External HD Boot fails with Snow Leopard

When I try to boot from an external HD with 10.6 installed I get a kernel panic "unable to find a driver for this platform". My internal drive has 10.7 installed. Any suggestions as to how to resolve the issue?
Here's a bit of background. I have some files on my computer that are produced by applications no longer supported on the Mac. They worked fine under Rosetta with 10.6 but when I upgraded to 10.7 and Rosetta was dropped, so did my ability to access the files. I'm really keen to be able to at least open the files and see if I can export them to useful format, or even print them.
Today I purchased an external 1TB HD in the hope that this would solve my problem. I intended to boot up using Snow Leaopard. I installed it using the DVD purchased as part of the Mac Boxed Set a while back. There are two partitions on the HD, a 50GB section with 10.6 on it and a 950GB which is blank.
When the installation was complete the Mac automatically rebooted. Unfortunately it panicked midway through the restart. I've tried re-initialising the drive and checking the firmware. Everything seems ok there. I'm not sure what to do next.
Peter

Well, the clone didn't work. I copied the following files/folders to the external as advised by CCC:
/Library, /System, /bin, /etc, /mach_kernel, /private, /sbin, /tmp, /usr, and /var
There was a panic on startup with the following info displayed:
panic(cpu 1 caller 0xffffff7f807b1f9a): "No HPETs available...CPU(s) configured incorrectly\n"@/SourceCache/AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement/AppleIntelCPUPowerMana gement-167.3/pmThread.c:156
Backtrace (CPU 1), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff807987bef0 : 0xffffff8000220702
0xffffff807987bf70 : 0xffffff7f807b1f9a
0xffffff807987bfb0 : 0xffffff8000820057
Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement(167.3)[E08EC0D7-C364-3C57-A377-88 7B36241B1C]@0xffffff7f807ac000->0xffffff7f807d5fff
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task
Mac OS version:
Not yet set
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 11.3.0: Thu Jan 12 18:47:41 PST 2012; root:xnu-1699.24.23~1/RELEASE_X86_64
Kernel UUID: 7B6546C7-70E8-3ED8-A6C3-C927E4D3D0D6
System model name: iMac8,1 (Mac-F227BEC8)
I will try installing a copy of the 10.6.3 operating system on my firewire HD and see if that works.

Similar Messages

External BluRay for use with Snow Leopard?

Hello,
Can anyone recommend an external Blu-Ray burner that will work comfortably with Snow Leopard running on the latest 24" iMac?
Thanks...BC

This one works:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MRF8BDSD12X/
If you search the OWC site they have others.

External LCD TV issues with Snow Leopard

Ever since I updated to Snow Leopard, my LCD TV is overscanning the image. If I Maximize Firefox, the outside controls are cropped off. This never used to happen in Leopard. I go to the display settings and disable "Overscanning" and it underscans the image leaving an inch of black space on the screen all around the image, which is more underscanning than it ever used to it.
Also, the image on my LCD seems a bit blurrier. I read about this issue and tried the Text Smoothing tip here http://blog.petersendidit.com/post/blurry-text-on-external-monitor-with-snow-leo pard/ but that didn't change anything either.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

There should be an underscanning slider in the Displays preference you can fiddle with (or is that what you were referring to?).
Does your TV have a "full pixel" mode (or similar words)? Does your TV have it's own overscan/underscan settings?
Which video card? How is the TV connected to that video card?

Printer fail with Snow Leopard 10.6.1

I have two GCC Elite printers (XL 20/600 & XL 12/600) connected on our office network. Upgraded to Snow Leopard, got them to print by using LPD process but now find that printing fails intermittently if there are a number of files in the queue.
We are design studio, using Adobe CS4. The files are no bigger or detailed than when we were on Leopard.
Any ideas?

Hi TDCP - welcome to the forums.
Printer drivers have taken a hit with SL.
Unless you know for certain that your current drivers are fully compatible with SL, you may need to look for updates in that regard. Same goes for your Adobe products.
Anything in CUPS that helps?
http://localhost:631

HELP PLEASE!! Boot problems with Snow Leopard (Blue Screen Loop)

Hi guys!
My MacBook (the model before the current one) wont boot up. It started stuttering and acting strange and then froze so I did a force restart. It then loaded all the way up until a blue screen when the mouse appears and can be moved. This flickers off after a few moments (the screen dims) and then comes back. The process repeats as if in some infinite loop.
The main problem is that I've lost my snow leopard disc so I'm pretty limited to what I can do until I can borrow / buy another one and I need to get my laptop back up right away for work.
I've tried booting in safe mode, no joy
I then tried to repair the drive in fsck, which repaired something. I did it again and it said all was ok but then booting stuck at the same place.
Finally I read on another forum that removing /Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.plist fixed login loop issues. I attempted this in single user mode but it said the file didnt exist?
Can anyone help me out here? I'm pretty stressed out as all my work stuff is on there for my new job...
Thanks!!

