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Downgrade Snow Leopard to Leopard

C

carlosap

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 22, 2008
24
5
I just bought a new mac with snow leopard preinstalled,

But like every new os, a lot of devices, programs, are unsupported,

so... is there any way to downgrade to leopard without paying a new license

like vista - windows xp downgrade program ?



Thanks
 
Generally it came with snow its only designed for snow. Same for 10.3 and all others. What the machine came with is what it will handle. Going back may work but could also be unstable.

But snow is the best. Faster, less space, etc. What programs are you running that don't work.
 
carlosap said:
I just bought a new mac with snow leopard preinstalled,

But like every new os, a lot of devices, programs, are unsupported,

so... is there any way to downgrade to leopard without paying a new license

like vista - windows xp downgrade program ?



Thanks
Click to expand...

You would need to purchase a Leopard Install disc for $129. The machine you bought ships with Snow Leopard, not Leopard.

It's the same reason that if I order a new Dell computer with Vista and want to have XP preinstalled instead, I have to pay an extra $99.
 
ivnj said:
Generally it came with snow its only designed for snow. Same for 10.3 and all others. What the machine came with is what it will handle. Going back may work but could also be unstable.

But snow is the best. Faster, less space, etc. What programs are you running that don't work.
Click to expand...

Protools LE, M-audio fast track pro.

I know that i have to wait until they support snow leopard, but i have to work today :(

And when i bought the mac, i didnt have the choice to choose leopard instead of SL.
 
carlosap said:
Protools LE, M-audio fast track pro.

I know that i have to wait until they support snow leopard, but i have to work today :(

And when i bought the mac, i didnt have the choice to choose leopard instead of SL.
Click to expand...

So buy the Leopard DVD for $129 and install it onto your Mac. It shouldn't be too surprising that Apple doesn't give a la carte choices of OS installs to buyers of new equipment, they are going to install the latest version of the OS, if you wanted Tiger you'd have to buy that too.
 
Running Protools and M Audio drives you should have known better then to pick up a new computer.

When I had to do work in protools I had my system 1 full step behind everyone else, otherwise, no worky protools.

I think you would be wise to downgrade to 10.5 and keep it there, for some time at least.

It's going to cost you like others have mentioned. You will also have to do a clean install, so don't start working on projects just yet, you'll have to erase the drive.
 
But it may not work. It was designed with snow so they can't guarentee to be backwards compatible with -snow or tiger.
 
Or since its hardly been 2 weeks return the computer. Sometimes they have old stock they never sold. They still have to sell everything. They don't just throw it away when they come out with a new one. They might still have some leopard ones left. If they do you can return yours and save 129 dollars. And the get the 30 snow leopard dvd after they fix everything when your ready.
 
ivnj said:
But it may not work. It was designed with snow so they can't guarentee to be backwards compatible with -snow or tiger.
Click to expand...

This should not be the case. The models currently being sold are the same models being sold before Snow Leopard shipped.
 
del is dell. But if the mother board has been optimized for vista and has vista drivers they may not support going back to xp or provide xp drivers. Even same model number. Or if the board supports xp it many not support vista. So they may replace the board with a new vista only board even if the case still says the same model number. It may look the same computer and same stamp model number etc. But inside it can be totally different.
 
ivnj said:
del is dell. But if the mother board has been optimized for vista and has vista drivers they may not support going back to xp or provide xp drivers. Even same model number. Or if the board supports xp it many not support vista. So they may replace the board with a new vista only board even if the case still says the same model number. It may look the same computer and same stamp model number etc. But inside it can be totally different.
Click to expand...

I think you are still mistaken. This is Apple, not Dell. The machines shipping today are the same ones that were shipping a few weeks ago before Snow Leopard arrived on the scene.

There are not different motherboards, etc. This is Apple, not Dell.

There should be absolutely no issue with running Leopard on any current Mac.
 
jmpage2 said:
I think you are still mistaken. This is Apple, not Dell. The machines shipping today are the same ones that were shipping a few weeks ago before Snow Leopard arrived on the scene.

There are not different motherboards, etc. This is Apple, not Dell.

There should be absolutely no issue with running Leopard on any current Mac.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes: just for the record i downgrade to leopard and protools is working very well :D

but it would be nice to have the downgrade as an option, just for a few pro audio users that want new equipment ; )
 
It's not that easy to downgrade using Leopard disks. Bought an Imac two months ago and another last week. One would assume that the disks that shipped two months ago would be useable on the latest machine, but it appears that is not the case. I inserted the dvd, held down the C key, and the machine kept rebooting each time it tried to access the disk.
 
tomascco said:
It's not that easy to downgrade using Leopard disks. Bought an Imac two months ago and another last week. One would assume that the disks that shipped two months ago would be useable on the latest machine, but it appears that is not the case. I inserted the dvd, held down the C key, and the machine kept rebooting each time it tried to access the disk.
Click to expand...

