Downgrade Lion back to Snow Leopard

I have a 3 month old macBook Pro - which came with Snow leopard (I have the original Snow Leopard install disc)
I have installed Lion but want to revert back to Snow Leopard
but Snow Laeoprd install app won't work under Lion using the DVD
as yet there is nothing on this laptop that I need - so I won't need a backup - I just want to get rid of lion & have a fresh start
When I try to boot from the Snow Leopard install disc (by holding C or option key) - I get a grey panic screen which says "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button until it turns off, then press the power button again"
I have done this several times - but when holding "c" I get the same message
any ideas ?

that thread assumes you can boot from the SL install DVD - there is no way my MacBook pro will do that
as I stated
When I try to boot from the Snow Leopard install disc (by holding C or option key) - I get a grey panic screen which says  "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button until it turns off, then press the power button again"
there seems to be no way I can get into the disc to allow me to delete Lion and replace it with Snow Leopard

Similar Messages

  • I recently downgraded from Mountain Lion back to Snow Leopard and I forgot to export my bookmarks.

    Unfortunately downgrading from Mountain Lion back to Snow Leopard means I need to wipe the hard drive and install everything from scratch. That takes hours, and I've already done the bulk of the work, twice actually since I forgot to back up my photos in Iphoto and had to start over from my Time Machine backup of Mountain Lion.
    Anyhow, I am curious as to whether or not there is a way to retrieve my bookmarks from the Time Machine backup and get them onto my downgraded OS, or will I have to start all over again, restore my system to Mountain Lion and go through the hours it takes to get back to Snow Leopard.

    You're missing the point. If you didn't make the /username/Library/ folder visible, then it's hidden on the TM backup. Getting to ii is beyond my ken. However,  Pondini's TM FAQs might have info on that madness.

  • I reformatted from lion back to snow leopard how do i get my music back i have it on my iphone and when i sync up i still do not have my music on my mac how do i transfer it back to my mac

    i reformatted my mac pro from lion back to snow leopard how do i get my music back. i have it on my iphone and when i sync up i still do not have my music on my mac how do i transfer it back to my mac.

    Wow, you didn't make a backup of your files first?
    You shoudl have come here first for help before doing that.
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201
    All I can say is make sure you have the same account name on the computer like before, even if you have to create a new user under System Preferences>accounts, then log into your itunes account with that and try to reverse sync from the iPhone like you would normally.
    Apple doesn't expect one to go backwards, so they are not all that friendly, you may have to ask around on MacRumors for third party software that can reverse sync from iOS devices.
    Good luck

  • How to downgrade from Mountain Lion back to snow leopard with Time Machine

    The final straw was the horrible mouse sideways page wiggle while trying to scroll down and read safari pages. Even after turning the feature off, tech support said it will still wiggle a little. That and the HORRIBLE grey icons everywhere was enough to send me back to my beloved iMac I loved when I bought it. I'll give up the iMessage and the few new items ML gave me. But as many others said, what I got new was far less than what was taken away. 
    So what tech support had me do was this. Even though the apple engineers said it would not work, apple tech support had me try it and it worked for me so good luck. Engineers said that after you install mountain Lion, it messes with ALL your time machine back ups and won't revert back to snow leopard even if you select a snow leopard date back in time.  That didn't happen to me.  I have a 2010 27 inch iMac
    This worked for me but PROCEED AT YOU OWN RISK
    Export individually any email folders or photos or data you will lose between now and the date you are reverting back to.
    1. Insert Snow Leopard DVD that came with computer. The install disk not the applications. Make sure time machine external drive IS connected.
    2. Restart computer and when you hear The Mac chime, hold down the C key and then it will take several minutes to boot up from the DVD.
    3. Select the little blue triangle to continue in English.
    4. When it gets to the screen that says "continue" stop. There might be a screen or two before this one I can't remember but either way stop at the word continue.
    5. Go up to the top left and find the UTILITIES pull down menu and select disk utility.
    6. In the window that opens up, Select the Apple drive which should be the very top one in the window.
    7. Select erase.. it should be Mac OS extended journaled
    8 select erase and maybe a password. It only takes a few seconds
    9 go back up to UTILITIES in upper left and then select restore from time machine or backup or whatever it says. It's the last choice.
    10. Select the external time machine drive and navigate to the date you last had Snow Leopard running and that will be the date it restores to. You will lose any data between now and then but you can export your mail, export photos, and other items separately. I only stayed on ML For a few days before hating it enough to go back so I had no loss of data except a few emails.
    11. Hit RESTORE. And then it will take several hours. When you restart it, it should come right back to that day you selected as if ML  was just a bad thought on someone's drawing board.   If for some reason it still comes up ML, Then they said to erase HD Again (steps 1-8) and then manually drags back USER folder or individual folders with Mail, photos etc.   if this way doesn't work, have another plan printed out so that you are not stuck by this one.
    Good luck. Proceed at your own risk..

