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Author Topic: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure  (Read 5041 times)

elolaugesen

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New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« on: January 16, 2013, 09:17:24 am »

Hi.  My old trusty MacBook Pro early 2008(yes the problem child)  started yesterday having major problems with screen flashing all sorts of break up etc.  machine rebooted several times automatically,  then ran for an hour then same occurred again, and again.  my ethernet did not work, and with more work coming in today I jumped the gun.  
I bought a mac mini quad core I7 4 mg late 2012 model.

12 hours later I am now up and running tested printing (3800 printer), photoshop etc.   all working.
experience.    My trusty backup did not work.  Had for years been using super duper always worked great.  But no way would the mini boot off the same disc that my other machines (two of them would.)  Finally I portioned the mini disc copied the file over and then did the migration tool thing.  all worked except it did not copy my two sets of print drivers etc.....
installed them, ran tests all is ok.
Then ran super duper backup on tothe same partioned drive my other backups were on.  worked fine and booted off the new backup no issues. (had to deleter photoshop prefs.  could not find scratch space) then fine.   The other backups from before still no go.
In the end I found that there is a special version of 10.8.2 for the mac mini.   This is all I can attribute it to for now.  

Yes I will be buying more memory...,  yes I will get the OWC SSD with caddy for installing the hdd for all my data.   (no fusion just my own setup)

and...  my apple cinema monitor work just fine...

the developer from Shirt Pocket was absolutely great in coming back to me with suggestions etc.  HE does suggest everyone read this entry on his forum site.  I unfortunately did not get this entry until I had started the migration as he suggested... 


Quote Shirt Pocket - developer of Super Duper" I've got a new Mac: should I SuperDuper! to it?
First off, congratulations on the new Mac!

In general, brand new Macs come with special builds of OSX that have support for the new hardware. Even though the version number might be the same (e.g. OS X 10.5.7), the build number is often different.

The hardware support tends to "sync up" in the next release (in the example above, 10.5.8), so Macs released before that OS release will be able to run it.

This means that, most of the time, you should not use SuperDuper! to copy from an old Macs to a brand new one.

Instead, when you first start the new Mac, you'll be asked if you want to "copy from another Mac". Point this at the old Mac, or at the backup volume created by a full "Backup - all files" of that Mac, made with Erase, then copy or Smart Update. That'll automatically bring in your applications, account information and data.

Of course, any "copy protected" or "activated" applications will likely need to be reactivated: after all, it's a new Mac. Other than that, though, you should be ready to go on the new computer.
________
__________
--Dave Nanian


cheers elo
« Last Edit: January 16, 2013, 05:29:57 pm by elolaugesen »
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popnfresh

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2013, 11:38:15 am »

Transferring the backup of an OS from one Mac model to a different model is just asking for trouble, especially if the source is an older model. Always use Migration Assistant to transfer your accounts and apps. If the old Mac isn't booting, you can remove the drive, install it in an external enclosure and run Migration Assistant to restore from an external drive.
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francois

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2013, 12:43:36 pm »

Transferring the backup of an OS from one Mac model to a different model is just asking for trouble, especially if the source is an older model.


I agree 100%. I would use the MA, it works quite well.
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Francois

elolaugesen

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2013, 03:57:03 pm »

Yes the migration assistant worked.  I have a clean system.  So far not one app seems not to work including one borrowed app i used for three weeks while waiting for the developer to come back with a fix some color issues.

Also the overall size of the sustem was reduced by about 15-20 percent.  Files carried over from years of work.

Backup is great and I will always continue with that but Migration Assistant when you go to a new machine. 
This is the third time I have used it successfully.   

I did try a shortcut this time and it did not work.

Cheers
Elo
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francois

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2013, 02:59:11 am »

Yes the migration assistant worked.  I have a clean system.  So far not one app seems not to work including one borrowed app i used for three weeks while waiting for the developer to come back with a fix some color issues.

Also the overall size of the sustem was reduced by about 15-20 percent.  Files carried over from years of work.

