mikethebook

Q: Can I install Snow Leopard on the new Mac Mini

I would like to upgrade from my Mac Mini 2009 (2.26 Ghz with Snow Leopard) to the new Mac Mini just released which will come with Lion. However, I would prefer to run Snow Leopard. Are there any ways to install Snow Leopard on the new machine?

Mac Mini, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Jul 25, 2011 3:01 AM

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Q: Can I install Snow Leopard on the new Mac Mini

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  • by John Fair,

    John Fair John Fair Aug 26, 2011 1:58 PM in response to mikethebook
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Aug 26, 2011 1:58 PM in response to mikethebook

    For those of you who are reverting to Lion to save yourself and your Rosetta (PPC) apps here's something I just read over on Reddit:

     

    "Grab a Snow Leopard install DVD by whatever means you should choose (no one is judging you.) Then go into optional installs, and choose optional installs.mpkg. From that installer package select Rosetta, and you'll be able to play Age of Empires II like me in no time!

    P.S. I'm sure a lot of you knew this already, but for those who didn't like me, I thought it might be helpful!"

  • by khorning,

    khorning khorning Aug 26, 2011 2:17 PM in response to khorning
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 26, 2011 2:17 PM in response to khorning

    @Pisalek =...I forgot to mention my Mini has an internal 500GB hard drive and not Flash. I am tempetd to take it back to factory Lion and test it as I'm getting hooked on this techy stuff. I do have the Mini back in its place in the media cabinet now and with wireless mouse and keyboard my erratic peripheral symptoms have disappeared. I also re-built the directory and repaired disc permissions before that and retested with Geekbench. I thought the "housekeeping" might help, but this time Geekbench said overall score was 1809 instead of the earlier result of 1875. The only thing I did between the two was add the Utilities before cloning and re-testing.

  • by macmedia,

    macmedia macmedia Aug 26, 2011 4:46 PM in response to John Fair
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 26, 2011 4:46 PM in response to John Fair

    Wait...R U telling us that we can install Rosetta in Lion???

    If so, that will solve all my problems and I can go back and claim my Mini server that I returned....

     

    Please tell me this is true

  • by John Fair,

    John Fair John Fair Aug 26, 2011 6:49 PM in response to macmedia
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Aug 26, 2011 6:49 PM in response to macmedia

    I haven't tested it personally, but that's the look of it.  I have no use for Rosetta personally so I'm not going to install it.  Sorry...but it's not worth the hassle for me.  I think Steve had been looking at SL as a Rosetta replacement.  Perhaps he'll read this and try it out.

  • by William Donelson,

    William Donelson William Donelson Aug 26, 2011 8:25 PM in response to John Fair
    Level 4 (2,519 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 26, 2011 8:25 PM in response to John Fair

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_(software)

     

    It's not clear to me which of my dual G5 PowerPC apps will run under Rosetta at all...

     

    A selection:

    $199     Photoshop CS3

    $  ?     Filemaker Pro 10

    $ 79     iWork 08

    $299     MM Director 2004

    $  ?     MS Office 2004 (Word, Excel)


  • by khorning,

    khorning khorning Aug 28, 2011 7:40 AM in response to William Donelson
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 7:40 AM in response to William Donelson

    For me it is Front Row. If Apple would bring it back in Lion I'd not need access to Snow Leopard. But after a few days of the Snow Leopard install on the new Mni, I am disappointed that reverting to 10.6.8 loses acess to external drives whether it is Apple's new Superdrive for the MacBook Air (USB2) or my oher Pioneer 118-L (USB/FW) which both work under Lion.

     

      My solution for now is to partition the new Mini's internal drive and run Lion on one partition where external drives are recognizable and usable and keep the Snow Leopard OS (ala John Fair's procedure) on the other. The only problem inconvenience that, is I've fund one needs to have a wired keyboard attached to the Mini to boot back and forth from one OS partition to the other...wireless keyboard will not Option->restart and get the boot partition choice.

  • by Hardax,

    Hardax Hardax Aug 28, 2011 8:06 AM in response to khorning
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 8:06 AM in response to khorning

    Have you given Plex (my recommendation) or even Boxee or XBMC a try as a replacement for Front Row? SO many better options out there in my opinion.

