Connecting a system hard drive from an old Mac to a new Mac without Time Machine
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fabbaf
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fabbam Posted messages 18 Status Membre -
fabbam Posted messages 18 Status Membre -
Hello,
My name is Fabien, and I am writing to you today with a question that may seem quite simple, but for which I cannot find an answer on the internet (I am only being referred to a migration from one hard drive to another).
Here is my problem:
My 15" MacBook Pro early 2011 i7 is dead (graphics card burned out)!
However, I still have my system hard drive with all my software, configs, etc. that works and that I would like to install on a new Mac.
Is it therefore possible to simply connect my old hard drive to the new Mac and start from it, as if nothing happened?
I am asking the question because I have not yet found my replacement Mac, but also because I tried to boot my friend's Mac from my system hard drive (connected externally via a docking station) and it did not work...
Indeed, the hard drive appears in the Apple Disk Utility, but it fails to mount, and therefore when I try to choose it as the startup disk, it simply does not appear...
Do you have a solution to this problem, please?
Thank you very much for your reading anyway!
Have a great day!
Fabien
Configuration: Windows / Chrome 70.0.3538.77
My name is Fabien, and I am writing to you today with a question that may seem quite simple, but for which I cannot find an answer on the internet (I am only being referred to a migration from one hard drive to another).
Here is my problem:
My 15" MacBook Pro early 2011 i7 is dead (graphics card burned out)!
However, I still have my system hard drive with all my software, configs, etc. that works and that I would like to install on a new Mac.
Is it therefore possible to simply connect my old hard drive to the new Mac and start from it, as if nothing happened?
I am asking the question because I have not yet found my replacement Mac, but also because I tried to boot my friend's Mac from my system hard drive (connected externally via a docking station) and it did not work...
Indeed, the hard drive appears in the Apple Disk Utility, but it fails to mount, and therefore when I try to choose it as the startup disk, it simply does not appear...
Do you have a solution to this problem, please?
Thank you very much for your reading anyway!
Have a great day!
Fabien
Configuration: Windows / Chrome 70.0.3538.77
6 réponses
Hello _Ritchi_, thank you for this enlightening response!
I'll try to answer point by point:
- The computer always starts up, but the screen gets blurred with big squares of color and then turns blue.
So I prefer not to continue using it, and I'm not sure if it's okay to leave it on. Do you think your solution can still work this way?
- My station is simply an internal hard drive connection linked to a USB cable, allowing me to read internal drives like external ones. It's probably the same as using an enclosure like you do.
- Finally, my friend's Mac is newer than mine in terms of hardware, but it stayed on Yosemite, while I've always done the updates; so it's on 10.13.
But I understand the compatibility issue.
So if I understand correctly, I need to buy a Mac with a hard drive equivalent to mine (SSD 256GB or more) and with a Mac system installed on it, start it normally, connect my old system drive externally, and use the Migration Assistant to copy from my old system to the new Mac, and I'll have everything back to how it was?
Thank you so much for your help!
I'll try to answer point by point:
- The computer always starts up, but the screen gets blurred with big squares of color and then turns blue.
So I prefer not to continue using it, and I'm not sure if it's okay to leave it on. Do you think your solution can still work this way?
- My station is simply an internal hard drive connection linked to a USB cable, allowing me to read internal drives like external ones. It's probably the same as using an enclosure like you do.
- Finally, my friend's Mac is newer than mine in terms of hardware, but it stayed on Yosemite, while I've always done the updates; so it's on 10.13.
But I understand the compatibility issue.
So if I understand correctly, I need to buy a Mac with a hard drive equivalent to mine (SSD 256GB or more) and with a Mac system installed on it, start it normally, connect my old system drive externally, and use the Migration Assistant to copy from my old system to the new Mac, and I'll have everything back to how it was?
Thank you so much for your help!
Hello,
".. My 15-inch Macbook Pro early 2011 i7 is dead...":
OK, the graphics card is faulty, but does it still start?
If yes, there is a special mode that allows the Mac to be recognized as an external hard drive. Once in this state, if you connect it to another Mac, that other Mac will see your old one as an external disk it can access.
The idea is then to recover your data and applications using "Migration Assistant," a utility you can find in the "Applications -> Utilities" folder.
If you haven’t thrown away your old one, you could try this method.
