Install Snow Leopard over brand new Lion based MacBook Pro

Dear Forum.
This is actually a hardware question plz this is not a meant as a discussion whether Lion beats Snow Leopard etc.
Plenty of threads around communities tells how to install 10.6.8 over 10.7 But there is a warning sign!!! :
I have a brand new top-of-the-line MacBook Pro (shipped with 10.7.2) and for some reason it won´t even start from a 10.6.8 DVD
I was thinkin´ go scratch the 750 GB HDD at one of my other Macs, but for some reason I´m afraid that Apple now have bugged the HW so it won´t be able to install 10.6.8 no matter how sofisticated changes are made??
Anyone knows or have any experience??
With love from Denmark, Thanks everyone for reading this

so it won´t be able to install 10.6.8 no matter how sofisticated changes are made??
Read here > Don't install a version of Mac OS X earlier than what came with your Mac

Similar Messages

Cannot install Snow Leopard on a new HD in MacBook

I have an older white MacBook that I want to install Snow Leopard onto again. I swapped the existing harddrive back to the original one I received from Apple when the MacBook was purchased. Before putting the hd into the MacBook I made sure to partition and format with Mac Journaled.
During startup I put the Snow Leopard disc and press C to boot from disc. Slowly but eventually, the Snow Leopard process begins. My MacBook cannot seem to detect the HD that is in the machine... When I run Disk Utility, it does not populate but the DVD drive with the Snow Leopard disc is found.
Any suggestions?

What you are saying boils down to the MacBook is not recognizing the HD now installed in it. (Regardless of the formatting, Disk Utility should at least list the drive if it is communicating with the MB's hardware.)
Open the MB & make sure the HD is installed correctly, if necessary by removing it & reseating it, making sure connectors are fully mated, nothing is interfering with its fit into the space for it, etc. Close everything up & restart it, listening for any sounds that indicate the HD is spinning up. If not, it may have been damaged. You can also run the Apple Hardware Test from your original grey system disc set (see the label of the disc for instructions about how to do that if necessary) & see if it detects any hardware problems. If so, make a note of the error code & report that.

Install Snow Leopard from CD that came with MacBook Pro to different Mac

I need to re-install Snow Leopard on an older MacBook of mine I want to clean out for my wife.
The problem is the Snow Leopard CD (family pack) I purchased months ago is scratched, damaged I believe by an iMac at my business. I want to see if it is possible to install 10.6 from the CD's I recently got with my new MacBook pro. I tried to use them in the MacBook (Intel) I'm trying to hand off to my wife but after I selected the language option I got an error message stating I couldn't install that disc on the computer. It already runs 10.6 so I know it's not an OS issue. Is my MacBook detecting that the installation CD is not the same one that came with it?
Sorry for the wordy post and thanks in advance for any help.

R C-R wrote:
Deviros wrote:
From what i can tell, the media contains only the necessary files to install to that model-specific hardware.
This is both for licensing & technical reasons. Licensing because that disc is licensed for use only with that specific Mac (not model, literally just that Mac) & technical because pre- & post-install scripts & other installer features on grey system discs are designed just for that model.
Curious. I know i've used system restore discs from one machine on another due to the fact that we used to - for reasons unknown to me - allow users to keep their restore discs, at which point they subsequently lost them.
Perhaps it's just older models that allowed it?
No matter. Thanks for the clarification.

How can i install snow leopard together with lion, on a Lion based MacBook Pro ultimo 2011

Hi
How can I install Snow Leopard on a Lion Based MacBook Pro ultimo 2001. I will both have installed Snow Leopard and Lion on my computer, but how can i do that?
I have purchaded Snow Leopard, but I can installed it
Pls can anyone help me
Best regards and merry christmas
Robert

Apple figures that having supported PowerPC code for the last 6 years is enough so they dropped it.
Why should they have to support some that old forever? It doesn't make good business sense to support some that so few will use.
If you must play those games, my suggestion is to get an older Mac that will support PowerPC. It is going to be a difficult task to get Snow Leopard to run on a new Mac.
Allan

Can I install Snow Leopard over Lion to install old software after hard drive crashed?

My hard drive crashed and I lost everything. I have a new hard drive, but when the repair shop installed my operating system, they installed Lion and I no longer have my prior updates. My computer had been updated a few times. I have a lot of software that only can be installed up to 10.7 such as Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, Office Mac 2011, etc. I was wondering if I installed Snow Leopard over Lion, would I lose Lion? Should I install Snow Leopard and then Lion again? I don't want to damage my like new computer and I don't want to have to go out and buy all new software. Is there a solution? Thanks in advance!

Sounds complicated! If I repartition the drive and install Snow Leopard onto the blank volume, will Lion still be there? Or, will the computer basically have two operating systems that I have to go back and forth from. Is this something a novice like myself can do?