  • by khorning,

    khorning khorning Aug 28, 2011 8:49 AM in response to Hardax
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 8:49 AM in response to Hardax

    Thanks, Hardax...Plex does look interesting. Does it have a remote or can it be manipulated using the Apple remote ala Front Row?

  • by Hardax,

    Hardax Hardax Aug 28, 2011 8:53 AM in response to khorning
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2011 8:53 AM in response to khorning

    I believe it has it's own app for the iPhone and iPad but the Apple remote works perfectly with it. Im actually using it right now! The ultimate combo would either be an Apple remote along with Remote Buddy software or a Harmony remote (I use that as well with Plex in my home theater).

  • by khorning,

    khorning khorning Aug 29, 2011 4:38 AM in response to Hardax
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 29, 2011 4:38 AM in response to Hardax

    Thanks again, Hardax...more questions. I use an EyeTV HD to DVR TV programs and Front Row recognized them and their playback control could be managed with the Apple remote. Can Plex handle that? How about VIDEO_TS folders on the drive? I don't use an iPhone or iPad so no problem there. Last question, is Plex just software or does it have its own box?

  • by Steve Jolly,

    Steve Jolly Steve Jolly Aug 29, 2011 5:48 AM in response to khorning
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Aug 29, 2011 5:48 AM in response to khorning

    Thanks for some great info, and we might want to stick a little more tightly on the core issue on this thread -- getting Snow Leopard up and running at something approaching full speeds on the Mac Mini 2011. Please don't stray too far afield in this thread; perhaps consider starting another one on the "Mini 2011 as Home Theater"  or something more appropriate (there are some extensive threads already running on that here in Support Community Discussions). Thanks!  And your topic is very interesting, so stay close by here.

     

    There's a reason to keep it focused! -- as of this morning, this thread is now very close to 10,000 views! -- presumably, mostly by people looking for a way to get SL up and running on their 2011 Mini. We want to keep progress moving and "buzz" generated on that topic if we hope to get a good coder to come up with some solutions. There IS a solution somewhere out there, waiting for someone to write it.

     

    Incidentally, for those of you looking to get max graphics and video production heft out of your Mini, there's an active Support Discussions thread here at

    https://discussions.apple.com/message/15896182#15896182

     

    Yes we can can!    FREE THE SNOW LEOPARD 10,000 !  etc etc etc.

  • by Hardax,

    Hardax Hardax Aug 29, 2011 6:39 AM in response to Steve Jolly
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 29, 2011 6:39 AM in response to Steve Jolly

    Agreed Steve. Churning, have a look here: http://forums.plexapp.com

     

    This forum should answer all your question. I am there under the same screen name. You can private message me with questions.

  • by Mac7d,

    Mac7d Mac7d Aug 29, 2011 7:16 AM in response to khorning
    Level 1 (50 points)
    Aug 29, 2011 7:16 AM in response to khorning

    Hi khorning,

     

    If it is only frontrow you need then you can copy it over from an existing SL installation !!!

     

    Several files / folders to be copied and then a restart is needed and your FrontRow is running under Lion!

     

    See here for instruction video:

     

    http://www.cultofmac.com/use-front-row-in-os-x-lion-video-how-to/106874

     

    Cheers

  • by khorning,

    khorning khorning Aug 29, 2011 11:21 AM in response to Steve Jolly
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 29, 2011 11:21 AM in response to Steve Jolly

    Steve...you are right and I do apologize for making my problems/questions a distraction here. I will stick to the focus of the thread from now on. Clearly the 10,000 viewers of this thread are hungering for a way to run SL and still get the processing power from their new Minis along with some of the features that Lion forgot. It was this thread that helped me make SL happen agan on my Mini and I do appreciate that very much. Please forgive me for these last two distraction/responses...I promise they will be my last.

     

    Hardax...thanks for the link. I'll see you over there.

     

    Mac7d...thanks for the help. I did try that solution but it leaves a less than full-featured Front Row app...no iTunes capability for television show and music purchases playback.

  • by Steve Jolly,

    Steve Jolly Steve Jolly Aug 29, 2011 2:30 PM in response to khorning
    Level 1 (35 points)
    Aug 29, 2011 2:30 PM in response to khorning

    Khorning, you guys are princes. Thanks. FYI: 9,527 views on this thread as of 4p CDT on Monday 8-29.

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