Catalina upgrade mistake

[Tyehimba]

I upgraded my mac os Mojave to Catalina, and now I have several programs that don't work. How do I get them to work or how do I return my operating system back to Mojave?

 

[Slydude]

Whether you can get the apps in question to work depends upon whether they are 32-bit apps. If they are you will need to update/upgrade them. Do you get any error messages when you run the programs?

Finding 32-bit apps on your Mac

Going back to Mojave may be difficult. Do you have a system backup made before you did the upgrade?

 

[Rod]

Now that you have it installed it may well be easier to attempt to find 64bit versions of the apps that don't work. Many apps have already been updated to 64bit in preparation for Catalina but as you can no longer open the 32bit versions you will not be able to update them in the usual way (Check for updates) in the app.
You will need to go to the developers site and download a new 64bit (suitable for macOS Catalina) version from their web site if they have one yet, many will.

To revert to Mojave you would need a full backup of your device before upgrade, either Time Machine or a third party app like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper both of which create bootable clones.

You then need to boot your device from either Time Machine or preferably a bootable clone as above.

You would then need to use Disk Utility on the clone (or the Recovery Partition in Time Machine) to erase the hard drive in your device. At this point it becomes a little more complicated depending on what backup you have.

If its a clone you simply "restore" the clone to the Macintosh HD. Everything will be back the way it was when you cloned the HD.

If its Time Machine you will need to "Reinstall MacOS" and restore your data from Time Machine when asked. This will instal the macOS that the device came with so after completion you will have to upgrade it back to Mojave from the App Store (if it did not come with Mojave installed). If you do not find it in a search you should find it in your Account > Purchases.

As you can see it's a pretty lengthly process. These days most of us have bootable clones which make the process fairly simple or bootable macOS installers on a USB thumb drive or both.

So to return to the beginning, do you have a backup? If not then you cannot "easily" return to Mojave. In the current state you would need to copy all of your data manually before erasing and restoring Mojave unless you have iCloud backups. iCloud Photo Library and Documents Folder would do. Apps from the App Store can be downloaded again (free) as can all your Music library from iTunes.

PS. you may be wondering why you have to erase your Macintosh HD. The simple answer is because Apple will not allow you to instal an earlier macOS over a newer one, so you must delete the newer one first.

 

[chscag]

Good reply Rod. Hopefully the OP has a backup and can then follow your detailed steps.

 

[IWT]

Excellent & comprehensive reply, Rod. Can't give rep points, but publicly acknowledge your post.

Ian

 

[Rod]

Thanks, as usual it's harder to write down a process than it is to do it. If the OP does have a backup then the process is relatively easy, just time consuming. Of course it's not necessary to sit and watch the progress bar.

 

[MacInWin]

Of course it's not necessary to sit and watch the progress bar.

What? Heresy! Of course you have to sit and watch the progress bar or it won't move. Everybody knows that, Rod!

 

[phoenixx]

get a copy of Mojave image, make usb bootable key and do a reinstall

 

[jga40]

I upgraded my mac os Mojave to Catalina, and now I have several programs that don't work. How do I get them to work or how do I return my operating system back to Mojave?

Catalina is a very complex Operating System. I had to download the update three times to upgrade from Mojave. The majority of my applications are fine, but you will find some don't as they are still 32 bit and Catalina needs 64 bit software. You will need to go to Apple's website to find the download. In my own case, after, the first upgrade to Catalina the little cog wheel in Preferences was still showing as needing to download. The second upgrade still didn't complete the upgrade, but at third attempt it was successful.

Good Luck

JimA1
Mac User since 1992 (27 years ago)

 

[jga40]

get a copy of Mojave image, make usb bootable key and do a reinstall

If any member has a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) and a bootable external drive with Mojave on it. It's possible to revert from Mojave to Catalina and not loose all your applications. This a very clever feature of the latest version of CCC. It's even possible to use Mac Journaled and CCC will convert the HFS to APFS.

For all Mac users, in my opinion it's essential to have a external back up copy of all computers you own. Saved me hours and even branded external SSD's are very cheap on Ebay compared to buying from an Apple Authorised Dealer.

 

[jga40]

Sorry Rod, I never saw your reply before I posted. Excellent advice from an obvious long term Mac user ��

 

[Slydude]

What? Heresy! Of course you have to sit and watch the progress bar or it won't move. Everybody knows that, Rod!

Surely Rod understands that if you don't stare at the progress bar, preferably without blinking even once, the bar won't move?

 

[MacInWin]

Exactly, Sly! That is the function of the camera in the portable, after all, to make sure you are staring at the progress bar.

 

[Rod]

get a copy of Mojave image, make usb bootable key and do a reinstall

Phoenix, you make it sound incredibly easy but please remember Apple does not and never has allow retrograde OS installations. You cannot install an earlier macOS over a newer one. Consequently you need to completely erase the HD first.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums

 

[Rod]

Exactly, Sly! That is the function of the camera in the portable, after all, to make sure you are staring at the progress bar.

Gosh, is that why my upgrades/updates take so long?


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums

 

[MacInWin]

In a word, Rod, yes. It's been that way forever. You must stare at any progress bar the system displays or it stops. Computing 101.

 

[Rod]

How could I have missed that?

 

[MacInWin]

I think it was on page 87 of the manual Steve Jobs cancelled when the Macintosh first came out without any documentation.

 

[Rod]

Completely off topic here I just downloaded and ran OnyX for Catalina. RadDave mentioned it in another post, at last check here it was still pending but I can now report it is available and ran Maintainence script with no problems. But, if you have Fantastical I advise you quit it manually first. it is a little resistant to being shut down by OnyX.
It requires the usual access to Security preferences (Full System Access) and provides a detailed step by step instruction on how to go about this. It suggests you need to drag the app into the left hand window of the Full System Access pane but I found it was already there.

 

[phoenixx]

Phoenix, you make it sound incredibly easy but please remember Apple does not and never has allow retrograde OS installations. You cannot install an earlier macOS over a newer one. Consequently you need to completely erase the HD first.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums

well it actually easy is with Apple ... what is in question - would time machine backup from Catalina work in Mojave ? as you are right with the rest ...