Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Westmere Dual CPU@2,4 downgrade to SL

T

talk2phil

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 18, 2012
8
0
Hi,

I am a rookie with an new Westmere Dual Core@2,4GHz that was delivered with Lion instead of Leopard (as originally delivered in mid 2010).

I need to have Snow Leopard installed... Would you have a simple solution?

I cannot get the answer as the answers vary from tweaking the Firmware to using alternative pieces of software.

Thanks for your dependable help,

P
 
Hi,

Congrats, first off on getting your mac pro! Do you have either a retail 10.6.4 DVD, or can you find someone who has the specialized snow leopard discs which came with the 2010 mac pro? Given that the 2012 is the same as the 2010, those discs will work.

If you don't need Lion on your mac pro and it didn't come with any pre-loaded software other than the OS, you can just insert a retail or specialized mac pro 2010 disc with snow leopard and do a clean install over Lion, or you can just use disk utility in the installer to format the disc clean and then run the snow leopard installer.

Don't forget to finally download 10.6.8. Good luck!


talk2phil said:
Hi,

I am a rookie with an new Westmere Dual Core@2,4GHz that was delivered with Lion instead of Leopard (as originally delivered in mid 2010).

I need to have Snow Leopard installed... Would you have a simple solution?

I cannot get the answer as the answers vary from tweaking the Firmware to using alternative pieces of software.

Thanks for your dependable help,

P
Click to expand...
 
Thank you for this answer. Is it really that simple? The EFI (Firmware Rom) has been upgraded and I thought that it prevented any installation of any previous Mac OS X release...

I have bought the SL latest standard DVD from Apple couple months ago. Would that be OK?
 
Yes, your Snow Leopard disc should work without any problems as the only thing Apple did was speed bump the processors. No changes to the EFI Firmware took place, so you should be good to go. In fact the 2012 board is the same board as the 2010.



talk2phil said:
Thank you for this answer. Is it really that simple? The EFI (Firmware Rom) has been upgraded and I thought that it prevented any installation of any previous Mac OS X release...

I have bought the SL latest standard DVD from Apple couple months ago. Would that be OK?
Click to expand...
 
PowerPCMacMan said:
Yes, your Snow Leopard disc should work without any problems as the only thing Apple did was speed bump the processors. No changes to the EFI Firmware took place, so you should be good to go. In fact the 2012 board is the same board as the 2010.
Click to expand...

But will you keep the version of iPhoto etc that is on the install disk that has Lion on it? My Snow Leopard disk just contains the OS, not the apps that come with a new machine.

Also, could he configure the HD into two partitions, and then install the Leopard into the new partition?
 
No, the retail Snow Leopard disc is 10.6.3. I don't think they made a disc with a newer version than that.

10.6.3 does not contain the drivers for the 2010 Mac Pro and will not work.

You do not have to hack or modify the firmware. You system can run 10.6.4 or later.

If you can find someone with a 2010 Mac Pro that shipped with Snow Leopard, then you could user their system restore disc.

You have 2 options:
1) Use another Mac (probably the easiest if you have access to another Mac that can run Snow Leopard).
2) Patch the disc image of 10.6.3 that you have to create a custom 10.6.8 installer. It will have the drivers you need.
 
Thanks to all of you...

I managed to boot a SL 10.3.8 with a Carbon Copy of another Mac's system. Yet it was not a MacPro and some functionalities are missing due to an inappropriate selection of drivers... The installtion is not clean at all.

To Minifridge 1138: how do I "create a custom 10.6.8 installer. It will have the drivers you need."??
 
Herein lies the problem...

You have a 2012 Mac Pro which came with Lion. You wish to downgrade to Snow Leopard, but the problem is you will need a Snow Leopard disc that has the right drivers for complete functionality.

Your best solution is to find someone with a 2010 Mac Pro and have them order(You pay for friend back for this favor) a set of replacement discs. You can't order a set of replacement discs for the 2010 since Apple goes by the serial number and won't release any replacements to you other than the ones that came with your machine.

I know.. I had to ask a friend to help me out since my mac pro was originally a 2009, but I gutted the thing and replaced the 09 boards with the 2010 ones, but still my serial number is a 2009 in their system.. so what I had to do was ask a friend who was near a mac pro at one of the Apple stores and he sent me the serial. I then used that to get the 2010 discs.

But, the best way is if you know a friend who is willing to do this for you. Retail Snow Leopard 10.6 won't boot a 2012 mac pro.. it has to be 10.6.4 or higher. The discs I have are Snow Leopard 10.6.4.

The other great thing about this is you get the hardware test. I can supply the ASD if you need it.

send me a private email and I might, just might be able to help you with this problem.

PPCMM
 
Melbourne Park said:
just wondering, why do you need Snow Leopard?

I am soon to upgrade from a Snow Leopard machine ... I'm wondering what is wrong with Lion?
Click to expand...

Speaking for myself only, Lion made disruptive and negative changes to the document model, application switching, and application launching. Performance seemed slower in some specific cases. I couldn't rename files while they were open any more. Dropping Rosetta support prevented me from using my older applications and games. I also don't care to install an OS from over the Internet; I still prefer OS to be on physical media.

I'm not a Lion hater. I recognize that there are some positives too, but for my particular tastes, the pros do not make up for the cons.
 
Melbourne Park said:
just wondering, why do you need Snow Leopard?

I am soon to upgrade from a Snow Leopard machine ... I'm wondering what is wrong with Lion?
Click to expand...

