My bootable Snow Leopard works on 2006 Macbook, but not 2010 MBP and 2009 iMac

[macpokerstars]

Hi,

I have Snow Leopard installed on all my machines: Macbook 2006, iMac 2009 and Macbook Pro 2010.

I made a bootable Snow Leopard Install USB key.

On each machine, when I press Option upon startup, and choose the USB key as boot drive, the following happens:

-Macbook 2006: it all works; the green light on my USB key keeps flashing.

-iMac 2009: 2 seconds after I chose the USB as boot drive, the green light stops flashing and nothing happens afterwards. It seems the USB key decides to stop working.

-Macbook Pro 2010: same as iMac.

Why would that happen? Is there any fix for that?

Thanks in advance.

 

[macpokerstars]

Note: it's the Retail Mac OS X Snow Leopard DVD that I put on the USB key.

It seems that my iMac and MBP only accept 10.6.2 or 10.6.3 at least.

I am thinking of using my Macbook 2006 and Firewire-target my Macbook Pro, and then install 10.6.0 on it. Not sure if this is gonna work though.

 

[Dave Braine]

A Snow Leopard disc is only $19 from the Apple Store. Would seem the easiest way. The version was 10.6.3 when I bought mine some years ago. It may be a higher version by now.

 

[Eithanius]

Though I don't have a 2009 iMac to start with, a 2010 MBP requires a custom-build 10.6.3 (which comes on the MBP restore disc) to be able to work. A general build will have to be at least 10.6.4, which the Snow Leopard Retail version (may) lack.

Pray that the current retail copy of SL has 10.6.8... Else you will need to call AppleCare to obtain the restore disc...

 

[JediMeister]

Late responder here, but just confirming what Eithanius has already posted. According to this article:

"Retail copies of Mac OS X may not always work properly with new Macs. Even if the retail version has been updated via Software Update to a later version of Mac OS X than originally came with a Mac, you may have unexpected issues. Always confirm operating system functionality by using the install disc that shipped with your particular Mac."

The version of 10.6.3 on the retail disc will not be compatible with Macs released from around the same time you created the flash drive or after. If you no longer have the install media for the MacBook Pro or the iMac and require replacements, you can order them from AppleCare for about $32/set of 2, which includes the OS X Install DVD and the Applications Install disc.

 

[chrfr]

Pray that the current retail copy of SL has 10.6.8... Else you will need to call AppleCare to obtain the restore disc...

The retail disc is 10.6.3.