Can't downgrade to Snow Leopard from Lion will not recognise imac dvd

iMac 27-inch, Mid 2010
Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4 (11E53)
Can someone please tell me how I can downgrade from OS X Lion to Snow Leopard on my iMac
When i insert the DVD it just spins for about 10 seconds then ejects the dvd..
any help would be great thanks

Lion has installed a recovery partition on your Hard Drive and you must completely erase and reformat the Hard Drive before you can go back to Snow Leopard.
Check out some of downgrade threads just to the right in "More Like This"

Similar Messages

Can't find iPhoto photos after downgrading to Snow Leopard from Lion

I had my photos on my External Hard Drive being used as a backup for TIme Machine.
After downgrading to Snow Leopard from Lion (my computer was running rediculusly slow likely due to being so close to the minimum requirements), I can not access any of my Time Machine dates prior to the date I downgraded. I have reinstalled Lion to try to access the files that way, but am having issues finding my old photos.
Any help would be appreciated as I've got about 15000 photos of my kids on there.

There are issues with iphoto which changes versions..
I would strongly recommend you do an archive of the TC before you do any more playing.
I presume the TC is the only place you have these photos stored??? So your entire library is hard disk erase from total annilahation.. not good!!
Load a real utility into Lion.. archive is not present on the new version.. why apple why??
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1482
You can then do a full restore to an external drive.. or something fancy..
Pondini is the saviour here.
http://pondini.org/TM/15.html
There is a specific section on iphoto and its pain.
I strongly suggest you read the entire section from Q14-18 so you actually understand what TM does.

Can I restore to Snow Leopard from Lion using time machine?

Can I restore to Snow Leopard from Lion using time machine? I did not make a new partition on my external HD. My reason for doing this is to import data from Quicken 2007 to Quicken Essentials and then upgrade back to Lion. Can I restart and hold down the "OPTION" key upon start up that will take me to Apple Recovery HD and recover from time machine? I'm a noob at these sort of things. I appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Probably not. See Kappy's going back to SL from Lion guide.

Can i revert to snow leopard from lion without a time machine backup?

can I revert to snow leopard from lion without a time machine backup?

You can with a Snow Leopard DVD, but if you don't have that or a Time Machine backup there's no way.

I want to downgrade to Snow Leopard from Lion

Hi
Can someone please tell me how I can downgrade from OSX Lion to Snow Leopard on my brand new 27" iMac.
I spoke to Apple over a week ago on the phone and explained that I wanted to downgrade to Snow Leopard and the chap I spoke to sold me the Snow Leopard upgrade disk and not the full installion DVD, I already own the Snow Leopard upgrade disk so now I have two copies and I can't use them to downgrade.
All I get when I insert the DVD is a message saying "you can't use this version of the application Install Mac Os X with this version of Mac OS X"...
Could someone please tell me exactly what Snow Leopard disks/ DVD I need to purchase (and where) for me to install Snow Leopard on my iMac. I have seen lots of different "versions" on eBay & Amazon with vastly differing prices but how do I know which disks I need to buy as I don't want to end up purchasing a third "Upgrade only" versionof Snow Leopard.
Thank you for any help you can give me with this...

I've already tried all of those methods using the 10.6.3 disks I bought, they simply don't work as I posted earlier.
All that happens is the machine constantly bleeps 3 times in a row and the DVD drive stops spinning. I know booting from a DVD install disk is a slow process but no matter how long I leave it nothing happens except for the 3 bleeping sounds.
Having scoured the net and spoken to Apple themselves all information tells me these 10.6.3 disks are actually for someone upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard.
I have no idea why Apple sold me this version as before I ordered it I explained fully to the sales person what I was wanting to do and they had all the details of this mid 2011 iMac I have bought. So unless the sales person didn't have a clue what they were talking about then I should be able to "downgrade" to Snow Leopard on this iMac as even the specs for this model clearly state on everymac.com that it originaly shipped with OS 10.6.6 (Snow Leapard)
http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-comparison-chart/?compare=all-intel-macs&hi ghlight=0&prod1=iMacIntel041
So there must be somewhere I can purchase these 10.6.6 install disks to "downgrade". Trouble is on Ebay or Amazon where you can buy Snow Leopard most of them are 10.6.3 or "retail" versions with no actual version numbers to let me know I'm buying the correct disk.
Who would have thought setting up your computer could be a mission impossible task and why Apple don't help is simply a disgrace to be honest.

