Unable to install Snow Leopard on A1312 iMac 27-inch mid-2011 - 'Installation error'

[EQZ101]

Hi everyone

I got a 27 inch mid-2011 iMac last week with the intention of installing Snow Leopard on it (the audio software I use has the best stability on this OS).
I downloaded the original Mac OS X 10.6.6 iMac 2011 disc from Macintosh Repository and made a bootable USB flash drive.

The installer is recognised and boots fine from holding down alt after the chime. When in the installer I can even wipe the HDD from disk utility.

However the problem comes with after clicking install. After less than 30 seconds it comes up with an error, that it couldn't copy the files to disk.

I have tried getting the installer to install on a brand new external HDD, and the same again happens.


Now I am worried that the file from macintosh repository may be corrupted, which is a big problem as it is the only source I could find to get the original discs.

So I am guessing I may have to try some alternative methods of installation. If I bought a 2009 mac mini (can get them for £50), I was thinking of putting the iMacs HDD in the mac mini, then installing snow leopard leopard from the universal disc (10.6.0 I think), updating to 10.6.8, and then putting the hard drive back into the iMac. Would this work or would there be all sorts of driver issues?

What I am trying right now is downloading the OS X 10.6.7 orignal 15 inch macbook pro discs as I think I heard that these can also work on the 2011 iMac A1312.

Or maybe the problem is something completely different?

 

[Kent W]

At least my two mid 2011 iMacs both shipped with Lion. Apple never allowed for installing an older OS than what the Mac was intended for. If you run web recovery on your Mac, you will see the original OS that your Mac shipped with.

 

[wordsworth]

Some years ago, I tried to update the OS on my white MacBook early 2009, running Snow Leopard, to El Capitan, I found it wouldn't do so and I ended up in a 'loop' without any sign of how to get past it. It turned out that the Mac didn't recognise the OS update El Capitan because the update no longer possessed a valid signing certificate. Other OS's had been released by that time so El Capitan was not the current OS.

I had to make the Mac 'think' it was running at a time when the El Capitan OS was a valid OS. To do this I had to disconnect the MacBook from the internet so that it had no way of verifying the date and time. I also had to manually alter the MacBook's date and time to a more suitable date appropriate to the OS I was trying to install. Once the OS had successfully installed I could reconnect to the internet and the date was automatically changed to the correct, current date again.

There may be another reason why you cannot get Snow Leopard installed, but maybe look at this info at the link I've posted, which also explains how to change the date manually on your Mac. It pertains to El Capitan rather than Snow Leopard but I am assuming that the basic principle may remain the same – make your Mac 'think' it's Snow Leopard era.

Worth a try?

Mac stuck in "El Capitan" installer loop: "no packages were eligible for install"

My problem is that my Mac starts up to the "El Capitan" installer. After restarting several times, OS X is still on screen telling me that "no packages were eligible for install&quot...

apple.stackexchange.com

 

[Isamilis]

Hi everyone

I got a 27 inch mid-2011 iMac last week with the intention of installing Snow Leopard on it (the audio software I use has the best stability on this OS).
I downloaded the original Mac OS X 10.6.6 iMac 2011 disc from Macintosh Repository and made a bootable USB flash drive.

The installer is recognised and boots fine from holding down alt after the chime. When in the installer I can even wipe the HDD from disk utility.

However the problem comes with after clicking install. After less than 30 seconds it comes up with an error, that it couldn't copy the files to disk.

I have tried getting the installer to install on a brand new external HDD, and the same again happens.


Now I am worried that the file from macintosh repository may be corrupted, which is a big problem as it is the only source I could find to get the original discs.

So I am guessing I may have to try some alternative methods of installation. If I bought a 2009 mac mini (can get them for £50), I was thinking of putting the iMacs HDD in the mac mini, then installing snow leopard leopard from the universal disc (10.6.0 I think), updating to 10.6.8, and then putting the hard drive back into the iMac. Would this work or would there be all sorts of driver issues?

What I am trying right now is downloading the OS X 10.6.7 orignal 15 inch macbook pro discs as I think I heard that these can also work on the 2011 iMac A1312.

Or maybe the problem is something completely different?

Few years ago, I need to set system time back to somewhere around 2011 before reinstalling Snow Leopard. CMNIW, it related to certificate that was expired 2-3 years ago.

 

[Kent W]

Still if iMac 2011 shipped with Lion, the older Snow Leopard will not work.

