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User profile for user: zdytw
zdytw Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

How to uninstall OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 and go back to Snow Leopard 10.6.8?

After getting fedup/angry with the most useless OS ever, i needed to kick out this junk and replace it with the good old 10.6.8 Snow Leopard:

Important: If you have a MacBook Air, you'll need an Apple USB SuperDrive or USB Software Reinstall Drive to complete this procedure in Snow Leopard.

This procedure has four parts:

Part one: Erase the hard drive

To ensure that the hard drive's partition does not have an issue, perform the following procedure to erase the drive and reset the partition type.Important: This procedure will completely erase your hard drive. If you have installed Microsoft Windows using Boot Camp, or have multiple partitions, this procedure will erase all of the partitions on the selected drive.

  1. Turn on the computer.
  2. Insert the Mac OS X v10.6 Install DVD into the optical drive, or the MacBook Air's USB Software Reinstall Drive into the USB port.
  3. Restart the computer, and immediately press and hold the "C" key while the computer starts up. The computer will start up using the installation media. Alternatively, you can press and hold the Option key at startup to select the volume containing the installer.
  4. If you are using a wireless mouse or trackpad, you may be prompted to turn it on so that the computer can discover it.
  5. Select a language, then press the right arrow key.
  6. From the Utilities menu, choose Disk Utility.
  7. Select the drive to erase. Usually, the drive capacity, vendor, and model number are listed as the name of the volume(s).
  8. Click the Partition tab.
  9. From the "Volume Scheme" pop-up menu, choose 1 partition.
  10. Click Options.
  11. Set the partition scheme to Master Boot Record, then click OK.
  12. From the Format pop-up menu on the right side, choose any choice other than "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". For example, you can choose "Mac OS Extended".
  13. Click Apply. The drive will be erased.
  14. Click Options again.
  15. Set the partition scheme to GUID, then click OK.
  16. From the Format pop-up menu on the right side, choose "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".
  17. Click Apply. The drive will be erased again.
  18. After the process is complete, choose Quit Disk Utility from the Disk Utility menu.

Part two: Reinstall the operating system

Important: If you want to restore Mac OS X and your files from a Time Machine backup, stop here and use the steps in the "Restoring your entire system from a backup" section of this article.

  1. When the Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Installer screen appears, click Continue.
  2. When the license agreement appears, click Agree.
  3. Select the disk you erased in part one. It should now be highlighted with a green arrow.
  4. Click Install. A status bar appears on the bottom of the screen while Mac OS X installs.
  5. An Additional Information screen appears, advising you that you operating system has been installed. Click Continue.
  6. An Install Succeeded screen appears. Click Restart.

Part three: Complete the Mac OS X Setup Assistant

  1. When the restart has completed, a welcome video plays, then country/region selection screen appears.
  2. Select your country or region and click Continue.
  3. Select a keyboard layout and click Continue.
  4. A migration screen appears. If you wish to migrate your data from another Macintosh. If you do not wish to migrate, or want to migrate later, select "Do not transfer my information now" and click Continue.
  5. A Wireless Service screen appears if you have wireless services available within range of your computer. Select "On" and click Continue.
  6. If the network is password protected, you be asked for a password when you select it. Type the password and click Continue.
  7. An Apple ID screen appears. This is used to purchase content from the iTunes store. You can use MobileMe or .Mac usernames here as well. When complete, click Continue.
  8. If you do not have an Apple ID or MobileMe account, click Continue to move to the next screen.
  9. A Registration Information screen appears. You are not required to fill this out, but it is helpful if you do. When complete, click Continue and your product registration will be sent immediately.
  10. If Mac OS X servers are available on your network, you'll be asked if you'd like to log on to them. If not, click Continue.
  11. A Create Your Account screen appears. This will be used to create a User Account with Login ID and Password for you computer. You should remember this password. You'll be asked for it when you install new software or perform other administrative tasks on your computer. When complete, click Continue and your account will be created immediately.
  12. A screen to select your user picture appears. Take a snapshot with the built-in camera or select a picture from your Library. When complete, click Continue.
  13. A MobileMe screen appears. Select an option and click Continue.
  14. A Thank You screen appears. Click Go to complete the Mac OS X Setup Assistant.
  15. Eject the installation media by dragging its icon to the Trash.