    The ultimate solution:
    You need an USB of at least 5 GB and the Snow Leopard Install DVD.
    1. make a bootable USB with Disk Utility in it:
         a. download the Mountain Lion Installer from the App Store
         b. quit the installer after download
         c. find the installer in the Applications folder
         d. option+click in it and select "Show Pakage Contents"
         e. go to Contents>SharedSupport to find there the InstallESD.dmg file and mount it by double-clicking it
         f. with the Disk Utility, restore its contents into your USB
    2. boot from the USB:
         a. restart the computer and hold-down the option key while booting
         b. select the USB and boot
    3. run the Disk Utility and format in ONE partition the HD of your computer
    REMEMBER: BACKUP YOUR HARD DISK BEFORE DOING ALL THESE, YOUR DISK WILL BE EREASED AND DATA BECOME UNRECOVERABLE OTHERWISE
    4. insert the Snow Leopard DVD and reboot from it
    5. follow the on-screen instructions to install OS X 10.6
    After this, you can, if you will, upgrade to Lion or stay in Snow... Good Luck!!

  • IPhoto 9.1.5 won't open, downgraded from Lion back to Snow Leopard

    I have tried to open iPhoto and every time I get a similar error window like I have pasted below.  I have reinstalled iPhoto from iLife '11 disc.  I have updated until I get the message that everything is up to date.  I can't help but think that priviously installing Lion and then going back to Snow Leopard has had something to do with this.  I also go to "Finder>Pictures>iPhoto Library" and there is nothing there.  No arrow saying there is something inside, no list of folders titled with what roll or event they belong to.. nothing.
    here is a copy of the error message, it is long, and I don't know what it means
    Process:         iPhoto [730]
    Path:            /Applications/iPhoto.app/Contents/MacOS/iPhoto
    Identifier:      com.apple.iPhoto
    Version:         ??? (???)
    Build Info:      iPhotoProject-6150000~1
    Code Type:       X86 (Native)
    Parent Process:  launchd [135]
    Date/Time:       2011-07-31 13:15:16.679 -0400
    OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549)
    Report Version:  6
    Interval Since Last Report:          14716 sec
    Crashes Since Last Report:           36
    Per-App Crashes Since Last Report:   10
    Anonymous UUID:                      6E3CAB0C-061D-4097-ABC1-D1E4ED15272A
    Exception Type:  EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP)
    Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000002, 0x0000000000000000
    Crashed Thread:  0
    Dyld Error Message:
      Library not loaded: /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreMedia.framework/Versions/A/CoreMedia
      Referenced from: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ProKit.framework/Versions/A/ProKit
      Reason: image not found
    Binary Images:
    0x8fe00000 - 0x8fe4163b  dyld 132.1 (???) <4CDE4F04-0DD6-224E-ACE5-3C06E169A801> /usr/lib/dyld
    Model: iMac9,1, BootROM IM91.008D.B08, 2 processors, Intel Core 2 Duo, 3.06 GHz, 4 GB, SMC 1.45f0
    Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 4850, ATI Radeon HD 4850, PCIe, 512 MB
    Memory Module: global_name
    AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x14E4, 0x8E), Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.131.42.4)
    Bluetooth: Version 2.4.5f3, 2 service, 12 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
    Network Service: AirPort, AirPort, en1
    Serial ATA Device: WDC WD1001FALS-40K1B0, 931.51 GB
    Serial ATA Device: HL-DT-ST DVDRW  GA11N
    USB Device: Built-in iSight, 0x05ac  (Apple Inc.), 0x8502, 0x24400000 / 4
    USB Device: Ext HDD 1021, 0x1058  (Western Digital Technologies, Inc.), 0x1021, 0x24300000 / 3
    USB Device: Keyboard Hub, 0x05ac  (Apple Inc.), 0x1006, 0x24100000 / 2
    USB Device: Apple Optical USB Mouse, 0x05ac  (Apple Inc.), 0x0304, 0x24130000 / 7
    USB Device: Microsoft® 2.4GHz Transceiver V2.0, 0x045e  (Microsoft Corporation), 0x071f, 0x24110000 / 6
    USB Device: Apple Keyboard, 0x05ac  (Apple Inc.), 0x0220, 0x24120000 / 5
    USB Device: Hub, 0x050d  (Belkin Corporation), 0x0234, 0x26400000 / 2
    USB Device: Deskjet 6940 series, 0x03f0  (Hewlett Packard), 0x8904, 0x26420000 / 4
    USB Device: CanoScan, 0x04a9  (Canon Inc.), 0x221f, 0x26410000 / 3
    USB Device: IR Receiver, 0x05ac  (Apple Inc.), 0x8242, 0x04500000 / 2
    USB Device: BRCM2046 Hub, 0x0a5c  (Broadcom Corp.), 0x4500, 0x06100000 / 2
    USB Device: Bluetooth USB Host Controller, 0x05ac  (Apple Inc.), 0x8215, 0x06110000 / 3
    FireWire Device: My Book, WD, Up to 800 Mb/sec
    FireWire Device: d2 DVDRW FW/USB, LaCie, Up to 400 Mb/sec
    FireWire Device: LaCie d2 Extreme LUN 0, LaCie Group SA, Up to 800 Mb/sec

