Mac to Mac Migration

[Cayce]

I'm moving up to an Apple M2 Studio (finally) and would appreciate some advice on what system/support folders and other stuff I should migrate over into the new system so I don't have to rebuild the entire environment. I'm guessing this would be plugins folders, presets, preference panes, and anything else that will make the transition easier.

Any help would be thank-worthy.

Cayce

[JFreak]

You will have to rebuild from scratch.

[Eric Lambert]

Every time I migrate I start from scratch, installing the latest versions of everything, grabbing them from the developer's sites where possible. This encourages the smoothest, most efficient machine, and so far it has worked. Automatic migrations *always* create problems of some sort, and the worst part is that you can't predict what those problems will be, you'll just notice that you get random errors and the general feel can be lethargic at times.

I keep the old machine online so I can copy custom presets and other things (via Screen Share), but I manually copy them from old to new. You'll probably also need to unauthorize some apps/plugins and it's easy to do when both machine are accessible simultaneously.

You're going to love that new Mac.

[Cayce]

Hey, Eric... thanks for getting back to me on that.

I've opted to do just that: start from scratch. I could've set up the M2 from a Time Machine backup, or migrated the contents of my iMac, but didn't want my new system to inherit any weirdism from the previous one. I'm also doing a screen share to accommodate building certain areas—like my Users/Shared folder, etc—so I'm lined up with that as well.

My question, though, is where would l I find the custom presets folder you're referring to, or any other Pro Tools related items I might need?

Thanks again.

[MDGenerato]

Hi Cayce. Yes, migrating your files from one Apple Silicon Mac to another via Time Machine is possible. However, as everyone mentioned, I strongly recommend you start from scratch, deauthorizing stuff from the old computer and then reinstalling everything on the new one. In that way, you'll have to smoothest experience without hiccups and you can get to work right away.

[moogboy100]

ALWAYS start from scratch. As for Pro Tools, manually cherry pick files out of your old Documents folder, for example any Track Presets, Session Templates, and Plugin settings you want to bring over.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by Cayce

My question, though, is where would l I find the custom presets folder you're referring to, or any other Pro Tools related items I might need?

The presets I was referring to are primarily for plugins, and there's not a standardized location for these. Some (TC Electronic, for instance) have decided to use their own folders. What I had to do was go through the old system, make note of plugins which had custom presets, find where they were stored, then copy those to the new machine and make sure it recognized them.

I shouldn't say that there's not a standard location for presets because there is (can't remember off-hand where that is), but plugins often bypass that protocol.

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by Cayce

Hey, Eric... thanks for getting back to me on that.

I've opted to do just that: start from scratch. I could've set up the M2 from a Time Machine backup, or migrated the contents of my iMac, but didn't want my new system to inherit any weirdism from the previous one. I'm also doing a screen share to accommodate building certain areas—like my Users/Shared folder, etc—so I'm lined up with that as well.

My question, though, is where would l I find the custom presets folder you're referring to, or any other Pro Tools related items I might need?

Thanks again.

I've been using Macs since 1984. I've had many different ones. When getting a new one, I start with the OS and Apple apps that come with the new machine. Next, I install fresh copies of third-party applications and take a detour to make sure any personal settings files (or in the case of a DAW or plugins - preference files or user presets). Lastly, I manually transfer (target disk mode or via a network connection) personal data such as documents, music and audiobook libraries, photos, etc. This last step can be done with Apple migration software by selecting only such files. It works just fine.

[Craig F]

Even the FCP guys I know don't migrate but start fresh

Now Imaging/cloning is a different matter that I have had good luck with but that was 110 systems net-booting