Part four: Install bundled applications

  1. To install the bundled applications, locate the Applications Install Disc or Software Reinstall Drive that came with your computer.
    Note: You may see a Software Update icon bouncing in your Dock. You can quit or ignore this for now.
  2. Insert the Applications Install Disc into the optical drive, or insert the MacBook Air Software Reinstall Drive into the USB port.
  3. The disc will mount and an Applications Install Disk dialog appears. Double-click on Install Bundled Software to install your iLife applications. If you are using the MacBook Air Software Reinstall Drive, double-click the Install iLife icon.
  4. A dialog appears asking if you want to run the package. Click Continue.
  5. The Bundled Software Applications Installer screen appears. Click Continue.
  6. A software license screen appears. Click Continue, then click Agree to accept the terms.
  7. A select destination dialog appears. Make sure the partition with the green arrow is the correct destination, then click Continue.
  8. To install all the bundled applications, click Install.
  9. To select individual applications, click Customize. Click the disclosure triangle next to Bundled Applications to select individual applications, then click Install. Clicking Standard Install on the Customize screen installs all the applications.
  10. Type the password you created in Part Three, step 11 to start the installation.
  11. A restart dialog appears. Click Continue Installation.
  12. An Install was Successful screen appears. Click Restart to complete the restore process.

As an succsessfull iOS/OS X App developer for 5/6 years, i predict that this is the end of Apple. Pointless products, incompetens in every department, overpriced, greedy, just plain dangerous...

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8), Disabling Gatekeeper, User Tips

Posted on Nov 19, 2012 4:55 PM

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15 replies
User profile for user: bastian.51
bastian.51
User level: Level 1
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Jan 6, 2013 5:02 PM in response to zdytw

I have a MB Pro, and I am trying to uninstall Mountain Lion (worst program ever. My old G4 was working faster than this 3 years ago when it was 6 years old, and this computer is only 3 years old) and its bugging so much that I can't even re-install the 10.6 disk as when I turn the computer back on and I press the C key it just turns over for like over 10 minutes..

Does anyone have an idea of what else I could do ?

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User profile for user: bastian.51
bastian.51
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jan 7, 2013 4:28 AM in response to zdytw

onemac: I'm using the Leopard install disk. The computer is recognising it, so the drive works, but it is just not installing when I'm pressing C and trying to install it. but the CD drive works fine if I want to play CDs or DVDs.

Good luck with fixing your drive !


Barney: I don't think there is anything wrong with the hardware as I had it verified at a macstore just before installing Mountain Lion and there were no problems.

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User profile for user: josefromaldea del fresno
josefromaldea del fresno
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jan 7, 2013 4:37 AM in response to zdytw

Hi ,


Yes . I agree with u in going back to Snow Leopard and with your last quote to.


Started as a Mac usser in 2004 . G4 mac mini with panther ( still home working perfectly) , 20" intel based white Imac which came with Tiger , now running 10.6.8 ( still with me too , working better then new) , 13" Macbook pro ,early 2011 , came with Snow Leopard , was working perfectly til i updated to Lion and Mountain Lion , then all sort off issues started plus loosing rosetta , front row ( in my opinion one of the most beatiful features of mac os x), save as ( at least brought back in mountain lion ) etc. Did all sugested here to make mountain lion work properly ( 10.8.2) clean installs with bootable drive , repair drive and permitions , ALL and still unestable . So now I UPGRADED my macbook pro to SNOW LEOPARD and everything back to normal. Got also a mid 2011 Mac Mini ( 5.2) this one came with Lion , updated to Mountain Lion 10.8.2 , clean install , no third party software just iLife 11 , after few days , sudent hangs when waking up system. So wondering how to UPGRADE this the new mini with SNOW LEOPARD . Apple said no more , not possible , but , YES it is . Thanks to thread i found here about installing 10.6.8 on new mac mini ( more then 100.000 views and still active ) Thanks to Newfoundglory , Dimeo and all participants YES WE CAN !. Now have drive on mac mini partinioned in two drives , one with SNOW LEOPARD working perfectly with all sort of apps, rosetta and beatifull front row , in other partition kept 10.8.2 just in case apple decides fixing it one day, just in case...

Have to add that I geek benched both systems on same machine , getting much better scores in both, 32 and 64 bit modes running SNOW LEOPARD offcoarse thanks to Newfoundglory fix (actually rated as level 1 , in my opinion a level 10 ). This is just my personal experience and remark the fact that I am just a mac USER. Finally , for all those who want to know , yes sent all types of feedbacks to Apple . Since Lion , I feel like a beta tester . Apple should pay us for that , not the oposite.

