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tywebb13

macrumors 68040
Apr 21, 2012
3,079
1,750

Well even though it is not a good idea to get Apple software this way, I bet if Apple don't do something about this - like put mavericks onto their online store, just as they did for lion, mountain lion and snow leopard - then more and more people will just get mavericks from torrents and other unauthorised sources.

The same problem is likely to arise for yosemite when the next system is released.

It will disappear from the mac app store and people will ask "where can I get yosemite?" Others will respond "torrents". And the problem will get worse.
 

maplingstorie

macrumors 6502
Jan 25, 2009
399
115
Malaysia
Well even though it is not a good idea to get Apple software this way, I bet if Apple don't do something about this - like put mavericks onto their online store, just as they did for lion, mountain lion and snow leopard - then more and more people will just get mavericks from torrents and other unauthorised sources.

The same problem is likely to arise for yosemite when the next system is released.

It will disappear from the mac app store and people will ask "where can I get yosemite?" Others will respond "torrents". And the problem will get worse.

I can't believe Apple removed Mavericks from the App store and leaving us with only Yosemite to download. (unless you've downloaded Mavericks before). We should have a choice to go what OS we want or what OS our macs can support.
 

mikber18

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 18, 2014
15
0
I can't believe Apple removed Mavericks from the App store and leaving us with only Yosemite to download. (unless you've downloaded Mavericks before). We should have a choice to go what OS we want or what OS our macs can support.

While I cannot believe it either. It seems to be this way. Downgrade via internet recovery (the second time) worked fine though and thankfully I got rid of the **** that is 10.10
 

tywebb13

macrumors 68040
Apr 21, 2012
3,079
1,750
The same thing happened to lion and mountain lion. When new systems came out, they disappeared from the mac app store.

Most important is to get the LAST full installers 10.7.5, 10.8.5 and 10.9.5 quickly from the mac app store because they were not up for very long before the next system was released - and they promptly vanished!

But what is different this time is that lion and mountain lion reappeared on apple's online store and to this day are still available for purchase there.

Mavericks on the other hand has not reappeared anywhere that is approved by apple.

Of course you can still get it through torrents, etc., but that is fraught with danger.

So it would be much better if apple add it to the online store along side lion, mountain lion and snow leopard.

Why would apple still let people purchase lion, mountain lion and snow leopard and not let you get mavericks anymore?

Maybe they are trying to force people onto yosemite - including people who want mavericks instead.

But beware this scenario will probably be repeated next year with yosemite too. So when the full installer for 10.10.5 comes out on the mac app store, I'll be sure to get it straight away - and make backups of the installer on disk and usb. Soon after it will probably disappear again to make way for a newer system.

And do apple warn people about these disappearances from the mac app store?

No. They expect you to learn the hard way and amend your ways accordingly.

And in the mean time many others will just get old systems via torrents and not worry about the potential consequences of installing a system from an untrusted source.

This can't be good! So apple should put mavericks onto the online store so that it is at least an option.
 
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simonsi

Contributor
Jan 3, 2014
4,851
735
Auckland
Why would apple still let people purchase lion, mountain lion and snow leopard and not let you get mavericks anymore?

I think it might be because IIRC all machines that shipped with Mavericks have internet recovery so can get it that way.

SL, L and ML shipped on machines without recovery disks or internet recovery so need to be available.

Earlier than SL all shipped with recovery disks.
 

tom vilsack

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2010
1,880
63
ladner cdn
As you can't dl the mavericks installer from store to make a usb stick installer.

I would suggest you clone the clean mavericks install to a external drive or stick...try the free sw "SuperDuper"...saves a nice amount of time if you ever want a clean install again.
 

tywebb13

macrumors 68040
Apr 21, 2012
3,079
1,750
you can't dl the mavericks installer from store to make a usb stick installer

I'm still rather perplexed by it because technically this is wrong.

Developers can still get a code for mavericks and redeem it from the mac app store. But apple are not giving that option to the public.

At least apple are aware that developers need to get mavericks and a whole heap of other older systems - even as old as leopard - and make things somewhat easier for them than the public to get these old systems, including mavericks.

One simple reason why it might not be on the online store is that mavericks is free. And nothing on the online store is free.

But I wouldn't mind if they start charging $1, which would then make it technically possible through the online store.
 

simonsi

Contributor
Jan 3, 2014
4,851
735
Auckland
Developers can still get a code for mavericks and redeem it from the mac app store. But apple are not giving that option to the public.

Developers need access to be able to maintain Apps on older OS versions.

The public need to be able to (as easily as possible), restore the OS that shipped with their device.

Beyond that it is caveat emptor and copy the installer files as you have the opportunity when they download.
 

m4v3r1ck

macrumors 68030
Nov 2, 2011
2,606
554
The Netherlands
Downgrade from 10.10 to 10.9

That's exactly why I follow tywebb13's GOLDEN STANDARD to copy all bought/free installers to an external HDD/SSD and disconnect this disk when dowloading an updated installer. I have ML and Mavericks with all combo updates that came avaliable!

I even ripped all my installer CD/DVD from < Mountain Lion to be backed up on my NAS and for offsite backup!

I just won't Apple fool me again! :D

Perhaps a good idea for all, I salut tywebb13 this great tip!

Cheers
 
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tywebb13

macrumors 68040
Apr 21, 2012
3,079
1,750
At the moment yes - if you are a developer - or have purchased it before in which case it is in your purchases tab.

But if you don't have access to the mac dev center, have not purchased it before, or do not have a mac that came with mavericks (in which case, as mikber18 found out, it can be retrived via internet recovery) - then I'm afraid apple are not giving access through the mac app store anymore.