 

[wordsworth]

Of course! You're quite right. If the OP's iMac was sold with Lion as the installed OS then yes, you are correct, Kent W – Snow Leopard will not install on that iMac.

I should have read your earlier post more carefully.

 

[DeltaMac]

The 2011 iMacs, except for the somewhat-downgraded Late 2011, 21.5-inch, all shipped with Snow Leopard. You might have one that came with Lion, but it did not ship that way.
But, then, Snow Leopard has always been a challenge to reinstall, as Apple never publicly released a commercial installer beyond 10.6.3 - and all the 2011s needed versions newer than 10.6.3.
Easiest way forward, if you don't have a working copy of the needed 10.6.6 or 10.6.7, and you have an older Mac that can boot from the older 10.6.3, is to install Snow Leopard on an external drive, update Snow Leopard fully, and then transplant that drive to your 2011 iMac. Or, connect the two Macs with a Firewire cable. Boot your 2011 iMac to Target disk mode, and use your older Mac to install Snow Leopard. Boot the older iMac to the newly installed system (the 2011 iMac will appear in your boot picker screen while in target disk mode), then update the Snow Leopard system to latest 10.6.8. Shut everything down, and your 2011 iMac is ready to use for that audio software that you want to use...
It all takes a while to get there, but it is doable.

 

[iMac2019]

Well, I would say the first important thing to know is the list of available OSX or macOS versions for which your hw is designed.

For example :
For (re)installing a macos version (depends on your hw):

Macintosh:$ softwareupdate --list-full-installers
Finding available software
Software Update found the following full installers:
* Title: macOS Sonoma, Version: 14.1.1, Size: 12604952KiB, Build: 23B81
* Title: macOS Sonoma, Version: 14.1, Size: 12603757KiB, Build: 23B74
* Title: macOS Sonoma, Version: 14.0, Size: 12555162KiB, Build: 23A344
* Title: macOS Ventura, Version: 13.6.1, Size: 11662168KiB, Build: 22G313
* Title: macOS Ventura, Version: 13.6, Size: 11657005KiB, Build: 22G120
* Title: macOS Ventura, Version: 13.5.2, Size: 11655353KiB, Build: 22G91
* Title: macOS Ventura, Version: 13.5.1, Size: 11655520KiB, Build: 22G90
* Title: macOS Ventura, Version: 13.5, Size: 11654590KiB, Build: 22G74
* Title: macOS Ventura, Version: 13.4.1, Size: 11513284KiB, Build: 22F82
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.7.1, Size: 12110635KiB, Build: 21G920
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.7, Size: 12107687KiB, Build: 21G816
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.6.9, Size: 12111110KiB, Build: 21G726
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.6.8, Size: 12119078KiB, Build: 21G725
* Title: macOS Monterey, Version: 12.6.7, Size: 12115649KiB, Build: 21G651
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.7.10, Size: 12125478KiB, Build: 20G1427
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.7.9, Size: 12125714KiB, Build: 20G1426
* Title: macOS Big Sur, Version: 11.7.8, Size: 12120994KiB, Build: 20G1351
* Title: macOS Catalina, Version: 10.15.7, Size: 8055650KiB, Build: 19H15
* Title: macOS Catalina, Version: 10.15.7, Size: 8055522KiB, Build: 19H2
* Title: macOS Catalina, Version: 10.15.6, Size: 8055450KiB, Build: 19G2021
* Title: macOS Mojave, Version: 10.14.6, Size: 5896894KiB, Build: 18G103
* Title: macOS Mojave, Version: 10.14.4, Size: 5894794KiB, Build: 18E2034

More details https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253440269
(you will need sudo to be able to download the appropriate OS version)

Btw, as stated by wordsworth you will need to disconnect your machine from the internet and manually set the date/time back to the past (around the time when the version was released) to be success.

Then after reboot and initial settings to reconnect the machine and perform OS updates, time synchronisation, ...

 

[JustAnExpat]

Hi everyone

I got a 27 inch mid-2011 iMac last week with the intention of installing Snow Leopard on it (the audio software I use has the best stability on this OS).
I downloaded the original Mac OS X 10.6.6 iMac 2011 disc from Macintosh Repository and made a bootable USB flash drive.

The installer is recognised and boots fine from holding down alt after the chime. When in the installer I can even wipe the HDD from disk utility.

