Upgrading Mac Minis

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I have an older Mac Mini that runs Leopard and I am about to purchase a new Mac Mini running Lion. I searched a bit but still haven't been able to get some definitive answers as to how best to migrate. Any help would be much appreciated...

- Should I use the Migration Assistant or Setup? I have heard people say Migration Assistant will create an unwanted user; Is this true?

- I have two external drives: one for Time Machine and one that holds all of my media (including the iTunes library file). Should I use Time Machine to migrate or connect the two machines directly?

- Will the external media drive present any issues, particularly with the iTunes library file living there?

- Is there anything else I should know or am overlooking?

Thanks as I have never done this before and would like to be sure I am doing it right before purchasing the new machine.
 

RavingMac

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I have an older Mac Mini that runs Leopard and I am about to purchase a new Mac Mini running Lion. I searched a bit but still haven't been able to get some definitive answers as to how best to migrate. Any help would be much appreciated...

- Should I use the Migration Assistant or Setup? I have heard people say Migration Assistant will create an unwanted user; Is this true?

- I have two external drives: one for Time Machine and one that holds all of my media (including the iTunes library file). Should I use Time Machine to migrate or connect the two machines directly?

- Will the external media drive present any issues, particularly with the iTunes library file living there?

- Is there anything else I should know or am overlooking?

Thanks as I have never done this before and would like to be sure I am doing it right before purchasing the new machine.

Connect the two Macs with a firewire cable and boot the older Mac holding down the "T" key and use Migration Assistant.
How to use Migration Assistant to transfer files from another Mac
 
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So I picked up the new Mini today and the Migration Assistant won't find my external drive with Time Machine on it. It's there plain as day in the Finder and I can open it and see the backup folders, but it doesn't show in MA. Any hints?
 

RavingMac

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So I picked up the new Mini today and the Migration Assistant won't find my external drive with Time Machine on it. It's there plain as day in the Finder and I can open it and see the backup folders, but it doesn't show in MA. Any hints?

I know Migration Assistant will allow you to transfer from a Time Machine backup but the only way I have ever done it is using FireWire and Target mode between two Macs.
Maybe someone else can help with why the Time Machine method isn't working, but if you have a FireWire cable you might try that way instead.
 

chscag

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When you first turned on the new Mini it should have asked you if you wish to restore from another Mac using a Time Machine backup or the migration assistant. What did you reply to that and did you have your TM external drive attached to the new Mini at the time?
 
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It did and I selected TM backup. I got a screen similar to the one in MA. The only drive that showed up was MacInstosh HD. My Time Machine backups are on a Seagate FreeAgent external drive. Since it never showed up, I hit continue with the Mac HD drive but that didn't work.

Incidentally, if I unplug the Seagate, the MacIntosh HD disappears in MA. So I'm wondering if it is reading the old MacIntosh HD from Time Machine on the Seagate. Regardless this doesn't transfer any of my settings, documents or old applications. And on the next screen it lists as Applications as containing 0 KB.

I don't have a FW to FW cable or I'd try it direct from the old Mini. I suppose I could buy one tomorrow.

ETA: I tried connecting the two machines directly via Ethernet and the old machine would not be recognized by MA on the new machine.

Thanks for the help!
 
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Bump. I'm at a loss. I'm thinking of making an appointment at the Genius Bar, but I'd REALLY rather not. Does anyone have any advice to try?
 

RavingMac

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Bump. I'm at a loss. I'm thinking of making an appointment at the Genius Bar, but I'd REALLY rather not. Does anyone have any advice to try?

I've already given the best advice I know, which is to connect the two Macs with a FireWire cable and boot the old Mac in Target mode.

I've done it that way five times and never had a problem.

EDIT: One thing, just checked, is the Mac Mini switched from FW400 to FW800 in 2009. If your Mini is older model you probably have only a FW400 port so you will either need an adapter or get a cable with FW400 on one end and FW800 on the other.
 
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Okay, I will give that a shot. I was thinking connecting the two via Ethernet was essentially the same thing.
 

RavingMac

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Okay, I will give that a shot. I was thinking connecting the two via Ethernet was essentially the same thing.

Possibly so, but I've never done it that way.

BTW did you see this in regard to using Ethernet (from the Link I first posted for you).


1) If you are migrating from a Mac with Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard, first update it to Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later.

2) If you are migrating from a Mac with Mac OS X v10.4 or later, update it to Mac OS X v10.4.11, then install Migration and DVD and CD Sharing Update.
 
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Bump. I'm at a loss. I'm thinking of making an appointment at the Genius Bar, but I'd REALLY rather not. Does anyone have any advice to try?

So, you're close enough to an Apple Store to see a Genius. Did you buy the new Mac at an Apple Store? If so, they would transfer files for you for free. At least they did when I bought my Mini in '07. You asked for the best way. That's it.
 
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@Razormac yes both machines are as updated as they will allow.

@toMACsh I bought my new Mac Mini from the same Apple Store and they said I would need to pay for Apple Care in order to get the Genius Bar to migrate. That would cost 20% of the purchase price (before tax). Doesn't seem like the best way to me. Certainly not the best "it just works!" way.
 
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@toMACsh I bought my new Mac Mini from the same Apple Store and they said I would need to pay for Apple Care in order to get the Genius Bar to migrate. That would cost 20% of the purchase price (before tax). Doesn't seem like the best way to me.

Well, it used to be a free service. So, it was the best way then. But the cost of Apple Care is worth it for insurance. The old rule of thumb, get it for laptops, not desktops applies. The Mini is made with many components that are similar to a MacBook.
 
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So I thought I should update this in case anyone ever encounters this. I went to the Apple Store last night and got it fixed. In short, the guy who helped me said he had never seen anything like this happen before. Basically, my rudimentary understanding is my old Mac Mini Time Machine program was not backing up the "home folder." So when I went to set up the new machine with Time Machine, the process was working as it was supposed to, but there was no info there. If I entered Time Machine on the old machine it looked as though there were backups. The folders (viewed in Finder) for every backup were there, with all the sub folders, but there was nothing in them. In short, the guy at the Apple Store looked through the Time Machine and concluded it was a software glitch and performed the migration for me for free directly from my old machine. I'm just glad the machine didn't crash at some point previous or I would have lost everything despite thinking I was diligently backing up.

Thanks to all for helping me out. Razormac, it seems if I would have had the necessary FW, I likely wouldn't have had any issues following your method. But once I had migrated from an empty Time Machine, the process got a bit more convoluted.
 

RavingMac

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So I thought I should update this in case anyone ever encounters this. I went to the Apple Store last night and got it fixed. In short, the guy who helped me said he had never seen anything like this happen before. Basically, my rudimentary understanding is my old Mac Mini Time Machine program was not backing up the "home folder." So when I went to set up the new machine with Time Machine, the process was working as it was supposed to, but there was no info there. If I entered Time Machine on the old machine it looked as though there were backups. The folders (viewed in Finder) for every backup were there, with all the sub folders, but there was nothing in them. In short, the guy at the Apple Store looked through the Time Machine and concluded it was a software glitch and performed the migration for me for free directly from my old machine. I'm just glad the machine didn't crash at some point previous or I would have lost everything despite thinking I was diligently backing up.

Thanks to all for helping me out. Razormac, it seems if I would have had the necessary FW, I likely wouldn't have had any issues following your method. But once I had migrated from an empty Time Machine, the process got a bit more convoluted.
Glad it worked out for you, and interesting to hear about the Time Machine glitch.
 

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