If you no longer have your old Mac, then nothing is lost since you have kept the internal disk from your old Mac. Putting it in a docking station is an experience unknown to me: I have always put my old internal drives into USB/FireWire external enclosures. That said, I suggest you try reading the disk with "Migration Assistant" and see what happens.
Regarding starting a Mac from the internal hard drive of your old Mac, it’s not really possible, as the system on your internal drive has been optimized for the hardware of your old Mac, and unless you buy the same Mac as your old one, it won't work.
Another reason it won’t work: if the old internal disk contains a version of Mac OS older than the one that was shipped by Apple with your friend's Mac, then your friend's Mac will refuse to boot on a system that was designed long before the creation of your friend's Mac.
To be clearer:
Case 1: Your old internal disk is running MacOS X 10.10 and your friend's Mac was shipped by Apple with 10.13. Your friend's Mac will refuse to boot with macOS 10.10 because that system could not anticipate the hardware components contained in your friend's Mac.
Case 2: Your old internal disk is running MacOS X 10.13 and your friend's Mac is so old that Apple decided it cannot upgrade beyond Mac OS 10.11. In this case, it’s the Mac OS 10.13 system that will refuse to run on your friend's "antique" Mac....
Ritchi
".. My 15-inch Macbook Pro early 2011 i7 is dead...":
OK, the graphics card is faulty, but does it still start?
If yes, there is a special mode that allows the Mac to be recognized as an external hard drive. Once in this state, if you connect it to another Mac, that other Mac will see your old one as an external disk it can access.
The idea is then to recover your data and applications using "Migration Assistant," a utility you can find in the "Applications -> Utilities" folder.
If you haven’t thrown away your old one, you could try this method.
If you no longer have your old Mac, then nothing is lost since you have kept the internal disk from your old Mac. Putting it in a docking station is an experience unknown to me: I have always put my old internal drives into USB/FireWire external enclosures. That said, I suggest you try reading the disk with "Migration Assistant" and see what happens.
Regarding starting a Mac from the internal hard drive of your old Mac, it’s not really possible, as the system on your internal drive has been optimized for the hardware of your old Mac, and unless you buy the same Mac as your old one, it won't work.
Another reason it won’t work: if the old internal disk contains a version of Mac OS older than the one that was shipped by Apple with your friend's Mac, then your friend's Mac will refuse to boot on a system that was designed long before the creation of your friend's Mac.
To be clearer:
Case 1: Your old internal disk is running MacOS X 10.10 and your friend's Mac was shipped by Apple with 10.13. Your friend's Mac will refuse to boot with macOS 10.10 because that system could not anticipate the hardware components contained in your friend's Mac.
Case 2: Your old internal disk is running MacOS X 10.13 and your friend's Mac is so old that Apple decided it cannot upgrade beyond Mac OS 10.11. In this case, it’s the Mac OS 10.13 system that will refuse to run on your friend's "antique" Mac....
Ritchi
Hello
So you are one of the unfortunate owners of a MacBook Pro 2011: https://consomac.fr/news-2386-le-macbook-pro-2011-a-de-gros-soucis.html
Here’s an article that might inspire you if you’re not in a hurry and are determined enough to see it through: https://macbidouille.com/news/2017/10/23/un-macbook-pro-2011-echange-contre-un-modele-tout-neuf
OK, this article is from October 2017, so to further encourage you in this direction, here is a very recent case of a person sharing their experience with Apple’s customer service: https://forums.macg.co/threads/reparation-reussie-gpu-macbook-pro-15-2011.1237612/page-49
On page 49 of this long discussion, look for the post by "Phillip Jeffries" dated "October 19, 2018": reading it is very enlightening and should help you put your case forward to customer service. In any case, I wish you the same outcome for your situation: being eligible to replace your old Mac with a recent model!
(here’s the direct link to this post: https://forums.macg.co/threads/reparation-reussie-gpu-macbook-pro-15-2011.1237612/reply?quote=13341772 )
If you still wish to go with the "buying a new Mac" option, then I have a doubt about the state of your internal hard drive as it should be accessible from your friend's Mac, just like any external drive.
Sure, it can't boot your friend's Mac, but it should at least show up in Finder and display its contents.
