HowTo revert new MacBook Pro, Mac Pro or iMac to Snow Leopard

I fixed my issue by holding "option" while restarting.

How do I "mount the base source image?"

I installed SL on a imac preinstalled with lion 7.1 (or is it 7.0.1). Anway i used a macbook core 2 duo running 10.6.7 and booted the imac in TDM. once the imac hd was mounted on my macbook as TDM, i partioned the drive using disk utility on my macbook and I installed the mac box set SL 10.6.3 on the parition i created. It booted, finished up installing, i entered all the setup info, did all the updates (all of this via my macbook) and then restarted the imac while holding down the option key and selecting that parition with SL on it. It booted fine and reran software update, updated and it installed fine. Tested keyboard keys, etc making sure verything was working. At this point i was able to dual boot into 10.7/10.6.8. I went into TDM via my macbook again and deleted the lion parition but then it did not allow me to resize the SL parition. So now i have 2 partitions and can't figure out how to make it one. I also ran the 32 bit free geekbench app and am getting half the score for this model.

My theory is since i was using a core 2 duo machine, it perhaps did not install software for a quad core. I was considering running 10.6.8 again on the imac not sur eif that will help. Does anyone know if the system retore discs for this 2011 model has 10.6.7 or something else?

My questions are:

Does anyone know

a) how to make it one parition again

b)get the benchmark score to be the right on.

c) Does time machine make an backup image file. i ran Tm backing up this partition

i figured out the time machine thing. The partition thing all i have discovered so far is that i have to repartition as one drive and then reinstall or stay that way. If anyone knows an easier way pls let me know. As for the speed thing still the same no solution. (should not be happening) By the way someone figured out how to install SL on the new mac mini 2011. The thread is in this forum. Can you guys who downgraded from a preinstalled lion do a geekbench using the free 32 bit version and then compare your results with scores on the net or even on geekbench site. I'm curious to see if this issue is universal.

Roy,

Succeeded in dual booting MBP this afternoon after trying (just to leave no stone uncovered for my boss) the conventional methods that wold. work for a MBP circa 2009. or so. Then had to find a machine to run 10.6.8 on to do part A. Then needed a machine to do part A on that had more than 10 GB of available space to create the files (a mistake on my part partitioning a computer to run 10.6.8). Then. I did it at home on my Imac and brought the dmg to work. Part C was surprisingly fast, and part A was long as you had warned. So thank you. One down, eight more to go. For others reading these threads I used target mode on the MBP after I looked up what it was and purchased the appropriate 800 to 400 FW adapter. Very simple with the instructions (so thank you to the poster of that tidbit, it helped too).

My only last question is one about the licensing. 9 MBPs, 2 SL family packs. Can I just clone the one created image 9 times or will I have to clone 5 from one family DVD and then 4 from another? I am assuming that I am not doing step A 9 times because life cannot be that cruel. And tech is supposed to improve our lives right? .... right?....

Again Roy, and those that have contributed to this thread, many thanks.

William

@williamfromkailua There are no serial numbers or identifying characteristics about the SL family packs that I know of. You're essentially buying the license/right to install Snow Leo on 10 computers. Of course, in my opinion since many of these machines were still supposed to come with the Snow Leo discs with a free option to upgrade to Lion, I think Apple owes you 😉 But yeah, you can use the same master restore to clone out to all 9 machines.That's the beauty of Roy's method: it's made for situations like yours!

Good call on the Firewire 800 to 400 dongle... I had to get one of those too and is worth mentioning for those intending to put their MBP 11 into target disc mode but connected to another machine that only has FW400.

@zirkenz did you look into a third-party partitioner like iPartition? I never figured out how to avoid a total repartitioning when faced with an unwanted partition like you have.

Although you could use the partition to test your geekbench scores by installing another Snow Leo round to the phantom partiiton. You'd have to make it bigger but you could see if there was just something strange in your install... you could try the new round installing only the 10.6.8 update. Did you happen to run a geekbench under Lion... it might not be much of a comparison but it would be interesting information to have.

Another way you might approach this is to upgrade your Core2Duo MBP to 10.6.8 and put IT into target disc mode. You should be able to boot your iMac '11 using your Core2Duo MBP's hard drive! Crazy but once it's at 10.6.8, your iMac '11 should be able to boot from it. Then you could see if your geekbench somehow runs better when using your Core2Duo's drive running on the iMac '11. At least for comparison.

Of course an easier test would be to use your Core2Duo to boot your iMac'11 drive one more time and geekbench from C2D MBP and compare it to your built-in C2D's hard drive geekbench... maybe there's something slow with your install or with your hard drive(s).

isn't the mac box set a genric full install of SL? If i had an original SL imac 2011, i could reinstall with the Mac Box set and end up at the same point....right?? If not that would mean that the mac box set 10.6.3 edition and the SL upgrade discs don't support quad core or 2011 mac computers or core i family.

My theory is installing via TDM via macbook perhaps the SL install thought my imac is a macbook. I mean, when the imac drive is attached to my macbook under TDM it is just a drive at that point on my iMac and not an imac. So when using the macbook to install using the mac box set/retail upgrade disc , it thinks the drive it is being installed on is a macbook one and installs the appropriate stuff or just installs a generic bootable base. The benchmark scores i'm getting seem inline with a macbook core 2 duo. What scores are u getting on the machines you downgraded vs online established stats? Is there any hope of you making a YouTube video of your procedure? Honestly, i read it ten times over and can't figure out what to do. But if both methods (yours and the one i used) result in the same geekbench scores then i guess it is pointless.

