debsquared
Level 1 (5 points)

Q: How do I downgrade from Mavericks back to Snow Leopard?

I upgraded to Mavericks (10.9) from Snow Leopard (10.6.8) just a while ago and I hate it. My folder tags are now a tiny circle which is inconvenient because what I liked about them was that they highlighted folders I wanted to see clearly. My mouse's scroll wheel is now moving in complete reverse (scrolling down requires me to move the wheel upwards), my fan is going bonkers and making a lot of noise and from the sounds of it plus judging by how fast my battery is draining it's as if my CPU's being worked to the bone. I used to be able to see the size of each folder at the bottom of the Finder window when I'm scrolling through, now it's just a blank!

 

Is there any way I can downgrade back to the OS I upgraded from? I know you can do a Time Machine backup restore if you have Mountain Lion or Lion but I was wondering if the same can be done for Snow Leopard? I currently don't have my installation cd (as I accidentally left it back home before I flew back to school). Help!

MacBook Pro (17-inch Mid 2009), Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Oct 22, 2013 5:45 PM

by Frank Caggiano,Solvedanswer
Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano
Level 7 (25,796 points)
A:

debsquared wrote:

 

I was looking around and found this: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11181?viewlocale=en_US

Would this be possible to do from Mavericks to Snow Leopard or is a complete reinstallation the only way? Because i *have* backed up my computer using Time Machine before the upgrade.Let me know!

Seems like it is worth a shot. The big question is if you can boot to recovery mode using command-R.

 

The recovery partition started with Lion, SL didn't have it. So the question is did installing Mavericks on your system create a recovery partition. The easiest way to check is to try the boot as explained in that document.

 

But as I wrote above give the safe boot a shot you might be able to stay with Mavericks after that. It certainly would be lot less messy if you could.

 

Message was edited by: Frank Caggiano

Posted on Oct 22, 2013 6:47 PM

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debsquared

Q: How do I downgrade from Mavericks back to Snow Leopard?

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  • by StarSong,

    StarSong StarSong Oct 22, 2013 6:04 PM in response to debsquared
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 6:04 PM in response to debsquared

    I know this doesn't exactly answer your restore question, but your comment about the scrolling direction can be changed (hopefully still) - under Mouse settings Point & Click was a checkbox for Scroll direction.  If that didn't change with Mavericks (which I haven't installed yet)

  • by debsquared,

    debsquared debsquared Oct 22, 2013 6:07 PM in response to StarSong
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 6:07 PM in response to StarSong

    I've tried that before making this post, they don't have that option which is beyond me to be honest.

  • by Frank Caggiano,Helpful

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Oct 22, 2013 6:10 PM in response to debsquared
    Level 7 (25,796 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 6:10 PM in response to debsquared

    There is no downgrade.

     

    You can boot off your SL disks, wipe the disk and install SL then recover your user info from your backups.

  • by StarSong,

    StarSong StarSong Oct 22, 2013 6:13 PM in response to debsquared
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 6:13 PM in response to debsquared

    Yikes.  I set mine the way you like too, so if that's the case I may pass on this until another update adds it back.  It is the little things, ya know?

  • by debsquared,

    debsquared debsquared Oct 22, 2013 6:15 PM in response to Frank Caggiano
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 6:15 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

    If you don't mind, could you explain the steps a little further? This will be my first time doing this and I don't want anything dire to happen along the way. Thanks!

  • by debsquared,

    debsquared debsquared Oct 22, 2013 6:18 PM in response to StarSong
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 6:18 PM in response to StarSong

    Just in case, because I reread that part of my message and it reads as if I set my scroll wheel to scroll downwards when I roll upwards. That's the problem right now! I like to scroll downwards while rolling the wheel down. Hope that cleared things up. But even if you do prefer those settings, I still wouldn't recommend upgrading until a while more! Hugest mistake on my part!!

  • by debsquared,

    debsquared debsquared Oct 22, 2013 6:34 PM in response to Frank Caggiano
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 6:34 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

    I was looking around and found this: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11181?viewlocale=en_US

    Would this be possible to do from Mavericks to Snow Leopard or is a complete reinstallation the only way? Because i *have* backed up my computer using Time Machine before the upgrade.Let me know!

  • by Frank Caggiano,Helpful

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Oct 22, 2013 6:40 PM in response to debsquared
    Level 7 (25,796 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 6:40 PM in response to debsquared

    Without the SL install DVD the situation is dicey. You do have a TM backup from before the upgrade to Mavericks?

