Upgrade Your Old Mac To Snow Leopard For Free

Posted By admin  On 05.10.21

When it comes to upgrading your Mac to Lion, this is something that Migration Assistant Update for Mac OS X Leopard can help with. The app is ideally suited for anyone running an older machine who has decided that the release of Lion is as good a time as any to invest in a new machine. Check that your computer's hardware is capable of running OS X Mavericks. Before you upgrade, we recommend that you back up your Mac. If your Mac is running OS X Mavericks 10.9 or later, you can upgrade directly to macOS Big Sur. You’ll need the following: OS X 10.9 or later; 4GB of memory; 35.5GB available storage on macOS Sierra or later. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply. If you also have Two Factor Authentication enabled for your Apple ID, your iPhone will now log in and display the usual six-digit code to unlock it. Let’s assume 111 222, the only field in the old Snow Leopard where this code could not be entered at all. The trick is to attach the code to your password. Alternatively, install Snow Leopard to a empty partition that has been formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with the GUID option. Afterwards you can start up from your old OS or Snow Leopard by pressing OPTION key during startup. —– If you wish to upgrade FROM Snow Leopard, make sure you are running OS 10.6.8.

TidBITS reader Scott Maxwell asked for my advice surrounding selling or giving away an old Mac, with regard to the version of Mac OS X installed. In Scott’s case, he wanted to give an old MacBook to a relative. Scott didn’t remember what the MacBook came with originally, but it’s currently running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and is compatible with 10.7 Lion, but not 10.8 Mountain Lion. Since Scott’s relative wanted to be able to use iCloud, an upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion was necessary, but Lion is no longer available in the Mac App Store.

I’ll go through the legalities in a bit, but the simple answer in this case is that you can No tlpn tante kesepian plmbg. still buy Lion from Apple, although the process is a bit more involved.

How to Get OS X 10.7 Lion Installed — First, you must call Apple at 800-MY-APPLE (800-692-7753) and work your way through the automated system until you can talk to a representative. (After getting frustrated with the first few directions, I pushed 0 and # a few times until the phonebot threw up its hands and transferred me to a real person.) You can then place an order for OS X 10.7 Lion for $19.99, and within 3 business days, Apple will send you the necessary Mac App Store redemption codes via email. To download and install Lion, you must be running 10.6.8, so if your Mac is running 10.5 Leopard
or 10.4 Tiger, you may need to drop another $19.99 on Snow Leopard, which Apple still sells on DVD.

To save the time and expense of upgrading to Snow Leopard just to get to Lion, you can try an unsupported method of upgrading from Tiger or Leopard to Lion explained in Joe Kissell’s “Take Control of Upgrading to Lion.” Follow these steps:

  1. Start your Mac normally from your old (Tiger or Leopard) system.
  2. Make sure you’re logged in as an administrator. (If you’re not sure, open the Accounts pane of System Preferences. If the account under which you’re currently logged in has the word “Admin” under it, you’re good to go.)

  3. Open Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities) and enter this, followed by pressing the Return key:

    sudo nano /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist

  4. When prompted, enter your administrator password.

  5. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor down to the last <string> entry (the third-from-last line). Replace the current version (for example, 10.4.11 or 10.5.8) with 10.6.8.

  6. Press Control-X to quit the text editor, and press Y when asked if you want to save the modified buffer. Then you can quit Terminal.

Now you can boot from a volume containing Snow Leopard or Lion and follow the normal steps for an in-place upgrade; when the Lion installer prompts for a destination, select the specially modified volume.

(As an aside, if you have purchased Lion from the Mac App Store and subsequently upgraded to Mountain Lion, you can still download a copy of Lion from your Purchases list. It shows up normally for me, but if it’s hidden for you, choose Store > View My Account, then click View Hidden Purchases and the Unhide button. Once you have it, you can use Recovery Disk Assistant to create an external Recovery volume that you can boot from to reinstall Lion.)

The Fine Print — So why is all this necessary? Is there really anything wrong with just wiping a Mac you’re going to give away and installing a fresh copy of the latest version of OS X it can run? I won’t tell anyone if you do, but Apple’s legal beagles have anticipated that you might want to do this and have explicitly forbidden it in the Software License Agreement.