As for the partition issue, i feared that was the only solution but i have another thought and wanted to see if you all think it would work:

I boot from the external disc that is a clone of the imac now with SL 10.6.8+all updates, then insert the mac box set SL or retail SL upgrade disc and use disk utility to reformat the imac hd, then quit DU, double click the installer and install SL on the imac drive, let it boot and finish install,do the registration/set up, install updates and done. Do you think this method will install the correct drivers and stuff?

@zirkenz I can't speak to the iMac for sure since I have an MBP '11, but the Mac box set 10.6.3 and Snow Leo upgrade discs apparently will not boot at all on the MBP '11, in part (or entirely?) because of the specific kind of i-processor it has (Sandybridge). Apparently the discs that came with the MBP '11 originally were special versions of 10.6.7 that could handle Sandybridge processors... whereas the 10.6.8 update can handle Sandybridge processors "natively."

So I don't know what's going on with your iMac in this respect ... Maybe if you got it after May 3rd and it has Thunderbolt... or since it came with Lion, then you've got a Sandybridge processor that needs special 10.6.7 factory restore discs for that iMac or a 10.6.8 build per Roy's method or what you've done.

Usually a bootable Mac drive is pretty amazing in that it can boot many (any?) Mac that supports the OS. So usually all the drivers are present for many Mac architectures. It's possible the 10.6.8 update "intelligently" didn't install some things but you can actually re-run a combo update on the iMac to find out:

Make sure you've downloaded the newest COMBO 10.6.8 update from Apple. It says 1.1! (Right?) Unusual for these to have version numbers but make sure you have the newest on your iMac desktop. Then I reboot my computer into Safe Mode by holding the "shift" key during the boot-up/chime.... I let go after awhile and it will eventually request your admin password and clearly indicate (used to be red type) that you are going to be in Safe Mode.

Once in, doubleclick the package you downloaded and run the update... this should fill in any missing holes. If it were me, after it reboots, I would use regular Disk Utility to Repair Permissions on the boot drive, boot again, then try geekbench.

I'd geekbench my MBP '11 for you but I put a third-party SSD in and I figure that will add a whole other factor to the scores. It feels snappy and zippy.... I had one beach ball freeze but it hasn't happened again in a few days so I'm crossing my fingers that all is well and I can keep the SSD in there.

i did run the 10.6.8 v1.1 updater (1.1GB) again on the imac but i did not go into safe mode nor repaired permissions but i can give it a go. I suspect even with the SSD your geekbench numbers could be lower then it should be. I suspect what you said about the restore discs is true. Thanks so much for your help. i'm still open to any other comments though. By the way when trying to boot off the Mac Box set SL cd it beeped at me very loudly,is this normal or is this Apple's way of locking out people from trying to downgrade? I saw tons of videos and articles on the net over 3 weeks on how to downgrade and it seems to me that Apple has blocked each method.

I get their need to do this but some people have a legitimate need to revert for a while and then go forward when the situation is rectified, like the one fellow who posted his dilemma about being on Tiger and essentially being locked out of new systems because of no support for migration on Tiger to Lion or several others who can't run essential software that they need. I know the argument is that they should have known better but honestly that argument is weak, perhaps they should have had a warning screen that popped up saying that proceding with this install may render some software and hardware unsuable please contact your software and/or hardware provider before proceeding or just had a scanner that would provide you a list of incompatible hardware/software. Sure the user bares some responsblity but since Macs are targeted to computer noobs, i feel they have some responsbility and should have a simple way of making any downgrade to SL happen easily if the hardware prior to lion was supported i.e no 2011 mac mini or macbook air. That would be fair.

I agree with you. They've done this for 8-20 years. I've hit so many snags so many times with so many machines... it's frustrating. But they must figure that it's better to force all noobs to use the same things rather than let any fall behind. But here we've got what I've been calling "Upgrader's Remorse."

But I believe you're in luck. Look for your computer in this list http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1159 and here's the iMac section http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1159#iMac .... What does it say your restore discs were? 10.6.6? So it once shipped with 10.6.6 grey restore discs and came preinstalled with 10.6.7 (version?) and 10.7 eventually.

If you call Apple (ideally within your 90 days phone support?), you would need the restore/factory disc for your iMac... they're 16$ but I think this is a valid point if your iMac used to ship with these discs! Maybe they'll comp you some!

If you want to solve this with what you've already got on hand, you're probably gonna want to try Roy's method because it makes a clean 10.6.8 master. If you've got extra drive space to work with, you could use your iMac to make the master. Otherwise, you have to update your MBP Core2Duo to 10.6.8 and use it to make the master.

Then just start doing the steps and they may make more sense to you as you go. Sometimes these instructions are easier to do than to understand at first. But if you get stuck, ask! Making your master on another drive altogether means you can take your time a little bit... if your computer should be able to run Snow Leopard, and you don't want to wait for the factory restore discs, you do Roy's steps.

Okay zirkenz, thanks for "making" me do a Geekbench 😉

My score with stuff open, doing the 32-bit test, is 5819... the target on their benchmark page says 5900 for my make/model. That's pretty durned close. I'll restart and try again.

Okay 5936 this time... wooohoo! (Roy, you just keep on giving!)

Thanks so much for the info. If the restore disc is 10.6.6 then can i boot from it? What i'd like to know if Roy's method applied to a preinstalled lion system yields low geekbench scores. If it does then it proves that downgrading SL results in a system that yields half the performance. As for Roy's method, i and someone else did ask how to do step one and never got an answer. I don't know what part is being done on what system. If i had a step by step visual guide that would be cool. i'd even be willing to pay for the privilige. Believe me i admire you geniuses who figured all this out and can decipher the instructions. I'm no tech slouch but honestly i'm ashamed to say its over my head and humbled.

If i upgrade my macbook to 10.6.8 i don't lose anything like Front Row right? I've been afraid to update it.