    This has affected a number of people who reverted from 10.7 to 10.6. Iphoto is missing some background framework that it needs.
    "Library not loaded: .../Versions/A/CoreMedia
    ...Reason: image not found"
    A reinstall may help:
    To re-install iPhoto
    1. Put the iPhoto.app in the trash (Drag it from your Applications Folder to the trash)
    2a: On 10.5:  Go to HD/Library/Receipts and remove any pkg file there with iPhoto in the name.
    2b: On 10.6: Those receipts may be found as follows:  In the Finder use the Go menu and select Go To Folder. In the resulting window type
    /var/db/receipts/
    2c: on 10.7 they're at
    /private/var/db/receipts
    A Finder Window will open at that location and you can remove the iPhoto pkg files.
    3. Re-install.
    If you purchased an iLife Disk, then iPhoto is on it.
    If iPhoto was installed on your Mac when you go it then it’s on the System Restore disks that came with your Mac. Insert the first one and opt to ‘Install Bundled Applications Only.
    If you purchased it on the App Store you can find it in your Purchases List.
    However, if that doesn't help - and in the case of Core Media I wold have my doubts - you'll need to reinstall the OS.
    I also go to "Finder>Pictures>iPhoto Library" and there is nothing there.  No arrow saying there is something inside, no list of folders titled with what roll or event they belong to.. nothing.
    This is normal. Since iPhoto 7 (iLife 08) the old iPhoto Library Folder is a Package File. This is simply a folder that +looks+ like a file in the Finder. The change was made to the format of the iPhoto library because many users were inadvertently corrupting their library by browsing through it with other software or making changes in it themselves.

  • Downgrading Mountain Lion back to Snow Leopard

    I have a mid summer 2010 Mac Mini that originally came with Snow Leopard and I still have the install disks.  In september, I upgrade to Mountain lion and due to the slow and unacceptable performance since then, I want to go back to Snow Leopard. I have been backing up on an external drive with TIme Machine for the past two years.  I upgraded on September 12 and I have a several Time Machine Backups in August and early September when I was still operating with Snow Leopard.  My question- Can I open up in Mountain Lion the Recovery disk option, use Disk Utility to erase the Mini's hard drive and then reinstall a time machine backup from before September 12?   I have backed up files that have been changed in the past several months including mail and iweb.  Will going to a previous back up in Time Machine before I upgraded work?  If this won't work, can I use the Snow Leopard Disk and do the same thing- wipe clean the mini's hard drive and install a Time Machine Backup from before sept 12 from my external drive?
    Any input, suggestions or instructions on this topic would be appreciated.
    Thanks
    Karl

    Thanks mende1, excuse my ignorance but do I have the steps right?
    1. Boot up with Snow Leopard Install Disk
    2. Use utility to wipe clean the mini's hard drive
    3. restore system using Time Machine Backup from before I upgraded to Mountain Lion
    When and where will I find the option to restore from a Time Machine Backup?
    Thanks

  • How do i go from lion back to snow leopard

    I have a HP Officejet 8500 printer/scanner/fax and since I've upgraded to Lion OS X 10.7.5 I can no longer scan from my computer like I did previously.  I don't know if it was a previous version of Lion or Snow Leopard.  If I can downgrade from 10.7.5 to see if that will scan, that is my first choice.  If not, I'd like to go back to Snow Leopard.  I am using USB instead of wireless.