     

    It's been a while since I played with SL. I know that  theTM volume on Mountain Lion is bootable, I'm mot sure about the TM volume made with SL, I'm thinking it probably is not but I could be wrong.

     

    Getting the DVD would be your best and safest bet. You can search the web and see if the TM volume made with SL is bootable and is it is boot from it and restore.

     

    my fan is going bonkers and making a lot of noise and from the sounds of it plus judging by how fast my battery is draining it's as if my CPU's being worked to the bone.

    Try booting into safe mode (hold the shift key while booting) and see if that makes any difference. Then reboot normally and see how the system acts.

     

    That's the best I can give you right now, wish I had more.

     

    regards

  • by Frank Caggiano,Solvedanswer

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Oct 22, 2013 6:47 PM in response to debsquared
    Level 7 (25,796 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 6:47 PM in response to debsquared

    debsquared wrote:

     

    I was looking around and found this: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11181?viewlocale=en_US

    Would this be possible to do from Mavericks to Snow Leopard or is a complete reinstallation the only way? Because i *have* backed up my computer using Time Machine before the upgrade.Let me know!

    Seems like it is worth a shot. The big question is if you can boot to recovery mode using command-R.

     

    The recovery partition started with Lion, SL didn't have it. So the question is did installing Mavericks on your system create a recovery partition. The easiest way to check is to try the boot as explained in that document.

     

    But as I wrote above give the safe boot a shot you might be able to stay with Mavericks after that. It certainly would be lot less messy if you could.

     

    Message was edited by: Frank Caggiano

  • by mommahook,

    mommahook mommahook Oct 22, 2013 7:02 PM in response to debsquared
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 7:02 PM in response to debsquared

    In Short, the answer is DON'T DO IT! Why you ask?

     

    1. if the system becomes unstable Apple does not support it. Apple does not support downgrades period.

    2. Apple cannot guarantee the functionality of a downgrade. (Mavericks changes the build on your computer)

    3. you cannot restore from a timemachine backup if you do downgrade.

    4. there is no way around it. You must erase and reinstall to downgrade.

     

    Good Luck. Weigh the pro's and con's. I'm sure Apple will push out updates to work out any kinks.

  • by debsquared,

    debsquared debsquared Oct 22, 2013 7:07 PM in response to mommahook
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 7:07 PM in response to mommahook

    I highly doubt they'll revert the colour labels, bottom finder info bar, and mouse wheel back to what it was prior to Mavericks. And my Parallels 8 doesn't work anymore either so I'm quite happy to go back to Snow Leopard. Thanks for the warning! Any chance you might know how to erase the disk completely? After that, do I just insert the installation disc and I'm good to go?

  • by mommahook,

    mommahook mommahook Oct 22, 2013 7:12 PM in response to debsquared
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 7:12 PM in response to debsquared

    Yes, first I recommend that you back up your files first (outside of timemachine)

    go to disk utililty

    erase macintosh HD

    insert SL disk

    install Mac OSX

    then insert snow leopard applications disk

    Install the apps

     

    You should be good to go! Good luck!

  • by Frank Caggiano,

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Oct 22, 2013 7:15 PM in response to mommahook
    Level 7 (25,796 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 7:15 PM in response to mommahook

    It is perfectly fine to roll your system back to the version of the OS that was on it when it was shipped. Apple has no problems with that.

     

     

    2. Apple cannot guarantee the functionality of a downgrade. (Mavericks changes the build on your computer)

     

    What does that even mean?

     

    The tile of the Apple document that the OP linked to is OS X Mountain Lion: Revert to a previous OS X version.

     

    From the doc

     

     

    Use Time Machine only if you’re reverting to a previous version of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), 10.6 (Snow Leopard), or 10.7 (Lion), because Time Machine is not available with Mac OS X 10.4 or earlier.

     

    Not sure where you are getting your info from but you need to double check it.

     

    regards

  • by Frank Caggiano,

    Frank Caggiano Frank Caggiano Oct 22, 2013 7:14 PM in response to debsquared
    Level 7 (25,796 points)
    Oct 22, 2013 7:14 PM in response to debsquared

    Have you tried to boot into recovery mode on your system? Did it work?

     

    If not you will need the original DVD's that came with the system.

     

    Good luck

     

    regards

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