Down grading to 10.6.3 from 10.13.6

[MikeCT]

I just bought a Mac Pro (build 2012) dual 6-core 3.46 with 128 gig of ram. It cam with 10.13.6 and I need to run MacOs 10.6.3.
I have made a boot disk on a USB. When I try to boot off the USB it hangs.
I am now concerned that this might only run on 10.7 and higher.

Any help out there?

 

[lclev]

The original OS for that model was 10.7.3. From all I have been told it is not possible to install a version of OS that is older than the original OS that came originally installed on it.
This is from an article I found:
"It is unlikely that your Mac will be able to run a version of macOS or Mac OS X that is older than the one that was installed on it when you bought it. You may find you can't install an old version of Mac OS X on a new Mac because the drivers for the hardware in your new Mac simply don't exist in the old software, so it can't run.
Simply speaking, Macs cannot boot into an OS X version older than the one they shipped with when new, even if it's installed in a virtual machine. If you want to run older versions of OS X on your Mac, you need to get an older Mac that can run them."

How to downgrade macOS to an older version

Need to install an old version of macOS on your Mac so you can downgrade or run more than one version? Here's what you need to do.

www.macworld.co.uk

Lisa

 

[Slydude]

Lisa is right. It's unusual for a Mac to run an OS released before the Mac. I think it worked once, but I was only going back one OS version. Going from 10.13 to 10.6 is going to be too big a jump.

 

[ferrarr]

There is this;

Mac Pro "Twelve Core" 3.06 (2012/Westmere) Specs (Mid-2012, BTO/CTO, MacPro5,1, A1289, 2629): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Mac Pro "Twelve Core" 3.06 (2012/Westmere). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

Which states *Although OS X 10.7.4 initially was pre-installed, this model also is capable of booting Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard."

 

[Rod]

Wow ferrarr, where did you find that? Anyhow, I've got to ask MikeCT, why do you need to run Snow Leopard? I only ask because there may be an easier solution, one that would save you the trouble of downgrading the OS to 10.6. To achieve this you will need a retail version (not the grey device specific disks) of the Show Leopard CD/DVD installation disk. I don't think you can make a boot Disk on a USB drive. A .dmg of Macintosh HD is not an installer. Of course you could use an external USB disk drive with the retail installer to boot, erase and instal Snow Leopard if you could find it on eg Amazon.

 

[ferrarr]

Wow ferrarr, where did you find that?

That was at EveryMac, which I linked. One just needs to click on "Pre-Installed MacOS:" and it will expand with all the details.

 

[toMACsh]

Just curious... Why 10.6.3 and not 10.6.8?

 

[ferrarr]

Just curious... Why 10.6.3 and not 10.6.8?

Just curious... Why 10.6.3 and not 10.6.8?

10.6.3 is what is available on DVD. 10.6.8 is an upgrade.

 

[chscag]

Anyhow, I've got to ask MikeCT, why do you need to run Snow Leopard?

How about if he needs to run PPC apps? How about if he needs to use Rosetta?

 

[pm-r]

Wow ferrarr, where did you find that?

I was wondering the same thing yet I couldn't see that quote anywhere in the link provided, anyway I just thought I would mention that I have a mid-2011 27" iMac that I used to use with Snow Leopard, but it needed a 10.6.7 version to install that the Apple customer support techs had to send me. The normal Apple retail Snow Leopard version would not work.

Just saying... in case the two machines are similar with their OS X needs.


- Patrick
=======

 

[Slydude]

One potential downside to a downgrade is that you may have other software that needs an OS higher than 10.6.8. Depending upon the size of your hard drive, it might be possible to put each OS on a separate partition and boot into 10.6.8 only when needed.

 

[Rod]

Just curious... Why 10.6.3 and not 10.6.8?

Yes, I wondered at that myself.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

There is this;

Mac Pro "Twelve Core" 3.06 (2012/Westmere) Specs (Mid-2012, BTO/CTO, MacPro5,1, A1289, 2629): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the Mac Pro "Twelve Core" 3.06 (2012/Westmere). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

Which states *Although OS X 10.7.4 initially was pre-installed, this model also is capable of booting Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard."

I can vouch for this being a thing in some Macs. I used to have a Mac mini that I wanted to use as an HTPC, and I cannot for the life of me remember why, but I needed it to run the version of OS X that was older than what came with it. I'm pretty sure it came with Lion but would run fine on 10.6.8 according to some reading I did, and it did in fact run fine. But yeah, these are atypical examples.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

One potential downside to a downgrade is that you may have other software that needs an OS higher than 10.6.8. Depending upon the size of your hard drive, it might be possible to put each OS on a separate partition and boot into 10.6.8 only when needed.

Snow Leopard Server can also run in a VM with Apple's blessings. But only the Server version.