High Sierra Time Machine backup to Sierra?

[eicca]

I want to downgrade. High Sierra sucks. I have to restart my computer every few days because memory usage gets out of control, iWork apps start crashing, UI elements go buggy, it’s a degrading mess. I had zero issues on Sierra.

So if I have a complete High Sierra Time Machine backup, can I use it after downgrading to Sierra without any backward compatibility issues?

I know I will have to re-convert my primary drive to HFS or whatever it originally was.

Thanks for any help.

 

[chabig]

Your problems indicate something wrong with your installation, not with High Sierra itself. You have a ™ backup already--that's great. I would suggest getting an external drive large enough to actually clone your boot drive. Then clean install High Sierra and restore your data. This makes more sense to me that trying to revert. After all, whatever is there causing problems with HS will still be there with Sierra. It's better to get rid of them now than carry them forward forever.

As for problems downgrading, you might have some problems with apps that have been updated in High Sierra. The Sierra versions might not be able to use the backed up data. It will depend on the app.

 

[eicca]

Your problems indicate something wrong with your installation, not with High Sierra itself. You have a ™ backup already--that's great. I would suggest getting an external drive large enough to actually clone your boot drive. Then clean install High Sierra and restore your data. This makes more sense to me that trying to revert. After all, whatever is there causing problems with HS will still be there with Sierra. It's better to get rid of them now than carry them forward forever.

As for problems downgrading, you might have some problems with apps that have been updated in High Sierra. The Sierra versions might not be able to use the backed up data. It will depend on the app.

If clean installing HS would solve the issues, wouldn’t clean installing Sierra also solve the issues? I don’t see how the issues would persist through a downgrade especially since downgrading requires wiping the drive to change the file system

 

[chabig]

If clean installing HS would solve the issues, wouldn’t clean installing Sierra also solve the issues?

I would think so, but my goals are always to move forward not backward. I believe it's best to stay as up to date as possible for reasons or security, if not for features.

You're right, though, that downgrading also requires a clean install, because you can't migrate backwards. But overall, it seems to me to be an unnecessarily complicated workaround (not a solution). We know that High Sierra is a mature system and most installations operate just fine. You've got a problem. I'd be more inclined to try solve the problem instead of going backwards to a workaround.

 

[eicca]

Valid points. For me it’s a game of risk. I know Sierra works perfectly. If I’m going to take the time (it’ll be long and painful either way), I want the results to be worth it. I can’t say I trust High Sierra enough to risk the effort.

My MacBook never leaves the house anymore, so cutting-edge security isn’t quite as big a deal as it would be if I were on outside networks. I plan on getting a new iMac soon anyway.

 

[chabig]

That's reasonable. If you get a new iMac, it'll be easy to migrate your data over.

 

[eicca]

Well shoot. I converted my SSD back to HFS or whatever and installed Sierra. Then, when I recovered from Time Machine using Recovery Mode, it put me back on High Sierra, but without converting my SSD to APFS!!

So I just spent six hours of waiting and got exactly nowhere and probably introduced even more problems.

Is running High Sierra on an HFS SSD a really big deal or should I just let it go?