A very expensive brick

[Anastasius]

So my new iMac arrived today. The old one was 11 years old and starting to creak...well, the software was.

Finally managed to make Migration Assistant to work. Only....only now the new iMac won't boot up.

I tried Recovery but it seems to need an ethernet connection (which is elsewhere) ...wifi just won't cut the mustard. So tomorrow it's going to be a l.o.o.o.ng day on the phone.

[Keraulophone]

I feel your wifi pain.

During our loft conversion, a Sky installer provided wired connections to a new satellite dish for two new rooms. But when Sky then brought along a new Sky Q box to provide multi-room coverage, those connections were made redundant as Q uses wifi to stream signals from the main box on the ground floor to all the other ‘mini-boxes’ around the house. However, even with wifi repeater boxes on each floor, the signal reaching the new attic rooms is too weak to watch Sky TV, even after upgrading wifi to their highest speed. So we have ended up paying for a multi-room system which only works in one room on the ground floor, and wasted expense putting in a new dish and wiring for Sky HD in the attic rooms. Of course, Sky doesn’t allow you to go back to HQ after Q has been installed.

(I have an even heavier brick: a ‘new’ £2k desktop PC which has never worked properly after two years, despite two trips back to the manufacturer under guarantee. )

[HighlandDougie]

So my new iMac arrived today. The old one was 11 years old and starting to creak...well, the software was.

Finally managed to make Migration Assistant to work. Only....only now the new iMac won't boot up.

I tried Recovery but it seems to need an ethernet connection (which is elsewhere) ...wifi just won't cut the mustard. So tomorrow it's going to be a l.o.o.o.ng day on the phone.

I went through the same issue a few months ago. With someone from Apple's support centre on the phone eventually admitting that Recovery would only work with a wired connection as it was impossible to connect the laptop to WiFi without the OS, I acquired a usb-c to Ethernet adapter and took the laptop to my ethernet equipped router. Fortunately it all went OK when the laptop was connected. I’ve forgotten the icon of death which appeared after I had painstakingly loaded - or so I thought - the OS etc on the new machine but I never want to see it again. I now make sure that I have an Ethernet adapter with me when the laptop goes travelling.

[Anastasius]

...I’ve forgotten the icon of death which appeared after I had painstakingly loaded - or so I thought - the OS etc on the new machine but I never want to see it again. I now make sure that I have an Ethernet adapter with me when the laptop goes travelling.

Therein lies the rub..."or so I thought". Icon of death means to me that you've not got all the OS installed. So confidence in the machine reaches rock bottom. Kind of takes the icing off the cake.

Migration Assistant is a CoS. I started it up and eventually it just hung at "1hr x minutes" and after 3 hours like that, I quit. So did it all go over or not ? Do I select everything to move? First time I selected nearly everything. Second time I deselected Applications. After rebooting the machine, and logging in to the migrated account, my desktop looked OK. The dock showed a lot of question marks (as to be expected since the applications didn't go over as determined by me). But Photos hasn't worked. Digging a bit deeper, it tells me that I don't have permissions to see the library.

It really is pretty poor TBH.

[Anastasius]

My confidence level has plumbed new depths. I'm re-re-installing Catalina and looked at the logs. Error upon error upon error. Possibly the 'norm'. Possibly 'not'. Confidence level now minus.

[Dave2002]

I wonder if there’s another way. As you presumably don’t mind wiping the new machine and starting over, there may be a way to force it to restart and reinstall a version of the system it came with. I did that once as a way of circumventing a mislaid password. I have recollections of using a recovery boot process, but interrupting the sequence at a critically timed point.

I have never used anything like Migration Assistant. Generally I prefer to just reinstall all the applications and files I really want manually - which takes time - but with backups done at check points this can avoid major problems. However, last time I did anything like this, I was tempted to use Migration Assistant. I will be less tempted to do so now having read about your experiences.

Do you have any applications on your old machine which you’d really like to move over - perhaps specialist legacy software? That can present major problems. I know of a few people who really don’t want to update their Windows machines (probably running XP) because of specific software which won’t run on newer systems, or would require new and expensive versions with a new licence. One such program was a navigation and flight planning tool for pilots.

