Re-installing snow leopard on original machine.

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Level 1

4 points

Re-installing snow leopard on original machine.

Hi,

I recently gave my old 15" macbook pro (2009) to a friend. beforehand I reset and installed HSiera after following careful guidance to do so, making a bootable drive with instruction and the osx.dmg from apple support pages.

The new install does not perform well and safari or firefox struggle to open.

I would like to re-install snow leopard (I have the original OSX install CDs but the DVD/CD drive ceased working a few years ago. There is an external drive which I also gave with the MacB and bits, he is away at moment.

A screen message said my Superdrive is not supported on the same MacB, when I connected it to the 15" macB.

I am now wondering if I should even attempt to open the zip download to create the Snow Leopard boot-able drive if my retina 13" will not support the 10.6.8 dmg being opened by the current 10.15.7 OS which i do not want to change just to create a SL boot drive.

Any advice is helpul 🙏🏻

MM

Posted on Oct 26, 2023 5:19 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

penguinmixy Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 26, 2023 9:17 AM in response to dialabrain

Hey dialabrain, thanks for the prompt, I've sorted the drive with a terminal PRAM reset. HD wiped and waiting for disc OS upload, seems to be all working. BTW it was El Capitan installed (brain drain memory on my side 😅).

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Answer 2

HWTech

Level 9

56,588 points

Oct 26, 2023 9:11 AM in response to penguinmixy

What is the exact model of the computer running macOS 10.15.7? If it is a Late-2009 to 2015 model, then you should be able to download & create a bootable macOS 10.11 USB installer using the instructions in this Apple article:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

In fact, most Macs from 2007 to 2015 should be able to allow you to create a bootable 10.11 USB installer.

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Answer 3

dialabrain

Level 10

122,837 points

Oct 26, 2023 5:38 AM in response to penguinmixy

FWIW, a 2009 MacBook Pro did not support High Sierra so you would have had to use a hack to do so. The SuperDrive should in fact be compatible if plugged directly into a port. If it doesn't I don't know what you could do.

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Answer 4

penguinmixy Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 26, 2023 9:27 AM in response to HWTech

Hi, Thanks HWTech for your link. It's a G5,3.

I've carefully looked over those support pages many times, and have created successful boot-drives for OS upgrade/downgrades, the G5,3 doesn't seem to like El Capitan from what I've seen in other comments. Hopefully the re-install will leave the macB as fast as it used to be.

I appreciate your help.

👍🏼

MM

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Answer 5

penguinmixy Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 26, 2023 9:41 AM in response to penguinmixy

For the Superdrive not working, and warning message... found help here from AJL 👌🏾

with sudo nvram boot-args="mbasd=1" command into terminal to transfer the instruction from the internal optical drive to the external drive via terminal.

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Answer 6

dialabrain

Level 10

122,837 points

Oct 26, 2023 9:19 AM in response to penguinmixy

You're welcome.

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Re-installing snow leopard on original machine.

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