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Looking for clear answer. Install Snow Leopard on 2011 MBA?

L

lokiju

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 10, 2008
275
1
I'm not one that insist on using SL and think it's better than Lion or anything like that.

What I do have is a need to dual boot my 2011 13" MBA with SL if at all possible in order to work on a technical problem for my job. I need SL in order to recreate the conditions of the problem so I can troubleshoot it from there and find a work around.

I've been using SL in VMware Fusion thus far but am convinced that the way external port sharing happens with Fusion is basically causing me to have the same conditions that are specific to Lion. A co-worker in a different state has a older Mini with SL and can do what I'm trying to accomplish with my SL running in the VM so at this point I'm convinced I need to boot into a native SL instance.

All that said, is there any clear and final answer if SL can or cannot be installed on this 2011 13" MBA? If it can, then is there a good guide on what needs to be done to make it happen?
 
It can be installed, but the driver for the Thunderbolt chip from Snow Leopard will not work on the 2011 MBA, as Apple used a different chip on the 2011 MBAs than on other 2011 Macs with Thunderbolt.


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Maybe have a look at Advanced Search to find similar threads, as it has been asked a lot:
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simsaladimbamba said:
It can be installed, but the driver for the Thunderbolt chip from Snow Leopard will not work on the 2011 MBA, as Apple used a different chip on the 2011 MBAs than on other 2011 Macs with Thunderbolt.


____________________________________________________________

Maybe have a look at Advanced Search to find similar threads, as it has been asked a lot:
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Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply. I did do a search but not a advanced search. I will give that a try. I have read through many threads asking similar or the same question but have yet to find a way to actually do the install. I have loaded the SL install to a USB drive as endless guides say to do and it always gives a kernel panic when booting from the USB (tried many different brands and kinds of USB flash drives even). So I'm really not sure if I'm missing some special step that is needed in order to get past the kernel panics just by trying to boot the installer and actually do the install of SL?
 
lokiju said:
Thank you for the reply. I did do a search but not a advanced search. I will give that a try. I have read through many threads asking similar or the same question but have yet to find a way to actually do the install. I have loaded the SL install to a USB drive as endless guides say to do and it always gives a kernel panic when booting from the USB (tried many different brands and kinds of USB flash drives even). So I'm really not sure if I'm missing some special step that is needed in order to get past the kernel panics just by trying to boot the installer and actually do the install of SL?
Click to expand...

What SL version did you clone to the USB flash memory thumb drive?

If I had to do it, I would use a pre-Lion Mac and an external HDD (USB or Firewire) and install 10.6 onto it via a CLEAN INSTALL and install all available updates.
Then I would connect that HDD to the 2011 MBA and boot from it and then clone it to the internal SSD.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
What SL version did you clone to the USB flash memory thumb drive?

If I had to do it, I would use a pre-Lion Mac and an external HDD (USB or Firewire) and install 10.6 onto it via a CLEAN INSTALL and install all available updates.
Then I would connect that HDD to the 2011 MBA and boot from it and then clone it to the internal SSD.
Click to expand...

Been trying with my retail 10.6.3 DVD. Ripped it from my Win7 laptop using Imgburn since I don't have an external drive for my MBA. Copied that over to my MBA and mounted it and then formatted the flash drive was journaled and GUID like the guides say and did a restore from the ISO to the flash drive. It finished and I held the alt/option key, sees the USB drive, I pick that to boot from and then get the kernel panics.
 
lokiju said:
Been trying with my retail 10.6.3 DVD. Ripped it from my Win7 laptop using Imgburn since I don't have an external drive for my MBA. Copied that over to my MBA and mounted it and then formatted the flash drive was journaled and GUID like the guides say and did a restore from the ISO to the flash drive. It finished and I held the alt/option key, sees the USB drive, I pick that to boot from and then get the kernel panics.
Click to expand...

Since 10.6.3 is from March/April 2010, it does not contain any drivers for 2011 Macs, like the GPU and other stuff. You need Mac OS X 10.6.8, but since there is no RETAIL DVD with that version on it, you need to do it the way I described.
Or you find another way via Advanced Search.
 
He is right. You need a clean install of SL 10.6.8 cloned to an external and then cloned to your air.

I've actually been wanting to do this myself...I don't use the thunderbolt capabilities currently and 10.6.8 I feel like would fly on this 2011 i7 air...not that lion doesn't but i have issues with lion.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Since 10.6.3 is from March/April 2010, it does not contain any drivers for 2011 Macs, like the GPU and other stuff. You need Mac OS X 10.6.8, but since there is no RETAIL DVD with that version on it, you need to do it the way I described.
Or you find another way via Advanced Search.
Click to expand...

Ah, OK. Thank you for the clarification.

I have a VM with SL that I should be able to accomplish this from.

Many thanks!
 
Word is that a version of SL that shipped with some of the latest Macbook Pros right before LION came out did have the proper drivers in it. I would find a macbook pro 13" restore disk from 2011.
 
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