I had this same problem -- machine would boot, but loop at two blue screens before the login window. I sshed into the machine and checked /private/var/log/system.log and /var/log/secure.log which showed a unexpected character in /etc/authorization. Basically, the authorization file was corrupted (most likely by bad RAM.) The solution was to replace this file with one copied from another machine. I didn't match models, but did match OS when copying the file (i don't know if this matters at all), and as soon as the "cp" command was entered, the login window popped up. <-- totes awesome. The machine has been reliable since (all of 15 minutes)

External Speakers Not Working with Snow Leopard

I installed Snow Leopard. Prior to the installation my external speakers, plugged into the headphone jack, worked great. Now, after installing SL, my external speakers and my headphones will not work. Any ideas?

I don't know what the issue was. I muted and then took mute off, still no external speakers or headphones. So, I just restarted. I guess whatever the problem was just fixed itself. Now I have external speakers and headphones.

I purchased an unclaimed luggage at the airport that had a mid 2010 13" MB-Pro -- It comes up to a boot screen with snow leopard or Windows -- I tried to boot from Optical with Lion install -- it woon't won't boot from the optical drive, help

It won't go to taget disk mode -- I took the drive out and used disk utility to re-partition and format - now I get the folder with a question mark and it still won't boot from optical or usb or go to target disk mode -- I haven't tried installing lion on the disk while it is out and then putting it back in the machine --
according to the serial number, it is still under apple care but since I don't know the person that used to own it I can't get it transferred to me -- or will apple do that since I bought it in an auction?

Ok so I've done what you said and this is what it's come back ....
I don't know that these are the errors , but they're the things which don't look right ...
Throughout the shut down there is a recurring line ;
It says ;
Com.apple.launchd 1 0x100600e70.anonymous.unmount 301 PID still valid
Then there are 2 more which I think are related ;
Com.apple.securityd 29 PID job has I overstayed its welcome , forcing removal.
Then the same with fseventd 48 and diskarbitrationd 13
Oh and on Launchd1 : System : stray anonymous job at shut down : PID 301 PPID13 PGID 13 unmount...
Then the last process says "about to call: reboot (RB_AUTOBOOT).
Continuing...
And stops ...
Hope this means something to you ... Thanks again for your help so far :-)

Boot problems with snow leopard running bot camp

I have used this computer with boot camp for over a year, when I try to boot the mac drive it freezes. If I boot using the option key I can boot into windows normally. Even using restart from yhr bootcamp menu causes a freezup if i try to boot to apple. any suggestions?

I had this same problem -- machine would boot, but loop at two blue screens before the login window. I sshed into the machine and checked /private/var/log/system.log and /var/log/secure.log which showed a unexpected character in /etc/authorization. Basically, the authorization file was corrupted (most likely by bad RAM.) The solution was to replace this file with one copied from another machine. I didn't match models, but did match OS when copying the file (i don't know if this matters at all), and as soon as the "cp" command was entered, the login window popped up. <-- totes awesome. The machine has been reliable since (all of 15 minutes)

Mountain Lion with Snow Leopard?

I recently went through the process of upgrading my iMac (Mid 2007) from Leopard to Snow Leopard without problem using a SL Install DVD.
I then made the mistake of upgrading from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion via the app store.
I did not make a backup of my Mac HD prior to upgrading because the external HD I have is too small ( a problem that was to be resolved by a new 2TB External HD which I have bought but it will only run in Lion or Mountain Lion)
The upgrade to ML went fine with no loss of data, however I now can't use legacy software that needs Rosetta, which I really need to have access to.
After a very long search through dozens of forums the best option seems to be to run the legacy software from an external hard drive loaded with Snow Leopard.
After fully erasing an external drive and repartitioning with the neccessary GUID Partition Map
I have been trying to create a bootable version of SL on an external hard drive by booting the iMac now running ML direct from the SL install DVD and installing SL onto the external drive.
This process appears to go ok until the end of the initial part of the install when the process would normally require a restart before continuing to completion.
The process just seems to stop and the iMac starts up in Mountain Lion
When I look at what is on the external hard drive onto which I am installing SL most of the applications are greyed out with those no-entry signs.
If I try to boot from the new Snow Leopard HD it seems to try but eventually just launches ML from the iMac.
How do I complete the installation on the new SL HD?
Did the Mountain Lion upgrade from the app store make my machine unable to run Snow Leopard from an external HD?
Are there firmware upgrades that have occured that might be causing the issues?
And if so what can I do about it?

Another option is to install Snow Leopard Server into Parallels 8 in Mt. Lion and have concurrent access to your legacy PowerPC apps (instead of the dual-boot):
[click on image to enlarge]
Apple is now selling Snow Leopard Server for $19.99 + sales tax & shipping costs at 1.800.MYAPPLE (1.800.692.7753) - Apple Part Number: MC588Z/A (telephone orders only).

