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From Lion back to Snow Leopard?

G

Garnick

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 19, 2012
22
0
I must first apologize for bringing up this topic again, since it was covered a few weeks ago I believe. As a matter of fact I seem to remember starting a thread then, but couldn't seem to find it. I did post on the Apple Forum and had quite a lot of response.

The refurb MP 2010 came with Lion installed as I had expected, but I would also like to be able to run SNL for some legacy software. There were numerous suggestions about how to accomplish the 'downgrade', but there is one other approach that I'd like to get some opinions on. Would it not work if I were to insert a SNL install disc and simply do the install on a different HDD in the MP? That way I could boot in either Lion or SNL, depending on the need. I do seem to remember that I would need a 10.6.4 disc minimum to boot the MP, but other than that stipulation, why would this method not work? I can then migrate any files I might need, barring apps of course. Please let me know if this method might work as I suspect. I'm sure there might be some reasons that the MP would not accept this procedure, but not at all certain.

Thank you
 
ActionableMango said:
That is 10.6.3, which won't work.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the an important piece of information I received from one of the posts I read a few weeks ago. Apparently the 2010 Mac Pro requires at least 10.6.4 and preferably 10.6.5+.

Also, I ordered the refurb MC by phone after questioning an Apple tech on this matter. Of course they advise against it, but couldn't actually say it wouldn't work. I had them send a SL install disc also, 10.6.3, even though I knew it probably wouldn't be of any use. The cost of the disc from Apple was $19.99USD, so the ones on Amazon are highly over priced. I'll soon be returning the disc to the nearest Apple store for a refund.

Thanks for the replies. I'll keep searching, in case I do need to do this 'downgrade'. Of course I'll try to get some experience with Lion first and find out which apps will work and how well. Mostly concerned with printing from PS CS5 in Lion to my large format printers. That's my business, so I'll keep the G5 running until I get some good information and keep you posted as well.

Thanks again
 
I hear ML is ok-ish - better than lion (more SL)

I downgraded my refurb with SL but had a clone of my MacBook pro running 10.6.8

I guess you could just buy a second hand MacBook of fleabay (cheapest) that has SL and the install disc - make a clone of the MacBook with carbon cloner, (10.6.4 or above) then usng disc utility, restore from time machine backup (think u erase the lion partition first)

Then just sell the mac book when your done - you shouldn't loose too much money (eBay fees)
 
steveOooo said:
I hear ML is ok-ish - better than lion (more SL)

I downgraded my refurb with SL but had a clone of my MacBook pro running 10.6.8

I guess you could just buy a second hand MacBook of fleabay (cheapest) that has SL and the install disc - make a clone of the MacBook with carbon cloner, (10.6.4 or above) then usng disc utility, restore from time machine backup (think u erase the lion partition first)

Then just sell the mac book when your done - you shouldn't loose too much money (eBay fees)
Click to expand...

Thank you for this. Of all the approaches I've read this one seems to be perhaps the easiest. I have a MacBook with Leopard. I could upgrade it to SL and then clone to an internal drive on the MacPro. That way I'd have Lion on Mac HD and SL on the clone. I'll be installing 4 more drives soon, for a total of five, so lots of room for a drive/partition running SL until I feel I no longer need it. I could work with Lion until I need SL for a legacy app and then boot into it.

My next question is which year is your refurb MP, 09 or 10? Does SL boot the MP properly and does everything seem to be working well at this point. How long have you been working with SL on the MP? I've also read that SL may run on the 2010 MP, but it may not do so well on a refurb, due to the newer firmware installed before sale. Are you having any issues? Of course Apple does not look kindly on this approach, but I can't see that it would do any real harm to the machine. Any ideas on that?

Again, thanks for the reply.
 
Didn't apple authorize the use of SL under VM for legacy apps that don't work in ML? If so, would contact apple on this to get it if it's the right version, then just install it without being under VM.
 
Garnick said:
My next question is which year is your refurb MP, 09 or 10? Does SL boot the MP properly and does everything seem to be working well at this point. How long have you been working with SL on the MP? I've also read that SL may run on the 2010 MP, but it may not do so well on a refurb, due to the newer firmware installed before sale. Are you having any issues? Of course Apple does not look kindly on this approach, but I can't see that it would do any real harm to the machine. Any ideas on that?

Again, thanks for the reply.
Click to expand...

It's 2010, yes everything is fine, has been working ok since October 2011, refurbs are still from 2010, even the 'updated' 2012 models have the same firmware. No issues,
Apple didn't ship my mo with a reliable Os - I did try out lion (10.7.3) as it was Pre installed, but I went back to SL as it was more reliable. I don't think it would matter if you had to take it in for repair and you had SL instead of lion preinstalled.

Also, check out vm ware fusion - think you cam run SL virtually.
 