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User profile for user: SpringIris
SpringIris
User level: Level 1
0 points

Jun 21, 2013 12:03 AM in response to zdytw

Thank you for taking your time to write this detailed instruction and step by step procedure to help the many of us who trustingly "upgraded" to mountain lion, then discovered that was a big mistake.
I am in disbelief after "upgrading" from snow leopard to mountain lion a few weeks ago. Each day in too many ways to list, it seems so senseless and, it has taken away important and useful capabilities from the way my MacBook Pro used to work. I can hardly believe this so called "upgrade" came from Apple.
Apps can typically be uninstalled per choice, but I have come to learn that by Apple's design, there is no easy or painless way to uninstall this mountain lion app. I feel trapped with a seriously inferior computer compared to the one I had before.
I will erase the hard drive to make a fresh clean start with snow leopard. Then will come a long, stressful, time consuming process of re-acquiring all the programs and apps I have added to my computer including re-discovering and re-setting all user preferences for everything the way they used to be so the MacBook Pro will work as before. Then will be moving my files and work moved into the new snow leopard. Somehow during his process, I need to get daily work done using the Macbook.
Before starting an erase and install, I need to find further clarification about transferring from time machine to revert to a previous OS. I expect to find answers to these questions with a search; however, any information or links about using time machine in this situation would also be appreciated.
Will my time machine back up disk data be accessible when connected to the newly re-installed snow leopard OS? If it detects this as a new computer, will time machine reject access for that new computer, or will it allow connection and transfer of the old computer's files into the new OS? I know how to restore an application or files as they were from a back up. But, what must be done to transfer the many newly created or edited files which have now been altered by mountain lion since it was downloaded several weeks ago? If I restore documents, photos, audio, that were created or edited in mountain lion, will they simply revert to functioning alright in snow leopard?
I have appreciated the quality of Apple products for quite a few years. I hope it will not become true, but I have also thought this awful mountain lion "update" plus the recent maps error may be signs of a decline in quality of Apple products.

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User profile for user: gumsie
gumsie
User level: Level 4
2,179 points

Jun 21, 2013 12:17 AM in response to SpringIris

It's not that detailed.........The first thing that Onemac should have said, is BACK UP YOUR ENTIRE INSTALL NOW!!.

This is what you didn't do maybe, (hence all the trouble going back to SL)?


I do note that he says, This procedure will completely erase your hard drive, but a lot of people still miss it.


Anyway, clone to a separate bootable hard drive and you're golden. (Test the clone too to make sure it works). Then going from one OS to another just involves booting from the good one and overwriting the old. No migration of anything required really.

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User profile for user: hk richard
hk richard
User level: Level 1
30 points

Jul 27, 2013 11:20 AM in response to zdytw

I agree

Mountain Lion is awful

I bought and tried to install it - only for it to fail completely leaving me with the grey wallpaper.

Off went the machine to Apple - lucky I had extended warranty - where they took out the drive that Mountain Lion had destroyed and then installed the thing.

It did actually work ok for a while but very soon it began to fail regularly. It cannot switch between users and reboots EVERY time

I run repair permissions and regularly get: preferences/com.apple.alf.plist should be 80 but is 0

I'm not sure about disk permissions - I think I read that most warnings are meaningless


ML is quite simply unstable and this post helps but I am worried that all of my time machine back-up is now ML and so it will simply reinstall the problem back :-(

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User profile for user: Barney-15E
Barney-15E
User level: Level 10
112,602 points

Jul 27, 2013 7:30 PM in response to bastian.51

Barney: I don't think there is anything wrong with the hardware as I had it verified at a macstore just before installing Mountain Lion and there were no problems.

Exactly. There isn't a problem with your hardware. There is more likley a problem with the crapware you have installed. There are very few problems posted here that are hardware or Apple software related. There are very much crapware related problems.

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User profile for user: Barney-15E
Barney-15E
User level: Level 10
112,602 points

Jul 28, 2013 6:41 AM in response to hk richard

Yours pretty much sounds like it could be a hardware problem. If they had to replace the drive, something else may be wrong with the Mac that caused it to fail.


You first need to eliminate any crapware you've installed, possibly reinstall the OS depending on how much damage was caused by the crapware.


If it still presents problems, then there is a problem with the hardware. Because of the way Mountain Lion works, it drives things much harder than Snow Leopard, so it may trigger some flaws that are not triggered by Snow Leopard.

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How to uninstall OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 and go back to Snow Leopard 10.6.8?

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