Two ideas come to mind:
1- the cable you are using may not be as equivalent to an external enclosure that contains electronics to manage the drive. Is it possible to find and borrow such an enclosure from someone around you?
2- I assume that when you faced a blue screen, you were shutting down your Mac by holding down the power button. This "brutal" shutdown (also see those frequent "brutal" shutdowns) may have damaged system files. A repair of these files might be necessary. This should be done from the old Mac by putting the drive back inside and following the "fsck" procedure described further down in my message.
Once the system files are repaired, I suggest starting the Mac while holding down the Shift key: this startup mode is called "Safe Mode" or "Disabled Extensions".
It instructs the Mac to start without any extensions and therefore without using the graphics card, which is an extension! This should allow you to access your Mac. It will run in degraded mode (since there’s no graphics card) and will be slower because the i7 processor will have to, in addition to its job, handle all the graphical work. This should be sufficient for you to possibly make a Time Machine backup of your internal disk onto an external disk, a backup that you can use on the new Mac that Apple will provide you!
Note that if I have convinced you to pursue the replacement path by Apple for your MacBook, you need to put the internal drive back in because it will be examined by Apple’s customer service...
FSCK Procedure:
To do this, you need to:
- Restart the Mac in "single mode" by holding down the Command and S keys (or cmd(⌘) and S, depending on the keyboard) until a black screen with white text appears.
- When nothing is moving on the screen anymore, press the Enter ( ↩︎ ) key.
- The new line that appears should now start with :/ root#
- Now type the command fsck -yf and validate this command with the Enter ( ↩︎ ) key.
+ note1: respect the case and the spaces
+ note2: in single mode, the keyboard is qwerty, so to make the hyphen character (the one before the y), it is advisable to use the numeric keyboard or use the ) key to make the hyphen.
- Wait for the result of this command (which may take a few minutes).
- As long as the result of the command contains the phrase "File system was modified", run the command fsck -yf again by validating it with the Enter ( ↩︎ ) key.
- Type the command reboot and validate it with the Enter ( ↩︎ ) key: the Mac will restart normally.
Ritchi
So you are one of the unfortunate owners of a MacBook Pro 2011: https://consomac.fr/news-2386-le-macbook-pro-2011-a-de-gros-soucis.html
Here’s an article that might inspire you if you’re not in a hurry and are determined enough to see it through: https://macbidouille.com/news/2017/10/23/un-macbook-pro-2011-echange-contre-un-modele-tout-neuf
OK, this article is from October 2017, so to further encourage you in this direction, here is a very recent case of a person sharing their experience with Apple’s customer service: https://forums.macg.co/threads/reparation-reussie-gpu-macbook-pro-15-2011.1237612/page-49
On page 49 of this long discussion, look for the post by "Phillip Jeffries" dated "October 19, 2018": reading it is very enlightening and should help you put your case forward to customer service. In any case, I wish you the same outcome for your situation: being eligible to replace your old Mac with a recent model!
(here’s the direct link to this post: https://forums.macg.co/threads/reparation-reussie-gpu-macbook-pro-15-2011.1237612/reply?quote=13341772 )
If you still wish to go with the "buying a new Mac" option, then I have a doubt about the state of your internal hard drive as it should be accessible from your friend's Mac, just like any external drive.
Sure, it can't boot your friend's Mac, but it should at least show up in Finder and display its contents.
Two ideas come to mind:
1- the cable you are using may not be as equivalent to an external enclosure that contains electronics to manage the drive. Is it possible to find and borrow such an enclosure from someone around you?
2- I assume that when you faced a blue screen, you were shutting down your Mac by holding down the power button. This "brutal" shutdown (also see those frequent "brutal" shutdowns) may have damaged system files. A repair of these files might be necessary. This should be done from the old Mac by putting the drive back inside and following the "fsck" procedure described further down in my message.
Once the system files are repaired, I suggest starting the Mac while holding down the Shift key: this startup mode is called "Safe Mode" or "Disabled Extensions".
It instructs the Mac to start without any extensions and therefore without using the graphics card, which is an extension! This should allow you to access your Mac. It will run in degraded mode (since there’s no graphics card) and will be slower because the i7 processor will have to, in addition to its job, handle all the graphical work. This should be sufficient for you to possibly make a Time Machine backup of your internal disk onto an external disk, a backup that you can use on the new Mac that Apple will provide you!
