive.

 

[KyleObr]

yup ... you're right. Had a little visual dyslexia it seems LOL. Found the Migration file you referenced. Dragged and opened as instructed. Got excited when a sign popped up and said I would lose all in the Contact App. Copied what i wanted to keep from earlier today ... and clicked YES .... It went BLANK ... Nothing there !! hmmmm ..

This is what else is inside that section incase you see something else that might make sense.

The Migration folder is a duplicate of the one above it. There were 2 others there that were empty so I trashed them.

 

[organicCPU]

Now let's have a look on the file 'Migration 2...6-347.abbu' without the .tbz extension below the folder.
If you right click or CTRL click on it, you can select 'Show package contents' to see what's inside.
There should be a structure containing the contacts in the Metadata folder. Indeed an .abbu file is the format that Contacts App writes, if you export an address book archive. If there is the content inside you're searching for, you should be able to import that .abbu file directly from within the Contacts App Menu to get everything you need without dragging .abcdp files around. If there is no content, you need to locate the files on your old drive.

 

[KyleObr]

yup ... you're right. Had a little visual dyslexia it seems LOL. Found the Migration file you referenced. Dragged and opened as instructed. Got excited when a sign popped up and said I would lose all in the Contact App. Copied what i wanted to keep from earlier today ... and clicked YES .... It went BLANK ... Nothing there !! hmmmm ..

This is what else is inside that section incase you see something else that might make sense.
View attachment 685385

The Migration folder is a duplicate of the one above it. There were 2 others there that were empty so I trashed them.

Hmmm ... This is what comes up only ... Structure ?

And when I go to import it i get a BLANK Contacts space Which makes no sense since there is 947kb of info in there .. ?

I'll be out for about 4 Hours ...

 

[organicCPU]

Considering the file size and your import with zero result, I wouldn't expect big data inside the file. Just to verify – did you use the contextual menu to browse the package and didn't see anything inside?

No structure and files like this inside?

If that's the case, you need to search on the old drive for the files. From what you said, I wouldn't start modifying old files on the old drive without making a backup. If you already have a backup, everything is fine, if not, I can recommend a 30-day trial of Carbon Copy Cloner or do it the way you prefer for this task.

Then navigate to and select the AddressBook-folder with the red minus sign on it, press COMMAND + I. In the Info window scroll down to the 'Lock' symbol below 'Sharing & Permissions', authenticate as admin, add you as a user with at least read privileges, press the gearwheel, apply changes to all files inside and access the folder. There you should find the .abcdp-files, that you can open in your Contacts App.

I guess your migration didn't go well, because you set up your user account under a different username or at least a different user ID or that there are too many differences in OS versions between Snow Leopard and Yosemite for the Migration Assistant. As your Mac Pro 5,1 can't boot from Snow Leopard, and your drive doesn't seem to boot anymore from your old Mac, the situation is a little special. However, we could try to figure out, why your drive doesn't boot anymore from the old Mac and we can try to find all the files you need manually... that will probably take a while and needs your patience.

 

[KyleObr]

Had an interesting suggestion from a friend of mine ... What about booting from old drive w/10:68 on it .. gathering info needed and putting it somewhere accessable when going back to 10.10.5

Just a thought and I suppose that doesn't help me out with the programs that are not showing up either.
Thoughts ?

 

[organicCPU]

If you can boot from the old drive, yes that's a good option. For making a backup, too. I thought you said that this doesn't work!? Keep in mind, that a Mac Pro 5,1 (Mid 2012) is probably not able to boot any system lower than 10.7.3 while a Mac Pro 5,1 (Mid 2010) can boot 10.6.8. If you have a model MC250LL/A, MC560LL/A (Quad-Core) or MC561LL/A (8-Core) then try to boot the old drive. See https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202888 for identifying your model.

The programs not showing up are probably conflicting user privileges. If you can start over again, that privileges are not conflicting anymore, that's a good idea, too. By the way, there is no need to migrate standard apps included in the newer OS.

Edit: Before booting, better check the S.M.A.R.T. status in Disk Utility of that drive. In case it's somehow damaged, backup has first importance if not done yet.

 

[KyleObr]

If you can boot from the old drive, yes that's a good option. For making a backup, too. I thought you said that this doesn't work!? Keep in mind, that a Mac Pro 5,1 (Mid 2012) is probably not able to boot any system lower than 10.7.3 while a Mac Pro 5,1 (Mid 2010) can boot 10.6.8. If you have a model MC250LL/A, MC560LL/A (Quad-Core) or MC561LL/A (8-Core) then try to boot the old drive. See https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202888 for identifying your model.

The programs not showing up are probably conflicting user privileges. If you can start over again, that privileges are not conflicting anymore, that's a good idea, too.

Can't presently boot in Old Computer 1,1 but the drive of concern now in the 5,1 (mid 2010 btw) hasd 10.68 on it. Have to figure out how to get to it ?

It's been refurbed I think and the chap I got it from put a 6 core @ 3.46ghz in it ... so ... Dunno Can't locate the Model # though on screen at least.

