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Time Machine | Full Backup Restore Issue (11.1 + 11.2)

E

eLeX69

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 11, 2020
5
1
Hi All,

I am desperately trying to restore a Time Machine backup stored on my (LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 3 10Tb) external drive to my (2019) iMac running Big Sur 11.2.

Here is what I have done:
  • Started up iMac while pressing CMD + R
  • Selected « Restore from Time Machine » and clicked « Continue »
  • In the « Restore from Time Machine » window: Clicked « Continue »
  • In the « Select a Restore Source »: Selected my LaCie external drive from the list and clicked « Unlock »
  • Entered my LaCie drive password (backups are encrypted) and clicked « Continue »
  • In the « Select a Backup » window: Selected the desired backup from the list and clicked « Continue »
The following message appears:
« You must use Migration Assistant to transfer data from this backup. Reinstall macOS if necessary and then use Migration Assistant to transfer data from your backup. »

(FYI: I have experienced the exact same behavior on my late 2014 iMac which is still running Big Sur 11.1.)

Am I understanding this correctly that one can no longer restore a full backup (system + data) in one shot (as I did a number of times in the past using previous macOS versions) but shall first reinstall macOS and then use Migration Assistant to restore files?

(For reference purposes, this is how I used to proceed: https://www.howtogeek.com/356063/ho...-from-a-time-machine-backup-in-recovery-mode/)

Thanks for any help or guidance you can provide.
 
Last edited:
  • Angry
Reactions: Raphael Louis
Thanks for your response. Yes, it looks like this is the only way to make this work since the upgrade to Big Sur.
 
Could imagine why they blocked that restore function.
I tried a very similar restore from Time Machine in Catalina last year on my 2014 iMac (3TB Fusion Drive). It was allowed to do so at that time in Catalina - in fact Apple Support directly instructed me to do so in this case - but it just ruined my Fusion Drive, filling it up completely with useless data and leaving behind a bricked iMac, which I then recovered by clean install.
So obviously this function has severe bugs, and instead of fixing them they just disabled it.

Better of course than letting the users deal with the problem, but of course fixing the bugs would have been even better.
 
I had the same issue and the only way to recover was to erase my hard drive and re-install macOS and then restore using Migration Assistant.

I don't think this is expected behaviour (as I called Apple Support) and they stated this is not the way it is supposed to work.

I also experienced a problem (reported here https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/error-this-volume-cannot-be-downgraded.2284451/ ) where I was unable to re-install macOS using Recovery mode. The only way to re-install macOS was to erase the drive and re-install (which again is not the way it is supposed to work per Apple Support).

I think this may be a bug introduced in Big Sur (for Fusion drive Macs), but is not that widely known as people don't often need to enter recovery mode.
 
InAustralia said:
I had the same issue and the only way to recover was to erase my hard drive and re-install macOS and then restore using Migration Assistant.

I don't think this is expected behaviour (as I called Apple Support) and they stated this is not the way it is supposed to work.

I also experienced a problem (reported here https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/error-this-volume-cannot-be-downgraded.2284451/ ) where I was unable to re-install macOS using Recovery mode. The only way to re-install macOS was to erase the drive and re-install (which again is not the way it is supposed to work per Apple Support).

I think this may be a bug introduced in Big Sur (for Fusion drive Macs), but is not that widely known as people don't often need to enter recovery mode.
Click to expand...
It is new procedure that you now have to use Migration Assistant to restore files from Time Machine. Apple just hasn't bothered to update the customer rep talking point guides, unfortunately. It has been this way since beta 1. I had a rep try to steer me the same way and I had to tell her her information was incorrect.
 
Is there any official apple support document about this? I am in the same situation, wasn't able to restore a backup from an external hdd ("You must use migration assistent...") but i was able to restore a backup from the internal Time Machine-backup. I pretty sure this is a bug.
 
sorry to necro this thread, but this makes time machine almost useless. I just want to roll back an install and get rid of some useless kexts, etc. So I have to reinstall the OS and then use migration assistant?? WTF?
 
eLeX69 said:
Hi All,

I am desperately trying to restore a Time Machine backup stored on my (LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 3 10Tb) external drive to my (2019) iMac running Big Sur 11.2.

