Recently bought a Mac Pro Quad core (2009), running 10.8.2. I de-activated my Photoshop CS3 from my G5 and installed on the Mac Pro, but it would not activate. I called Adobe, they said it would not work on 10.8.2. I thought maybe I could install 10.5 from the original disk on another hard drive and start up from that drive when using Photoshop, but I have not been able to get the 10.5 to load. It always goes to 'You need to restart' window. Does anyone have any ideas how to work around this problem?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Photoshop CS3 on Mac Pro 1,4
- Thread starter dhughes9
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
When I upgraded my laptop to ML I ran into this incompatibility issue with cs3 too. For a while, I cloned my old drive to an external and installed ML on the internal in order to run PhotoShop until I got around to upgrading to cs6. The issue might be with having two startup disks on the internal bus and the computer defaulting to the newer one. Since you can easily remove drives, try removing your main drive and then install the older OS and PhotoShop. You should be able to do this as the computer won't see the other drive. If this works, install the other drive so that they are both in the machine and start up with the Option key down. You should get a screen that shows all available Start Up Disks and allows you to select the one you want to use. The only hitch is that you have to restart every time you want to do this. But then cs6 is $1000 or so... Pick your poison.
Dale
Dale
Last year Adobe let folks upgrade from a couple of previous releases to the current one for an upgrade price. But at the end of the year they started warning folks that starting in 2013 upgrades are only from the previous release. So everyone has to keep up with the Adobe releases or face having to basically purchase an expensive new release instead of a much lower cost upgrade.
Folks face that kind of problem with Mac hardware. Hold onto one long enough and the latest OS will not load. And sure enough, an app you want or need runs only on the latest app.
I guess sooner or later Windows users have the same sorts of problems.
Folks face that kind of problem with Mac hardware. Hold onto one long enough and the latest OS will not load. And sure enough, an app you want or need runs only on the latest app.
I guess sooner or later Windows users have the same sorts of problems.
Last year Adobe let folks upgrade from a couple of previous releases to the current one for an upgrade price. But at the end of the year they started warning folks that starting in 2013 upgrades are only from the previous release. So everyone has to keep up with the Adobe releases or face having to basically purchase an expensive new release instead of a much lower cost upgrade.
Folks face that kind of problem with Mac hardware. Hold onto one long enough and the latest OS will not load. And sure enough, an app you want or need runs only on the latest app.
I guess sooner or later Windows users have the same sorts of problems.
November 30 2012 was the last day to upgrade at the discount over more than two version levels. even that cost me $600. still 1/2 full price.
Dale
Thanks for the replies, Dale and MCAsan. When I pull out the HD with the ML, and leave the other HD in, and try to start with the 10.5.6 disk, it goes to 'you need to restart'. I assume the 10.5.6 disk is what shipped with the machine, and the disk seems to be in good condition. I have put the disk in and tried restarting from the Installer Window, but with the same results. I also have the 10.5 system on the other HD, which I installed while in my G5, but when I pull the drive with ML out and try starting with the other drive, it just sits there with a blank screen, until I give up and shut it down.
I was not aware until a week ago that Adobe had a time limit on updating Photoshop, or I would have done it. I was waiting until I got an Intel Mac before I updated my PS.
Thanks. Any other ideas will be appreciated.
I was not aware until a week ago that Adobe had a time limit on updating Photoshop, or I would have done it. I was waiting until I got an Intel Mac before I updated my PS.
Thanks. Any other ideas will be appreciated.
Here is a link to your machine or one every much like it at EveryMac.com. The shipping OS is 10.5.6.
Try removing the ML drive and inserting a hard drive that you can erase in slot one. Put the Install disk in and restart with the C key down. If the cd/DVD tray ejects push it back in. You should then be able to do a clean install of just the OS and be able to start the machine running the older version of the OS. That will give you access to Rosetta, the technology that your machine needs to run the older version of PhotoShop.
Keep us posted on your progress.
EDIT: here's a link to a similar discussion on another forum.
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-desktops/142210-cant-start-up-os-x-dvd.html
Dale
Last edited:
i had a volume license of CS3 and it ran fine on two macs running OS X.7 but i hear photoshop for the most part will work on X.8 there are a couple things i never used that will not work but for the most part it does. I did notice that there is a date stamp in some install disks - i had to change the computer to October 1st i think 2011 or 2010 for it to work then once installed and updated i changed the computer clock back to proper time.
That date issue was the only problem i had. did install in clean install on my imac and macbook pro running OS X.7 but again had to change the computer date for it to work.