I have a copy of Windows 7, and I am trying to bring up Boot Camp on my MacBook with Snow Leopard. But my Snow Leopard install disk is too old for Windows 7, so attempted Boot Camp install of drivers fails.

I have a copy of Windows 7, and I am trying to bring up Boot Camp on my MacBook with Snow Leopard. But my Snow Leopard install disk is too old for Windows 7, so attempted Boot Camp install of drivers fails.
I have hand-installed the NVidia graphics driver, and I have keyboard, minimal trackpad, and hardwire to internet all working. So the WIndows machine is usable. But I am hurting for wi-fi, better trackpad, and whatever else is delivered by Boot Camp. I can't use any of the Boot Camp upgrades because I do not have XP or Vista.

While we all have MacBooks in this forum not all of us use Boot Camp. There's a Boot Camp Support Community where everybody uses Boot Camp. You should also post this question there.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp

Possible to Boot from External Drive with Snow Leopard??

I have a new iMac that came with Mountain Lion installed. My previous Mac had Snow Leopard. I kept that OS drive with all my applications. I've already transferred 99.9% of my stuff from the old Mac to the new one and everything is working fine BUT....
There is one little thing from one of my apps that I need and to get it I need to launch that app from the previous install (on the old Mac). Since I have that old system drive, is it possible connect it via USB and boot from it? I've been trying but haven't had any luck
Can anyone help out?

If the app in question was written strictly for the PowerPC you would need to boot from the Snow Leopard volume as you suggest. Generally speaking you can't run an OS X version that predated the one installed on your Mac when it was built, but there is no harm in trying to boot that OS X version installed on a separate partition.
You may be able to run the app with that HD mounted and available to your iMac as long as it is not strictly for the PowerPC.
I've been trying but haven't had any luck
What have you tried so far?

Dual Boot with Snow Leopard and Mavericks not possible?

I have a Early 2011 Macbook Pro with 2,3 GHz i7 Quad and two 512 GB SSDs (the secondary disk in an optical drive bay enclosure). This Macbook Pro can run Snow Leopard and Mavericks on the primary disk without problems. When I try to set up a dual boot system however, problems appear and it looks like it is not possible. When I start from Snow Leopard, I cannot select Mavericks as a start volume and vice versa. The error message says something like "Bless tool" cannot use this disk, i.e. unmount and boot from it. The problem remains when I exchange the disks (putting the primary disk in the drive enclosure and vice versa). When I put the secondary drive in an external case however, it is possible to boot from it - but strange things happen when the system starts: My computer clock is reset to 1/1/2001, WiFI passwords are not remembered for more than one session, disk permissions are reported as "repaired" but do apear as not repaired when I check them again - and other issues). I have verified both disks already and repaired permissions but that does not change the situation. So my experience is different from what is said in https://discussions.apple.com/thread/566781. It looks like the latest Mavericks cannot coexist with Snow Leopard on neiter a secondary internal drive nor on an external drive. This is strange since both disks and systems work flawless when run alone. Any suggestions to solve this problem?

When I check the Mavericks disk in the optical drive with disk utility after booting / running Snow Leopard on the primary disk I get som errors, see below ("disk utility Info"). So after all, I decided to erase the disk and install Mavericks new. But even erasing the disk is not possible when it is in the optical drive enclosure. I get this error message:
"Volume Erase failed with the error:
Could not unmount disk"
When I put this disk into an external case connected via USB however, it starts and runds MAvericks without any Problem. Same happens when I put thie Mavericks disk into the internal primary hard disk place.
"disk utility Info" when verinfying the secondary drive in the oprical bay:
Verifying volume “Samsung SSD Daten”
Performing live verification.
Checking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Unused node is not erased (node = 40)
Checking catalog file.
Unused node is not erased (node = 30)
Checking multi-linked files.
Checking catalog hierarchy.
Checking extended attributes file.
Unused node is not erased (node = 8)
Checking volume bitmap.
Volume bitmap needs minor repair for orphaned blocks
Checking volume information.
The volume Samsung SSD Daten was found corrupt and needs to be repaired.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
Verify and Repair volume “Samsung SSD Daten”
Error: Could not unmount disk

I have a copy of Windows 7, and I am trying to bring up Boot Camp on my MacBook with Snow Leopard.

I have a copy of Windows 7, and I am trying to bring up Boot Camp on my MacBook with Snow Leopard. But my Snow Leopard install disk is too old for Windows 7, so attempted Boot Camp install of drivers fails.
I have hand-installed the NVidia graphics driver, and I have keyboard, minimal trackpad, and hardwire to internet all working. So the WIndows machine is usable. But I am hurting for wi-fi, better trackpad, and whatever else is delivered by Boot Camp. I can't use any of the Boot Camp upgrades because I do not have XP or Vista.