Here is what I have done:
  • Started up iMac while pressing CMD + R
  • Selected « Restore from Time Machine » and clicked « Continue »
  • In the « Restore from Time Machine » window: Clicked « Continue »
  • In the « Select a Restore Source »: Selected my LaCie external drive from the list and clicked « Unlock »
  • Entered my LaCie drive password (backups are encrypted) and clicked « Continue »
  • In the « Select a Backup » window: Selected the desired backup from the list and clicked « Continue »
The following message appears:
« You must use Migration Assistant to transfer data from this backup. Reinstall macOS if necessary and then use Migration Assistant to transfer data from your backup. »

(FYI: I have experienced the exact same behavior on my late 2014 iMac which is still running Big Sur 11.1.)

Am I understanding this correctly that one can no longer restore a full backup (system + data) in one shot (as I did a number of times in the past using previous macOS versions) but shall first reinstall macOS and then use Migration Assistant to restore files?

(For reference purposes, this is how I used to proceed: https://www.howtogeek.com/356063/ho...-from-a-time-machine-backup-in-recovery-mode/)

Thanks for any help or guidance you can provide.
Click to expand...

I encountered the same issue. It appears that it is no longer possible to do what you'd tried. Likely a bug that has yet to be fixed. I'll describe my course of events in the hope that it may be of use to someone:

1. Attempted to set up a new 16" MacBook Pro from a Time Machine backup of a mid-2015 MBP that unfortunately no longer functioned, so a computer to computer transfer wasn't possible.

2. My Time Machine configuration is a Seagate external drive connected to an AirPort Extreme. The Setup Assistant started just fine over the air (stupidly, I forgot how long this would take for >600 GB) and ran for about 3 days until it froze almost 70% in. At that point, I wasn't about to restart that whole process, and tried a wired restore.

3. Plugging the Seagate directly into the Mac seemed to work fine, in that the drive mounted and the backups were recognized (there are 3 different ones on that drive), but I couldn't initiate the restore. Every time I'd advance to the screen where one selects the actual backup to restore from, its contents would appear blank.

4. At this point I decided to use Migration Assistant rather than Setup Assistant, but to do that, I had to set up the machine as new. However, Migration Assistant, once I was able to get there, produced the same problem, i.e. blank screen where a list of the available backups should be.

5. I then decided to do the CMD-R bit, hoping that the restore utility would do the trick. And indeed it looked good for a while, as I was now able to see the list of the backup timepoints and to select the one that I wanted, but then the same message popped up, telling me that I must re-install the OS and use Migration Assistant to transfer the data! And of course that put me back into the same aggravating loop.

6. After 3 calls to Apple Support and several hours of pondering (following the 3 days of waiting for the original restore to complete over the air), I finally tried to again do a wired restore but now using an ethernet connection from the AirPort Extreme to the Mac rather than plugging the Seagate in directly. This too seemed to start off just fine until I got to the part where I had to select the back up file in Migration Assistant. Again, no joy - got the spinning wheel and no progress. (And to make matters worse, of course I had to go out to buy a USB-C to ethernet adapter because, well, the ridiculous 2019 MBP port configuration...)

7. Finally, the restore worked after I dropped down into the back-up hierarchy rather than selecting the very top level, and chose the back-up folder at the specific time point. See attached pics. Took about 8 hrs to make it through the ~600 GB. Although theoretical max should have been 1 GB/s over USB-C and ethernet, I saw only 10 MB/s, probably because the USB-A Seagate to AirPort connection couldn't support a higher speed.

To summarize:

1. Do not restore over the air.
2. Do not connect external Time Machine drive directly to Mac.
3. Connect AirPort Extreme (or Time Capsule, I suppose) to Mac via ethernet.
4. Do not try to restore from the top level of the back-up volume; instead, drop down to the folder level (i.e. select the folder corresponding to the particular back-up time point of choice

Hope this helps.
 

