Downgrading from Lion to Snow Leopard

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Level 1

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Downgrading from Lion to Snow Leopard

I am trying to do a factory reset on my MBP, and after reading all the forums, the concensus was that you have to wipe your hard drives first, then boot from the installation CD. I did all of that just fine, but in the middle of installing, it said something like, "Installation failed. Please contact your software manufacturer." I tried again, same message.

What is the problem here? Is my CD bad? It's the original one that came with the laptop.

More importantly, if I bring my laptop to the Genius Bar, will they be able to put an OS back on it?

And will it be free?

Thanks!

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Feb 14, 2014 10:53 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 14, 2014 11:17 PM in response to ajeclizm

Did your computer come with installation discs or with Lion installed? You have to have a previous system on your computer in order to install Snow Leopard from the retail DVD.

Clinton

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Answer 2

ajeclizm Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 14, 2014 11:20 PM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

The computer came with the installation disc and with Snow Leopard installed.

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Answer 3

Feb 14, 2014 11:25 PM in response to ajeclizm

OK, so you're using the original gray discs that came with your machine? And you've used the gray installation disc to both reformat your hard drive and tried to install Snow Leopard with that disc?

If that's what you've done there's no reason that the installation should fail. It could be that there's something wrong with the disc: if so you'll need to call Apple and, with your serial number handy, order a new set of machine-specific discs.

Good luck,

Clinton

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Answer 4

ajeclizm Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 14, 2014 11:44 PM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

Well, here was my exact procedure:

1. Backed up all my files.

2. Shut down

3. Reboot holding down Cmd+R

4. Used disk utility to erase hard drive (only one partition).

5. Ran installation disc.

6. It installed halfway then said "installation failed."

7.Tried installing again. Same message.

So if you don't see any problems with my procedure, then you're probably right. I will head to the Genius Bar tomorrow and find out if my CD has a problem. Thanks!

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Answer 5

Feb 14, 2014 11:47 PM in response to ajeclizm

If you were running Lion you need to erase all partitions on the drive - SL doesn't have a Recovery partition. So try to erase the entire hard drive and then try the installation again. If it fails again, you'll know that the problem is with the DVD.

Clinton

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Answer 6

ajeclizm Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 15, 2014 5:39 PM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

Sorry, I meant I only had one partition on the drive, which I erased.

Brought it to the genius bar today. Looks like it was my disc that had the problem. They loaded up Snow Leopard and everything's as good as new!

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