Idiot proof guide to going back to Mavericks from Mojave with audio applications (Logic) intact, please!

[JJAM]

Hi, I have a late 2013 Mac Pro (3.7 GHz Quad-core Intel Xeon E5) which I bought in early 2015. It came with Yosemite but I got rid of that and installed Mavericks, as I found Logic 9 unstable with Yosemite, which I was using alongside Logic X.

It's been working really well and I haven't updated Logic X from 10.2 - one of those "if it ain't broke" scenarios. I got over my phobia of Logic X and no longer use 9.

I've been thinking about updating to Logic 10.4 for some time and rashly downloaded Mojave yesterday, not thinking of the many incompatibilities that there are with earlier bought software which I use a lot. 10.2 doesn't work with Mojave seemingly - it seems like I need to update Logic and, because of being on Mojave, I'll be upgraded to Logic 10.5 instead.

To be honest, I would rather go back to the system I had with Mavericks. I did a backup with Time Machine earlier in the week (including applications) onto an external drive (it's the only thing on that drive) - yes, I know, I should have used CarbonCopyCloner, but I'm so out of the loop with all of this stuff and wasn't even aware of CCC.

Is it just a case of doing a Restore From Time Machine Backup, or is there something else I should be doing? I no longer have a Mavericks installer, so I presume I'll be taken back to Yosemite by restoring from backup...

Sorry for coming across as an idiot (hence looking for an idiot proof guide). I don't mind saying that I'm totally clueless about all of this.

 

[chrfr]

Hi, I have a late 2013 Mac Pro (3.7 GHz Quad-core Intel Xeon E5) which I bought in early 2015. It came with Yosemite but I got rid of that and installed Mavericks, as I found Logic 9 unstable with Yosemite, which I was using alongside Logic X.

It's been working really well and I haven't updated Logic X from 10.2 - one of those "if it ain't broke" scenarios. I got over my phobia of Logic X and no longer use 9.

I've been thinking about updating to Logic 10.4 for some time and rashly downloaded Mojave yesterday, not thinking of the many incompatibilities that there are with earlier bought software which I use a lot. 10.2 doesn't work with Mojave seemingly - it seems like I need to update Logic and, because of being on Mojave, I'll be upgraded to Logic 10.5 instead.

To be honest, I would rather go back to the system I had with Mavericks. I did a backup with Time Machine earlier in the week (including applications) onto an external drive (it's the only thing on that drive) - yes, I know, I should have used CarbonCopyCloner, but I'm so out of the loop with all of this stuff and wasn't even aware of CCC.

Is it just a case of doing a Restore From Time Machine Backup, or is there something else I should be doing? I no longer have a Mavericks installer, so I presume I'll be taken back to Yosemite by restoring from backup...

Sorry for coming across as an idiot (hence looking for an idiot proof guide). I don't mind saying that I'm totally clueless about all of this.

You can't just downgrade macOS. You'd have to wipe the disk and then reinstall Mavericks, then reinstall your apps (or restore from a Mavericks backup- trying to restore using a Mojave backup is not likely to succeed.)

 

[chown33]

What you should have done was install Mojave on an external drive, then boot from the external drive. You then install any other test software on the external drive, too, and run it there.

If you like how things look and act after using it for a while, then you'd copy the external to the internal drive (use CCC or another tool).

If you didn't like how thing look and act on the external Mojave, then all you need to do is boot from the internal drive, and disconnect the external. You can park the external on a shelf in case you want to test again later, or you can erase it and use it for something else.

An "external drive" can be something as simple as a 64GB USB 3 thumb drive. I've done trial runs of several OS versions using a SanDisk model, and they were fine running from it during the evaluation period. In fact, 64GB might not be the best price per GB any more, it could be 128GB gives twice the space for only 1/3 higher price.

 

[JJAM]

You can't just downgrade macOS. You'd have to wipe the disk and then reinstall Mavericks, then reinstall your apps (or restore from a Mavericks backup- trying to restore using a Mojave backup is not likely to succeed.)

So I should be able to restore both my Mavericks OS and apps/files from my time machine backup (what with the recovery partition being for Mavericks)?

 

[Fishrrman]

"So I should be able to restore both my Mavericks OS and apps/files from my time machine backup (what with the recovery partition being for Mavericks)?"

Unsure.
It may fail anyway.

But... really... it's time to ditch both Mavericks (an awful OS release, in my opinion) and Yosemite, and "move on".

If you insist on "going back", then I'd suggest you
- scrounge up an OS installer (you may not be able to get it from Apple, so you'll have to "look elsewhere")
- create a bootable OS installer on a USB flash drive (16gb or larger)
- boot from the flashdrive
- erase your internal drive
- install the older OS
- TRY to restore from Time Machine -- but realize this may not be possible
- In that case, re-install all the old apps all over again.

Are you really that afraid of Logic in its recent iterations...?