help! from leopard to tiger, help!

[Oabie]

I just bought a macbook specifically to run pro tools, which is not supported on leopard yet. My tiger install dvd, apparently, is for ppc only, and won't install. I have my install discs for my macbook pro which had tiger on them, is there any reason I wouldn't be able to use those discs to install on my new mackbook 2.0GHz? Could it harm anything?

Please help! I need this starting tomorrow night for live shows (my old powerbook g4 freaked out, and just got the macbook in the mail today).

Thanks,
-Matthew Goodwin

 

[J@ffa]

I think you're in trouble. New machines, in almost all cases, have only been able to boot with the OS which was preinstalled (in this case, either 10.5 or 10.5.1). You are unlikely to even be able to install via a Leopard retail disc with 10.5 on it (as opposed to the latest 10.5.1 retail versions), let alone Tiger, due to the absence of the required drivers for the integrated graphics, among other things. Your MacBook Pro discs won't work either (machine specific discs are just that — machine specific).

Sorry, but I can't really think of a way around this one. There's an outside chance of the particular drivers working on older system versions, but it's unlikely drivers for 10.5.x on 10.4.x have any chance of working. You mention 'your' install discs for a MacBook Pro; could you use that machine (even if it's not running Tiger at the moment, did it come with it?).

 

[Oabie]

I could use my macbook pro for the time being, but that would defeat the whole purpose of buying a dedicated macbook. I was told before I ordered it by someone at apple support, that I could install, but now...no luck. I'm about to call them back. Worst case scenario, I'll boot off an external drive that has tiger installed on it. That's what I've been doing for the meantime on my pro in the studio. Surely pro tools will be supported on leopard in the not too distant future.

Thanks,
-Matthew

 

[heatmiser]

Quickest thing would be to ask Apple for Tiger restore disks. This is exactly why I got a pre-SR Macbook; so I'd be able to run Tiger. I don't plan to "upgrade" to Leopard for at least another year.

 

[Oabie]

I was on the phone with apple about this for quite some time today, and no one mentioned getting tiger install discs. I told the guy I had my install discs for macbook pro, and he said "unofficially" that he would try that. Well, I tried that and nothing. I have a friend who has a macbook that came with tiger on it, but of course, he's the guy who throws away everything but the computer 5 seconds after he opens it, and the discs are nowhere to be found.

I really need to fix this. I thought I read somewhere that you could trick the machine into installing from a macbook pro install disc even though you're installing on a macbook. Anyone heard of that?

-Matthew

 

[heatmiser]

I have a friend who has a macbook that came with tiger on it, but of course, he's the guy who throws away everything but the computer 5 seconds after he opens it, and the discs are nowhere to be found.

I don't know about the MBP disk hacking, but this wouldn't work because he almost certainly had a pre-SR Macbook (like I do). SR Macbooks (which ship with Leopard) use a different video card than pre-SR books; there aren't any drivers written for it on Tiger, so you can't use pre-SR disks to install Tiger on post-SR Macbooks.

If you call Apple, specifically ask them for disks to allow you to install Tiger to a Santa Rosa Macbook. If they have any, they'll know what you're talking about. I've never done it myself, but in another discussion (with iMacs), some folks mentioned this as a viable option for people who wanted Tiger on Leopard-preloaded machines.

 

[Oabie]

I was on the phone with apple support and being walked through all sorts of steps to install tiger on my brand new macbook, then the call got cut off, and now apple support is closed for the day. I spoke with two different people at apple today, and neither one said anything about pre or post Santa Rosa macbooks, and neither one said there was any reason why I wouldn't be able to install tiger, but neither one could actually help me do it. I am now reinstalling leopard only to put my new macbook in target disk mode and attach it to my old macbook pro and install from there. Maybe that will work.

-Matthew