Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

bergy · Apr 17, 2005, 11:12 AM

Hello Mac Experts ...

I plan to do an erase and install of Panther on my iBook ...
I have a couple of user accounts that I would like to restore ..

I have both the user accounts backed up on my iMac

I'm just wondering how exactly I would transfer and set up these accounts after the erase and install.

Can you point me in the right direction?

OreoCookie · Apr 17, 2005, 11:22 AM

Does your iMac have FireWire? If so, you can use the Migration Assistant. All your data, settings and apps will be moved from your iMac to your iBook (if you want, you can manually deselect).

bergy · Apr 17, 2005, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

Does your iMac have FireWire? If so, you can use the Migration Assistant. All your data, settings and apps will be moved from your iMac to your iBook (if you want, you can manually deselect).

Yes I have FireWire ... How do I get to the migration assistant? I don't want to move all my data from the iMac ... just the two user folders that I have backed up.

Do I have to open an admin account and then just stick those two folders in
Macintosh HD/Users?

OreoCookie · Apr 17, 2005, 01:23 PM

Well, basically, you would do your work twice.

Transfer everything from your old Mac to your iMac. (Seems like you have done that already.) Start the installation of OS X. After installing the base system, you will see a MacBuddy window: Do you want to transfer files etc. Follow the instructions (basically: restart the iMac in target disk mode, connect the iMac to your iBook, and then click continue).

Can I ask you something: why do you want to do a clean install of OS X? Do you have any trouble with your current installation?

Geobunny · Apr 17, 2005, 01:33 PM

Just a minute, what age is the iMac? They don't all support booting into target disk mode - I went along to repair a neighbour's iMac last week and was planning to do it that way. The iMac had FireWire but wouldn't boot into target mode.

OreoCookie · Apr 17, 2005, 01:43 PM

With old Macs, the target disk mode shortcut was f (if I remember correctly, it's been a while).

kcmac · Apr 17, 2005, 01:47 PM

I have the iMac DVSE 400, the first iMac with Firewire. You simply hold down the T button on the keyboard when booting until you see the firewire symbol on your screen. Did they change this somewhere along the line? That is the way I still do it on my 12" PB.

Geobunny · Apr 17, 2005, 01:52 PM

Actually it's just occurred to me, the problem I had with the neighbour's iMac was that the hard drive was knackered (with a capital F!), I suppose it's entirely possible that that's why it wouldn't boot into target mode!

bergy · Apr 17, 2005, 02:21 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

Well, basically, you would do your work twice.

Transfer everything from your old Mac to your iMac. (Seems like you have done that already.) Start the installation of OS X. After installing the base system, you will see a MacBuddy window: Do you want to transfer files etc. Follow the instructions (basically: restart the iMac in target disk mode, connect the iMac to your iBook, and then click continue).

Can I ask you something: why do you want to do a clean install of OS X? Do you have any trouble with your current installation?

Thanks for the replies ... I need to do a clean install to fulfill the requirements of an AppleCare case. My display is now going black intermittently after a period of not going to sleep and then not waking up properly. I've done everything else with the Apple tech up to an archive and install and this is the last software step I guess....

I understand your instructions ... the thing is I am not tranferring just files .. but whole user accounts ... does the MacBuddy thingy deal with this and create whole accounts with all the info from these folders in them? I have a feeling it's not going to be that easy ... what about my idea of dumping the new user folders in the User section? I guess that won't work will it.

kcmac · Apr 17, 2005, 02:29 PM

Yes it does. I transferred whole user accounts from our iMac DVSE 400 to our new iMac G5 using the Setup Assistant. There are 4 people (4 accounts) in our house that use our iMac. It was pretty much a one click, sit back and watch thing. Everything went off with no problems. All 4 accounts work perfectly. All info transferred.

OreoCookie · Apr 17, 2005, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by bergy

Thanks for the replies ... I need to do a clean install to fulfill the requirements of an AppleCare case. My display is now going black intermittently after a period of not going to sleep and then not waking up properly. I've done everything else with the Apple tech up to an archive and install and this is the last software step I guess....

I understand your instructions ... the thing is I am not tranferring just files .. but whole user accounts ... does the MacBuddy thingy deal with this and create whole accounts with all the info from these folders in them? I have a feeling it's not going to be that easy ... what about my idea of dumping the new user folders in the User section? I guess that won't work will it.

