Migration Assistant can cause hardware problems
Don't assume defective hardware.
We've warned about various issues after system migration, including problems launching applications and more. Recently reports have surfaced indicating hardware issues, most notably a lack of keyboard input, after migration.
MacFixIt reader Michael Rosenthal went through three brand-new MacBook Pros, figuring a hardware defect, before realizing that the issue was caused by system migration:
"When I received the first of 3 MacBook Pros this week, I transferred an image of my June 2007 MBP with a Firewire 800 cable directly from the previous machine, as suggested by the Migration Assistant. Everything looked correct. When I downloaded the latest updates I was asked to enter my Admin password. There was a blinking cursor in the appropriate field, but using the keyboard no type appeared. I tried plugging in my aluminum Apple keyboard, no improvement. I changed my startup disk to a very recent bootable clone. (It was a SuperDuper! image on an external drive that is updated daily and frequently used as an alternative boot drive, so I know it worked.) Still neither keyboard worked.
"Figuring that I got a dud, I called customer service at MacConnection and they sent another machine overnight. Going through the same sequence I got the same result, except the USB keyboard worked. It seemed unbelievable. When I called again I was passed over to your tech support and he had no idea, except to take it to an Apple store for repair. They graciously sent a third MBP.
"When the third machine I decided to not use the Migration Assistant. It recognized my AE router and asked for the password. Voila, this keyboard worked. Then I went back to the Migration Assistant and transferred the image of the older MBP from my external drive. Drat! the problem was back. Using the Installation CD and repairing permissions and the disk was no help."
"[...] I decided to try another approach. I reinstalled the OS with an Erase and Install and reinstalled 30 GB of Apps, Docs, etc. manually. It worked."
As in Michael's case, the only solution may be a complete reinstall of the system followed by manual transfer/reinstallation of data and applications.
In other cases, however, a simple re-installation of the most recent Mac OS X combination updater (available from Apple's download page) can resolve issues with problematic components transferred during the migration process.
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
Resources