    Akeen1 wrote:
    HP Officejet 8500 printer/scanner/fax
    Those models usually have custom drivers you need to install as it also includes software and the upgrade wiped it out.
    Check the HP website and search for drivers for your model/OSX version and install it.
    If you want to downgrade (upgrade ) to Snow Leopard anyway, this is how to go about it.
    How to revert your Mac to Snow Leopard
    How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
    For Snow Leopard Speed Freaks

  • Trying to downgrade MacBook Pro (13" mid 2010) from lion back to snow leopard. Error: you have install Mac 23.1

    Upgraded to lion, thought it was going to be the hip new thing but I can't stomach it. Time to go back home.
    The problem I'm having is that I can't run the snow leopard disk no matter how hard I try.
    I tired booting to the cd and I got that pleasantly multi lingual message telling me "you must restart your computer"
    I wrote the disk image to a USB and got the same massage when I tried to boot to it.
    When I try and run the disk from the desktop I get the grammatical masterpiece of an error message "you have install Mac os x 23.1"
    My computer is boot camped if that makes a difference at all, and I don't care about my data I have it manually backed up (not tm).
    How I can snow leopard 10.6.8 again?

    First, do you have a backup? If so then you can just boot from your Snow Leopard disc, re-initialize the hard drive and install SL anew, then restore from an older backup (assuming you have one?).
    Clinton
    P.S. You might be able to install without wiping your hard drive. To see, just use your SL disc and try to reinstall. I don't know - I've only gone back-in-time with TM since getting a new Mac with Lion installed.

  • How do I upgrade from Lion back  to Snow Leopard?

    I had a Macbook Pro that after 3 trips to the shop, Apple finally replaced with a new machine.  Unfortunately the new machine came with the most suck *** operating system ever developed.  It is enough to make me think about going back to Windows.
    The first one is the annoying security feature that many users have complained about, namely that opening any type of file from the internet generates a warning.  I have tried using the terminal command with limited success but in the end I still have to give permission to open up each file and in a file with 500 photos, that is completely impractical.
    The second one involves Preview denying me permission to view files.  I have loaded numerous .jpeg photos (from my camera, that I took,) onto my computer and if I try to open them in preview, it denies me permission even though the permissions list me as being able to read and write that particular file.
    I have been to the Apple store several times with this problem and each time, they claim they either know nothing about the problem (i.e I am the only one who has encountered it) or they just shrug and say it is a Lion improvement.
    So my question is, does anyone know how to fix these problems or better yet upgrade to Snow Leopard which did not have these problems but can no longer be downloaded from the Apple Store?

    tafmia wrote:
    snip ....
    So my question is, does anyone know how to fix these problems or better yet upgrade to Snow Leopard which did not have these problems but can no longer be downloaded from the Apple Store?
    Snow Leopard never could be downloaded from the Apple Store, you will have to buy it on disc.

  • Lion back to snow leopard ?

    I decided update my mac air 11 inch and macbook pro 13 inch to Lion a few months ago. Now I have the new macbook with retina display I wanted to give the air and mbp to my nieces. I removed all apps but didn't know what to do about the Lion app as it is the operating system. In the apple store they said it would be allright to leave it on. Being unsure about this I thought I'd better check on here. If I am supposed to remove lion could the problem be resolved if they purchased mountain lion using their id and installed that on the machines. It's so confusing please advise. I realise they can't have the apps purchased by me like keynote, pages etc. so have removed them.