Yes. But keep in mind that it will import the users on the iMac as they are! (Meaning: if you just copy the user directories of your iBook in the Documents folder of an iMac user, it will just appear as that: the Migration assistant will then just copy your iMac user's settings and all its directories.

If you want to do it `right', you have to restart your iBook in Target Disk Mode and launch `Setup Assistant' located in the Utilities folder. Follow the instructions to transfer all your accounts and applications from your iBook to your iMac.

Then reinstall Panther on your iBook and follow the instructions I gave you. If you miss it, don't worry, you can always start the Setup Assistant and transfer your data later.

kcmac · Apr 17, 2005, 02:50 PM

What OreoCookie said.

When I used the Setup Assistant, it told me what to do because I was using the iMac for the first time. If you do it later, listen to Oreo.

bergy · 03:25 PM

Somehow double posted ... sorry

bergy · Apr 17, 2005, 03:17 PM

[QUOTE=bergy]Hi Kcmac ...

The situation with me is I have backed up two user folders from my ibook into one account on my iMac and they are both sitting on the desktop. It's not a matter of just old account to new account. They are two folders within an account. I need the accounts that are in these folders set up.

I was told that everything that needed to be copied would be contained in the user folder so that's how I did backups. I copied the user folders from the iBook into one account on the iMac.

I do not have Setup Assistant in my Utilities in the iMac or iBook .. I think my machines are too old for that.
I need to keep all the accounts and info on my iMac separate from the iBook info.

I must admit I'm getting a bit confused

OreoCookie · Apr 17, 2005, 03:25 PM

What version of OS X do you run on each machine?

bergy · Apr 17, 2005, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

What version of OS X do you run on each machine?

10.3.9 on the iMac and 10.3.8 on the iBook.

bergy · Apr 17, 2005, 06:27 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

What version of OS X do you run on each machine?

Hi Again ..

I did a search and found setup assistant ... except it's a classic app and was in my OS 9 utilities.

Is this the one I am supposed to have?

Chuckit · Apr 17, 2005, 06:35 PM

It should be found here:
file:///Applications/Utilities/Setup Assistant.app

Geobunny · Apr 17, 2005, 07:41 PM

Ok, I've had another think about this. Start up your iBook (this is the one you're reinstalling yes?) normally and connect your iMac which has been booted in target disk mode.

Copy the /Users folder and anything else you'd like to keep, such as /Applications to the iMac. You'll probably be putting them into a single folder on the iMac, maybe calling it "backup stuff" for example.

Now, go to the terminal which is in your Utilities folder and type the following (this assumes your iMac hard drive is called "iMac HD")

Code:
sudo cp -rp /private/var/db/netinfo /Volumes/iMac\ HD/backup\ stuff/

That will ask for your admin password. When you supply it, it will copy your netinfo database (which contains the user & group account details) to the folder "backup stuff" on your iMac's hard drive. In the above, note the space between netinfo and /Volumes, also note that spaces in file or folder names need to be preceded by a backslash \ character.

After you reinstall the iBook, do the following to recover your user accounts. Again, we're using the Terminal for this:

Code:
sudo mv /private/var/db/netinfo/local.nidb /private/var/db/netinfo/local.nidbCLEAN
sudo cp -rp /Volumes/iMac\ HD/backup\ stuff/netinfo /private/var/db/

Copy your apps and user folders back into place on the iBook and you should be good to go.

BTW, what's the problem with the iBook? We may be able to help. In my experience it tends to be monkeys on the end of Apple's phonelines who have a list of things to tell you what to do when you report a problem. The last thing on their list is to reinstall the entire OS. I once had a problem with my DVD drive which was obviously a hardware problem (I'm an IT engineer myself) - the problem existed in OS 9 as well as OS X, and still existed even when booted from a different volume - I phoned cos it was still under warranty and I wanted a replacement.

I eventually ended up lying and saying "yes, I've done a fresh install and the problem still exists. Please can I have a replacement". Eventually the replacement arrived, and lo-and-behold, it worked!

[Edit: forgot the trailing slash on the first lot of code. It's a subtle yet important difference!]

OreoCookie · 04:58 AM

You have to have Setup Assistant in your Utilities folder if you use 10.3 (Panther). If it is missing, the only way I see is reinstall Panther on your iMac (if you are positive that it's missing).

Do not use the Setup Assistant of OS 9!

Big Mac · Apr 18, 2005, 04:50 AM

This procedure is really, really easy to do if you have .Mac's Backup. Apple should really include Backup as part of the base system.