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Last edited:
eLeX69 said:
Hi All,

I am desperately trying to restore a Time Machine backup stored on my (LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 3 10Tb) external drive to my (2019) iMac running Big Sur 11.2.

Here is what I have done:
  • Started up iMac while pressing CMD + R
  • Selected « Restore from Time Machine » and clicked « Continue »
  • In the « Restore from Time Machine » window: Clicked « Continue »
  • In the « Select a Restore Source »: Selected my LaCie external drive from the list and clicked « Unlock »
  • Entered my LaCie drive password (backups are encrypted) and clicked « Continue »
  • In the « Select a Backup » window: Selected the desired backup from the list and clicked « Continue »
The following message appears:
« You must use Migration Assistant to transfer data from this backup. Reinstall macOS if necessary and then use Migration Assistant to transfer data from your backup. »

(FYI: I have experienced the exact same behavior on my late 2014 iMac which is still running Big Sur 11.1.)

Am I understanding this correctly that one can no longer restore a full backup (system + data) in one shot (as I did a number of times in the past using previous macOS versions) but shall first reinstall macOS and then use Migration Assistant to restore files?

(For reference purposes, this is how I used to proceed: https://www.howtogeek.com/356063/ho...-from-a-time-machine-backup-in-recovery-mode/)

Thanks for any help or guidance you can provide.
Click to expand...
Same exact problem recently (two days ago). I’ve always relied on FULL TM backups to fully restore my Macs. It always worked flawlessly, until it didn’t, day before yesterday. And I tried each, and, EVERY, single, backup I had in my enternal 4TB HDD drive I use for TM backups, the last on the list was almost a year old!!! All of them displayed the dreaded message “Install Mac OS first and then use Migration Assistant to restore from this backup.”
I was like, FINE!
So, I did… Thinking that would be fine…
The installation of the brand new OS went fine. No issues. But then, oh, but then… Keep reading, please, this contains important and alarming info.
After the installation of the OS from scratch, I used MA to start restoring everything… I spent 5 days trying EVERYTHING I could think of. Here’s what happened:
No matter which one of the backups I tried using the MA, it would restore to about 97%, and then completely freeze with the message “Restoring system settings.” And also “About 19 minutes remaining.” Mind you: Yes, I waited 19 minutes. Yes, I waited 1 hour. Yes, I waited 10 hours. Yes, I waited OVERNIGHT, for about 20 hours!!! No use. It was definitely frozen. Period. And I tried several times, several different backups, all results were exactly the same.
At this point, desperate, (I’m a Database Administrator. My iMac Pro contains passwords, complex setups, software keys, Virtual Machines… There was NO way I would be able to start from scratch.)
Then I tried the route of the insanely desperate:
Whenever MA would lock up, I’d wait about 5 minutes to make sure it had time to do whatever it was NOT doing, and I’d hit the cancel button. Then, same process again. Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat. Eventually, every time I clicked cancel and restarted the process, MA would restart from a different point in the process. Finally there came a point where it read “Complete”, and it froze again. I restarted the iMac Pro, opened up MA again, which this time around it proceeded to another one more step, rebooted to Mac, and PRESTO!!! Everything, absolutely everything was completely restored!

So, yes, it appears Apple changed things in the way TM does its backups. Yes, this new combination of “You must install the OS and use Migration Assistant” is absolutely stupid. Yes, it’s cumbersome. NO, it does not work as it should. Yes, the MA is uber BUGGY!!!

I sincerely would not be so bothered if the clean install+MA process worked as it should. But obviously it DOES NOT! Not without you wasting DAYS, cancelling and restarting the process over and over again to unfreeze MA.

Apple, please, please, please, fix this. Go back to allowing us to simply restore from TM backups, without this stupid MA…!

Rant, and PSA, over. Good luck everyone!

Best, Raphael.
 