Because of FCP7... And some other "old" softwares.

----------
PowerPCMacMan said:
You have a 2012 Mac Pro which came with Lion. You wish to downgrade to Snow Leopard, but the problem is you will need a Snow Leopard disc that has the right drivers for complete functionality.

Your best solution is to find someone with a 2010 Mac Pro and have them order(You pay for friend back for this favor) a set of replacement discs. You can't order a set of replacement discs for the 2010 since Apple goes by the serial number and won't release any replacements to you other than the ones that came with your machine.

I know.. I had to ask a friend to help me out since my mac pro was originally a 2009, but I gutted the thing and replaced the 09 boards with the 2010 ones, but still my serial number is a 2009 in their system.. so what I had to do was ask a friend who was near a mac pro at one of the Apple stores and he sent me the serial. I then used that to get the 2010 discs.

But, the best way is if you know a friend who is willing to do this for you. Retail Snow Leopard 10.6 won't boot a 2012 mac pro.. it has to be 10.6.4 or higher. The discs I have are Snow Leopard 10.6.4.

The other great thing about this is you get the hardware test. I can supply the ASD if you need it.

send me a private email and I might, just might be able to help you with this problem.

PPCMM
Click to expand...

PPCMM: your help would be greatly appreciated. I couldn't find your email in your profile...
 
[

Send me a private msg. We can discuss ot there.


UOTE=talk2phil;15328690]Because of FCP7... And some other "old" softwares.

----------



PPCMM: your help would be greatly appreciated. I couldn't find your email in your profile...[/QUOTE]
 
Phildo said:
Has anyone actually run 10.6.8 on a 2012 Mac Pro?
Click to expand...


I am typing this on a 3.2 quad core 2012 Mac Pro that came with Lion 10.7.3. I purchased a 1TB Western Digital Black HD and installed Snow Leopard on that using the 10.6.4 original install dvd's that came with 2010 Mac Pro, which I purchased online. I can now dual-boot into Snow Leopard and Lion. :)
 
OS 10.6.8 on Mac Pro 2012

After several discussions with Apple Mac Pro Tech Support, I was told that 10.6.8 would not run on a 2012 Mac Pro. It is a big issue for me because I have several key programs that were not supported beyond 10.6.8. Based upon this forum it appears that Apple Tech Support is wrong. I am currently running 10.6.8 on my 2.8 Dual Quad 2008 Mac Pro. My original idea was to purchase a 2012 Hex Mac Pro and install my 10.6.8 OS hard drive in the 2012. Can anyone provide users experience? Why would Apple Tech Support be wrong on uch a simple question?
 
fotophil said:
After several discussions with Apple Mac Pro Tech Support, I was told that 10.6.8 would not run on a 2012 Mac Pro. It is a big issue for me because I have several key programs that were not supported beyond 10.6.8. Based upon this forum it appears that Apple Tech Support is wrong. I am currently running 10.6.8 on my 2.8 Dual Quad 2008 Mac Pro. My original idea was to purchase a 2012 Hex Mac Pro and install my 10.6.8 OS hard drive in the 2012. Can anyone provide users experience? Why would Apple Tech Support be wrong on uch a simple question?
Click to expand...

You need the Mac Pro 2010 original grey installer DVDs with 10.6.4 (the retail 10.6 / 10.6.3 dvd will NOT work). Then run the combo update to get it to 10.6.8.
I have been running Snow Leopard on my 2012 Mac Pro (3.2 quad) for over 10 days and loving it.:)
 
The only change to the 2012 Mac Pro from the 2010 Mac Pro was a processor speed bump. The 2010 Mac Pro shipped with Snow Leopard 10.6.4 at some point in their distribution. Apple's official position is to not promote / endorse / support the use of an OS version not shipping with the machine. But it works. :)
 
I meant to say:
Apple's official position is to not promote / endorse / support the use of a Mac OS version *prior to that which shipped with the machine*.
 
OS 10.6.8 on Mac Pro 2012

Can I simply install my OS 10.6.8 hard drive from my 2008 Mac Pro into a new 2012 Mac Pro?
 
fotophil said:
Can I simply install my OS 10.6.8 hard drive from my 2008 Mac Pro into a new 2012 Mac Pro?
Click to expand...

Yes you can. I have a 2008 Mac Pro. Transferred the HD with 10.6.8 to a 2012 Mac Pro that was shipped with Mountain Lion and the 10.6.8 HD was working fine
 
OS 10.6.8 on Mac Pro 2012

I did a Google Search for OS 10.6.8 running on a 2012 Mac Pro and found a discussion on the Apple Support Communties Forum that indicates that there are firmware differences beween 2010 and 2012 Mac Pros that can cause problems with disk permission errors resulting in program execution errors due to improper system calls. I don't know what it all means but it doesn't sound very good. I think this may be the basis for the Apple Technical Support's position. I would like to run 10.6.8 on a 2012 Mac Pro but there appear to be some issues.
 
^^^^I was not aware of that, but sounds right, because the System Profiler is able to report whether it's a 2010 or a 2012 Mac Pro. At first I thought it was something related to the CPU, but I've upgraded my CPUs to one that Apple never supplied, and I still get the 2010 Mac Pro identification. Geekbench however, does apparently identify by processor because before my CPU change my Mac Pro model was identified as a Mac Pro (Mid 2010), it's now identified as a MacPro5,1.

However, I believe the OP has specified that he has a 2010 Mac Pro. My 2010 machine was built August of 2011 and delivered with Lion.

Lou
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back