Since Snow Leopard, Mac Pro will not sleep with Apple wireless keyboard

I have an odd problem, now on 2 Mac Pro (Nehalem) with 10.6.1:
Since Snow Leopard, the system will not sleep as long as a) the user is logged on (any users/profile) and b) the Apple aluminum wireless keyboard is 'attached'.
If I log off first, sleep works fine. If I turn the keyboard off first, it's fine. But if hitting 'sleep' when logged on, the screen turns dark, sleep process begins, but the system comes right back (with a note 'keyboard disconnected'.
It's as if the keyboard disconnects after sleep, but the system still monitors it, and wakes up.
Note: Wake for bluetooth devices IS NOT ENABLED!
Here is the console log (relevant info):
10/18/09 4:57:33 PM kernel System Sleep
10/18/09 4:57:48 PM kernel Wake reason = UHC1
10/18/09 4:57:48 PM kernel System Wake
10/18/09 4:57:48 PM kernel Previous Sleep Cause: 5
10/18/09 4:57:48 PM kernel USB (UHCI):Port 1 on bus 0x1d has remote wakeup from some device
10/18/09 4:58:53 PM kernel System Sleep
10/18/09 4:58:55 PM kernel Wake reason = UHC6
10/18/09 4:58:55 PM kernel System Wake
10/18/09 4:58:55 PM kernel Previous Sleep Cause: 5
10/18/09 4:58:55 PM kernel USB (UHCI):Port 1 on bus 0x5a has remote wakeup from some device
Does anyone have any idea? While on, the keyboard never disconnects - i.e. I don't have any other issues with BT or the keyboard (this is the 2nd I tried).
Also, my apologies for double-posting this earlier in a different forum; cheers!
Thanks,
Dan

Hi,
and thanks for posting that.
That's too bad. I am probably going to log off if needed, rather than going wired, but I can't believe that this might be more prevalent than just me and there is no 'fix'...
Anyone ?!
Thanks as always,
Dan

How can I revert to Snow Leopard from Mountain Lion on a 2013 iMac?

I have a brand new 27" 2.9Ghz iMac, bought a few days ago, equipped with Mountain Lion. I'm using it for recording, and at the time, my recording software and hardware are incompatible. On Snow Leopard, however, it all runs flawlessly. I know I can't simply revert to Snow Leopard, as there is some sort of firmware that blocks these types of downgrades. Can I partition the internal hardrive and install Snow Leopard and boot from that partition? I have no real use for Mt. Lion for the time being, so I wouldn't need to boot them both simultaneously or even go back and forth. I just want Snow Leopard...any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
You have different problems with a Late 2012 iMac and Snow Leopard:
1. The firmware doesn't allow you to run it.
2. Snow Leopard isn't compatible because it hasn't got the drivers for the hardware of the iMac. Furthermore, you can only run OS X 10.8.1, 10.8.2 or 10.8.3 on a Late 2012 iMac at the moment, because older versions haven't got the drivers it needs.
3. It's illegal.
As you can see, you can't run Snow Leopard natively. If this is a requirement, I suggest you to return your iMac and search a Mid 2011 iMac with Snow Leopard (there are some Mid 2011 iMacs that came with Snow Leopard, although most of them came with OS X Lion). If you don't find anything, buy a Mid 2010 iMac.
Another possibility is to buy Snow Leopard Server and install it on a virtual machine, but I doubt it's legal

How can I upgrade to Snow Leopard or Lion from Leopard 10.5.8?

I can't find any way to get Snow Leopard from the apple store. It is on Amazon for $100+ and there are lots of fake ''free'' downloads online, but I don't want to use them?
Is there any ways to get to Snow Leopard or Lion from this old opperating system?!
My mac is a 2008 Macbook Pro.
Thank you!