Most programs should either work or have new equivalents on your new system, though if you’ve followed the thread on Catalina, you may have spotted some problems.

I can’t tell from your post whether you have fast/good broadband, and whether poor wi-fi is a major factor in problems. My recent experiences suggest that installing a new system shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours if the connections are reasonably good. The actual software download could hopefully be done in less than an hour. If you can get the recovery data to boot, things can go a lot quicker than that, as the data required should already be on your machine.

Good luck with getting this up and running.

[Anastasius]

Broadband speed is pretty good. Ethernet cable between Mac and router.

Seem to be getting a repeating message in the log DHCP en4: INIT transmit failed

then DHCP en4: status = 'no server'.

But could be a red herring since my understanding is that the ethernet port is en0

[Dave2002]

I did the recent Catalina install via Wifi. Not ideal, but it wasn’t a major problem. I would expect the basic work to have been faster with a wired link.

Also, I made sure I’d captured the install file and saved it before moving on to finalise the install. I wish I’d tried that with a couple of the earlier OS versions which I managed to miss out. You probably know about that - it should be stored in Applications before it runs. When it runs, it deletes the file as it completes, so it can save time to grab it while it’s there.

If things don’t work out you could perhaps try to install an earlier version, such as High Sierra or Mojave, though Apple try to make that difficult. Eventually I think most Apple users will have to migrate to Catalina, or what follows it, so older/legacy software may continue to cause problems, unless the developers update it. You probably should just persist with Catalina, but keep your old machine for anything you really need which won’t run on the new system.

I hope you’ll succeed with this in a few hours.

[Anastasius]

How did you grab the install file ? I'm currently ploughing through Recovery mode (again) and IIRC it went straight on to instal...no option to look in Applications.

How do you xfer your stuff between the Macs ?

[Dave2002]

How did you grab the install file ? I'm currently ploughing through Recovery mode (again) and IIRC it went straight on to instal...no option to look in Applications.

How do you xfer your stuff between the Macs ?

Might be different when coming from Recovery, but in the “usual” method there’s a sort of hiatus, and IIRC something like a login request or a reboot. If you get any chance you can then intercept the install file. I might not be remembering it right, though, and there might be an element of luck to know when to check. Maybe a web search will confirm a more certain way.

I use SSDs, hard drives, or even memory sticks to transfer between machines. I think the install file is small enough to go on a USB stick. Small files can be sent in emails.

[Anastasius]

Well, the re-reload of the OS has worked much smoother than the first time and so confidence levels back up. Unable to find a way to interrupt. There is a point where it asks you which country...switch off then ? Dunno..too risky, I reckon.

So.....I shall put it back in its box and continue to use my old iMac until I have a spare month to research, debug, work out how to get my files over.

[Pulcinella]

Do you have an Apple retailer/agent nearby, or even a computer buff who specialises in Apple devices?
They might (should!) be able to effect the transfer for you, though getting the kit to their shop might be problematic.

[Anastasius]

I've had a bit of a Epiphany. I realised that I've not listened to any music on the Mac for well over three years! All my listening is streamed or I will put on a CD. So the music library can stay where it is or even be deleted. Photos ? I've not looked at my Photos album also for well over three years. But they're important and so I may copy the library over. Probably not. I'm keeping my old iMac and so they can stay there. Ditto any movies.

Mail...time for a major clean-out/archive. Import what's left. Documents...can stay on the old iMac until I need to use them...then I can copy them over.

A lot of my programs are 32 bit and so IIRC won't run on Catalina anyway. A lot I have never used for years and years. No point in copying them over. I can't even remember what half of them do!

Problem solved !

[Old Grumpy]

So my new iMac arrived today. The old one was 11 years old and starting to creak...well, the software was.

Finally managed to make Migration Assistant to work. Only....only now the new iMac won't boot up.

I tried Recovery but it seems to need an ethernet connection (which is elsewhere) ...wifi just won't cut the mustard. So tomorrow it's going to be a l.o.o.o.ng day on the phone.

You can always use your new brick as a battery!

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/bricks-batteries-store-energy-house-renewable-a9665341.html

OG

[Sir Velo]

This article suggests the whole process might be a lot easier than some folk think.

Various steps to follow but an ethernet cable should not be necessary.