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how can i downgrade from os x 10.9 to 10.7 without time machine

can i downgrade from os x 10.9 dirrectly to 10.7?

MacBook, Mac OS 9.1.x, 4GB ram

Posted on Mar 1, 2014 11:45 PM

Reply
14 replies

Mar 2, 2014 12:17 AM in response to Cameron148

There are some ideas, perhaps not a complete path given variables

that could indicate a need for additional items or products you may

or may not have available...


•How to revert OS X back from Mavericks - User Tip ASC

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6161


Did your computer have an OS X 10.6 system and do you have the

original discs? This is part of the path, when OS X 10.7 is not on

a recovery partition in the computer. With 10.7 in the Mac App Store

you may be able to get it there, once your Mac is running 10.6.8.


Some who have upgraded over time, and have saved these system

downloads from the Mac App Store, etc, were able to revert more

easily; some made those backup clones to use any of these OS X.


If you'd had a recovery partition with an earlier OS X, 10.8.5, 10.7.5,

that'd be easier to revert. There also was this article about internet

recovery, but that may not mean much here...


•Mac OS X Internet Recovery - see:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718


Not sure if what I found or said helps, so you may need to wait and

see who else can reply with more experience in this area. There are

at least 5 or more people here whose input certainly would be good.


Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Mar 2, 2014 12:25 AM in response to Cameron148

If Mavericks totally erased the older OS X 10.7 on the hard drive, and if you have the original restore install media discs the computer shipped with, they can be used to reinstall and OS X.


Not sure if they could 'archive & install' given the vast differences between Lion and Mavericks; but the recommendations in the User Tip article from a discussions page do have a path that could work, if you can save anything you want from Mavericks to an external hard drive. You can drag them to copy; but there is a warning about not dragging their folders.


So I guess that means you'd have to make a new folder inside the external drive, and name it, then drag/copy contents from Mavericks you want to save, to manually migrate, that way. The User Tips has some valid points.


However I am having to guess at some of this...


Some of the brighter bulbs in these Apple Support Community discussions may be asleep or otherwise occupied, as the midnight hour approaches here in the farther west area. The eastern US is four hours later. And we lost two time zones and one permanent hour shift ahead (plus we also get daylight saving) here.



Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Mar 2, 2014 12:32 AM in response to K Shaffer

well im not very worried about saving information, and trust me im only 50% awake right now, but i currently am not to worried about getting lion back, in fact, getting 10.6.8 back would be even better, i just assumed it would be easier to downgrade to lion, (which i realize sounds insane). But what im asking is that, do you think apple would sell the recovery disks for os x 10.6.8. and if they were, could i wipe out my hard drive and do a clean install of OS X 10.6.8, even though i got the computer when it was runbing lion?

Mar 2, 2014 12:52 AM in response to Cameron148

From the information you've previously stated regarding this computer in your other posts, the identy of this model and year suggests it did not ship with Lion 10.7; it may have had either a model-specific 10.5.7 (leopard) or an early 10.6 also model-specific, and related to the build year (mid-2009)


So, if you bought the computer new, and it included DVD media install-restore discs, they would likely be grey in color and say on them what they are for, and their own part number.


For example, if you have a MacBook (13-inch Mid-2009) the earlier shipped models had a restore install grey DVD with OS X10.5.7 (9J61) and later models in that same mid-2009 series had OS X 10.6 (10A432) - if this holds true, and your MacBook really is a mid-2009, then it could use a retail Snow Leopard 10.6.8 DVD.


That costs about $20 from the Apple Store online, maybe a local Apple Store too; or perhaps a Specialist who is an independent service & product reseller has one in stock. The online store has them, and if you order one from Apple Store by phone, you can tell them the serial number of your computer to help identify what it had and what it can use.


If it had an OS X 10.6 as original shipped system, you could get a replacement for a fee, and then once installed, use the download from Software update to go to 10.6.8. The original disc restore install set may have all those original 'edtra' applications included, but maybe not.


Or buy this retail disc for $20.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard


At one point in time, there had been OS X 10.7.x on retail DVD, perhaps an intermediate upgrade. Some may have been shipped with a 'drop-in upgrade DVD' such as I have for an earlier OS X; mine was a full installer.


