From Capitan to Snow Leopard

[MESay]

Hello.
Ok. So I bought an iMac inbetween 2010-2012. I never updated the version because I only bought it to work with Pro Tools.

A couple of days ago I for some reason updated to El Capitan, but Pro Tools 8 does not work with El Capitan.

Is there anyway to 'go back' to Snow Leopard? That's apparently the only OS X that works with Pro Tools.

I know; i didnt create a backup in my timemachine so I could go back. I've tried erase everything on the mac, but it still loads up in Capitan.

Lastly; my CD-rom doesnt work. So I cant put any cd's in wich eliminates that option... Thank you.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I don't believe you can go backward without the use of a Time Machine backup. You might try to get yourself an external USB DVD drive. Maybe you can boot from your install disk from there. If that fails, you can create a bootable USB of the Snow Leopard installer. These instructions are old, but maybe they would still work for you.
https://www.maketecheasier.com/create-mac-snow-leopard-usb-installer-disk/

 

[ColdCase]

I don't know if snow leopard can migrate apps from a El Capitan machine or drive.

If not, I think you'll have to install snow leopard from scratch and then re-install your apps (AKA a clean install). I would either copy all your data off the internal disk to an external drive or create the snow leopard and pro tools boot on an external USB drive.

Many use this method if they want to clean out rubbish and do a clean install. There are several how to's around. Installing snow leopard from the retail CD can be problematic. It may stall a few times. Don't forget to turn ipv6 off in the network control panel as snow leopard has a tendency to stall when set to auto.

You can pick up a USB disk drive for about $20 now days.