need a new mac pro! Can I boot MacPro 6,1 (mid 2012) with an internal HD with OS 10.6 (Snow Leo)?

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Mac OS X versions (builds) for computers

For example the Mac Pro 2010 CAN run 10.6.4 or later BUT--

--- the last "Full Retail" 10.6 DVD conatins 10.6.3, which will not boot. You need a different Mac of just the right age to Install on, [starting from a Full Retail DVD, not a DVD from a different model] update to 10.6.8, then swap the drive over.

The assertion has been made that the 2012 model (which runs 5,1 firmware) is indistinguishable from the 2010 model (which runs 5,1 firmware) as far as Hardware and therefore as far as what Mac OS X it can run. EveryMac.com agrees that this model will run 10.6.4.

Did you catch that the Apple Online Store has no more of these 65lb silver towers of any description?

The only new ones will be "new, old stock" at existing stores, outlets and non-Apple sellers.

It depends on what image you started from. The rule is complicated but not difficult:

• An image that came "shipped in the box" [now supported by either DVD or dowload] supports ONLY the model it shipped with; +0.1 updates do not change that.

• An image that came from a purchased copy [now supported by either DVD or download] contains "Drivers for every appropriate model Mac".

+1.x Upgrades count as purchased, even if (in the case of Mavericks) they are given away.

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So the image from your Mac Pro 1,1 that shipped with 10.4.7 or 10.5 MUST be from a "Full Retail" purchased base image, and should boot "any appropriate Mac", including the one you are considering buying.

A 10.6 DVD that "shipped in the box" with an iMac will NOT boot or Install on your new or old Mac Pro.

my model is not in the list obove.....

it is 10K549 .......

That table is just the "shipped with" list, not all that will run.

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You will be fine with the 2012 model. It is NOT a 6,1 however, as it is still fundamentally the same as the 2010 model and ships with the 5,1 firmware. Buy whichever you can find at a reasonable price -- only the processor speeds changed.

Yes, you can run 10.6.8 on that machine.

trollius wrote:

Most discussions out there say

Which means it will work.

Those are not what we are talking about here. "Will Not Run" means:

"... cannot locate the driver for this Hardware." and therefore cannot load Mac OS X. If it "won't run on that Hardware", you get NOWHERE.

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Forums are a lightning rod for folks who have problems, caused by a huge multitude of issues.

For every whining post about problems you read about on a forum there are hundreds to thousand of folks who installed and are running the stuff without issues.

flickering Graphics?

Keyboard-errors?

Other strange behavior?

Keyboard anomalies and other such trivial issue are caused by other issues, and most end up being caused by Users who insist on downloading third-party software to paint the MenuBar purple or show off the Menus in different fonts or other tricks that seemed cute and harmless at the time, but it turns out are so badly-crafted they are not harmless.

Flickering graphics are most often caused by graphics cards that are so old, they are genuine antiques.

Whoever said that, there are times to take such statements with proverbial grain of salt. They don't know, they are reading out of a "manual" (marketing material) are clueless about Mac Pro.

We all wondered when Lion was preinstalled if the (EFI and SMC) firmware changed. They did not. If the motherboard changed. (No)

And t hey do not support the network install method in Recovery Mode - that requires a new larger expanded role for Mac's firmware ability.

Booting from a retail 10.6.3 though which pre-dates the intro of the 5,1 2010's may not work, and you can still, or could, call and special order the old OEM 10.6.x (10.6.4+) build that they shipped with that added support for 5,1 and for the ATI 5770.

Or just use Lion and above, though like you many want 10.6.8 still and want the 5,1 as a result.