Moving from mid-2010 Mac Pro to iMac 5K Retina 27-inch 2020; Migration Assistant problem

[Experiment_626]

As stated, I'm trying to move from my old Mac Pro to this new iMac. The older computer is running High Seirra 10.13.6, has 32GB of RAM, and four internal hard drives (10TB startup drive, two 4TB drives, and one 2TB drive). The new iMac is running Monterey 12.0.1, with 64GB RAM and a 500GB SSD plus a 24TB RAID5 array in an OWC Thunderbay 4 USB3 housing, using SoftRAID 6.2.

Tried using Migration Assistant (with the two computers connected directly by a CAT6 Ethernet cable) to transfer my files from old to new, but the software wants to put everything on the SSD, which doesn't have nearly enough room. It's my user account data that is too large; I could transfer everything else that shows up in Migration Assistant, according to what I see on the screen* . I don't THINK I can make the RAID a bootable drive because of the additional SoftRAID software it uses. I thought about letting it transfer everything except the user account and then switching to Target Disk mode to handle the rest, but I read something that says if either Mac is running MacOS 11 or later, they must be connected either by FireWire or Thunderbolt 2 or 3 for Target Disk Mode -- but the old machine has no Thunderbolt interface at all, and the new one is fresh-out of FireWire.

* I think that what it is trying to transfer is what's on the old Mac Pro's startup disk alone; the total data on the older machine's four drives amounts to approximately 11TB, although there is a significant amount of file duplication in all that mess, with files from the last 11 years on the Mac Pro alone, plus more ported over from earlier machines; a G4 and a G5 and even to the PowerMac 6100 I had when I started working here back at the end of the '90s.

Help! What the heck can I do?

SSB

 

[velocityg4]

Turn on file sharing. Just transfer the files you want. Then reinstall apps and set your settings manually. A bit of a pain. But doable.

Then you can set the MP to act as a file server. Although it's an energy hog. Even at idle. I'd just put them in an external enclosure.

 

[Fishrrman]

Get an external drive (or possibly more than one). USB3 is fine. Or USB3.1 gen2 (better).

Put the "stuff you want to move/keep" onto the external drive(s).

Connect them to the NEW Mac and access your old data that way.
(since ALL of it won't fit onto the new drive)

IMPORTANT:
To deal with permissions problems, do this (with the external drives):
- mount the drive on the new iMac
- click ONE TIME on the icon to select it
- bring up the get info box (command-i)
- click the lock at the bottom and enter your password for the NEW iMac
- put a checkmark into "ignore ownership on this volume" (sharing and permissions)
- close get info.

You need to do this because if you DON'T do it, the new iMac may throw up permissions errors when you try to access data from the external drives (which is from your OLD accounts on the OLD Mac Pro).

 

[Experiment_626]

Turn on file sharing. Just transfer the files you want. Then reinstall apps and set your settings manually. A bit of a pain. But doable.

Then you can set the MP to act as a file server. Although it's an energy hog. Even at idle. I'd just put them in an external enclosure.

Thanks for the help!

The Mac Pro will end up going home with me. Just as well, as it is one too many machines for my desk. I'll keep the display here at work as a second monitor for the iMac.

Is there a way to do this without going through the actual network -- connecting them directly and essentially creating my own isolated network until I get the files I need copied over? Will I need a crossover cable for this (I used a regular Cat6 cable for what I was able to do with Migration Assistant)?

SSB

 

[Experiment_626]

Get an external drive (or possibly more than one). USB3 is fine. Or USB3.1 gen2 (better).

Put the "stuff you want to move/keep" onto the external drive(s).

Connect them to the NEW Mac and access your old data that way.
(since ALL of it won't fit onto the new drive)

IMPORTANT:
To deal with permissions problems, do this (with the external drives):
- mount the drive on the new iMac
- click ONE TIME on the icon to select it
- bring up the get info box (command-i)
- click the lock at the bottom and enter your password for the NEW iMac
- put a checkmark into "ignore ownership on this volume" (sharing and permissions)
- close get info.

You need to do this because if you DON'T do it, the new iMac may throw up permissions errors when you try to access data from the external drives (which is from your OLD accounts on the OLD Mac Pro).

I'll consider this -- since the old computer only has USB2, it seems like it would take a lot longer to do it this way than it would using file sharing. If I had, say, a 10TB external drive (and I haven't asked yet to see if we have one available), I'd have to copy the contents of a couple of the drives TO it first, then switch over and copy to the new Mac, and then repeat a second time for the rest of the stuff. But I'll keep this in mind if I run into problems making it work through file sharing.

Thanks!

SSB

 

[velocityg4]

Thanks for the help!

The Mac Pro will end up going home with me. Just as well, as it is one too many machines for my desk. I'll keep the display here at work as a second monitor for the iMac.

Is there a way to do this without going through the actual network -- connecting them directly and essentially creating my own isolated network until I get the files I need copied over? Will I need a crossover cable for this (I used a regular Cat6 cable for what I was able to do with Migration Assistant)?

SSB

Most computers for the last, I'd say fifteen years. Have network cards sophisticated enough to automatically do the switch internally. Which you once needed a crossover cable for. A regular patch cable should work fine.

Just set their network setting manually. I usually just set the IP address as each other for the router/gateway. Make sure you don't also have WiFi enabled. To prevent issues with network priority.

Example

Computer A
IP Address: 10.0.0.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Router: 10.0.0.2

Computer B
IP Address: 10.0.0.2
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Router: 10.0.0.1