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Install Mac OS X 10.6 on New 2012 Mac Mini

kitsune_akki

kitsune_akki

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 5, 2008
12
0
United Kingdom
Hoping I found the correct spot in the Forum,

Would anyone have a solution on how to install and get Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard running on the latest 2012 Mac Mini ?:confused:
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,454
43,374
Won't work, Snow Leopard does not have the Ivy Bridge kexts needed to run. That is SL has not been updated with the new chip sets to work.

People have tried unsuccessfully to hack or modify 10.6 to run on the new ivy bridge based MBPs so the mini is in the same boat
 
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kitsune_akki

kitsune_akki

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 5, 2008
12
0
United Kingdom
maflynn said:
Won't work, Snow Leopard does not have the Ivy Bridge kexts needed to run. That is SL has not been updated with the new chip sets to work.

People have tried unsuccessfully to hack or modify 10.6 to run on the new ivy bridge based MBPs so the mini is in the same boat
Click to expand...

Hmmmm I thought as much....
as we have been trying in vain in the office cloning with ccc and clonezilla. Modding and copying kexts. refit, empire efi. cloning my mac mini with snowy to the mac mini. NOTHING.

Thanks for confirming though - thought I was not smart enough to grasp it
 
dasx

dasx

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2012
1,107
18
Barcelona
Yup… Won't work. Can't even install the 10.8.2 version downloaded from the App Store so go figure...
 
kitsune_akki

kitsune_akki

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 5, 2008
12
0
United Kingdom
Nermal said:
This *might* be adaptable but I really have no idea whether it's possible or not.
Click to expand...

Yes it was possible! It worked up until the point I tried to install MultiBeast's Network Drivers - then - the black multi-language screen of death telling you to reboot... :eek:

Well, for one... it worked installing etc, had to boot using the iBoot Ivy Bridge Disc.
Installing 10.6.8 worked.
Everything installed fine, till I tried the selection to install all drivers because I got tired rebooting (every boot required the iBoot) after every single one by one driver install... time is running out so we binned it.

But I think if I had more time to play with the Mac Mini, I could find a way to use the 10.7 or 10.8 Kext Drivers on 10.6
 
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barkmonster

macrumors 68020
Dec 3, 2001
2,134
15
Lancashire
XEON said:
Yes it was possible! It worked up until the point I tried to install MultiBeast's Network Drivers - then - the black multi-language screen of death telling you to reboot... :eek:

Well, for one... it worked installing etc, had to boot using the iBoot Ivy Bridge Disc.
Installing 10.6.8 worked.
Everything installed fine, till I tried the selection to install all drivers because I got tired rebooting (every boot required the iBoot) after every single one by one driver install... time is running out so we binned it.

But I think if I had more time to play with the Mac Mini, I could find a way to use the 10.7 or 10.8 Kext Drivers on 10.6
Click to expand...

You can install Snow Leopard on VMware Fusion. Maybe that would be a solution?
 
Amethyst1

Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Oct 28, 2015
9,352
11,477
barracuda156 said:
And even reported success: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/installing-snow-leopard-on-2012-ivy-bridge-macbook-air.173641/
Click to expand...
I got Snow Leopard booting on a Late 2012 Ivy Bridge Retina (!) MacBook Pro using just the patched kernel from the iBoot Ivy Bridge package. But that's about it. Virtually nothing works. I wouldn’t call this a success.

img_0053-jpeg.1902421
 
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barracuda156

macrumors 68000
Sep 3, 2021
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Amethyst1 said:
I got Snow Leopard booting on a Late 2012 Ivy Bridge Retina (!) MacBook Pro using just the patched kernel from the iBoot Ivy Bridge package. But that's about it. Virtually nothing works. I wouldn’t call this a success.

img_0053-jpeg.1902421
Click to expand...

Oh okay, that’s useful to know. Have you seen this thread? The last comment: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/installing-snow-leopard-on-2012-ivy-bridge-macbook-air.173641/

Then, I downloaded a patched mach_kernel and copied to the root of my USB installer. I then rebooted into the installer and went let it install like normal. Finally, after the installer had finished (but before it could reboot) I used the terminal to copy mach_kernel from the root of my install USB to the root of newly-installed-to Snow Leopard partition.
Click to expand...

I am not sure how to do that correctly though. In particular, what should I do with iBoot Ivy Bridge? When I mount it, there are two folders, usr and Extras. 10.6 installer also has usr folder. If I copy files from iBoot Ivy Bridge to respective locations (without overwriting anything), it does not work.
 
Amethyst1

Amethyst1

macrumors G3
Oct 28, 2015
9,352
11,477
barracuda156 said:
In particular, what should I do with iBoot Ivy Bridge? When I mount it, there are two folders, usr and Extras.
Click to expand...
There's also a hidden disk image named Preboot.dmg IIRC. Mount this one and then search through the folders until you find the mach_kernel file (I don't have the image anymore and don't remember the exact path, sorry...). Replace the original Snow Leopard mach_kernel file with this one. That's all I had to do to get an installed copy of 10.6.8 to boot on Ivy Bridge.
 
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barracuda156

macrumors 68000
Sep 3, 2021
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Amethyst1 said:
There's also a hidden disk image named Preboot.dmg IIRC. Mount this one and then search through the folders until you find the mach_kernel file (I don't have the image anymore and don't remember the exact path, sorry...). Replace the original Snow Leopard mach_kernel file with this one. That's all I had to do to get an installed copy of 10.6.8 to boot on Ivy Bridge.
Click to expand...

Ah, installed one. I don’t have installed one, I just got an installer image.
But I will try to find a pre-installed dmg of the system then.
 
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barracuda156

macrumors 68000
Sep 3, 2021
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Amethyst1 said:
It’s still worth trying with an installer. The kernel is the crucial thing in getting Snow Leopard to boot on Ivy Bridge.
Click to expand...

It actually seems to work. Some Apple apps fail though: iTunes does not start, Preview crashes, Image Capture works, but with bugs. Feels like 10.6 PowerPC LOL

But I don't care about all these, the only important part is compilation, and well, Xcode installs and apparently works, BBEdit works, command line works, I have just built Macports from source and installed a couple of ports.

Blutooth keyboard and Magic mouse work, but no touch scrolling. AirPort works. Arctic Fox browser works. Not too bad!
 

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