Note that if I have convinced you to pursue the replacement path by Apple for your MacBook, you need to put the internal drive back in because it will be examined by Apple’s customer service...
FSCK Procedure:
To do this, you need to:
- Restart the Mac in "single mode" by holding down the Command and S keys (or cmd(⌘) and S, depending on the keyboard) until a black screen with white text appears.
- When nothing is moving on the screen anymore, press the Enter ( ↩︎ ) key.
- The new line that appears should now start with :/ root#
- Now type the command fsck -yf and validate this command with the Enter ( ↩︎ ) key.
+ note1: respect the case and the spaces
+ note2: in single mode, the keyboard is qwerty, so to make the hyphen character (the one before the y), it is advisable to use the numeric keyboard or use the ) key to make the hyphen.
- Wait for the result of this command (which may take a few minutes).
- As long as the result of the command contains the phrase "File system was modified", run the command fsck -yf again by validating it with the Enter ( ↩︎ ) key.
- Type the command reboot and validate it with the Enter ( ↩︎ ) key: the Mac will restart normally.
Ritchi
Hello _Ritchi_, thank you again for this very detailed response!
As for that infamous issue, I experienced it myself about 3 or 4 years ago.
At the time, I was living in Paris, and after several visits to Apple Stores, I managed to get the part replaced for free.
However, when I called customer service (I'm no longer near an Apple Store), I emphasized that the problem was known and that I had already been affected by it, but they replied that it was normal for them to address it a few years ago, but after 7 years, such warranty programs come to an end.
It is now therefore impossible for me to get the part replaced for free (the "vintage" computer) and even less likely to receive a new Mac...
Additionally, I bought this computer second-hand from an individual in 2013; I therefore do not have the purchase receipt, only the receipts from previous repairs.
Otherwise, I have indeed had a few "brutal" shutdowns to turn off my computer, so I will try your methods to repair the hard drive using the fsck command and I'll keep you updated on how it goes!
Thanks again and see you soon!
As for that infamous issue, I experienced it myself about 3 or 4 years ago.
At the time, I was living in Paris, and after several visits to Apple Stores, I managed to get the part replaced for free.
However, when I called customer service (I'm no longer near an Apple Store), I emphasized that the problem was known and that I had already been affected by it, but they replied that it was normal for them to address it a few years ago, but after 7 years, such warranty programs come to an end.
It is now therefore impossible for me to get the part replaced for free (the "vintage" computer) and even less likely to receive a new Mac...
Additionally, I bought this computer second-hand from an individual in 2013; I therefore do not have the purchase receipt, only the receipts from previous repairs.
Otherwise, I have indeed had a few "brutal" shutdowns to turn off my computer, so I will try your methods to repair the hard drive using the fsck command and I'll keep you updated on how it goes!
Thanks again and see you soon!
You need to tell them that it's a hidden defect, just like the person I sent you the link about:
"I was kindly informed that my model can no longer be repaired, that it is considered vintage and therefore no parts are available. This is sad news...
I could have given up there, but I then retorted that this had nothing to do with the model's age but that it was a recognized hidden defect by Apple. It was then that I was transferred to another person, an Apple technician N+1. There, I received a completely different discourse, much more constructive. I was asked to provide the purchase invoice, as well as a repair estimate stating the issue."
Insist because you are within your rights!
"I was kindly informed that my model can no longer be repaired, that it is considered vintage and therefore no parts are available. This is sad news...
I could have given up there, but I then retorted that this had nothing to do with the model's age but that it was a recognized hidden defect by Apple. It was then that I was transferred to another person, an Apple technician N+1. There, I received a completely different discourse, much more constructive. I was asked to provide the purchase invoice, as well as a repair estimate stating the issue."
Insist because you are within your rights!
Hello,
I just tried again, but I can't get past the first barrier; I am just being redirected to authorized repairers who are supposed to know Apple's warranty policies...
I insisted, cited some articles of law, gave examples of other people who managed to start the procedure, asked to talk to a supervisor, but after several long waits, the same person refused to do anything other than send me the list of authorized repairers and an article about computers considered vintage;
https://support.apple.com/fr-fr/HT201624
I will confirm with one of the repairers that they cannot do this on behalf of Apple and then call them back insisting a little more...