Rominor said:
Finally, the restore worked after I dropped down into the back-up hierarchy rather than selecting the very top level
Click to expand...
Will this restore the licenses of the installed apps? I can't even connect to the server via Migration assistant, but otherwise I can connect to the time capsule and browse the backups.
 
startergo said:
Will this restore the licenses of the installed apps?
Click to expand...
It is complicated :confused:
1. Anything from Apple App Store is licensed by Apple ID. That is easy even if you have to enter AppleID and password.
2. Other apps store license data somewhere in ~/Library or /Library or /Users. That can require some searching if it doesn't just happen. The fallback being to reinstall the license whether it is a file or a code you enter.
3. Some are hidden more obscurely, e.g. old MS Office versions.
4. Some apps are licensed to you personally and are activated by your login to the vendors web site, e.g. MS Office, Adobe.
5. A few are activated by machine ID and should be de-activated before moving to a new Mac.

My preference is to store all license details in known places that I can recover in the event of disaster. I keep all keys (strings of digits and letters) in 1Password and all license files I store in iCloud.
 
Actually if you look at this article:

Recover all your files from a Time Machine backup

If you use Time Machine to back up your Mac, you can recover your files if your system or startup disk is damaged.
support.apple.com
the instructions for restoring from the Time Machine changed from Big Sur onwards since the introduction of the SSV:
developer.apple.com

Protecting data at multiple layers - Discover - Apple Developer

Apple devices have multiple encryption features to safeguard the system and people’s data. Some capabilities are enabled by default, and developers only need to be aware of them in rare cases. Other features, such as Data Protection, can benefit from explicit design decisions to select the best...
developer.apple.com developer.apple.com
eclecticlight.co

Big Sur’s Signed System Volume: added security protection

From SIP to a protected read-only System volume, macOS 11 takes system protection a big step further with cryptographic verification.
eclecticlight.co eclecticlight.co
The backup in BS and later is a sparse bundle image containing only the MacintoshHD-Data (APFS Data Volume) and the APFS System Volume is not included in the backup. Therefore you can't restore a full disk in BS and later, but you have to reinstall the operating system (which installs first the APFS System Volume) and before any personalization takes place Migration Assistant is offered:
After macOS finishes installing new system files, Migration Assistant asks if you want to transfer information from another Mac or a Time Machine backup. Select Transfer from a Time Machine Backup, then click Continue.
Click to expand...
Another thing to note is when I looked at the log files in the recovery console I realized that the Time Capsule cannot mount, because it was trying to connect to AFP protocol.
AFP was replaced by SMB starting with Maverics:

Apple Filing Protocol - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
So after I changed the connection from afp:// to smb:// I was able to connect to the Time Capsule from Internet Recovery mode, but it let me know that the Data can only be restored after reinstalling the macOS (before any personalization takes place).
After restoration all settings and licenses were restored back to the machine.
 
Last edited:
Curiously, when I tried restoring my Mac (m1 pro, ventura), I had the ability to restore from a TM Backup, but that only worked for the Time Machine local snapshot, TM made. When I tried to use any other Time Machine backup on my portable SSD, I got the same, "You must use Migration Assistant …"-message, that OP got.
 
Last edited:
Stratox said:
Curiously, ....You must use Migration Assistant to transfer data from this backup. Reinstall macOS if necessary and then use Migration Assistant to transfer data from your backup
Click to expand...
Not curious. That is the standard (supported) way of doing it. As has been described in many posts above.
 
gilby101 said:
Not curious. That is the standard (supported) way of doing it. As has been described in many posts above.
Click to expand...
Did you read my post? It is possible, just only for the TM local snapshot(s).
 
Last edited:
I encountered the same issue too. I attempted to install Sequoia on my 16” 2019 MacBook Pro, but I couldn’t install it because it kept crashing and displaying 6 Apple logos below the middle of the screen, so I went into recovery mode and I’m attempting to downgrade back to Sonoma, but I keep getting this message and I don’t know how to wipe it because the recovery mode options say to reinstall the macOS 15 beta, but if I do that, it’ll botch the install and give me six Apple logos instead. How do I downgrade back to Sonoma?
 
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