Does any of this help ? I don't see anything resembling a Model # of the type you're speaking of ?

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 179.2px; text-indent: -179.2px; font: 11.0px 'Helvetica Neue'} span.Apple-tab-span {white-spacere}

Processor Interconnect Speed: 6.4 GT/s

Boot ROM Version: MP51.007F.B03

SMC Version (system): 1.39f11

SMC Version (processor tray): 1.39f11

 

[organicCPU]

You're right, it's a Mid 2010 Mac Pro 5,1 and should be able to run 10.6.4 and higher as is 10.6.8.
If the drive looks alright, restart and hold down the ALT key, select the volume with Snow Leopard on it for booting.

If that works and SL is mounted, you can export Address Book archive, Calendar archive, export your postboxes and what else you'll need. If there is no reason, not to do it, make a fresh install of OS X Yosemite on the proper drive. Then comes the question: migrate apps or not? You must know! If you try again to migrate, try to choose the same username on Yosemite for the first admin like on Snow Leopard, if that makes any sense.

Personally I'm installing everything fresh on a new system in general. I only migrate data that is absolute necessary for me, like my working data, emails, contacts, some secure notes and keychain files. If I think the next step could break something, I make a backup step before I regret that I don't have one (at least I always try to act like this). Hope that works for you.

 

[KyleObr]

You're right, it's a Mid 2010 Mac Pro 5,1 and should be able to run 10.6.4 and higher as is 10.6.8.
If the drive looks alright, restart and hold down the ALT key, select the volume with Snow Leopard on it for booting.

If that works and SL is mounted, you can export Address Book archive, Calendar archive, export your postboxes and what else you'll need. If there is no reason, not to do it, make a fresh install of OS X Yosemite on the proper drive. Then comes the question: migrate apps or not? You must know! If you try again to migrate, try to choose the same username on Yosemite for the first admin like on Snow Leopard, if that makes any sense.

Personally I'm installing everything fresh on a new system in general. I only migrate data that is absolute necessary for me, like my working data, emails, contacts, some secure notes and keychain files. If I think the next step could break something, I make a backup step before I regret that I don't have one (at least I always try to act like this). Hope that works for you.

Ok ... i'm back in 10.6.8 .. At least I can breath a sigh of relief and all is almost as was ..
The only odd thing is, only one of my screens (the much larger one) doesn't come up ? Previously both were active .. no connection change ? And .. I can see the screensaver ? I've gone through Detect Displays / Gather Windows in case you're wondering.

I may actually run as a Dual boot system for awhile, especially if some of my essential programs don't port over ie: CS6 PS, LR. It really wouldn't bother me since they're certainly moving a lot faster on an upgraded machine. I can move to 10.10 for other aspects of what I do as required, when needed

Can I do a clean install of 10.10.5 from the Web/Download or should I have a disc ? Btw, when i did previously migrate, I used the same Acct name as what I had on 10.6.8 ..

 

[organicCPU]

Previously both were active .. no connection change ?

Were they active on the Mid 2010 in 10.10.5 or the Mac Pro 1,1? Are they both connected with Mini Display Port or one through DVI? What happens if you change the Displays on the Ports? If you can see a screensaver but no screen of the OS then it's likely misconfigured in the System Preferences. Did you try to drag the Display icons around there. Another thing to try is to reset the NVRAM. See https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063 on how to do this.

I may actually run as a Dual boot system for awhile, especially if some of my essential programs don't port over ie: CS6 PS, LR

You can download CS6 from Adobe and install it with a valid serial number. See https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/cs6-product-downloads.html for details. For Lightroom see https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/lightroom-downloads.html and install that. You probably want to do this on the new OS and not on 10.6.5. Though Snow Leopard is a good OS, it's hard to find recent software, especially Browsers, etc..

Can I do a clean install of 10.10.5 from the Web/Download or should I have a disc ?

So the 10.10.5 came preinstalled on the Mid 2010? Maybe you can ask the company you bought the refurbished Mac Pro, if they can give you an installer thumb drive. Unfortunately the only version you can download from Apple, is the recent version of MacOS. ATM that's 10.12.3. That'll work on your Mid 2010, too. If you install it on a SSD drive and have enough RAM installed it should run quite fast. The Adobe Apps should work on Sierra, too. At least on El Capitan they do.
The only legit way to get old versions of Mac OS, is to download them while they're new and make installer thumb drives. Once you "buy" an OS at the Mac App Store, you can download it again, I think as long as you're running an older system. Making installer thumb drives in time gives you the freedom to downgrade or choose the OS like you want. It's not permitted to ask a friend for a thumb drive and it's unlikely that a local Mac dealer will help you getting an older OS, but who knows... I don't recommend you, downloading one from suspicious sources.

I used the same Acct name as what I had on 10.6.8

Then the red minus sign on the folder could be the result of a different user ID. The first admin on a new Mac gets UID 501, the second user 502 and so on. If you have the same account name, it can happen, that the UID is different and that is resulting to different user privileges. If you go for a fresh install it's not necessary to dig for information on that, except you want to. There are ways to chance the Unique ID, but they likely involve some Terminal commands.