    According to the licensing agreement, you are supposed to revert a Mac to its original OS upon transferring it to a new owner. You bought Lion so it's yours to use, but there is no way to transfer ownership of it to someone else.
    Excerpt from http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/macosx107.pdf (emphasis mine):
    3. Transfer.
    A. If you obtained the Apple Software preinstalled on Apple-branded hardware, you may make a one-time permanent transfer of all of your license rights to the Apple Software (in its original form as provided by Apple) to another party, provided that: ...
    B. If you obtained your license to the Apple Software from the Mac App Store, it is not transferable.
    Also, read section 2: "Permitted License Uses and Restrictions"
    If the Apple Store said it's OK to leave it installed, OK, but they're wrong.
    Rather than revert to Snow Leopard, which would be a pain, your nieces can simply buy Mountain Lion and install it over the existing Lion installation. That will entitle them to their own copy of OS X that could be reinstalled, should it ever become necessary to do so.

  • Want to restore from Lion back to snow leopard using my Drobo-Fs.  Lion is my current OS but due to lack of support for powerpc applications I want to go back.  Has anyone done a complete restore from TimeMachine on a Drobo-Fs?

    I tried to do this as follows, 1).  Using the install DVD for snow leapard I booted up the mac, 2).  Went into terminal and mounted the Drobo-Fs.  3).  Followed the usual Restore from steps.....
    It took around 8 hours just to come to the point of actually starting the restored....and then calculated like +1000000 hours to complete the restore.  So I cancelled it.
    Not sure, I mean the drobo-fs backs up data, but can it actually restore(full restore) via TimeMachine is my question.

    I'm about to throw my Drobo FS out the window.  It's performance is so erratic.  Right now the green access light is on continuously, yet there's no IO from my mac.  Since upgrading to LION (and finally upgrading the drobo software), I can't log on to the drobo any more. The drobo app says the unit is healthy. 
    I know that the drobo does internal work from time to time, but there's no way to find out what it's doing. No user feedback at all.  Thank goodness I only use it for regular backups and not time machine. Time to move on.

  • Switch from Mountain Lion back to Snow Leopard

    I have a 2 year old MacBook and about a month ago installed Mountain Lion. After countless hours of struggling with the new mail program and a few other OS issues, I have buyer's remorse and want to go back. Is this possible? I would be happy just to have the older Mail program. Otherwise, I'm going to Thunderbird, which I really don't want to do.
    PH
    Morro Bay, CA

    If I back up my computer on an external hard drive, will everything be intact: my files, mail, apps, music?
    When you said to install it on a blank partition, what does that mean? Do I need to do something after that?

  • Had upgraded to lion. Many software wouldn't work and downgraded back to snow leopard.  Now it comes up c user name and password. I haven't used my password since I bought the computer years ago. I put it in but won't work. More than 8 letters, does thaMA

    I upgraded to lion and many software didn't work. Downgraded back to snow leopard and now my initial login page
    Is asking for my password. I put it in, but it's not working. Possible I have forgotten the correct one considering in think the last time I logged
    In was when I bought the computer. But I think it's right. I did read something about if ur password was 8 characters or more it won't work? Anyone know? Or know how I can reset my password?

    Try this http://osxdeveloper.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/reset-10-5-leopard-10-6-snow-leopar d-password/
    Allan

  • Seems like everyday I find another program that worked on SnowLeopard, but now doesn't work on Lion.  Can I easily downgrade back to Snow Leopard?

    Since I installed Lion, I keep finding programs that won't run, but which ran fine on Snow Leopard.  (Apple even eliminated MacSolitare.) How can I downgrade back to Snow Leopard?  Do I have to erase my HD and start all over?
    I have my stuff backed up on Time Machine and Carbonite.
    But do those backups just contain files?  Will I have to also reinstall every application that I have been using?

    Dorsey Hudson wrote:
    (Apple even eliminated MacSolitare.)
    No they didn't, since it's not part of the OS.
    How can I downgrade back to Snow Leopard?  Do I have to erase my HD and start all over?
    Yes.
    But do those backups just contain files?  Will I have to also reinstall every application that I have been using?
    If you have a pre-Lion backup, simply restore that backup.

  • How do i downgrade back to snow leopard from Lion?

    Having installed Lion on my MBP I have realised there are too many incompatibilities for me to work effectively at present.
    How do I downgrade back to Snow Leopard without losing data?
    I have a full TimeMachine backup and OS X disc that came with the machine. I am concerned that email data has been converted.
    When will we see Lion work with all MS Office Apps, AutoCAD and SL Server?
    h

    https://discussions.apple.com/message/15706096#15706096

Maybe you are looking for