Hoping for some help with Mac OS Migration Assistant. My wife got a new MacBook Air (on Monterey). Her old is a mid-2011 Mac Mini on High Sierra, the highest OS it will support. The new Air opens the application normally of course but on her old computer, the M.A. introduction screen will appear and inform that "all other apps will quit when you click continue." After clicking continue, an admin password comes up, do that, the screen will go blank for a moment, and then it will go to the user sign on screen. After that logging on, it is as if the MA never opened. We once briefly see a Migration Assistant message saying "log off failed" but no other details and this has not been seen in subsequent attempts. We have restarted both. Any ideas? Thanks for any help.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Migration Assistant help.
- Thread starter newcoyote
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I did consider that and it may still be worth the call but it specifies in the terms "Complimentary software support provides telephone support for installation, launch, or reinstallation (not including data recovery) when your hardware configuration meets the...". I take that to mean they cannot address issues(data recovery) on old units. Understandable due to the variables they would not be able to account for. We'll try regardless. Thank you for the suggestion.
If I understood correctly you opened Migration Assistant on both devices ; this is not necessary.
Sounds like both devices are waiting/searching for sources to migrate the data.
The most common, fastest and failproof procedure to use Migration Assistant is to start with one of these sources:
- the "old" drive (from the Mac Mini) mounted in an external enclosure (USB or Thunderbolt)
- an external Time Machine backup of the old Mac Mini
- a clone of the Mac Mini drive on an external drive
After connecting one of these sources to the "new" MacBook Air, open Migration Assistant and follow the instructions on screen.
Depending on the amount of data and the transfer speed ,within a few hours the new MBA should be ready.
Sounds like both devices are waiting/searching for sources to migrate the data.
The most common, fastest and failproof procedure to use Migration Assistant is to start with one of these sources:
- the "old" drive (from the Mac Mini) mounted in an external enclosure (USB or Thunderbolt)
- an external Time Machine backup of the old Mac Mini
- a clone of the Mac Mini drive on an external drive
After connecting one of these sources to the "new" MacBook Air, open Migration Assistant and follow the instructions on screen.
Depending on the amount of data and the transfer speed ,within a few hours the new MBA should be ready.
Last edited:
I agree and think that's the problem. You should only run Migration Assistant on the NEW Mac.
OP:
Do you have an external USB available that you could use for the migration?
If so, here's what to do:
Format the external drive to "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format" using disk utility.
Then, use either time machine, CarbonCopyCloner, or SuperDuper to create a backup of the 2011 Mini.
I recommend either CCC or SD (instead of tm).
BOTH of these are FREE to download and use for 30 days, using them to migrate will cost you nothing.
And I predict the migration will go faster.
Did your wife already set up a new account on the NEW MBair?
That could complicate matters.
I will proceed on the assumption that you HAVE NOT CREATED A NEW ACCOUNT YET.
Connect the backup drive to the MBair and turn it on for the first time.
Begin setup and start "clicking through".
At the appropriate moment, setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from a backup drive (etc).
"Aim" setup assistant at the backup and give it time to "digest everything" on the drive. Be patient.
I suggest you migrate everything.
Then let setup assistant do its thing.
Again, this may take some time.
When done, your wife should see her original login screen as it appeared on the 2011 Mini.
So... log in and "look around".
Do you have an external USB available that you could use for the migration?
If so, here's what to do:
Format the external drive to "Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format" using disk utility.
Then, use either time machine, CarbonCopyCloner, or SuperDuper to create a backup of the 2011 Mini.
I recommend either CCC or SD (instead of tm).
BOTH of these are FREE to download and use for 30 days, using them to migrate will cost you nothing.
And I predict the migration will go faster.
Did your wife already set up a new account on the NEW MBair?
That could complicate matters.
I will proceed on the assumption that you HAVE NOT CREATED A NEW ACCOUNT YET.
Connect the backup drive to the MBair and turn it on for the first time.
Begin setup and start "clicking through".