Hi,
I just bought the iphone 5 but have a 2009 Macbook Pro so was running 10.5.8. Needed to upragde to snow leopard then to mountain lion. S.L. is no longer available in stores. The guy in the shop told to cal apple support (0800 048 0408) but was skepitcal. Amazin was quite expensive so I ended up ringing just to check... TOTALLY WORTH IT! Got it for £13, when I would have paid about £70. Apparently they are trying to encourage people to get SL so they can get the icloud.
Ring up! Honestly, their customer serivce was so helpful and lovely. Whole episode has reminded me why I love Apple.

Can I revert back to Snow Leopard from Lion?

Hey guys,
Last night i upgraded to Lion. Have since found out my Focusrite 24 DSP audio interface wont work with Lion (No Drivers yet).... can i simply re-install Leopard from the install discs that came with my imac until such time as drivers become available for my hardware, then re-install Lion? Can this be done without clearing my entire hard-drive and starting again?
Cheers
Sean

mscys wrote:
If you have a complete Time Machine backup of your previous Snow Leopard system, going back to SL is really quite easy.
Just boot from the Lion Recovery partition (option key at startup) and choose to restore from Time Machine backup. (You'll be able to see your last dated and identified SL backup, even if you'd already been using TM with Lion.) It will erase the drive for you and restore a bootable SL. No DVD required.
Works great.
(If you don't have a complete TM backup, then you'll have to wipe the drive, install SL and updates, then use Migration Assistant to bring over your partial TM backup, ie: does not include system and apps.)
Thanks very much for this. I've just restored Snow Leopard from Time Machine, and it only took 30 mins. Worked perfectly. Now I have an OS that works properly (hooray!).
Bob.

How to Downgrade to Snow Leopard from Retail disk

Hi there
We have a new iMac at work bought through Apple's refurb site. It is running the latest version of Lion with all firmware updates, etc. It is replacing a G5 running Tiger.
The problem is this – it is supposed to be running Adobe CS5, but also CS4 (and Office would be handly also)
We have other macs here, some running Leopard, some Snow Leopard, but the Adobe apps are not happy at all in Lion, and InDesign CS4 crashes all the time and won't even print without jumping through a million hoops (obviously the Office 2004 app won't run at all).
Due to the level of issues we are having with Lion (and the reliability of the all the software under Snow Leopard) I am looking to downgrade to Snow Leopard.
I have a full retail version of Snow Leopard (10.6.3), but the Lion system won't boot from the disk, it just gets to the grey screen, and beeps three times. I presume this means that there isn't the required drivers on the disk to run the hardware, or there's a firmware update that doesn't allow installation.
Am i totally stuck with this OS? I was looking to install Snow Leopard on a partiton, but when i run the install disk from the Lion desktop, it reports that I can't run it because 'I have Install Mac OS X 23.1.1.'
I would really like to just have Snow Leopard on my iMac, or failing that, Lion on a small partition, and Snow Leopard and all the programs on the larger partition that I would boot from.
Any ideas how I can get this done? Adobe CS suite is just rubbish on Lion macs, and runs worse than on my old Tiger mac.
Thanks in advance,
M.

Mac_fool wrote:
oh right - so clone Mac B onto Mac A HD in taget disk mode using SuperDuper (or Carbon Copy Cloner), then i'll be able to boot Mac A in SL.
I understand that Mac A wouldn't boot, I was going to make Mac A's SL partition the start-up partition for Mac B, and then try and install OS updates to 10.6.8 from Mac B. Once updates are installed - change Mac B's startup disk back, and then surely Mac A would be able to boot all on it's own...
I'm not sure if this would work in Target Disk Mode, but if you succeed in cloning Mac B to Mac A, you may be able to apply the Combo 10.6.8 update to Mac A while booting from Mac B. The key is that the Combo updater may be able to customize the Snow Leopard installation for the hardware it's actually being applied to. Unless I missed it, we don't really know which iMac you have since it's a refurb. According to Mactracker, only the Late 2011 21.5" comes only with Lion and might not accept Snow Leopard at all. At the same time, it has the same Model Identifier as the Mid 2011, which came with 10.6.6 or 10.6.7 so it might work.
If at that point Mac A does boot in Snow Leopard, I'd advise running the 10.6.8 Combo updater again while booting from Mac A just to be safe.