So, depending on what your computer had with it, when new, you may have a key. I did not see any regular white MacBook as having shipped with Lion OS X 10.7.x and the MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010) was the last model before they stopped making this series, in favor of the MB/Air and MB/Pro variants still in production.


This gets to be tiresome, as I'm not drinking coffee

and don't have any ice cream, or jumpy music...


Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

Mar 2, 2014 1:26 AM in response to Cameron148

Yes.


They can also tell you, if the computer did ship with a version of Leopard 10.5.x

then you would know if you wanted the retail Snow Leopard 10.6 DVD so as

to at least get the better system, one that re-opens the App Store, access too.


Then you could run with applications from the original discs, if you did upgrade

Snow Leopard 10.6.8 -- best if the model did ship with the SL OS X 10.6...!


Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

edited

Apr 21, 2014 1:36 PM in response to drjsr

You should start a new topic thread, so as to get more exposure

to your question; this is suggested due to the status of where you

posted your item (now answered) will see fewer people with any

answer; mostly those seeking answers like their own question.


If your MacBook Pro shipped with a system later than the

DVD version OS X 10.6 you have, the disc would not work.

However, if the DVD you have is the Original OS X version

the MacBook Pro came with, you could use it in much the

same way as it worked before installing Mavericks 10.9.x


By 'reverting' to Snow Leopard 10.6.8 you will essentially lose all

of the content on the hard disk drive. I am not certain if you could

even import anything from a 'time machine' device that had been

created under the newer Mavericks 10.9 system. Since you have

to boot the computer with the install DVD for 10.6, and erase the

hard disk drive, reformat it to GUID and HFS+ (whatever default

for Snow Leopard) and that would remove the Recovery partition

on the computer's hard disk drive, and any other partitions.


Insert the Snow Leopard DVD into the optical drive, and restart

while holding the C key down, until the Installer disc is running

the computer; this would be rather slow, as it reads from the DVD

in order to build the Installer desktop, and access files to attempt

an installation. It may also be testing the hard disk drive, etc.


Once the computer is booted from the SL 10.6 install DVD, you

can look into the Utilities menu (in top of screen, like in Finder

desktop) to choose Disk Utility from the drop-down menu, and

once you launch Disk Utility, note there are sections within it

to choose from. You can choose Secure Erase (single pass) if

you want to have the utility overwrite zeros on the entire HDD.

This a bit longer then a basic erase & install. It wipes everything.


If not, choose to erase all Partitions and be sure it does this.

Afterward you would need to be sure it reformats the hard drive

with a correct partition map & file type. GUID & HFS+ journaled.

The tools are in the Disk Utilty that you run prior to the Installer

itself, as there are options in the menu just like Finder desktop.


Once the hard drive is erased, partition mapped, & reformatted,

it should be easy to put an all-new system 10.6 on the hard drive.


(That is, if the OS X DVD you have is a retail version, and if your

computer shipped with a system older than the one on that DVD.)


Should you choose to, an idea some suggest prior to upgrade

and also prior to downgrade, is to make a full clone of the system

that is running the computer on an externally enclosed hard disk

drive (see carbon copy cloner, or superduper, clone utilities) so

as to have a complete running system that can boot the Mac...

If you had one of these prior to upgrading to Mavericks, it would

be able to run your computer without re-installing. You could just

use the clone utility, again, to clone it back to the wiped Mac HD.

Or run Snow Leopard from the external, at a slightly slower rate

given the USB 2.0/3.0 to an external is slower than bus speed.


Not sure if this helps. However you may benefit from more

exposure to your question in a new topic thread, and that

could be in Snow Leopard, Mavericks, or this ASC section.


There are advantages to posting in an OS X named topic

since people with all kinds of supported Mac would see it.


Hopefully you can revert, and also have some kind of a way

to make a backup of any works you may need a copy of.

The applications in Snow Leopard, older than Mavericks,

may not like to handle files made with newer software.


Though there is a cost to set up the ability to make and use

full bootable system clones, the external drive, time, learning

and testing the idea to see if you can master it before erasure,

the results are worth the effort; since you then have a backup.

A full backup, and it is a manual effort to make this kind, unlike

the 'time machine' bits and pieces, this can bring back the Mac;

if used with a time machine backup, too, could be opportune.


Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

how can i downgrade from os x 10.9 to 10.7 without time machine

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