At the appropriate moment, setup assistant will ask if you wish to migrate from a backup drive (etc).
"Aim" setup assistant at the backup and give it time to "digest everything" on the drive. Be patient.
I suggest you migrate everything.
Then let setup assistant do its thing.
Again, this may take some time.
When done, your wife should see her original login screen as it appeared on the 2011 Mini.
So... log in and "look around".
Thank you for the help. I don't understand though. Nothing happens when the new is running MA. Just a loading indicator saying "looking for sources". Also on the Apple site, it says:
"On your old Mac
Open Migration Assistant, then click Continue.
When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer to another Mac. Then click Continue." in addition to instructions for the new.
Also, why would clicking on "Continue" not only fail to initiate the next steps but go to the computer login screen??
You're very welcome!
I'm a Mac user for ~ 2,5 decades and done this uncountable times , so I can confirm this to work...
To describe it in a different way:
What it's about is that the NEW Mac gets the data stored on the old device; the OLD Mac has no active role.
How? By connecting the old data to the new Mac .
How ? By connecting a drive with all old data to the new Mac.
This may sound technical, but you'll find out it's easier than you might be thinking now...
When opening MA on the new Mac, it should ask where to get the data ; choose the connected drive and all will work.
There's no need at all to use the old Mac for this.
A drive is all you need.
It is (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350). Unless you a timemachine backup as source (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203981) or put the old machine into target disk drive (requires fitting cables https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/mac-help/mchlp1443/mac).
OP. If you don't have a timemachine backup or cables, try creating a new user on the old machine. Then start Migration assistent from that account. I shouldn't matter which user start migration assistent I imagine, since Migration Assistent will run in logged out state anyway.
TBH ,without saying this is incorrect, Im afraid that this approach will complicate things a lot for the OP...
Yes something critical is missing from the equation. I have done this on my own many times also. I don't recall having the least issue just transferring data from my old to new. What you're saying to do, ain't happening. That is the crux of the problem.
"When opening MA on the new Mac, it should ask where to get the data ; choose the connected drive and all will work."
It does NOT show any connected drive. The ONLY place this data is, is on the old Mac. I cannot connect to it, either over Wifi or by Ethernet. The old Mac HAS to play a role. Where else would the data come from?
It does. It NEEDS to run migration assistent too and being on same network or connected directly by cable (ethernet to ethernet is fine if possible, the old machine will make it work if it has a built-in ethernet connector (normally you need a switched ethernet cable for direct connection).
Like I said in my 1st post: "The most common, fastest and failproof procedure to use Migration Assistant is to start with one of these sources" etc see post #4
This is assuming there is a backup on a physical drive , which is IMHO one of the most basic things to have (for obvious reasons).
Apparently you dont have an external backup and cant/dont want to make one on a physical drive, which leaves you with a few , by far more complicated , options:
- buy a thunderbolt cable , connect both and start the old Mac in Target Disk Mode
- connect through WIFI : after setting this up, a WIFI will be much slower than a USB connection and is not 100% reliable : dont be surprised if after hours of transfer over WIFI, there will be an error and the process will be aborted....
- ethernet: buy the correct ethernet cable set it up etc etc etc
Short version: keep it simple
My posts are not intended to state that I'm right , just a recommendation based on personal experience.
BTW @Fishrrman explained the exact same approach (and made a good point about cloning vs TimeMachine)
After all, do as you please.
It's a total mystery to me why there are people out there who may come to the insight of the importance of a small investment like a backup drive, only after learning it the hard way.....
Good luck!
Last edited:
To be honest, the only way I have migrated data for years on new Macs is to use a Carbon Copy backup of the old Mac. So, perhaps my understanding of how this should work Mac to Mac is no longer accurate. I always have a CCC backup of my Mac on an external SSD, so this is very quick when connecting to a new Mac.
Hopefully you'll get it working now, there have been some good posts here.
Hopefully you'll get it working now, there have been some good posts here.