However the problem comes with after clicking install. After less than 30 seconds it comes up with an error, that it couldn't copy the files to disk.

I have tried getting the installer to install on a brand new external HDD, and the same again happens.


Now I am worried that the file from macintosh repository may be corrupted, which is a big problem as it is the only source I could find to get the original discs.

So I am guessing I may have to try some alternative methods of installation. If I bought a 2009 mac mini (can get them for £50), I was thinking of putting the iMacs HDD in the mac mini, then installing snow leopard leopard from the universal disc (10.6.0 I think), updating to 10.6.8, and then putting the hard drive back into the iMac. Would this work or would there be all sorts of driver issues?

What I am trying right now is downloading the OS X 10.6.7 orignal 15 inch macbook pro discs as I think I heard that these can also work on the 2011 iMac A1312.

Or maybe the problem is something completely different?

I brought up this system on Mactracker. It looks like it came with MacOS X 10.6.6 (and later Mac OS X 10.6.7) by default. You will need that specific version of Snow Leopard for this machine. Look for version 10J4139 or 10J4026. If you can find that, and burn it to a disc, you should be able to install Snow Leopard.

 

[JustAnExpat]

Well, I would say the first important thing to know is the list of available OSX or macOS versions for which your hw is designed.
Then after reboot and initial settings to reconnect the machine and perform OS updates, time synchronisation, ...

That won't work. His machine is so old that internet download won't work. It'll have to be from a disk.

 

[iMac2019]

I don't know how deep in the past you want to look for, but following the link below you can go back to Lion OSX by downloading it as disk images using your web browser.

"I found the support page with links to all available MacOS installers."
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683

If needed, some oldies updates are still available for download (back to Cheetah)

A full history of macOS (OS X) release dates and rates – The Robservatory

robservatory.com

 

[mectojic]

It's probably easier just to make a 10.6.7 installer. I think you can get it off a 2011 MacBook Pro.

 

[Kent W]

That won't work. His machine is so old that internet download won't work. It'll have to be from a disk.

I tested web recovery on my 2011 iMac 27 just 2 weeks ago after cleaning up from a Linux test I made. I got the option to install Lion (never tried that though) just formatted the drive in web recovery mode.

Two things are clear web recovery works at least to the point where I can use the tools and it states Lion as original operating system on the mid 2011 27 iMac that I have. The machine was sold until fall 2012 when the late 2012 face lifted models arrived.

 

[macguru9999]

Why on earth do you particularly want to install 10.6.6 ?? Use a slightly newer system and try with that, newer but depending on what software you want to run.... I understand PowerPC software needs rosetta 1, in fact I can run PPC, rosetta1 and OS 10.6.8 server inside Parallels on a 2019 mac pro running Sonoma. But unless you need rosetta 1, i would just use a newer OS.

 

[Waragainstsleep]

Hi everyone

I got a 27 inch mid-2011 iMac last week with the intention of installing Snow Leopard on it (the audio software I use has the best stability on this OS).
I downloaded the original Mac OS X 10.6.6 iMac 2011 disc from Macintosh Repository and made a bootable USB flash drive.

The installer is recognised and boots fine from holding down alt after the chime. When in the installer I can even wipe the HDD from disk utility.

However the problem comes with after clicking install. After less than 30 seconds it comes up with an error, that it couldn't copy the files to disk.

I have tried getting the installer to install on a brand new external HDD, and the same again happens.


Now I am worried that the file from macintosh repository may be corrupted, which is a big problem as it is the only source I could find to get the original discs.

So I am guessing I may have to try some alternative methods of installation. If I bought a 2009 mac mini (can get them for £50), I was thinking of putting the iMacs HDD in the mac mini, then installing snow leopard leopard from the universal disc (10.6.0 I think), updating to 10.6.8, and then putting the hard drive back into the iMac. Would this work or would there be all sorts of driver issues?

What I am trying right now is downloading the OS X 10.6.7 orignal 15 inch macbook pro discs as I think I heard that these can also work on the 2011 iMac A1312.

Or maybe the problem is something completely different?

These models should install 10.6.6.
The security certificate on that installer will have long expired. For some reason Apple doesn't tell its installers to tell you this, they just throw unspecified errors. I would try booting from the installer USB, disconnect any internet connections, then you can open a Terminal window and set the date back to 2011 with the following command:

date 0112000011

Thats December 1st 2011 at midnight.

