Installing older OS X

[zoomfinder]

Hi,
I am running ElCap and I need to install Mavericks in a separate partition in order to run apps which are incompatible with ElCap.

However, each time I start up Mac OS X 10.9 Installer I get a message that says "This copy of Install OS application is too old to be opened on this version of OS X” and I have no choice but to quit. Or, once I managed to load the Mavericks installer thumb drive which I had created back then but strangely enough the installer would only install ElCap, not Mavericks.

I don't know how this happened but is there a way to install an older version of Mac OS X on a hard disk? BTW I'm not downgrading the existing ElCap. I just want to install a fresh copy of Mavericks in a separate partition so that I can switch between both versions of OS X.

 

[Weaselboy]

I don't believe it will let you run the Mavericks installer from El Capitan. You will need to make a USB key installer for Mavericks then option key boot to that and install.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

 

[wolfie]

You also have to try source Yosemite. I can't redownload it from the App Store.

 

[zoomfinder]

I don't believe it will let you run the Mavericks installer from El Capitan. You will need to make a USB key installer for Mavericks then option key boot to that and install.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

Yes but I can't get a hold of the installer. I think Apple pulled older version Mac OS X altogether at some point and started selling Mountain Lion and earlier at a fee but Mavericks isn't included. I can't go for the free stuff for download because of reliability reason.

 

[jbarley]

Then there is the issue that you cannot install a version of OS X older then the version the computer originally shipped with.
I only mention this because you did not state what computer you are trying to accomplish this on.

 

[mildocjr]

You may not be able to as Apple has a known history of not including drivers in previous OS releases for newer hardware. So if you've got that shiny Radeon 390X or a Broadwell processor, Mavericks may not have support for one or even both. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:
Check your "conversations" on your profile page...

 

[navaira]

When I check "Purchases" in my App Store I can find El Cap, Yosemite, Mountain Lion and Lion but not Mavericks. ???

 

[mildocjr]

Apple also removed a lot of "legacy" software from the App Store including Mavericks a few months ago. See here.

 

[Weaselboy]

Apple also removed a lot of "legacy" software from the App Store including Mavericks a few months ago. See here.

The apps and OS versions mentioned in that article are all back up in the Purchases tab since that article was posted. If you read the associated thread there are many reports of this. I still have Mavericks in my purchases tab for example.

I think that was just a temporary removal or maybe even a glitch, but they are all back.

 

[mildocjr]

The apps and OS versions mentioned in that article are all back up in the Purchases tab since that article was posted. If you read the associated thread there are many reports of this. I still have Mavericks in my purchases tab for example.

I think that was just a temporary removal or maybe even a glitch, but they are all back.

Mine show up as well but at the same time, the older versions of OS X may not have driver support for the newer hardware.

 

[zoomfinder]

I don't know what happened but AppStore has let me download Mavericks today. I couldn't do that yesterday. I had downloaded all recent MacOS from AppStore but in the "Purchased" section Maverick's download button was grayed out last night, it said "Downloaded" and nothing happened when I clicked it. Apple must have been doing something in the store.

BTW my Mac is a MacPro3,1 "Early 2008" which goes back to OS 10.5.1 if I remember correctly and Mavericks seems like only yesterday compared to the history of the machine and I thought it would be easy enough to obtain a copy of earlier Mac OS but it wasn't and I was rather confused.

Anyway All is clear now. I will create an installer USB drive and give it a shot. Thanks for everyone who has helped me on this.

 

[h9826790]

Another option is to boot your computer with the recovery disc. Install OSX from there to the HDD / partition you want, and then upgrade to Mavericks (or whatever version you need). This should work if making a bootable USB Mavericks installation drive is too troublesome for you.

 

[Weaselboy]

I don't know what happened but AppStore has let me download Mavericks today. I couldn't do that yesterday. I had downloaded all recent MacOS from AppStore but in the "Purchased" section Maverick's download button was grayed out last night, it said "Downloaded" and nothing happened when I clicked it. Apple must have been doing something in the store.

When you see that greyed out "Downloaded" like that it is usually because you already have the installer somewhere on your computer. It can even be in another folder or even an external drive and the app store app will see it and show that downloaded status.

 

[zoomfinder]

When you see that greyed out "Downloaded" like that it is usually because you already have the installer somewhere on your computer. It can even be in another folder or even an external drive and the app store app will see it and show that downloaded status.

I did have a copy somewhere but it was corrupt and I didn't bother. You are right. I think that's what happened.

 

[Weaselboy]

I did have a copy somewhere but it was corrupt and I didn't bother. You are right. I think that's what happened.

Ah... yep that would explain it then.

 

[h9826790]

I did have a copy somewhere but it was corrupt and I didn't bother. You are right. I think that's what happened.

I think it's not corrupted, but the certificate expired. Apple just updated the certificate not long ago (they do it every few years). Every time they update the certificate, your download digital copy with the old certificated will be considered "corrupted". All you need to do is delete that, then you will be able to re-download again from your purchase history. And that installer will be good for another ~7 years.