Trying to re-install Snow Leopard over Lion and Macbook Pro is beeping like a memory failure

I installed Lion on my work 15" MacBook Pro i7 to give it a go, and it's not working with the system we use for Active Directory login, so I need to roll back to Snow Leopard.
I don't have a Time Machine backup, but I have pulled all the data I need from the machine, and have wiped the hard disk ready to reinstall Snow Leopard.
I have a retail copy of Snow Leopard that I've recently used successfully for fresh installs on other machines, but now once I insert the DVD into this machine that's had Lion on it, it's not responding and just making alarming BEEP BEEP BEEP noises.
I googled that and it might be bad RAM (possible, but unlikely? the machine has been running very well up until now)
I've wiped the PRAM, but the instructions for wiping the SMC are a bit cryptic for these machines ...
Does anyone have any clues as to what might be causing this? A firmware issue of some sort?
Maybe the hidden EFI partition on the drive won't let you install Snow Leopard over a disk that's had Lion?

Might be some useful info here:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1175934
" I used target disk mode to install Snow Leopard on its partition. I used a friends Macbook Pro, but I put my machine into target disk mode and ran the installer from his user account and optical drive. From a couple things I read online, it seems that Apple recommends putting the other machine in target disk mode and doing it the other way around. I guess some critical files might not have been installed? I also used a retail copy of Snow Leopard instead of my grey recovery disk, so that might be it too. "
"Your machine is newer than the retail copy of Snow Leopard. Use the restore disks it came with.
The installation will need to be done from your machine. You may need to do a net install, so look at "Remote Install Mac OS X" in Utilities."
I'm currently installing from the macbook firewired to the other machine as recommended so hopefully that might help

I accidentally downloaded lion. I did a timemachine back-up and tried to reload snow leopard. It will not accept. How do I re-install snow leopard over lion?

I accidently installed lion on my mac book pro. I did a time machine back-up. When i try to re-install snow leopard, it won't take. Any suggestions on how to install snow leopard over lion?

Accidentally, eh? How, might I ask?
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 i install snow leopard on my new macbook pro

I'm looking at a new laptop but I understand Adobe CS4 won't work on Lion, so I'd rather install Snow Leopard on the new macbook. Is this possible?

Difficult, and even reported "success" is likely not consistent enough for your *need* for Adobe CS4.
You can try for a unit off the refurbished list (Apple.com > Store, bottom of the left hand margin is the link). Units from pre-July and last year can be found, and come with warranties just like brand new.

MBP 17" mid 2010 Snow Leopard Native: why not possible to install Snow Leopard in some new Hard disk?It appears "impossibile 'cause you have Mac OS X" 23.1.1."

Guys, I want to install SL in some hard disk. It's the native OS, the one came with the MBP. But after having installed Lion, my MBP doesn't allow me to install from the original dvd of Snow Leopard, telling me "impossible because you have Mac OS X” 23.1.1. istaller".
Someone can help me?

hey thank you for your answers. I've written that I want to install snow leopard in a new hard disk, not over the lion. In other words, I want a hard disk with the faster snow leopard, that was the native OSX of my MBP mid 2010. But using the last procedure you suggested me, the dvd doesn't appear. I repeat, there's something changed in the firmware that blocks snow leopard.
the comunication that appears when I insert the original dvd of SL is something like "impossible to install snow leopard because you have Mac OS X” 23.1.1. istaller".

Can I install Snow Leopard on a new partition on a Macbook Pro (Late 2011)?

I need to get Pro Tools 9 up and running again after I migrated from PC to Mac, but I know that Pro Tools 9 doesnt work with Lion.. I dont have the money to upgrade to PT10 so my thought was to go downgrade to Snow Leopard to get it working. But I dont want to leave Lion, so my question is if I can make a new partition and install Snow Leopard on the new partition and have both OSs bootable?
The guy in the store I bought my mac from said Snow Leopard probably wouldnt play nice with the mac since its adapted to Lion but I dont trust people that get money for preaching about the constant need for "the latest". So I thought I'd ask the experts instead, so here I am! What do you guys think?

theoretically, it should work - but the guy at the Apple Store is correct....computers that ship with the latest operating system do not support being downgraded.
You might not get past the spinning beach ball & gray screen if you try to boot from the Snow Leopard install disc.
It's worth a shot though if you want to try it. Just don't try to 'downgrade' the current Lion installation back to Snow Leopard. Try instead to create a new partition specifically for Snow Leopard. Disk Utility - select the top HD (probably reads Hitachi something)...select it, click on the Partition tab. Select the top partition, and you should then be able to see the + so you can add a new partition. I would probably make it about 20GB give or take depending on how much space you think you will need - but i believe the Snow Leopard installation by itself takes up around 8-10GB.
Once this partition is created, insert your Snow Leopard installation disc, restart the computer and hold the C key down to start from the install disc. When it walks you through the steps for installation, select the newly created Snow Leopard partition. Install. Be sure to go through all the Software Updates (numerous times) after the installation is done.
You can select which startup disc you want to boot from by holding the Option button down at startup until you see the gray startup manager that shows your Lion partition, Recovery Disc partiton, and your Snow Leopard partition.
If for whatever reason this doesn't work, simply just erase the partition. It likely will not work but you should be able to just erase that newly created partition without any other problems.

