Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How do i go back to macOS Maverics?
- Thread starter nhod
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You're*
Anyway I don't think you can "downgrade" your OS. There are videos on YT of how you can but I personally haven't tried any of the methods.
The easiest way will be to create a USB install disk from the Mavericks installer, then you'll need to boot from that and completely reformat the disk in your computer. Obviously, before you do that you'll need to ensure you have everything on your computer fully backed up. It won't be possible to go back to Mavericks and leave your files where they are.
Instructions to make a USB disk from an installer app are here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
If you have a "Late 2013" MacBook Pro, you can use internet recovery to install Mavericks, but again, this too will require reformatting the disk.
How do you "get back without a backup"?
1. Use CarbonCopyCloner to create a cloned backup of what you have now. MAKE SURE that you set up CCC so that the target volume is HFS+. DO NOT USE the APFS option, or you won't be able to mount this drive later on.
2. Create a bootable USB installer with the Mavericks installer on it.
3. Boot from the USB installer
4. Open Disk Utility and ERASE the internal drive. NUKE IT BACK TO "ZERO" (Mac OS extended with journaling enabled)
5. Now open the Mavericks installer and install a completely fresh copy of Mavericks.
6. When done, run through setup and set yourself up with a user account.
THE SETUP ASSISTANT PROBABLY WON'T WORK. You can't use it to "migrate from newer to older", so you'll have to do a manual migration as follows.
7. Connect the cloned backup to MANUALLY MIGRATE stuff you pick-and-choose from it. (things like movies, music, pics, data, etc.)
8. You MUST select the drive icon and bring up "get info". Then click the lock icon and enter your password, then go to sharing and permissions and check "ignore ownership on this volume". Then close get info and you're ready to go.
9. You CANNOT COPY the folders named documents, movies, music, pictures (etc.) from the backup to your new account.
10. You CAN COPY "the stuff that's inside" these folders, however. So get your source and target folders visible in the finder, and copy the things you want to move.
Plan on at least a full day off to get this job done.
I suggest you keep HANDWRITTEN NOTES as you do the migration, to keep from going in circles.
You thought this was gonna be easy... eh...?
1. Use CarbonCopyCloner to create a cloned backup of what you have now. MAKE SURE that you set up CCC so that the target volume is HFS+. DO NOT USE the APFS option, or you won't be able to mount this drive later on.
2. Create a bootable USB installer with the Mavericks installer on it.
3. Boot from the USB installer
4. Open Disk Utility and ERASE the internal drive. NUKE IT BACK TO "ZERO" (Mac OS extended with journaling enabled)
5. Now open the Mavericks installer and install a completely fresh copy of Mavericks.
6. When done, run through setup and set yourself up with a user account.
THE SETUP ASSISTANT PROBABLY WON'T WORK. You can't use it to "migrate from newer to older", so you'll have to do a manual migration as follows.
7. Connect the cloned backup to MANUALLY MIGRATE stuff you pick-and-choose from it. (things like movies, music, pics, data, etc.)
8. You MUST select the drive icon and bring up "get info". Then click the lock icon and enter your password, then go to sharing and permissions and check "ignore ownership on this volume". Then close get info and you're ready to go.
9. You CANNOT COPY the folders named documents, movies, music, pictures (etc.) from the backup to your new account.
10. You CAN COPY "the stuff that's inside" these folders, however. So get your source and target folders visible in the finder, and copy the things you want to move.
Plan on at least a full day off to get this job done.
I suggest you keep HANDWRITTEN NOTES as you do the migration, to keep from going in circles.
You thought this was gonna be easy... eh...?
You're*
Anyway I don't think you can "downgrade" your OS. There are videos on YT of how you can but I personally haven't tried any of the methods.
The license server no longer works, I've tried since El Cap came out. Unless you clone an exact machine with the same hardware using SuperDuper there is no longer a way to install Mavericks.
That is 100% false. There's no "license server" for macOS/OS X. What may have happened is that the certificate that signed your installer has expired. Download a new installer from the App Store and it'll work fine.
If you don't have one in the "Purchased" section of the app store, then yes, you're out of luck. Nonetheless, what I said remains true. There's no license server for any Mac OS.
The older macOS/OS X installers are still available through the App Store, but only if you downloaded them in the past. To get to them, open the App Store and go to Store » Purchased in the menu bar. They should be listed there if you've downloaded them with your account previously.