iMac 2011 Snow Leopard

fozziebear39

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Hi

Had a new iMac a month now and loving it, it came with Lion installed. I need to have a partition though running Snow Leopard for some old software.

I have the retail discs of Snow Leopard but they won't install. Unlike the new Mac Mini's which came out after Lion, the new iMacs came out before Lion and were running Snow Leopard. The trick is though, you need the System Discs that came with the iMac in those months before Lion came out. Version 10.6.6.

Can anyone sell me those (who have upgraded to Lion and don't want Snow Leopard anymore) or let me borrow them please. I am not talking piracy here mods, I have bought every Apple system since 1984! I have managed to get Snow Leopard retail running but it is a dog because it doesn't have the right drivers.

Anyone help please?
 
Hi
I have the retail discs of Snow Leopard but they won't install. Unlike the new Mac Mini's which came out after Lion, the new iMacs came out before Lion and were running Snow Leopard. The trick is though, you need the System Discs that came with the iMac in those months before Lion came out. Version 10.6.6.

I'm in the same position, have the SL Retail disc but not the grey install discs for a 2011 27" iMac. Having read that Apple can supply these if they choose, I contacted them, but they refused to let me buy the discs.

Please can anyone help? I really can't work with Versions and Autosave!
 
You could also try running SL as a VM inside Lion?
 
Hi Lyn, is your iMac the 2001 Thunderbolt one? Mine is, I got through to Ireland explained the situation and they sent me the grey SL install disks, no charge. Runs great. Try them again.
 
Hi Lyn, is your iMac the 2001 Thunderbolt one? Mine is, I got through to Ireland explained the situation and they sent me the grey SL install disks, no charge. Runs great. Try them again.

Hi Fozziebear,Yes it is, mid 2011 but came with Lion preinstalled. Did you give them any reason for wanting them, lost originals or something? When I tried a couple of weeks ago they just said there was no going back to SL for me.
 
No questions asked. Apple only allow the latest operating system when a product is launched. The new Mac Mini's came out AFTER Lion so no going back there, drivers etc, SL runs slowly, it never came with SL.

The iMac mid 2011 came out BEFORE Lion so had SL System Discs, 10.6. I got mine in November so came pre-installed with Lion. I rang up and said I want it to run SL and they just sent the System Discs out. The chap said I was eligible, didn't even pay for postage.

They haven't changed the hardware so no reason you can't go back to SL. Try ringing them again, quoting this model originally came with SL.

I was going to get a Mac Mini, but needed to run SL, hence getting an iMac.
 
They haven't changed the hardware so no reason you can't go back to SL. Try ringing them again, quoting this model originally came with SL.

I've just called Apple again, quoted what you said, and received the same response, they say that the firmware was changed in iMacs shipped with Lion.

Eventually I waited for an extra 30 minutes to be put onto a senior advisor. He was more helpful, willing to be creative and create a new case number and whatever else his system needed in order to get hold of the SL disc for a mid 2011 iMac. He did emphasise that it might not work, even though it sounded OK logically and unfortunately he had to charge me £17.05p, but at least the disc is on it's way.
 
Great, shame about the £17.05 but it's worth it. That is rubbish what they are saying. What if you had bought an iMac back in May 2011 that came with SL discs? After upgrading to Lion etc. then wanted to go back to the original SL. It would work.
Anyway a Lion iMac, partitioned and running SL from those disks :smashin:
 
Anyway a Lion iMac, partitioned and running SL from those disks :smashin:

Exactly. I plan to leave a small basic Lion partition on the hard drive - the senior advisor told me an easy way to do this - and create another one for Snow Leopard to run everyday stuff. Glad to hear the disc worked for you and hope mine does the same. :clap:
 

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