Can't downgrade Mountain Lion to Snow Leopard

Sorry - my only suggestion is the TM backup, SL install, and TM restore - just dragging and dropping folders is hazardous, at best (unless it's just your Documents folder - but you'll want your Library user folder and your some of the items in your root Library folder as well).

I'd just use Time machine and be done with it - forget the cloning.

Clinton

Then Migration Assistant might be the best choice. You should be able to use a TM backup then use MA to transfer all of your user folders, apps, etc., without installing ML.

Have you tried that yet? (Sorry, I've not read the whole thread - just lazy and ready for breakfast just now!).

Clinton

I don't have SL any longer - my late 2011 MBP came with Lion pre-installed, so I've no upgrade disc.

But I would think that, if you've already 'downgraded' your internal drive to SL, you could use your ML cloned drive and open Migration Assistant (in your Applications>Utilities folder) and use the "or disk" setting:

Then just select the disk you want to migrate from and it shouldn't affect your SL installation.

Give it a shot...

Clinton

PriceyB98 wrote:

Only thing I want done is the quickest way I can get my files and applications onto Snow Leopard in my internal hard drive. Which folder is it?

There isn't anything "quick" about downgrading because Apple doesn't provide a easy method to do so, and is always burning your bridges behind you to prevent you from doing so.

You CAN NOT use Migration Assistant or anything like that to restore 10.8 anything to 10.6. Apple is all forward and no backwards.

OS X 10.7 and 10.8 absolutely and undeniably are 100% utter crap in my opinion and many others, Scott Forstall is out as head of iOS and everyone's favorite Jony Ive is now head of human interface, so hopefully we will see some improvments in UI in later versions of OS X and iOS.

Until then it's understandable you and others want to downgrade to 10.6, I can assist you with that as it's better to keep you happy on 10.6 than to lose you to Windows 7 which will remain just like it is until 2020. 🙂

If you have a 100% non-filevaulted clone of 10.6 (only) on a external drive it's rather easy to downgrade as it contain all your programs, files, etc., like it was when you were on 10.6. This 10.6 clone should have NOT been updated to 10.8 in any fashion, do not allow any clone updating feature to run.

You need to hold the option key down at boot time, and select/boot off this 10.6 external clone drive first to make sure you can and it's working.

You need to get another blank external drive and make a 100% non-filevaulted clone of 10.8 onto it and disconnect, this drive will have all your files, programs of 10.8.

If you have BootCamp, you need to use WinClone and another drive to clone that too, as you need to erase the entire 10.8 drive of everything.

1: Disconnect all other drives, hold c or option key boot off the 10.6 installer disk, under Disk Utilities select the ENTIRE (important) internal boot drive on the top left and click Erase > Security option > Zero All Data and click Erase. Wait for it to finish.

Erasing the ENTIRE drive is important, 10.7 and 10.8 puts a new Recovery HD partition on the drive and thus changes the GUID partition map to reflect that. 10.6 Disk Utility can't be trusted to fix this if a error occurs as it doesn't know what it's looking at. Also cloning software may have issues too. So the only way to revert the GUID back to 10.6 is by erasing the entire drive and rebuilding the GUID map. You can always resinstall 10.8 later again from AppStore which will rebuild the Recovery HD partition.

2: Head to Partition tab: Options: GUID and Format: OS X Extended Journaled and click apply if not already so.

3: Connect the 10.6 clone, reboot holding the option key and select the clone to boot from and use the cloning software to clone 10.6 back onto the internal drive. Repair permisisons in Disk Utility on each drive when finished and set the Starup Disk in System Preferences to the internal drive. Reboot and disconnect the clone.

Your machine should be on 10.6 at this point, just like it was before. Now comes to grabbing your files off the 10.8 clone drive.

The problem comes with your recent files made in 10.8 depending upon what programs you used and how long you created files in 10.8. The longer you have created files in later propritarty versions of file formats, the harder it is to return to a previous OS X version.

It's because 10.8 versions off those programs alter their support files containing your original files. You can't copy 10.8 versions of programs back to 10.6, you will have to either reinstall them from original sources and 10.6 compatible versions.

Cases like the iPhoto Library in 10.8 wont run in 10.6, so you need to right click and "show package contents" to copy out the Originals folder to return import into the 10.6 version of iPhoto later.

Ditto with 10.8 iTunes Folder, you need to copy out the music folders for later importation into 10.6 version.

Universal file formats of MP3, .text, .gif, .RTF, and so forth work across operating systems, versions and programs, it's when you get into proprietary formatted files like .numbers, .docx, and so forth that are harder.

All the work acessing the 10.8 clone drive of user files will have to be done manually. No TM or Migration Assistants etc., will work as they are only forward going and not backward going like what your doing. Just remember to access like minded user folders from the same user account name.

Be careful "replacing" any 10.6 version file with a 10.8 one or you might be running into trouble when opening 10.8 files in 10.6 versions of certain software.

Any new programs you installed in 10.8, you will need to find 10.6 compatible versions and install and use those.

Again, the longer you suffered with the absolute crap of 10.7 or 10.8, the harder it is to go back to the blessed fast and sweet running Snow Leopard.

How to revert your Mac to Snow Leopard

How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

clintonfrombirmingham wrote:

I don't have SL any longer - my late 2011 MBP came with Lion pre-installed, so I've no upgrade disc

Give it a shot...

Clinton

Clinton, if you don't know how to downgrade a machine to 10.6, then don't further frustrate someone by using them as a guinea pig to test your theories.

Your logo clearly demostrates you think Mountain Lion is the greatest thing since sliced bread, that's fine and all, your entiled to your opinion as do others who don't think like you do.

To troll your fellow Mac user along with mistguided information is wrong, either you know how to do it or

you don't.

ds store,

I usually let comments like yours just slide off my back - but you're wrong to call me a 'troll' when all I'm doing is trying to help another user.

I'm not as knowledgeable as you, I know. I find your user tips to be exceptional. But I find your arrogance - and unrelenting opinions to be out of line: and not just in this instance.

I think that you owe me an apology. And I apologize to the OP if he/she found my advice 'misguided'.

Clinton

You should have cloned prior to upgrading, now install Snow Leopard and try to move your files back to your home folder, expect lots of things not to work (Mail especially)

Next time backup before you upgrade, what you have now is technically referred to as a mess.

Clinton,

ASC advises you try the methods on your own machine before advising others. You can't do that.

My UT on the subject says this: (tested on a Early 2011 and Late 2007 machine BTW)

You can't use a 10.7/10.8 TimeMachine or clone to restore/migrate assistant backwards to Snow Leopard.

10.7/10.8 changes the "User"/Library, the partition maps and a lot of other things, thus will not work in 10.6

Sorry, I'm just echoing the OP's frustration on getting a straight answer in this thread.

Plenty of sources online besides my own UT how to go about it.