[QUOTEI have a MacBook with Leopard. I could upgrade it to SL and then clone to an internal drive on the MacPro. That way I'd have Lion on Mac HD and SL on the clone. I'll be installing 4 more drives soon, for a total of five, so lots of room for a drive/partition running SL until I feel I no longer need it.
[/QUOTE]

steveOooo

I offered this as an approach to this issue, but not sure it would actually work as you described your method. Of course I could simply try it and find out, but some more feedback would be very helpful as well. Do you think that something as simple as this procedure would work and will it boot the MacPro properly. Since the SL disc I got from Apple is only 10.6.3, I could use that to upgrade Leopard on the MacBook and then do the Combo Update(s) to 10.6.8. I was planning on returning the disc to an Apple store, but I think I will upgrade the MacBook regardless. I don't actually need SL on the MacBook but it can't hurt, and if a clone to the MacPro will work as a boot volume it would be well worthwhile.

Thanks
 
What you really need is the system restore disc for the 2010 MP. That includes 10.6.4 and has all of the proper drivers for your MP. I'd call Apple and get that. Other people have done so and paid a small fee.

Or if you happen to be in the Seattle area I could help you out.
 
I feel you're "pain"

I WAS in the exact situation as you, hardware (MacPro 5,1 that came with Lion Jan. 2012) and wanting Snow Leopard.

After much research I came to the conclusion that the most straight forward solution was to call AppleCare and request the original MacPro Install DVD that would have come with my system had I bought it six months or so, before. You'll have to do a little bit of research to determine what the original build # is of your system to see if its possible to work w/Snow Leopard.

Be prepared, if you go this route, to making a couple of phone calls, speaking with several Apple employees, and ultimately being helped by a Sr Tech.

Don't let them send you 10.6.3. It won't work. you need the 10.6.4 "Replacement DVD".

After about a week I got the DVD, free of charge and after being sent and charged/credited for the wrong disk and then being told by Apple people that it was impossible for me to install Snow Leopard.

Snow Leopard has been running beautifully for almost two weeks straight.
 
And then there's that other option. Run lion or mountain lion, but run your legacy software under snow leopard through VMWARE. Problem solved.
 
Garnick said:
[QUOTEI have a MacBook with Leopard. I could upgrade it to SL and then clone to an internal drive on the MacPro. That way I'd have Lion on Mac HD and SL on the clone. I'll be installing 4 more drives soon, for a total of five, so lots of room for a drive/partition running SL until I feel I no longer need it.
Click to expand...

steveOooo

I offered this as an approach to this issue, but not sure it would actually work as you described your method. Of course I could simply try it and find out, but some more feedback would be very helpful as well. Do you think that something as simple as this procedure would work and will it boot the MacPro properly. Since the SL disc I got from Apple is only 10.6.3, I could use that to upgrade Leopard on the MacBook and then do the Combo Update(s) to 10.6.8. I was planning on returning the disc to an Apple store, but I think I will upgrade the MacBook regardless. I don't actually need SL on the MacBook but it can't hurt, and if a clone to the MacPro will work as a boot volume it would be well worthwhile.

Thanks[/QUOTE]

SL is much better than leopard anyway - yes it will work just update the mb to 10.6.4+(10.6.8 will be fine), you could clone the boot with carbon copy cloner and use a external or put the mb. Into target disc mode

connect the mb to the mp via FireWire, restart mb. The mb, hold t (or command + t. ? ) so it goes into target disc mode.

On the mp, go to system prefs, choose start up disc amd choose the mb to boot from. When your booted, just delete the (useless) mp boot drive in disc utility (I found it more stubborn when trying to write over so I just deleted lion first Irving it o choice!!!).

I can't remember exactly how I did it! But erasing the lion install was most effective, and was just a case of opening disc utility - restore from time machine backup - I may of used the SL install disc in the mp to get. The disc utility option up?

The mp will worK with SL 10.6.4 and up

----------
ActionableMango said:
What you really need is the system restore disc for the 2010 MP. That includes 10.6.4 and has all of the proper drivers for your MP. I'd call Apple and get that. Other people have done so and paid a small fee.

Or if you happen to be in the Seattle area I could help you out.
Click to expand...

If you have 10.6.8 on a mac book like the op, they'll be fine.
 
* correction - put the mp into target disc mode (hold t down on restart)

Within the mb - delete the lion boot of the mp- then you can restore from time machine backup when booting up the mp
 
Thanks again Steve,

I was sure that's what you meant, and on giving it some thought I really couldn't see why it wouldn't work. I've done that many times with other OS versions when I'm upgrading. I'll clone(SuperDuper) a backup of the current system and then do the upgrade. That way I always have the Sys and Apps that I know play well together and I can explore the newer OS and take the time to make sure everything works well before deleting the previous OS version. The computer is the hub of my business and I cannot afford down time.

I'm installing four more HDDs in the MacPro, so I'll have lots of room for clones and backups. Actually I was thinking that I could also keep both Lion and SL on a partitioned drive and tweak Lion when I have time so that I can make sure all of my important Apps are working in a friendly environment. What's your thought on that? Again, no reason it wouldn't work I believe. So now I'll go ahead and upgrade the MB with the 10.6.3 disc and then take that up to 10.6.8. Clone the MB to an external drive first and boot up the MacPro from that to make sure it's a go. Sounds like a plan.

