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tony3d

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 6, 2006
377
2
Hi All, I'm upgrading from my 2008 Mac Pro to a new Mac Pro if I pre-install 10.6.8 on one of my internal drives in my 2008, then move that drive to my new Mac Pro, will it run? Apple told me its unsupported, and may not be stable. There probably full of it right?
 

Intell

macrumors P6
Jan 24, 2010
18,955
509
Inside
As the current hardware hasn't changed much except a faster CPU, Snow Leopard will still work if you do that. But if a redesigned Mac Lro comes out, Snow Leopard will not work on it.
 

spaz8

macrumors 6502
Mar 3, 2007
492
91
I'm curious about this too.. I'm pretty comfy in 10.6.8.. a 2012 mac pro is gonna come loaded with 10.7, and 10.8 soon.

I need to take stock as to what will no longer work in 10.7.4.
 

webcom2

macrumors newbie
Jun 29, 2012
3
0
Hi All, I'm upgrading from my 2008 Mac Pro to a new Mac Pro if I pre-install 10.6.8 on one of my internal drives in my 2008, then move that drive to my new Mac Pro, will it run? Apple told me its unsupported, and may not be stable. There probably full of it right?

Hey Tony,
how's it going?
Did you receive your new Mac Pro yet? If yes, I was wondering if you tried to install Snow Leopard on it and if it's working with no problems.
I'm gonna order a new Mac Pro too but to me is very important to install SL due to some Rosetta-needed softwares and other features from Lion that I truly don't like at all.
Thanks man!
 

webcom2

macrumors newbie
Jun 29, 2012
3
0
Hey Tony,
how's it going?
Did you receive your new Mac Pro yet? If yes, I was wondering if you tried to install Snow Leopard on it and if it's working with no problems.
I'm gonna order a new Mac Pro too but to me is very important to install SL due to some Rosetta-needed softwares and other features from Lion that I truly don't like at all.
Thanks man!

Anyone else tried to install SL succesfully on the new Mac Pro 2012? :):apple:
 

derbothaus

macrumors 601
Jul 17, 2010
4,093
30
10.6.5+ should work. Retail disc will not be bootable. You'll need to patch it prior to booting the Mac Pro. Firmware and machine ID exactly the same as 2010.
 

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Sep 21, 2010
9,612
6,907
Did it work? I can't get my 2012 MP to work the the 10.6.3 DVD. What did you do? Thank you.

The 2012 Mac Pro is basically a 2010 Mac Pro, which relies on drivers included in 10.6.4 and later.

None of the retail Snow Leopard discs will work with Mac Pro 2010 or newer because they are all 10.6.3 or earlier.

You need a Snow Leopard installation disc included with the 2010 Mac Pro, not a retail installation disc.

I'm curious why you want SL anyway, Rosetta? I stayed on SL for a long time mostly because I hated Lion, but ML is pretty good.
 

oldhifi

macrumors 65816
Jan 12, 2013
1,494
748
USA
I tried to install SL on a external HD, and no it won't work..my MM has to be same specs
 

sauria

macrumors 6502
Jul 2, 2001
319
31
Texas, USA
The 2012 Mac Pro is basically a 2010 Mac Pro, which relies on drivers included in 10.6.4 and later.

None of the retail Snow Leopard discs will work with Mac Pro 2010 or newer because they are all 10.6.3 or earlier.

You need a Snow Leopard installation disc included with the 2010 Mac Pro, not a retail installation disc.

I'm curious why you want SL anyway, Rosetta? I stayed on SL for a long time mostly because I hated Lion, but ML is pretty good.

Thank you, I want to use it as it is very fast and reliable and, not, integrated with iOS.
 

bernuli

macrumors 6502a
Oct 10, 2011
710
403
In December 2013 I bought a 2012 Mac Pro 5,1 new from a local Apple store. It came with Mountain Lion. I booted the 10.6.3 retail DVD and installed Snow Leopard from there no problem.
 

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Sep 21, 2010
9,612
6,907
No, this is the stock 3.2 GHz and came with ATI Radeon HD 5770

I wonder what you did differently. Many others who have tried this couldn't get it to work. The 5770/5870 drivers were not included in SL until 10.6.4 and later.

Thank you, I want to use it as it is very fast and reliable and, not, integrated with iOS.

1) Benchmarks show ML is faster than SL for CPU, GPU, and disk writing. It is about the same for memory access and desk reading. I haven't found any area where it is slower. Also, the graphics drivers are unquestionably superior in ML as that is where all of the updates are going. SL graphics drivers are getting to be ancient.