Dear Nathan,
Many thanks. To the best of my memory, that is how I got where I am today. Initially I had one failed setup, then discovered compatibility mode and ran using it. The result was not an obvious failure, but something was not there because not only were some drivers missing (wi-fi, trackpad, ...) but (much to my disappointment) the 3.1 update would not run. It complained that 3.0 wasn't there. If I hardwired to my home network, the machine would do almost everything I wanted, but the graphics were slow and clumsy. That is when I hunted around for the NVidia driver and downloaded it from NVidia. And that is where I stand now.
My son found this link http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/01/15/using-boot-camp-to-install-windows-7-on-you r-mac-the-complete-walkthrough/
which has instructions claiming to do the install straight to Win 7 without using compatibility mode.
Given that my clumsy efforts to patch things up have probably necessitated a Win 7 deinstall and reinstall to test either your plan or the one my son found, I am inclined to sit tight for a couple of days to see how much I can learn.
I appreciate your interest in this problem, and if you are up for reading the process at the link my son found and commenting, I would be grateful.
In any case, many thanks, Paul

Mac Pro will not boot with Snow Leopard - need help!

I have had a lot of issues with Snow Leopard since I upgraded from 10.5.8. Most of my problems started after installing Office 2007. I finally wiped the hard drive and reinstalled everything. No problems until last week. Start up was taking longer and had to reboot a couple of times because of grey screen. So I would just put computer to sleep. Yesterday the computer was frozen on screen saver with scrambled rows of pixels on screen two and the main monitor had a frozen image.
I initially pulled all peripherals out and pulled the power plug for 5 minutes. I have left the peripherals out and pulled the second monitor as well. I tried pulling the power plug during a few more starts but nothing gets me to a complete start up screen.
I have tried resetting PRAM and VRAM and tried a safe boot. I tried booting from Snow Leopard and my Leopard disk stayed on either a blue or gray screen with spinning beach ball (on gray screen).
Put original install disk in and booted from using D to check the hardware. Good news is that the hardware test was OK. I did the extended test.
All different kind of start up problems.
- Some start with start up sound goes to Apple logo to blue screen to grey screen with beachball
- Some start ups with no initial sound then Apple logo to blue screen to grey screen with no cursor or beachball
- Some start ups with no sound to gray screen to blue screen to grey screen.
I have no problem wiping the HD1 again but I can't even get the OS disk to be recognized with holding the C key during start up. This last time it went to a blue screen (holding the C key) and a cursor.
I don't know what else to do - Please help!!!

There are lists (MacIntouch and MacFixit) of hardware / software support issues with 10.6. Accelerateyourmac is another place to watch.
There were some really long threads back in Sept about printer driver support.
The 7300 firmware was more about Windows support; those cards are failing and dropping like flies (how DO they know 3 yrs has expired anyway?) and they don't support SL features like OpenCL etc so I'd invest in ATI 4870, best graphic card and works in all models Mac Pro.
Lots and lots of bootable clones for backup. Never need to wipe and install again.

I have a MacBook pro version 10.6.7 with snow leopard. After an scheduled software upgrade I could not open Quicken (It said it could not open the files). Now I can only open it if I have my external drive on. Can you help?

I have a MacBook pro version 10.6.7 with snow leopard. After an scheduled software upgrade I could not open Quicken (It said it could not open the files). Now I can only open it if I have my external drive on. Can you help?
All the information that I had input on Quicken is gone. I have to have the external hard drive that I use to back up to be able to use quicken now. It is as if it was erased from the laptop hardrive

Try repairing permissions. My favorite way is with a utility called AppleJack. Info and download here. It's free. It only works when you boot in Single User Mode. When restarting or booting, hold down the Command key and S keys.
You will get a very different startup screen that looks like the Terminal app has hijacked the screen. Just let the lines of text scroll by. When that happens you will get a text entry prompt. Type in "AppleJack" without the quotation marks.
A DOS looking menu will appear. Choose 1 or d to run Disk Repair. If you get a message that Disk Repair found and corrected errors, run it again. Repeat until you get the "your disk appears to be ok" message. This rarely happens with my experience, though. This does the same thing as as booting from an external drive and running Disk Utility's repair. Only, no external drive is required!
Next, choose 2 or p to repair disk permissions. This will take a little while. AppleJack warns that it will take up to an half hour to run repair permissions. It'n never taken more than about ten minutes for my MacBook Pro.
As permissions are repaired, you will see each repair scroll on the screen. When done, the menu returns, choose q to quit. Then at the prompt, enter "exit" without the quotes. Your MacBook Pro should restart into Mac OS normally after this.
Hope this helps.

External HD Boot fails with Snow Leopard

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for