Then run the installer and if see if it works now.
If it still won't work then it may be that there was a firmware update and you have a new minimum OS threshold above 10.6.6. I don't know what exactly that will be. If you can read the firmware version on yours we can probably find out.

 

[Aii]

How does one read the firmware version on a mid-2011 A1311 iMac that has been updated to Yosemite 10.10.5?

 

[DeltaMac]

You can see the present firmware version in your System Information app. You can get to that easily by clicking on the Apple, top left corner of your Yosemite screen, then About This Mac, and then click on the "System Report..." button.
And, that will then show you the System Information window, opening to the Hardware Overview.
"Boot ROM Version" would be what you are looking for, along with the "SMC Version"
If your 2011 has ever been updated to the latest supported 10.13.6, then the Boot ROM would be a different version, compared to the same 2011 iMac that has never had a version higher than Yosemite installed.

 

[Aii]

Boot ROM Version: IM121.0047.B25
SMC Version (System): 1.71f22

Caveats:
- This info was derived from Disk Utility / System Profiler
- The Apple Logo menu in the top left hand corner of the screen has all selections greyed out
- The original Apple Software CD was installed in the optical drive when iMac was powered on
- Ever since inserting that disc, I have not been able to eject it. The keyboard eject button doesn't do it.
- THEREFORE, it is not clear which "System" disc the iMac booted from at the time data above was derived.

@DeltaMac

 

[DeltaMac]

Hardware data (the firmware) is just that, firmware. Software, the system, does not determine what firmware version will be reported. That will be the actual firmware version.
I suspect that your firmware has not been updated beyond some random older system, so could still be that update from installing Yosemite (I don't really know, just a guess - I have not ever found a listing of firmware version numbers, that is, a list of any system installers that included firmware updates, and what those update numbers might be. I DO know that if you installed the newest system for your iMac, which would be High Sierra--that would update your firmware to something like 99.0.0.0.0 (I don't know the actual version, as I don't have a 2011, only a 2010, which for updates, is very close to the same as the 2011 iMacs.
You should be able to eject your DVD by restarting, while holding the mouse button during a restart. If THAT doesn't work, shut power off (unplug power if you need to do that), then start up while you hold the eject button down until you get to the desktop, or a login screen. The drive should eject.
Are you using an Apple-brand, USB keyboard?

 

[Aii]

Yes. All original Apple peripherals that were purchased with the iMac back in 2011.

After shut down, powering up while holding down the eject key on the keyboard for what seemed like forever finally ejected the original Apple installation disk. Thank you for the suggestion.

My understanding from reading various threads on MacRumors is that operating system updates often have firmware updates packaged with them.

Since this iMac shipped with Snow Leopard 10.6.7, and has been updated to Yosemite 10.10.5, with passing interludes of Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks in between, there have been at least 5 successful operating system software updates done to the hardware boot drive of this machine, which to my unknowing understanding means that there were at least 5 opportunities for the firmware to have been updated by Apple in tandem with the operating system updates.

I'm not certain, but I think that there is a difference between hardware and firmware... where firmware can actually be updated (maybe a loose analogy might be "reflashing" ROM, or "reflashing" BIOS) without physically removing and replacing the IC chip or disc hardware that the firmware is resident on. From what I understand, firmware is updated via software, rather than say, screwdrivers.

This is why I was concerned about the firmware versions that I reported... I don't know what "hardware" these firmwares are resident within, nor do I know if the firmwares are indigenous to the machine as manufactured, or if they have been updated.

I also didn't know if the System Profiler was reading the boot disk being used (the Apple DVD OS 10.6.7) or the harddisk resident in the iMac but not booted from in that session (10.10.5).

Finally, I can see that the previous owner made a few failed attempts to update to newer operating systems beyond Yosemite... including El Capitan, Sierra and High Sierra. I can see disk image files for these updates, but the machine isn't running any of them, and the prior owner is less sophisticated than I am (if that is even possible), so I am confident that she made no attempt to retrograde back to an earlier OS for running any type of software. She just dutifully would try to update whenever an update was announced.

Yet I bring this up because even those unsuccessful attempts at updating the operating system still may have also carried with them firmware updates in the packages. I don't know if the process of trying to update to a newer OS begins by checking and updating firmware first, prior to updating the OS. If true, then it appears that there were a total of 8 or 9 opportunities for the firmware in this machine to have been updated. Whether it was or not, during some but not all or perhaps each of those times... I do not know. But I would like to know.

