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I am having trouble installing Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) on a 2010 Mac Pro (5,1) . I am using a retail DVD. I was told that a firmware update renders the computer unable to accept 10.6 and the earliest possible OS is now 10.7. Is that correct? If so, is there a workaround that will allow me to install 10.6?
Hmmm.. interesting question, goody2.. i haven’t heard of a firmware update that would prevent Snow Leopard on a retail dvd from installiing.. i suggest you start out with the basics: reset smc/pmu, then zap pram on startup.. you should also run a cleaning cd, the kind with brushes on it, in the dvd drive.. you should be able to start up from the build in cd/dvd ‘superdrive’ by holding down the ‘c’ key on the keyboard on startup. You know what model + year+ type of mac pro you have.. so it should be easy to find that info.. if not here is a link.. https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/35820-add-these-steps-to-your-toolbox-when-troubleshooting-issues-on-a-mac/.. if you had Lion on there.. then you would have to obtain a copy of Lion and make a bootable Mac-formatted usb stick/thumb drive.. to boot from it, hold down the ‘option’ key on startup.. and that’ll get you to the Startup manager which can boot from dvd’ or a usb stick.. try the reset smc/pmu first then zap pram 3-4x ( 3-4 times) then the other things…
john b
Hmmm.. interesting question, goody2.. i haven’t heard of a firmware update that would prevent Snow Leopard on a retail dvd from installiing.. i suggest you start out with the basics: reset smc/pmu, then zap pram on startup.. you should also run a cleaning cd, the kind with brushes on it, in the dvd drive.. you should be able to start up from the build in cd/dvd ‘superdrive’ by holding down the ‘c’ key on the keyboard on startup. You know what model + year+ type of mac pro you have.. so it should be easy to find that info.. if not here is a link.. https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/35820-add-these-steps-to-your-toolbox-when-troubleshooting-issues-on-a-mac/.. if you had Lion on there.. then you would have to obtain a copy of Lion and make a bootable Mac-formatted usb stick/thumb drive.. to boot from it, hold down the ‘option’ key on startup.. and that’ll get you to the Startup manager which can boot from dvd’ or a usb stick.. try the reset smc/pmu first then zap pram 3-4x ( 3-4 times) then the other things…
john b
By retail I mean that the DVD was purchased by itself from Apple and should work in any machine that can run Snow Leopard. I actually have two DVDs. One was purchased from Apple, has the photo of a snow leopard on the label, and says Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Install DVD, version 10.6.3. The other DVD was sent free of charge by Apple when I was having this problem previously. It says Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Install DVD, Replacement DVD Not for Resale. The label is plain white (no photo of a snow leopard).
I think the firmware upgrade conspiracy theory is cr@p.
Either of those two discs, if operating correctly, should support the installation of macOS is at the model Mac you described.
However, the support for certain graphics cards first appeared in 10.6.5, so this may get a little dicey, depending on what graphics card is installed.
¿What graphics card are you running?
what sort of boot drive are you using, and installed where? in a drive bay, FireWire, PCIe card slot?
Exactly what "retail" 10.6? what color, and what does it say on the face of the disc?
Cannot install Mac OS 10.6 on a 2010 Mac Pro that shipped with 10.6