As I said before, when this happenned to lion and mountain lion, they reappeared in the online store so that people can still get them that way, but the problem is apple haven't done it yet for mavericks.

I happen to know that apple are actually considering the possibility of making it available again - but afaik they haven't done it yet. If and when they do, I'll put a link here somewhere.
 

Shayper

macrumors newbie
Nov 20, 2014
9
0
At the moment yes - if you are a developer - or have purchased it before in which case it is in your purchases tab.

But if you don't have access to the mac dev center, have not purchased it before, or do not have a mac that came with mavericks (in which case, as mikver18 found out, it can be retrived via internet recovery) - then I'm afraid apple are not giving access through the mac app store anymore.

As I said before, when this happenned to lion and mountain lion, they reappeared in the online store so that people can still get them that way, but the problem is apple haven't done it yet for macericks.

I happen to know that apple are actually considering the possibility of making it available again - but afaik they haven't done it yet. If and when they do, I'll put a link here somewhere.

Ah right thankyou :)

I'm downgrading now, fed up with these unresolvable audio issues.
 

Hermes Monster

macrumors 65816
May 4, 2010
1,204
552
UK
Stupid question, but if I downgrade to Mavericks via the internet recovery will I lose my files and documents? I have a time machine, and will probably copy most stuff to a stick, but I'd like to avoid if possible as my photo library is huge and my usb stick is 2.0 = slow to copy

Thanks
 

mikber18

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 18, 2014
15
0
Yeah Internet recovery installs a factory default OS. No user data included
 

Badagri

macrumors 6502a
Aug 9, 2012
500
78
UK
This is the reason why I downloaded them all and kept them in two different places. Better to have than not have and need.
 

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grahamperrin

macrumors 601
Jun 8, 2007
4,942
648
Back to Mac

The taste of success

:) :apple: hurrah for Mavericks.

… I bet if Apple don't do something about this - like put mavericks onto their online store, just as they did for lion, mountain lion and snow leopard - then more and more people will just get mavericks from torrents and other unauthorised sources. …

Rushing to unauthorised sources would not surprise me.

Apple has done much to simply online distribution, but that has been done with an assumption that one size fits all shoppers. With Yosemite, that assumption is no longer reasonable.

It's possible to get a one-off redemption code from Apple, then use App Store in the usual way (without the limitations of Recovery OS), but there's probably no support article on the subject.

As the product has not properly met Apple's ideal of 'Completely new. Completely Mac', the best thing might be to make Mavericks more easily available without a redemption code. The App Store page for Yosemite, another page for Mavericks.

Caution: I have not tested to see whether the installer for Mavericks refuses (as it should) to install over Yosemite.
 

Eithanius

macrumors 68000
Nov 19, 2005
1,556
419
Stupid question, but if I downgrade to Mavericks via the internet recovery will I lose my files and documents? I have a time machine, and will probably copy most stuff to a stick, but I'd like to avoid if possible as my photo library is huge and my usb stick is 2.0 = slow to copy

Thanks

If your photo library is huge, say 200GB, where on earth could you find a USB stick that size...? :eek:

I have a rather huge iTunes and Aperture library. iTunes library is on my startup drive which I regularly backup to my external drive, while the Aperture library sits alone on the external one... Should my Mac go haywire, I don't need to backup too often. Also maintain a secondary backup via clone, but as far as I'm concerned, my libraries are safely tuck away on externals while maintaining a small set of important apps to work for. So I can just switch between Mavericks and Snow Leopard whenever I like...
 

mikber18

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 18, 2014
15
0
Untrue. I downloaded Mavericks from the App Store just yesterday.

Mavericks is only available on your app store if you "previously purchased it".

----------

Stupid question, but if I downgrade to Mavericks via the internet recovery will I lose my files and documents? I have a time machine, and will probably copy most stuff to a stick, but I'd like to avoid if possible as my photo library is huge and my usb stick is 2.0 = slow to copy

Thanks

I just remembered mate. You can't install Mavericks over 10.10 because the installer says that a newer version of OSX is already installed. The only way to resolve that issue is to wipe the hard drive and install from scratch.
 

janitor3

macrumors regular
Aug 11, 2010
227
41
Glasgow, Scotland
What I do is when a new OS comes out, I make a bootable USB of it before installing it.
I have Lion,M/Lion,Mavericks and now Yosemite on USB's.
So I now have a safeguard and can go back if I dislike the latest OS.
 

mikber18

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 18, 2014
15
0
What I do is when a new OS comes out, I make a bootable USB of it before installing it.
I have Lion,M/Lion,Mavericks and now Yosemite on USB's.
So I now have a safeguard and can go back if I dislike the latest OS.

It might be useful for the future to make a Mavericks bootable USB because if the operating systems that follow from 10.10 are going to be just as bad you might as well get yourself ready for a reinstall. Knowing apple though they will probably prevent you from downgrading by enabling some sort of LOCK on the OS and the HD and god knows what else.

Time will only tell...

For now I'm a happy Mavericks user and that way it will remain.
 

Badagri

macrumors 6502a
Aug 9, 2012
500
78
UK
Mavericks is only available on your app store if you "previously purchased it".

----------


I purchased mine way before Yosemite was available and it isn't listed. It's not hidden either. It's just not listed.

What I do is when a new OS comes out, I make a bootable USB of it before installing it.
I have Lion,M/Lion,Mavericks and now Yosemite on USB's.
So I now have a safeguard and can go back if I dislike the latest OS.

Indeed. USB drives are cheap as chips.
 
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