----------
it will not work because of the time date stamped in the disk - I have the date that you have to set your computer to for it to work. The CS3 is Universal install CS2 will not run in OS X.7 or X.8 but CS3, CS4, CS5.5 will work in OS X.7 and X.8 for some reason CS5 will not.
go here to check for sure
http://roaringapps.com/apps:table/tags/_a/index_tags/_a/p/2
this lists all the apps tested with OS X.7 and X.8
hope this helps
I will check once i get home on what date you have to use for the install of CS3 to work. It would not work for me either till i changed the computer date to a date i found worked. After updates you change back and it works fine
----------
Min OS that will work on the Mac Pro is X.5.6 later models shipped with X.6 - that is what it originally shipped with. Earlier version of X.5 will not work or not at all depending on what OS it shipped with from the factory. But I think X.5.6 is the min OS it will work. You could also try OS X.6 Apple was giving them away last year.
This thing is driving me crazy. I know before I have any chance of getting CS3 to work, I have to get my Mac running on 10.5.6, which is what it shipped with. I have tried about everything I can, and it won't load. I have tried resetting the PRAM, taking the HD with ML out and putting an erased HD in slot 1. Instructions on resetting the PRAM says hold the keys down until the second startup tone, but there is never a second tone. Is that normal?
Although it looks ok, I'm wondering if my disk is bad, so I'll try to get a 10.6.
I had been running my CS3 on 10.5.8 on my G5, and it ran great.
Thanks for all the help. I'll keep trying.
Although it looks ok, I'm wondering if my disk is bad, so I'll try to get a 10.6.
I had been running my CS3 on 10.5.8 on my G5, and it ran great.
Thanks for all the help. I'll keep trying.
As noted after this post, CS3 is Universal and does NOT need Rosetta to run.
You say MacPro 1,4; but do you mean 4,1 (2009)?
You have three workarounds available to you:
1. Restore your boot OS X to Snow Leopard available for $19.99 directly from Apple.
2. Keep Mt. Lion but partition your hard drive or add an external hard drive and install Snow Leopard and "dual-boot" into Snow Leopard when you want to use CS3. This method will not allow you to have concurrent access to Mt. Lion and CS3.
3. Install Snow Leopard into Parallels (or Lion, if CS3 will work in Lion) for concurrent running of CS3 and Mt.Lion:
[click on image to enlarge]
Attachments
Sorry, I meant 4,1. It's a 2009. I got another drive (2TB) that I am going to install the CS3 and Snow Leopard in. (Was going to put Leopard in, but that ain't working out). I doubt if I will use the drive with ML much. I was actually pretty happy with Leopard, and I know CS3 will work on it. Going to order SL from apple today. I hadn't heard of the 'parallels' method, and it probably wouldn't be any advantage for me. I may have the problem with the date that SirYossi talked about, I'll look into that when I get my OS in.
Last edited:
Success finally installing CS3
I got the Snow Leopard 10.6.3 disk from Apple and it installed fine, but still could not install Photoshop CS3. I even tried running the Mac's date back to Oct 2010, but that didn't help either. I downloaded and installed 10.6.8 SL update and CS3 loaded and activated without a hitch. I haven't actually used it yet, so don't know if there are any bugs, I'm just happy I got this far. Thanks for all the help! Incidentally, I put Snow Leopard on a separate HD, so still have 10.8.2 on another drive, which I doubt will get much use.
I got the Snow Leopard 10.6.3 disk from Apple and it installed fine, but still could not install Photoshop CS3. I even tried running the Mac's date back to Oct 2010, but that didn't help either. I downloaded and installed 10.6.8 SL update and CS3 loaded and activated without a hitch. I haven't actually used it yet, so don't know if there are any bugs, I'm just happy I got this far. Thanks for all the help! Incidentally, I put Snow Leopard on a separate HD, so still have 10.8.2 on another drive, which I doubt will get much use.
Last edited:
Since I posted my comments, Apple is now selling Snow Leopard Server for $19.99 + shipping and sales tax from the Apple Store: 1.800.MYAPPLE (1.800.692.7753) Apple Part Number: MC588Z/A.
SLS will install into Parallels (or VMWare Fusion) with much ease and allow you concurrent use of CS3 and Mt. Lion if this capability becomes necessary.
Here is an example of CS2, now downloadable from Adobe for free, running in Snow Leopard Server concurrently with Lion:
[click on image to enlarge]
SLS will install into Parallels (or VMWare Fusion) with much ease and allow you concurrent use of CS3 and Mt. Lion if this capability becomes necessary.
Here is an example of CS2, now downloadable from Adobe for free, running in Snow Leopard Server concurrently with Lion:
[click on image to enlarge]