You have a fantastic idea about finding a listing of firmware version numbers, and which OS versions carried with them which firmwares. I'm trying to search for such a list now.

 

[DeltaMac]

Simplify here...
If you install High Sierra on your iMac, that will upgrade your firmware to whatever the latest version might be.
That is the last macOS that is supported by your 2011 iMac, which makes it the last firmware update, too.

So - if you want the most current firmware, install the most current system. You don't have to keep that system...
And finally, a question... Do you have an SSD installed, or does it still have the original hard drive? If it is still original, replace that with an SSD (really worth the time!), and that's your opportunity to install High Sierra, just to make sure that firmware gets updated. I have a couple of older iMacs, an early 2008 20-inch, and a 2010 21.5-inch. Both have multiple boots. The 2008 can boot from Leopard, or El Capitan, also Sonoma (via OCLP) works, but pretty slow (max 6GB ram is not really enough RAM) but that's a test system. The other boot systems work great. The 2010 iMac has 20 GB RAM, boots to either Snow Leopard or Monterey. It is still a very nice, usable Mac.
All of this to make a point--I installed new SSDs in each, then ran whatever the last native installer is for each Mac, with the goal of updating the firmware, if needed. I did that with clean installs, just what I do. It would likely be the same result with an upgrade install, or just a reinstall if that system is already on the boot drive. After that "firmware install", I went back and set up partitions for the other systems that I wanted to have on each iMac.

One more question... What's your ultimate goal with your old iMac? (Why the questions about firmware?)

 

[halledise]

Mr Macintosh is your friend

 

[Aii]

If it still won't work then it may be that there was a firmware update and you have a new minimum OS threshold above 10.6.6. I don't know what exactly that will be. If you can read the firmware version on yours we can probably find out.

The quote above, which I have highlighted in bold, is what really caught my attention, as I was thinking of installing Snow Leopard 10.6.7 on my iMac that had already been updated to Yosemite 10.10.5.

It was the above quote that gave rise to my interest in knowing what firmware my new to me iMac is running now, and if that firmware is compatible with the original 10.6.7 Apple installation disc operating system, for me to reset the iMac.

One more question... What's your ultimate goal with your old iMac? (Why the questions about firmware?)

My ultimate goal is to be able to use all the perpetual software (eg, the full product suite of CS3, licensed only for Apple) that I already paid a boatload of money for, just after I paid a boatload of money (in excess of $4,000) for a brand new Penryn era PRE unibody MacBook Pro, fully loaded, maxxed out on all genuine Apple memory and HDD size that Apple offered at the time in 2008 when I bought it, but which died only 4 years later, rendering my software, and the creative suite projects in progress, inaccessible. Fortunately, these projects were not for profit.

A good friend upgraded her iMac to a newer machine, and offered me her old Mid-2011 iMac. I immediately saw an opportunity to once again use my now "legacy" Mac specific software, and by recovering or removing the data from my dead MBP, I could pick up where I left off from 10 years ago (when my MBP died) on my creative projects.

So that is the ultimate goal.

 

[DeltaMac]

Have you tried to do what you say? That is, to wipe the drive on the iMac, and install Snow Leopard as a clean install?
If that does not seem to work, do you get some kind of error when you try?

 

[Aii]

That is why I had that original disc in the iMac... trying to wipe and reinstall. After a long wait, it would result in a list of errors so long it took scrolling to read them, and I could not print them, as I did not have administrator privileges to install a printer.

I finally figured out how to reset the password of the administrator account today, while booted with the OEM optical disc media, so I now have the ability to set up a printer when logged into the OS on the HDD.

Several suggestions to install an SSD, including your recommendation, have given me pause to stop what I am doing and consider doing just that. Watching the OWC videos on the procedure appear daunting... far more involved than changing a hard drive on any other type of personal computer that I have experience with, desktop or laptop.

In the meantime, while I am thinking about that course of action, I'm trying to figure out what OS to end up with.

At the suggestion of @halledise , I reviewed the Mr. Macintosh website, and according to Mr. Macintosh, I should probably limit my legacy OS of choice to a version no higher than EL Capitan 10.11.6 (rather than High Sierra 10.13.x), because in the event that I should ever in the future undertake repairing or having my late 2008 MBP repaired, the highest level of OS that the MBP can work with without work arounds is 10.11.6, and I would want parity in OS systems between the 2011 iMac and the 2008 MBP.