Backup is great and I will always continue with that but Migration Assistant when you go to a new machine. 
This is the third time I have used it successfully.   

I did try a shortcut this time and it did not work.

Cheers
Elo

Glad to read that everything went smoothly! Keep backuping.
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Francois

elolaugesen

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2013, 03:15:55 pm »

Love my Mac mini with my old Cinema screen.  Much faster than the MBP 2008 early. 
Downside....
Miss my second screen when working.   No emails, messages etc without some action by me...(IPAD does it though)
Up at my second place.  Cannot work..  No monitor....  ??  I know mac mini easy to move ..  BrougHt it with me...  Hooked up to TV thru hdmi.  Works like a charm.  But TV is too far away need new glasses...
Will shortly (wait for 6 months...  Warranty..  Will not wait 12 months).  Install SSD. 
Do I need it.    No .....  Machine is much faster than old MBP..   
 But being the old techie..  Many many years...must try it all

Having fun.    And busy with lots of clients.   Capturing images(all original art)   Printing and framing(ugh).    Must buy a new camera with at least 18-20 mb to see if it really makes a difference.  All the artist seem to like what they get.       But...   Must move on before they find someone with better prints.      That is what this world is all about..      Staying up with the constantly changing world...   Love it.

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Graham Clark

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2013, 02:40:55 am »

Make sure to run 'Repair Permissions' on Disk Utility after using Migration Assistant.

As for the SSD, I would recommend against it unless you're using it as an OS drive, but that might be overkill for your use-case. Definitely get a G-TECH external drive for Time-Machine! : )

Graham
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Graham Clark  |  grahamclarkphoto.com

nemo295

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2013, 05:43:49 pm »

Make sure to run 'Repair Permissions' on Disk Utility after using Migration Assistant.

As for the SSD, I would recommend against it unless you're using it as an OS drive, but that might be overkill for your use-case. Definitely get a G-TECH external drive for Time-Machine! : )

Graham

I would recommend against buying a G-TECH drive. I bought two for my company from newegg.com. One was dead on arrival and the other died within a week.
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Graham Clark

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2013, 06:33:45 pm »

I would recommend against buying a G-TECH drive. I bought two for my company from newegg.com. One was dead on arrival and the other died within a week.

oh no! I buy them by the buckets for an IT environment and they've been pretty solid, in my experience! G-TECH is a subsidiary of HITACHI, which is known for making good drives.

Graham
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nemo295

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #9 on: March 09, 2013, 08:18:42 pm »

oh no! I buy them by the buckets for an IT environment and they've been pretty solid, in my experience! G-TECH is a subsidiary of HITACHI, which is known for making good drives.

Graham

Hitachi drives are OK, but their G-Tech enclosures suck. You've been lucky. My experience has been very different.

Check the user reviews on amazon and you'll see a high percentage of 1- and 2-star reviews for G-Tech external drives. They have a high failure rate.
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Graham Clark

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #10 on: March 09, 2013, 10:03:24 pm »

Hitachi drives are OK, but their G-Tech enclosures suck. You've been lucky. My experience has been very different.

Check the user reviews on amazon and you'll see a high percentage of 1- and 2-star reviews for G-Tech external drives. They have a high failure rate.

Hey Doug,

In the silicon valley IT world G-TECH seems to be pretty standard, and people around the bay area don't usually settle for bad tech so perhaps they're shipping bad batches or something : )

Graham
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jjj

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Re: New Mac Mini after Macbook Pro Failure
« Reply #11 on: March 11, 2013, 04:33:38 am »

In the silicon valley IT world G-TECH seems to be pretty standard, and people around the bay area don't usually settle for bad tech so perhaps they're shipping bad batches or something : )
So maybe best avoided then as Doug says.
I stopped buying IBM drives after they made a bad batch and repeatedly refused to admit to it. They left the HD business not long after that, having completely destroyed their previously good reputation. Hitachi took their HD section over as a result. So hopefully they will have learned from IBM's mistake.
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