Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capitan?

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greeny
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Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capitan?

Post by greeny »

Hello friends,
It seems I can't even erase (remove) El Capitan from my hard disk and, worse still, it is impossible to start-up the iMac from the original OSX 10.6.8 DVD's which came with it when purchased.
I had a superbly working machine (be it somewhat an older model) until a friend convinced me to move on up and upgrade to the latest MacOS (10.11.5).... Disaster, and it seems there is no going back to SnowLeopard...
Has anyone come across an identical situation with El Capitan?
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bayswater
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Re: Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capita

Post by bayswater »

Mr Google says:

- Power off the Mac and then power it on holding option.
- Insert the Snow Leopard DVD once the grey screen is presented and choose to boot from Snow Leopard media.
- Wipe the Mac with Disk Utility (erase/repartition the internal drive)
- Install Snow Leopard.

You'll have to reinstall and reauthorize everything.
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mikehalloran
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Re: Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capita

Post by mikehalloran »

Mr Google is right.

After you boot from your original DVD and install 10.6.3, you can use Migration Assistant to pull your applications, files and settings over from Time Machine or another backup disk.

When done, use Software Update to bring the system to 10.6.8. Enable Rosetta so that your PPC apps will work.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
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bayswater
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Re: Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capita

Post by bayswater »

mikehalloran wrote:After you boot from your original DVD and install 10.6.3, you can use Migration Assistant to pull your applications, files and settings over from Time Machine or another backup disk.
Will that work if the TM backup was done by EC?
2018 Mini i7 32G 10.14.6, DP 11.3, Mixbus 9, Logic 10.5, Scarlett 18i8
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mikehalloran
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Re: Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capita

Post by mikehalloran »

bayswater wrote:
mikehalloran wrote:After you boot from your original DVD and install 10.6.3, you can use Migration Assistant to pull your applications, files and settings over from Time Machine or another backup disk.
Will that work if the TM backup was done by EC?
Yes.

Do not do a system restore — that will overwrite your drive.

Seeing that this was a recent install, you can restore the system from an earlier backup done when the machine was on 10.6. Unless there is no TM backup that old.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
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greeny
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Re: Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capita

Post by greeny »

Thanks guys; this is really helpful.
I've noted down the instructions and shall perform the clean install once all my essential files will have been brought onto a sufficiently large backup disk.
Does a "Time Machine backup" also save the files contained in the Mac's System Folder such as fonts and such? Each time I start up DP7.24 I get a message saying that "QuickScribeX" can't be found and therefor DP will start up using "the application font in its place" - strange for QuickScribeX is contained in the package content of the application itself - as a result, when in DP I click upon the QuickScribe tab, the application crashes. I never had such a situation in OSX 10.6.8. QuickScribe is now rendered useless as a whole.
El Capitan has also messed up the different output configurations of my FW 828mk3, I can't seem to select the Main-Outs separately from the analog outs. I've tried re-installing Motu's Audio Setup but but the 828mk3 can't be bothered!

Until I muster up enough courage and determination I shall have to make do with a somewhat weakened and less stable DP.
Thanks again for the info,
Alix
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mikehalloran
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Re: Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capita

Post by mikehalloran »

greeny wrote:Thanks guys; this is really helpful.
I've noted down the instructions and shall perform the clean install once all my essential files will have been brought onto a sufficiently large backup disk.
Does a "Time Machine backup" also save the files contained in the Mac's System Folder such as fonts and such? Each time I start up DP7.24 I get a message saying that "QuickScribeX" can't be found and therefor DP will start up using "the application font in its place" - strange for QuickScribeX is contained in the package content of the application itself - as a result, when in DP I click upon the QuickScribe tab, the application crashes. I never had such a situation in OSX 10.6.8. QuickScribe is now rendered useless as a whole.
El Capitan has also messed up the different output configurations of my FW 828mk3, I can't seem to select the Main-Outs separately from the analog outs. I've tried re-installing Motu's Audio Setup but but the 828mk3 can't be bothered!

Until I muster up enough courage and determination I shall have to make do with a somewhat weakened and less stable DP.
Thanks again for the info,
Alix
You have made some interesting assumptions. They are wrong, BTW.

You did not get a QS error. You got a message telling you that DP 7.24 cannot find the fonts installed and will use the copies in the applications folder. This issue goes back to DP 4.x and OS 10.4 at least.

MOTU did not recompile DP 7 installer to work in Mavericks/Yosemite/El Capitan. The message you see is the result. MOTU no longer supports DP 7 but it will work.

To make DP 7 work, repair Permissions first. Copy the following, open Terminal and paste. Enter your admin password and wait. This will take a few minutes but much less than the few hours it takes in OS 10.6.

sudo /usr/libexec/repair_packages --repair --standard-pkgs --volume /

Unfortunately, this command does not work in OS 10.6. You have to run Permissions Repair in Disk Utility. I used to do that in the evening and see if it was finished by the morning. Apple improved that around OS 10.7.5.

If Repair Permissions doesn't fix it, do a complete uninstall and reinstall of DP 7. Hopefully, you have the 7.24 CD. The uninstaller is in the drop-down menu when you get to Easy Install. If you have an earlier CD, you need to run Uninstall from the 7.24 Updater, then your CD—install in reverse order.

To remove the QS Font info message, right-click on DP 7 in the Applications folder and Show Package Contents. Open the Contents and Resources folders. Right-click on QuickScribeX and click on Install Font. Message gone.

