Load Snow Leopard on a Lion MBP i7 ?

[parbar]

I have an early 2011 2.3 GHz MacBookPro i7 that came with Lion.

1. Can I safely reload Leopard and get rid of Lion? If so, must I totally erase the drive? Do I need to boot up from the Leopard disk since it says it won't load when I just put it in and try and install it?

2. If I can't do the above can I partition and load Leopard on a separate partition and still load a Bootcamp partition?

 

[GGJstudios]

Don't install a version of Mac OS X earlier than what came with your Mac

You should not install a version of Mac OS X earlier than that which came with your Mac.

If you install an earlier (previous) version of the Mac OS X than what was included, your computer may exhibit unexpected behavior such as:

• The trackpad or mouse may not respond properly
• The computer may stop responding
• Sleep/wake issues may occur
• The display image may appear to "shrink" with black bars around it, may appear tinted, or have other issues
• Loss of built-in audio
• Loss of Bluetooth or AirPort functionality
• May not start up past the Apple logo

Also, the grey install disks that come with Macs are model-specific and will not work on other models. Only the retail versions will work on any model. Even with a retail disc, however, you shouldn't install Leopard on a Mac that came with Lion.

 

[parbar]

When I said Leopard in the original post, I meant Snow Leopard.

 

[GGJstudios]

When I said Leopard in the original post, I meant Snow Leopard.

It doesn't matter. The same applies.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

When I said Leopard in the original post, I meant Snow Leopard.

Look here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1306855/

 

[maflynn]

It may be possible but the odds are high that you'll be introducing some instability into the system since you're shoe horning an OS onto a computer that has new hardware to which the OS does not have the drivers for.

 

[squeakr]

If you can get copies of the OEM disc, you will have no problems as the OS was SL for this machine then. The OP has a system that was originally supplied within SL, so the drivers exist and are fully supporting the hardware. Having said that, I would stay with Lion unless you have some compelling need for SL (i.e. support of a legacy software, company compatibility issues), instead increase the RAM and enjoy. Lion is rather stable as it is and will only improve with releases/ updates.

 

[parbar]

I have a copy from Apple Tech support of Snow Leopard for this machine.

1. So do I have to do a clean install - or just the OS?

2. It seems like I may have to restart to the install disk to override a newer OS. Is that correct?

 

[squeakr]

Clean install and re-format the disk. I would back up everything pertinent, then you will need to restart from the disc (hold the c key during boot), use disk utility to reformat the disc, and then re-install form there.

 

[snaky69]

It doesn't matter. The same applies.

He has an early 2011, which originally shipped with SL, the OP will have no issues installing SL if he can find the correct grey discs.

 

[parbar]

Do I need grey disks (don't know what they are) if I have an early 2011 MBP and just received an OEM Snow Leopard disc specifically for this computer from Apple Care Protection plan support?

 

[squeakr]

The OEM restore discs are referred to as gray discs as they are grey in color. The retail disk were/ are white for SL. As long as you have the true restore disc from Apple and not the retail disc you should be fine.

 

[snaky69]

Do I need grey disks (don't know what they are) if I have an early 2011 MBP and just received an OEM Snow Leopard disc specifically for this computer from Apple Care Protection plan support?

The OS disc specific for that model is what we call the grey disk, because well, it's grey.

 

[MacYoukai]

I have the same computer as you do "original poster." Anyone telling you things about instability and all of that other stuff has not tried this or does not know what they are talking about. I made a custom install disk via System Image Utility, it was a long process... but in the end I now have Snow Leopard running on this machine and there is no trace of Lion left. Muahahahaha...
There are instructions for doing such things that can be found on the Apple discussion boards, if you are not an advanced user it may be a daunting task. The reason for having to install the OS using this method is that you will need 10.6.8, and since those of us who got Lion MBPs lack any form of an install disc (Thank you for getting cheaper, Apple!) we have to make our own 10.6.8 disc.
My machine runs great without any bugs. Good luck to you should you choose to attempt this!