The grey OS discs that come with a Mac are machine specific. You need to buy retail Leopard discs if you want to install it on another machine.
 
tomascco said:
It's not that easy to downgrade using Leopard disks. Bought an Imac two months ago and another last week. One would assume that the disks that shipped two months ago would be useable on the latest machine, but it appears that is not the case. I inserted the dvd, held down the C key, and the machine kept rebooting each time it tried to access the disk.
Click to expand...
I just bought two new 21.5" iMacs. They shipped with SL obviously, and I'm trying to downgrade to leopard. I have a retail Leopard disk. for the life of me I cant boot from the disk. it just holds the grey screen forever. I can boot from a SL retail disk no problem... Do you think they blocked the ability to boot from the leopard disk on these new iMacs?

Tried holding C key, tried holding option... to no avail. Also when the option to boot from the leopard disk does appear, once I click on the Disk icon the mouse then freezes and It does nothing...

So what am I missing. Should I partition a hard drive to be an image of the leopard disk? the new iMac has new screen and SD slot, but other then that and the new mouse everything else is the same as last model. Unless I'm mistaken...
 
jsidoti said:
I just bought two new 21.5" iMacs. They shipped with SL obviously, and I'm trying to downgrade to leopard. I have a retail Leopard disk. for the life of me I cant boot from the disk. it just holds the grey screen forever. I can boot from a SL retail disk no problem... Do you think they blocked the ability to boot from the leopard disk on these new iMacs?

Tried holding C key, tried holding option... to no avail. Also when the option to boot from the leopard disk does appear, once I click on the Disk icon the mouse then freezes and It does nothing...

So what am I missing. Should I partition a hard drive to be an image of the leopard disk? the new iMac has new screen and SD slot, but other then that and the new mouse everything else is the same as last model. Unless I'm mistaken...
Click to expand...

The new mouse requires 10.6.
 
jsidoti said:
I'm aware of the mouse being an issue, But why do you suppose the disk wont mount?
Click to expand...

Whoops, should have read your WHOLE post. Was going to ask if you tried holding C but you have already done that! I am sorry I can't help more. Possibly make an appointment with a Genius? I am sure they would sit there and downgrade your OS for you... I can't see that being outside the realm of their job description.
 
21.5" iMac won't downgrade???

I'll try a diff disc. You don't suppose the brand-new iMac isn't leopard compatible do you?
 
HLdan said:
The new mouse requires 10.6.
Click to expand...

Wrong. It requires 10.6.2, or 10.5.8+ with Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0.

mousouchop said:
Whoops, should have read your WHOLE post. Was going to ask if you tried holding C but you have already done that! I am sorry I can't help more. Possibly make an appointment with a Genius? I am sure they would sit there and downgrade your OS for you... I can't see that being outside the realm of their job description.
Click to expand...

I doubt they are going to downgrade the OS when Apple explicitly says you shouldn't do that.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2186?viewlocale=en_US

jsidoti said:
I'll try a diff disc. You don't suppose the brand-new iMac isn't leopard compatible do you?
Click to expand...

It sounds more like your DVD isn't compatible. What version is your Leopard DVD? If it is the first build or a build that was released before the iMacs with similar hardware, that would explain why it will not boot. There are a few things you can try:

1. Restore an image of the DVD to an external, try booting from that.

2. Put the iMac in Target Disk Mode, boot from the DVD on a Mac that can boot with it, install Leopard to the iMac drive.

3. Create an image from a fully updated installation of 10.5 and restore that to the iMac. You can use something like Carbon Copy Cloner to do this.

I do not expect option 1 and 2 to work. It seems to me that your install DVD's build is too old to work with your hardware. Option 3 should work if you update all the to way to 10.5.8 and restore to the iMac.
 
Curious to hear if it ever works, but these new iMacs may have changed to chipsets that can't be operated with the drivers built in to Leopard.
 
calderone said:
Wrong. It requires 10.6.2, or 10.5.8+ with Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0.
Click to expand...

Well, since you're into informing people when they are WRONG, well buddy, you're WRONG too. The magic mouse works right now on 10.6.1 as well.:p
 
HLdan said:
Well, since you're into informing people when they are WRONG, well buddy, you're WRONG too. The magic mouse works right now on 10.6.1 as well.:p
Click to expand...

Did I say it didn't? And what build is it working on? The custom one shipping with the new iMacs. Why doesn't that surprise me, since it is a special build. And sure it might "work" with other machines but I am sure some functionality is missing or the ability to configure it fully.

But of course, none of this was in question. I was simply correcting your false claim and you decide to bring in matters that weren't even mentioned. Pathetic. Why can't you accept that you were incorrect instead of a desperate, pathetic attempt to save face?

You can read the requirements here, because we were talking about requirements.

http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/
 
calderone said:
Did I say it didn't? And what build is it working on? The custom one shipping with the new iMacs. Why doesn't that surprise me, since it is a special build. And sure it might "work" with other machines but I am sure some functionality is missing or the ability to configure it fully.

But of course, none of this was in question. I was simply correcting your false claim and you decide to bring in matters that weren't even mentioned. Pathetic. Why can't you accept that you were incorrect instead of a desperate, pathetic attempt to save face?

You can read the requirements here, because we were talking about requirements.

http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/
Click to expand...

Come on, the "desperate, pathetic attempt to save face" was just a joke from HLdan :) . But calderone did have a point, HLdan, as he said "10.5.8+ with Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0", and I thing 10.6.1 qualifies as "10.5.8+" and still requires the Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0 :p

Edit: On further inspection, I'm not entirely sure if the Update is required for 10.6.1 but Apple says so in the manual.
 
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