Thanks for all of your help Steve and to everyone who has offered their much needed input.
 
tstc said:
After much research I came to the conclusion that the most straight forward solution was to call AppleCare and request the original MacPro Install DVD that would have come with my system had I bought it six months or so, before. You'll have to do a little bit of research to determine what the original build # is of your system to see if its possible to work w/Snow Leopard.
Click to expand...


I totally went this route myself and am happy to say Apple Tech Support (after talking to about 2 to 3 people) was very accommodating with my request for the original replacement DVD. However, unlike tstc I *was* charged around $17 for my disc. I didn't care ... my time was more important to me than $17.
 
Garnick said:
Thanks again Steve,

I was sure that's what you meant, and on giving it some thought I really couldn't see why it wouldn't work. I've done that many times with other OS versions when I'm upgrading. I'll clone(SuperDuper) a backup of the current system and then do the upgrade. That way I always have the Sys and Apps that I know play well together and I can explore the newer OS and take the time to make sure everything works well before deleting the previous OS version. The computer is the hub of my business and I cannot afford down time.

I'm installing four more HDDs in the MacPro, so I'll have lots of room for clones and backups. Actually I was thinking that I could also keep both Lion and SL on a partitioned drive and tweak Lion when I have time so that I can make sure all of my important Apps are working in a friendly environment. What's your thought on that? Again, no reason it wouldn't work I believe. So now I'll go ahead and upgrade the MB with the 10.6.3 disc and then take that up to 10.6.8. Clone the MB to an external drive first and boot up the MacPro from that to make sure it's a go. Sounds like a plan.

Thanks for all of your help Steve and to everyone who has offered their much needed input.
Click to expand...

I hated lion and just wiped the drive - you can upgrade from SL to ml without lion so I may do this, but I don't see the point as everything is stable amd working with SL.

You could just have a drive for os's - you could as well use the spare optical bay for a drive (I have a ssd in the spare optical, with 4x 2tb drives

I have my home directory on a seperate spinning disc drive in one of the bays
 
steveOooo said:
I hated lion and just wiped the drive - you can upgrade from SL to ml without lion so I may do this, but I don't see the point as everything is stable amd working with SL.

You could just have a drive for os's - you could as well use the spare optical bay for a drive (I have a ssd in the spare optical, with 4x 2tb drives

I have my home directory on a seperate spinning disc drive in one of the bays
Click to expand...

Interesting. I just booted up my 'new' refurb MacPro yesterday, so I haven't had much time to explore Lion yet. However, I have already found a few things that I do NOT like about it. Just ordered the drives and I've already installed 24GB of RAM. I also purchased the Multi-Mount from OWC for the Optical bay and will be installing a drive there. I'll eventually have 3 cloned drives of System and Apps and two work drives, one as a backup. Probably an external as backup of work as well. I still might upgrade the MB to SL and then clone it to the MacPro to boot from, but I'm also going to call Apple Care and pressure them to send me 10.6.4+. Others have had some luck with that, so it can't hurt to try.

Gary
 
Yh it's easier / quicker to clone you mb 10.6.8 - no need for apple support.

Always have a backup in a different location to your com - if a (strong) thief is able to lug you mp away, you've lost your data / same with a fire - if I could afford. To, I'd keep my backups in a fireproof... But the chances are slim
 
As I mentioned in my original post, when I ordered my MacPro refurb by phone I also purchased a Snow Leopard Install Disc. Even though I've read that the 2010 MP won't boot from 10.6.3 I decided that for $19.99 it was worth taking a chance. Also, I can use it to upgrade my MB. Today I spent about 40 minutes on the phone with an Apple Tech, asking him if I could possibly get a later version Disc and told him my reason for wanting it. He originally said that he thought he could probably offer a solution. After 5 occasions of being put on hold(not a problem) while he collaborated with other Techs for various questions I had, he finally said that they all agreed that 10.6.3 should boot the MP, no problem. After the call I tried to boot the MP from the disc and of course it didn't work. I assume that's due to the fact that it is indeed an install disc only, not a boot disc. Of course now the install can be done more efficiently, simply by loading the disc and doing the install form there, no need to boot from disc. I'm going to install SL on an external drive to test it. This question seems like something I should already know, but somehow the answer escapes me. After I install SL on the external drive, can I simply do the 10.6.8 Combo Update on that drive without being booted into SL? According to the Apple Techs it should boot from 10.6.3, but if not, can I still do the update without being in the SL OS? As I said, I should know this, but it's getting very late and my internal computer is just about to shut down.
 
The mp will only install with 10.6.4 - the disc ou got from apple is useless - get a refund for it

Install SL on your mb 10.6.4 amd above - connect the two via FireWire, restart mp whilst holding t down, then on your mb, you could use carbon copy cloner to clone the mb boot drive to the mp or erase the mp boot and when booting up the mp (u may need the SL install disc) you can choose 'restore from time machine back up' ie the cloned mb disc image
 
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