How can I Downgrade to Snow Leopard and keeping all 3rd party apps?

New to MacBookPro and really happy. With Lion...not so much. I want to downgrade to SL, however, apparently I must reformat the hard drive. Here´s the real question: If I have a backup of my entire HD with the user, docs and all the apps I have installed (on Lion), once I downgrade to Snow Leopard, can I just move all my apps from the back up disk I have made of my Lion-Running hard drive? In other words, How can I downgrade without having to reinstall every single third party app I have?

First, how new is this Mac? A Mac as a rule cannot boot to an older operating system version than that with which it was originally supplied. In other words, if this is a new MBP that came with Lion then you probably cannot get it to boot to SL.
Some applications (and I take it you do mean full "applications" rather than "apps" which are mobile device programs -- it helps to be clear o terminology) can just be dragged from place to place. Others, notably Adobe and Office, install things all over the place and unless you are good at finding hidden files with obscure names in 10 different places you will just have to re-install them.

I'd like to go back to Snow Leopard from Lion.What should I look out for?

I downloaded OS X Lion from the Mac App Store back in February, and I'm getting sick of Lion so I'd like to go back to Snow Leopard. I have the install disc. Will all of my files be used in Snow Leopard, or will I have to save all of them?

Downgrade Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.

Going back to Snow Leopard from Lion

I Just bought a Refurbished Macbook from Apple(2.4GHz Core 2 Duo). It came with Lion loaded on it, but I want to downgrade it to Snow Leopard so I can run Quickbooks and Office '04, but It won't let me restart to my Leopard or Snow Leopard disc. Is it possible to drop it down to a previous OS or is this not allowed?
I've erased hard drives and reinstalled OS's in the past, so I'm familier with the process, but it's not letting me. Does anyone know if this is possible?

Downgrade Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.
Note that this will only work on computer models that do not require Lion (Lion did not come pre-installed when new) and requires a version of Snow Leopard compatible with the model, e.g., you cannot install 10.6.3 on a model that requires 10.6.4.

Back to Snow Leopard from Lion

How can I remove OS Lion from my 17" Intel iMac and go back to Snow Leopard. I have many documents and forms that I cannot open which are used in two different settings - a farm market and a social club - which I need and made with Appleworks. Cannot open them. Can't open anything I did on '09 Pages either. I bought 2011 Microsoft Office, but it would take me months to make over several years worth of forms and documents. PLUS - I don't like LION and the ways that it makes my computer act. I am 75, have been using Apple computers since 1987, and am fairly proficient BUT I don't want to learn a lot of new stuff as far as motions, etc., just to get done what I could do quite well before. I have both the magic mouse and the magic pad and both of them drive me crazy. I am spending more time trying to figure out how to get rid of little icons following the cursor around than I am getting actual work done. What used to be simple has become annoying and difficult!! Lion is no improvement as far as getting real work done as far as I can see.
HOW DO I REMOVE THIS ANIMAL? HELP!!!

Downgrade Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.

Restore to snow leopard from lion

Lion has proven itself to be way to buggy at this stage and I would prefer to go back using Snow Leopard.

Downgrade Lion to Snow Leopard
1. Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the installer. Install Snow Leopard.
This will erase the whole drive so be sure to backup your files if you don't have a backup already. If you have performed a TM backup using Lion be aware that you cannot restore from that backup in Snow Leopard (see below.) I suggest you make a separate backup using Carbon Copy Cloner 3.4.1.
If you have Snow Leopard Time Machine backups, do a full system restore per #14 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions. If you have subsequent backups from Lion, you can restore newer items selectively, via the "Star Wars" display, per #15 there, but be careful; some Snow Leopard apps may not work with the Lion files.

Can't downgrade to Snow Leopard from Lion will not recognise imac dvd

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