 

[squeakr]

If you are going to chastise people for being wrong, you might want to be correct yourself. There is no way possible that you made a disc using Network Utility, and SL 10.6.8 is not required. The "original" disc comes with 10.6.6 as that was the version available when the Mac was released and would be sufficient to install SL on this version of the MBP. 10.6.8 is an update since then and is not needed, but it does fix some issues as does every new version released.

 

[MacYoukai]

Eh, I used System Image Utility. My bad. I am just tired of people flat out saying it is not possible and claiming all of this nonsense about incompatibility and all. It gets old.
I had heard that 10.6.8 was necessary for the Lion Macbook Pros for some reason, I cannot recall why. Either way, I created my own image by combining the update dmg with a dmg created from my 10.6.0 disc. Long process, but it did the job.

 

[GGJstudios]

Eh, I used System Image Utility. My bad. I am just tired of people flat out saying it is not possible and claiming all of this nonsense about incompatibility and all. It gets old.

It's not people saying you can't do it; it's Apple saying you shouldn't. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Apple. I only quoted what they said.

 

[cariocap]

Not only Early MBP but Late MBP works too.

I used an SL 10.6.7 image and did a clean install in my Later MBP and updated to 10.6.8 and everything is ok.

 

[parbar]

OK, good input...but the plot thickens,
I Time Machined everything to another drive.

I have the "Mac OS X Snow Leopard Install DVD" provided by Apple.

I haven't cleared the MPB drive with disk utility yet (Maybe I need to do that?). Apparently can't do it UNLESS you boot up from another disk - it's all grayed out. Thought it would be an option on the install disk.

When I put in the Install DVD, restart and hold down the c key, all I get is the Apple logo and beep, beep, beep, .... beep, beep, beep.... never any options to do anything.

Any ideas?

 

[snaky69]

OK, good input...but the plot thickens,
I Time Machined everything to another drive.

I have the "Mac OS X Snow Leopard Install DVD" provided by Apple.

I haven't cleared the MPB drive with disk utility yet (Maybe I need to do that?). Apparently can't do it UNLESS you boot up from another disk - it's all grayed out. Thought it would be an option on the install disk.

When I put in the Install DVD, restart and hold down the c key, all I get is the Apple logo and beep, beep, beep, .... beep, beep, beep.... never any options to do anything.

Any ideas?

You'd need to format the disk using disc utility while booted from the grey DVD. From there you could proceed to install SL.

 

[parbar]

The Snow Leopard Install DVD says it was created April 2010 and is version 10.6.3

----------

It won't boot to the install DVD...just goes beep, beep, beep.

 

[snaky69]

The Snow Leopard Install DVD says it was created April 2010 and is version 10.6.3

There's your problem right there, that's the Retail disk, not the OEM disk, you will not be able to get it installed with that disk. You need a DVD with 10.6.7 or later.

 

[hotgrease]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1275346/

 

[GermanyChris]

The Snow Leopard Install DVD says it was created April 2010 and is version 10.6.3

----------

It won't boot to the install DVD...just goes beep, beep, beep.

IMHO you really need to ponder why you need Snow Leopard..

If you really have an early 2011 MBP it came with gray disc's that you can re-instal from..

IMHO you need to optimize 10.7 with LionTweeks and Macpilot, you can run 10.6 in a virtual at least with parallels so I assume you can with VM ware and Virtual Box..

Lion feels heavier but in the end it really isn't and more and more stuff is lion only..this is the crappy end of why Lion is 4GB and Snow Leopard is 8GB ..little legacy code

 

[Ccrew]

He has an early 2011, which originally shipped with SL, the OP will have no issues installing SL if he can find the correct grey discs.

Ummm.. not always the case. I have an early 2011 that came with SL, and a early 2011 that shipped with Lion. If I try to use the SL restore discs on the Lion machine it has no issues getting past the model check and will install. But it kernel panics on subsequent boot.

It's believed to be a later EFI update that renders the instability.

----------

IMHO you need to optimize 10.7 with LionTweeks and Macpilot, you can run 10.6 in a virtual at least with parallels so I assume you can with VM ware and Virtual Box..

10.6 isn't licensed to run in a VM unless it's server. VMWare Fusion won't allow it unless you find a 4.01 build where they "oops'ed" on the license check.