Move back to Ventura or just give in with Sonoma?

[roadkill401]

I bought an M2Pro mini that came with Ventura. It broke and Apple force loaded the 14.3.x onto it when they reflashed the OS Firmware back onto the unit. Found out there is no way to go backwards without a second Mac for DFU. So I lived with it and it mostly works. But I remember back to my first few Mac’s that always seemed to work far better on the original macOS and tended to run slower if Upgraded.

i am using the Mac mostly for making music with Logic Pro.

so a month ago i bought a MBA and it came installed with 14.6 that I know doesn’t work with many of my logic plugins so as I had two Mac’s now I could DFU the mba to Ventura. It worked great until the M2 chip failed. It’s in at Apple getting repaired and I know I will get it back from Apple with 14.6 on it again.

what good reason is there to still stick. With Ventura? I know I will need to roll back the mba but I could just as easily go to 14.3 and see to lock it in at that version turning off all OS updates and live with that version. Why are you still using Ventura 13.x??

 

[Mike Boreham]

Found out there is no way to go backwards without a second Mac for DFU.

This is true if you want to roll back the firmware as well as the installed macOS.

You would need a bootable Ventura installer, but you can reinstall Ventura with a bootable Ventura installer, and Ventura will work with the Sonoma OS firmware. The only implication you would notice is that if you boot from Recovery at any time and reinstall macOS it would reinstall Sonoma, so you need the bootable Ventura installer again.

 

[Isamilis]

I bought an M2Pro mini that came with Ventura. It broke and Apple force loaded the 14.3.x onto it when they reflashed the OS Firmware back onto the unit. Found out there is no way to go backwards without a second Mac for DFU. So I lived with it and it mostly works. But I remember back to my first few Mac’s that always seemed to work far better on the original macOS and tended to run slower if Upgraded.

i am using the Mac mostly for making music with Logic Pro.

so a month ago i bought a MBA and it came installed with 14.6 that I know doesn’t work with many of my logic plugins so as I had two Mac’s now I could DFU the mba to Ventura. It worked great until the M2 chip failed. It’s in at Apple getting repaired and I know I will get it back from Apple with 14.6 on it again.

what good reason is there to still stick. With Ventura? I know I will need to roll back the mba but I could just as easily go to 14.3 and see to lock it in at that version turning off all OS updates and live with that version. Why are you still using Ventura 13.x??

I always keep the original version as long as I could (and update to its most current minor .xx version). Obviously, it’s the fastest OS for that machine. So, in your case, I will go back to Ventura.

 

[roadkill401]

This is true if you want to roll back the firmware as well as the installed macOS.

You would need a bootable Ventura installer, but you can reinstall Ventura with a bootable Ventura installer, and Ventura will work with the Sonoma OS firmware. The only implication you would notice is that if you boot from Recovery at any time and reinstall macOS it would reinstall Sonoma, so you need the bootable Ventura installer again.

I have tried that more times than i care to count and it kept on telling me that it could not install over the newer OS. I was told I needed to wipe the drive by one person and ended up with a Mac unable to install anything and required a visit to the Apple Store. Perhaps you are using an older Mac that doesn't have newer chips inside it.

 

[Realityck]

But I remember back to my first few Mac’s that always seemed to work far better on the original macOS and tended to run slower if Upgraded.

Thats not really true for AS Macs. Unless you have a minimal RAM/SSD configuration the progression of macOS has only been about the system running more optimized as it becomes totally universal (intel/AS platforms) as time goes on. The system does tend to grow slightly as it progresses, with features being added. But things like spotlight search, Safari are running very well in either Ventura or Sonoma.

 

[Mike Boreham]

I have tried that more times than i care to count and it kept on telling me that it could not install over the newer OS. I was told I needed to wipe the drive by one person and ended up with a Mac unable to install anything and required a visit to the Apple Store. Perhaps you are using an older Mac that doesn't have newer chips inside it.

No I should have been clearer, it will not "install over" ie directly on top of existing. You have to erase, install Ventura and then migrate in your backup.

Boot to your bootable Ventura USB installer, erase the existing volume pair, then "Reinstall macOS". When it reboots use Setup Assistant to migrate from a TM backup of your Sonoma -Data volume.

I have done it Ventura to Monterey, twice. See my post in this thread, and this post in the thread it links to. Be sure to read my follow-up post in the second thread. Note in that thread I installed Monterey onto a blank external and migrated from a backup made in Ventura. Once you have erased the internal your situation is parallel. More recently I have done Sequoia to Sonoma.

As a general principle I never downgrade to solve problems, always preferring the solve the problems in the later OS, but if you are completely sure there is no way you can use your plugins in Sonoma then I guess you have no choice. What does the Developer say about the plug ins?