I just tried again, but I can't get past the first barrier; I am just being redirected to authorized repairers who are supposed to know Apple's warranty policies...
I insisted, cited some articles of law, gave examples of other people who managed to start the procedure, asked to talk to a supervisor, but after several long waits, the same person refused to do anything other than send me the list of authorized repairers and an article about computers considered vintage;
https://support.apple.com/fr-fr/HT201624
I will confirm with one of the repairers that they cannot do this on behalf of Apple and then call them back insisting a little more...
I've got news!
I'm still being denied access to the N+1, but this time the person went to ask what Apple could do, and here’s their response roughly:
"Your computer is vintage, so it’s no longer covered by the 4-year warranty extension, and the program regarding the trade-in of computers concerned by this program ended in 2016-2017.
However, if you wish to continue the process, you need to sift through the Apple terms and conditions to find a mention stating that if a material defect is recognized after purchase, the replacement of the hardware is covered by Apple."
I'll get on that right away!
In the meantime, if anyone knows the legal articles that could support my approach, their help would be appreciated :)
I'm still being denied access to the N+1, but this time the person went to ask what Apple could do, and here’s their response roughly:
"Your computer is vintage, so it’s no longer covered by the 4-year warranty extension, and the program regarding the trade-in of computers concerned by this program ended in 2016-2017.
However, if you wish to continue the process, you need to sift through the Apple terms and conditions to find a mention stating that if a material defect is recognized after purchase, the replacement of the hardware is covered by Apple."
I'll get on that right away!
In the meantime, if anyone knows the legal articles that could support my approach, their help would be appreciated :)
A clue: https://www.iphone-addict.com/garantie-apple/
https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/docs/France_Statutory_Warranty.pdf
https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/docs/France_Statutory_Warranty.pdf
Thank you, I came across the same types of legal texts.
Here’s what I managed to find:
"In accordance with the provisions of the legal warranty against hidden defects, a buyer can
ask the seller to warrant against hidden defects of a product within 2 years of discovering the
defect."
The problem is that it is not indicated if it is within 2 years after discovery by Apple or by the user?
In the latter case, I just discovered the problem, so I would be covered by the warranty!
I will test this tomorrow :)
Here’s what I managed to find:
"In accordance with the provisions of the legal warranty against hidden defects, a buyer can
ask the seller to warrant against hidden defects of a product within 2 years of discovering the
defect."
The problem is that it is not indicated if it is within 2 years after discovery by Apple or by the user?
In the latter case, I just discovered the problem, so I would be covered by the warranty!
I will test this tomorrow :)
Hi,
I managed to fix the disk with the fsck command; the disk didn’t seem to have any issues according to what the computer is telling me.
However, booting in safe mode is more difficult: the screen is blurry on the login page, and once the session is open, the screen remains gray indefinitely...
So I have no choice but to use the Migration Assistant from a new Mac with my old hard drive connected externally to recover my system, right?
As for buying a new Mac, I’ll look for used ones (no more new for me) and try to call Apple customer service to initiate the replacement process after all.
Thank you very much for your advice!
I managed to fix the disk with the fsck command; the disk didn’t seem to have any issues according to what the computer is telling me.
However, booting in safe mode is more difficult: the screen is blurry on the login page, and once the session is open, the screen remains gray indefinitely...
So I have no choice but to use the Migration Assistant from a new Mac with my old hard drive connected externally to recover my system, right?
As for buying a new Mac, I’ll look for used ones (no more new for me) and try to call Apple customer service to initiate the replacement process after all.
Thank you very much for your advice!
Hello,
I finally bought a used Macbook Pro, and thanks to the migration assistant, I was able to get my original interface back!!
Just a clarification: even if the disk formats differ (Mac extended or APFS), both drives must either be case sensitive or case insensitive; otherwise, the migration won’t work.
Also, if I couldn't mount my old system hard drive externally, it's because it was encrypted with my login password.
Thank you very much for your help; problem solved!
I finally bought a used Macbook Pro, and thanks to the migration assistant, I was able to get my original interface back!!
Just a clarification: even if the disk formats differ (Mac extended or APFS), both drives must either be case sensitive or case insensitive; otherwise, the migration won’t work.
Also, if I couldn't mount my old system hard drive externally, it's because it was encrypted with my login password.
Thank you very much for your help; problem solved!