Did you download the latest drivers for your 828?
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
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bayswater
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Re: Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capita

Post by bayswater »

mikehalloran wrote:
bayswater wrote:
mikehalloran wrote:After you boot from your original DVD and install 10.6.3, you can use Migration Assistant to pull your applications, files and settings over from Time Machine or another backup disk.
Will that work if the TM backup was done by EC?
Yes.

Do not do a system restore — that will overwrite your drive.

Seeing that this was a recent install, you can restore the system from an earlier backup done when the machine was on 10.6. Unless there is no TM backup that old.
I ask because when I tried updating to EC earlier and had problems, TM told me I could not use the backups made while on the earlier OS version to restore files. My TM backups became usable when I reinstalled Yosemite. It's probably not supposed to work that way -- maybe just another of the many problems I had with EC.
2018 Mini i7 32G 10.14.6, DP 11.3, Mixbus 9, Logic 10.5, Scarlett 18i8
greeny
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Re: Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capita

Post by greeny »

Wow Mike,
Thanks for your help...
your response came in a bit too late for me on account of not having kept up with the flow of the conversation which I had initiated here on the forum.
As things stand right now I have had to erase my hard drive in order to proceed with re-installing DP as well some other stuff. I'm so happy it works again as well as the QuickScribe app.
I had made a backup of most of my music files from Sibelius and shall have to pick up where I had left off.
I'm such a "dinosaur", I don't even know how to work with Time Machine or even Migration assistant; what is that? So it'll be a slow process to get back on track - thanks to you all for your kind help.
Alix
greeny
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Re: Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capita

Post by greeny »

Just to add some clarifications....


Hello-hello again,

Until a month ago I had a fully functional 2009 iMac running Digital Performer 7.24 in MacOSX 10.6.8 (Snow-Leopard). I had a few software instruments and audio plugin's from the likes of Motu, Spectrasonics, Garritan, Waves, Native Instruments, Avid etc… all operating smoothly within my DAW, be it on a somewhat "aging" computer.

Following an "eager younger" person's enthusiastic suggestion I mistakenly (without thinking) installed Apple's latest operating system "El Capitan" only now to find that my machine was unable to reliably function any longer; all of my applications were now severely taxing my processor in a way it had never done before, resulting in constantly re-occurring audio-dropouts and graphic freezes.

What was I thinking?

So, I decided to go back to Snow-Leopard but found that I was forced (by Apple) to completely erase my hard drive prior to downgrading from OSX 10.11.5 to OSX 10.6.8, needing to re-install and re-authorize all of my software in the process. Why has it of late become impossible to simply re-install an OS from the DVD's? …and keep all of our files intact, like in the "old days"?

After a complete and unfortunate "Clean re-installation" of MacOS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) , I first re-installed Motu's audio-drivers and DigitalPerformer 7.24, Avid's Sibelius 7.5 as well as AudioEase's AltiVerb 6.3.7 and it all went fine and they are now (all of them) fully functional.

However I also downloaded the MachFive 3.2.1 software from the Motu website and proceeded to re-install it. Having done just that each time I try to open the MacFive 'stand-alone' application a message pops up which reads, and I quote… " The software required to validate the license for this product is not running - please reinstall the product or download it and run the License Manager Installer available at : www.ilok.com. Digital Performer doesn't even see it.

As things stand I do have an ilok containing various licenses, MachFive being one of them.
Just minutes prior to installing and trying to activate MachFive 3.2.1 I had gone through an identical "Installation" procedure with AudioEase's AltiVerb 6.3.7. which also requires authorization via ilok. Their support team had instructed me to go to the ilok website and download their License Manager software, which I did, and locate the "Old Installers" folder contained in their License-Manager dmg. file and install the Interlok Extensions.pkg.
After having proceeded to install this older version of ilok's Licence Manager, compatible with older Mac OS's (Snow Leopard, OS 10.6 in my case), Altiverb 6.3.7 and all of its IR's were successfully installed and rendered completely functional within DigitalPerformer 7.24.

I can't understand why it is that MachFive 3.2.1which also requires ilok authorization, which until two weeks ago worked properly within DP7.24, will today not start up today in a proper way. Am I missing something? The error message repeatedly appears: " The software required to validate the license for this product is not running - please reinstall the product or download it and run the License Manager Installer available at : www.ilok.com.

What can I do?

In the meanwhile I've just received Arnold Schönberg's book called "Theory of Harmony" through the mail and found it to be quite an interesting read, at least as far as the author's foreword is concerned…. I'm on page 21 now.
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bayswater
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Re: Is there a way to go back to Snow Leopard from El Capita

Post by bayswater »

greeny wrote:Following an "eager younger" person's enthusiastic suggestion I mistakenly (without thinking) installed Apple's latest operating system "El Capitan" only now to find that my machine was unable to reliably function any longer; all of my applications were now severely taxing my processor in a way it had never done before, resulting in constantly re-occurring audio-dropouts and graphic freezes.
I saw this happen on a number of older Macs. Increasing RAM to 16G solved the problem. I also have a 2009 iMac but haven't updated past Yosemite.
greeny wrote:" The software required to validate the license for this product is not running - please reinstall the product or download it and run the License Manager Installer available at : http://www.ilok.com.

What can I do?
If I follow, you have installed an older version of iLok to authorize the other plugins. Maybe M5 needs a newer version. If your installation of Snow Leopard will not accept a more updated version of iLok drivers, a MOTU techlink would seem to be the answer.
2018 Mini i7 32G 10.14.6, DP 11.3, Mixbus 9, Logic 10.5, Scarlett 18i8
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