2) ML is not "integrated" with iOS. I feel like a lot of people have complained about this without being able to explain what they mean. Yes, there is a Messages application, Game Center Application, and Notification Center application and that all sounds very iOS-like. But these are applications. You can just... you know... not open them? Okay, there are also some applications that have been updated so they can sync information with your mobile device, such as Notes. But you don't have to enable synching; it is optional. So... don't enable it? By default it's not enabled. To call this "integration" is very misleading.

I really think if you don't need Rosetta then you should just move on to ML. Look, I'm a fellow SL lover who hung on as long as possible. I completely skipped Lion and I only begrudgingly upgraded to ML. I have no regrets. It is demonstrably faster and the "iOS integration" is overblown nonsense.

But hey, do whatever you want. It's just my point of view.
 
Last edited:

sauria

macrumors 6502
Jul 2, 2001
319
31
Texas, USA
I wonder what you did differently. Many others who have tried this couldn't get it to work. The 5770/5870 drivers were not included in SL until 10.6.4 and later.



1) Benchmarks show ML is faster than SL for CPU, GPU, and disk writing. It is about the same for memory access and desk reading. I haven't found any area where it is slower. Also, the graphics drivers are unquestionably superior in ML as that is where all of the updates are going. SL graphics drivers are getting to be ancient.

2) ML is not "integrated" with iOS. I feel like a lot of people have complained about this without being able to explain what they mean. Yes, there is a Messages application, Game Center Application, and Notification Center application and that all sounds very iOS-like. But these are applications. You can just... you know... not open them? Okay, there are also some applications that have been updated so they can sync information with your mobile device, such as Notes. But you don't have to enable synching; it is optional. So... don't enable it? By default it's not enabled. To call this "integration" is very misleading.

I really think if you don't need Rosetta then you should just move on to ML. Look, I'm a fellow SL lover who hung on as long as possible. I completely skipped Lion and I only begrudgingly upgraded to ML. I have no regrets. It is demonstrably faster and the "iOS integration" is overblown nonsense.

But hey, do whatever you want. It's just my point of view.

Yes this is a spare drive and I'd like to retain snow leopard functionality. I'm not sure that mountain lion has better graphics drivers for old hardware like a 5870 compared to Snow Leopard though? The 5870 is a snow leopard era GPU.
 
Last edited:

bernuli

macrumors 6502a
Oct 10, 2011
710
403
I don't know. Perhaps this machine is old enough that it supports SL. Boot ROM is MP51.007F.B03. Same ROM as the built to order 6-Core 3.33 GHz which I bought Dec, 2012.

The benchmarking I have done between my 3.2 running 10.6.8 and my 3.33 running 10.8.5 show very little difference in CPU or GPU, although the 3.2 has a smaller monitor, so not a fare race.

B



I wonder what you did differently. Many others who have tried this couldn't get it to work. The 5770/5870 drivers were not included in SL until 10.6.4 and later.



1) Benchmarks show ML is faster than SL for CPU, GPU, and disk writing. It is about the same for memory access and desk reading. I haven't found any area where it is slower. Also, the graphics drivers are unquestionably superior in ML as that is where all of the updates are going. SL graphics drivers are getting to be ancient.

2) ML is not "integrated" with iOS. I feel like a lot of people have complained about this without being able to explain what they mean. Yes, there is a Messages application, Game Center Application, and Notification Center application and that all sounds very iOS-like. But these are applications. You can just... you know... not open them? Okay, there are also some applications that have been updated so they can sync information with your mobile device, such as Notes. But you don't have to enable synching; it is optional. So... don't enable it? By default it's not enabled. To call this "integration" is very misleading.

I really think if you don't need Rosetta then you should just move on to ML. Look, I'm a fellow SL lover who hung on as long as possible. I completely skipped Lion and I only begrudgingly upgraded to ML. I have no regrets. It is demonstrably faster and the "iOS integration" is overblown nonsense.

But hey, do whatever you want. It's just my point of view.
 

bernuli

macrumors 6502a
Oct 10, 2011
710
403
I think you are right. 5870 and 10.6.8 a good mix.

Yes this is a spare drive and I'd like to retain snow leopard functionality. I'm not sure that mountain lion has better graphics drivers for old hardware like a 5870 compared to Snow Leopard though? The 5870 is a snow leopard era GPU.
 
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