How to install Snow leopard over mavericks?

I bought an old computer in the fall, and tried to install MAvericks on it. It allowed me to do it, but now an error message always comes up saying that there is a compatibility issue. I read that I could buy and install Snow Leopard and then move on to mavericks once that was installed. I have purchased that, but now I am not able to install Snow leopard. I get an error message that says I cannot install snow leopard over mavricks.
My question is: how do i get rid of mavericks so that I can install snow leopard (and then eventually move on to mavericks).
Thanks

First, you installed Mavericks (10.9.x) so YOU DON'T NEED TO BUY OR INSTALL Snow Leopard (10.6.x)
That its for people whith older systems (10.5.x as example) in order to download and install Mavericks.
As you could download and install Mavericks your system was already 10.6, 10.7 or 10.8.
Second, you have installed an application that its not compatible with Mavericks, so you need to rip that only app.
That app its Quay Menu in the web, you can download the new compatible version, or manually uninstall it in order to stop that errors:
If you're upgrading to Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks), you must update Quay to version 1.1.5 first!
If you've upgraded without uninstalling, you'll see a repeated error popup. To stop this, first paste this line into the Terminal:
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/net.brockerhoff.QuayMenu.plist
and then trash the file "/Library/Application Support/Quay.quay".

Really need Snow Leopard on my new lion mac mini

Any chance of being to install Snow Leopard via bootcamp in Lion?
I can't use some programes anymore.

Depending on the model, you may or may not be able to install and run it on a second partition or external drive. If you're willing to pay for a copy of Mac OS X Server 10.6, you can run it in emulation through a product such as VirtualBox.
Boot Camp is for setting up Windows. The Disk Utility can create a partition for other purposes.
(64913)

Can I install Snow Leopard in my new 2013 iMac???

Hello:
Can I install Snow Leopard in my new iMac (2013)?
Or will have problems with drivers of new iMac???
Maverick is a potato!!! 200 New features but 200 or 300 lost features too !!!
Thanks.
Joseba

Free updates to Pages and Numbers are available from the App Store. Sharing your iPhoto Library is another matter, discussed in iPhoto for Mac.

Trouble With installing Snow Leopard on my 4 year old Macbook

I'm trying to install Snow Leopard to my 4 year old Macbook stuck on 10.5.8, but it keeps saying "The application 'Install Mac OS X' cannot be used from this volume." I've tried almost everything to solve this, but I can't find anything at really helps my situation. I've looked on some of these discussions, and they haven't really helped much. My Macbook has a: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, and is stuck on OS X 10.5.8. Please give me your input and help

Are you using a Retail version of Snow Leopard that looks like this?
Or gray discs that look like this?
The gray discs are machine specific and will only work with the MacBooks that they were shipped with.

Installing Snow Leopard 10.6.3 on my MacBook

I installed Snow Leopard 10.6.3 on my MacBook using the installation disk, and followed the instructions. The software seemed to install, the computer rebooted, but when I checked info, it tells me I still have v10.5.8. How do I get v10.6.3 to install?

How to Install OS X Updates Successfully
A. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions:
Boot from your current OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. Then select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now restart normally.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
B. Make a Bootable Backup Using Restore Option of Disk Utility:
1. Open Disk Utility from the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Check the box labeled Erase destination.
5. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it to the
      Destination entry field.
6. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to the
      Source entry field.
7. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal
startup drive.
C. Important: Please read before installing:
1. If you have a FireWire hard drive connected, disconnect it before installing the
      update unless you will boot from this drive and install the update on it.
      Reconnect it and turn it back on after installation is complete and you've
      restarted.
2. You may experience unexpected results if you have installed third-party system
       software modifications, or if you have modified the operating system through
       other means. (This does not apply to normal application software installation.)
3. The installation process should not be interrupted. If a power outage or other
      interruption occurs during installation, use the standalone installer (see below)
      from Apple Downloads to update. While the installation is in progress do not use
      the computer.
D. To upgrade:
Purchase the Snow Leopard Retail DVD.
Boot From The OS X Installer Disc:
      1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
      2. Restart the computer.
      3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
      4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple
          logo appears.
      5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
      6. Follow instructions.
E. If updating:
1. Download and install update(s)
2. Use Software Update, or
3. Download standalone updater(s).

Install Snow Leopard over brand new Lion based MacBook Pro

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for