Help! iBook to MacBook / MacBook Pro...

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I currently own an iBook 12" G4 and intend, once Leopard is released, to upgrade to either a MacBook or MacBook Pro.



I assume that syncing with .Mac will enable me to transfer iCal, Address Book etc. data to my new Mac, but I also have a number of other applications (stuff like Delicious Library, iBank etc.) which has data I will need to transfer.



Unfortunately, I won't be able to use the Migration Assistant to do this as Firewire on my iBook died over a year ago...



Is there any (reasonably simple?) way of doing this? Can I just copy various preference files to an external USB disk, then copy them to the new Mac? Or do Intel-based Macs have different preference files?



If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be very grateful!



Thanks, Adam.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    atlasatlas Posts: 90member
    Well, I'm not sure about the programs you are using, but when I bought my 24" iMac, I transfered everything from my 14" iBook using an extrernal HD. All the files, all the preferences, everything, and I also did it manually, I didn't use a program to do it. Nothing happened out of the ordinary and I'm glad I did it, because now I also have it all backed up on my external HD.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    richbrichb Posts: 3member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by adamclark View Post


    Unfortunately, I won't be able to use the Migration Assistant to do this as Firewire on my iBook died over a year ago...



    Is there any (reasonably simple?) way of doing this? Can I just copy various preference files to an external USB disk, then copy them to the new Mac? Or do Intel-based Macs have different preference files?



    Migration Assistant would be the best option if possible to sort out what is compatible. You can turn on Personal File Sharing on your iBook, connect it to your new computer via ethernet, and mount the iBook from your new computer. You should be able to then use Migration Assistant's feature to "Migrate from another volume in this Mac that has Mac OS X installed" to transfer all your data, preferences and applications.



    If not at least you can manually transfer stuff and if the preference file is not compatible with Leopard it would most likely just be ignored or replaced anyway. You could transfer your entire User/Library folder but don't replace newer (Leopard) items with older ones.
  • Reply 3 of 9
    macmaniacmacmaniac Posts: 183member
    Adam,

    Would a USB-Firewire adaptor or cable work? Good luck.

    steve
  • Reply 4 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Atlas View Post


    Well, I'm not sure about the programs you are using, but when I bought my 24" iMac, I transfered everything from my 14" iBook using an extrernal HD. All the files, all the preferences, everything, and I also did it manually, I didn't use a program to do it. Nothing happened out of the ordinary and I'm glad I did it, because now I also have it all backed up on my external HD.



    Thanks. That's definitely an option then.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RichB View Post


    Migration Assistant would be the best option if possible to sort out what is compatible. You can turn on Personal File Sharing on your iBook, connect it to your new computer via ethernet, and mount the iBook from your new computer. You should be able to then use Migration Assistant's feature to "Migrate from another volume in this Mac that has Mac OS X installed" to transfer all your data, preferences and applications.



    If not at least you can manually transfer stuff and if the preference file is not compatible with Leopard it would most likely just be ignored or replaced anyway. You could transfer your entire User/Library folder but don't replace newer (Leopard) items with older ones.



    Thanks! I was hoping there was some way round the lack of FireWire, and this sounds like it might be my best bet.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macmaniac View Post


    Adam,

    Would a USB-Firewire adaptor or cable work? Good luck.

    steve



    Erm maybe, but I wasn't aware such things existed. Do you know of any suitable makes / models?
  • Reply 7 of 9
    macmaniacmacmaniac Posts: 183member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by adamclark View Post


    Erm maybe, but I wasn't aware such things existed. Do you know of any suitable makes / models?



    Sorry, no. I looked on Amazon(I think) but no luck.

    S
  • Reply 8 of 9
    kenhamkenham Posts: 1member
    Hello,



    I just stumbled here as I had a task of migrating from the original iBook to a new MacBook. Problem: no firewire.



    The solution with internal ethernet did not work for me; Migration Assistant did not recognize the old iBook. I do not know what I did wrong - the iBook was mounted on the MacBook.

    Anyway - my solution was to use a external harddisk with both USB and Firewire. I used CCC (Carbon Copy Cloner http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html ) to make a copy of the iBook harddisk via USB - and after that connected the external harddisk via firewire to MacBook.



    Using Migration Assistant I was able to move my data to the MacBook.



    best regards
  • Reply 9 of 9
    macmaniacmacmaniac Posts: 183member
    Adam,

    It's probably best if you had the iBook fixed. It could be something simple and cheap. If not, make a deal with a good tech or Apple Genious in your area: Offer him or her the iBook real cheap($100, say)if they fix it so you can do the migration.

    S
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