To summarize, you can sell or give away a Mac with the version of Mac OS X that came pre-installed on it. If you bought 10.6 Snow Leopard on its own, you can sell that on its own. But if you purchased your license to Lion or Mountain Lion through the Mac App Store, it is not transferable and must be removed before you sell or give the Mac away. And don’t think that getting Lion on a USB drive is a workaround; Apple considers it equally as non-transferable as a Mac App Store version.

Here’s the text for each of the last three versions of Mac OS X:

3) Transfer. You may not rent, lease, lend, sell, redistribute or sublicense the Apple Software. Subject to the restrictions set forth below, you may, however, make a one-time permanent transfer of all of your license rights to the Apple Software (in its original form as provided by Apple) to another party, provided that: (a) the transfer must include all of the Apple Software, including all its component parts (excluding Apple Boot ROM code and firmware), original media, printed materials and this License; (b) you do not retain any copies of the Apple Software, full or partial, including copies stored on a computer or other storage device; and (c) the party receiving the Apple Software reads and agrees to accept the terms and
conditions of this License. You may not rent, lease, lend, redistribute, sublicense or transfer any Apple Software that has been modified or replaced under Section 2H above. All components of the Apple Software are provided as part of a bundle and may not be separated from the bundle and distributed as standalone applications. Apple Software provided with a particular Apple-branded hardware product may not run on other models of Apple-branded hardware.

3) Transfer.

A. If you obtained the Apple Software preinstalled on Apple-branded hardware, you may make a one-time permanent transfer of all of your license rights to the Apple Software (in its original form as provided by Apple) to another party, provided that: (i) the Apple Software is transferred together with your Apple-branded hardware; (ii) the transfer must include all of the Apple Software, including all its component parts, printed materials and this License; (iii) you do not retain any copies of the Apple Software, full or partial, including copies stored on a computer or other storage device; and (iv) the party receiving the Apple Software reads and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of this License. For purposes of this License,
if Apple provides an update (e.g., version 10.7 to 10.7.1) to the Apple Software, the update is considered part of the Apple Software and may not be transferred separately from the pre- update version of the Apple Software.

B. If you obtained your license to the Apple Software from the Mac App Store or on Apple-branded physical media, it is not transferable. If you sell your Apple-branded hardware to a third party, you must remove the Apple Software from the Apple-branded hardware before doing so, and you may restore your system to the version of the Apple operating system software that originally came with your Apple hardware (the “Original Apple OS”) and permanently transfer the Original Apple OS together with your Apple hardware, provided that: (i) the transfer must include all of the Original Apple OS, including all its component parts, printed materials and its license; (ii) you do not retain any copies of the Original Apple OS, full or partial,
including copies stored on a computer or other storage device; and (iii) the party receiving the Original Apple OS reads and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of the Original Apple OS license.

3) Transfer.

A. If you obtained the Apple Software preinstalled on Apple-branded hardware, you may make a one-time permanent transfer of all of your license rights to the Apple Software (in its original form as provided by Apple) to another party, provided that: (i) the Apple Software is transferred together with your Apple-branded hardware; (ii) the transfer must include all of the Apple Software, including all its component parts, printed materials and this License; (iii) you do not retain any copies of the Apple Software, full or partial, including copies stored on a computer or other storage device; and (iv) the party receiving the Apple Software accepts the terms and conditions of this License. For purposes of this License, if Apple provides
an update (e.g., version 10.8 to 10.8.1) to the Apple Software, the update is considered part of the Apple Software and may not be transferred separately from the pre-update version of the Apple Software.

B. If you obtained your license to the Apple Software from the Mac App Store, it is not transferable. If you sell your Apple-branded hardware to a third party, you must remove the Apple Software from the Apple-branded hardware before doing so, and you may restore your system to the version of the Apple operating system software that originally came with your Apple hardware (the “Original Apple OS”) and permanently transfer the Original Apple OS together with your Apple hardware, provided that: (i) the transfer must include all of the Original Apple OS, including all its component parts, printed materials and its license; (ii) you do not retain any copies of the Original Apple OS, full or partial, including copies stored on a
computer or other storage device; and (iii) the party receiving the Original Apple OS reads and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of the Original Apple OS license.

Mac OS X version 10.6, called 'Snow Leopard,' came out in fall 2009, and was superseded in July 2011 by Lion. If you have a Snow Leopard install disc, you can install it and update to 10.6.8 from the Apple servers, but Apple is no longer selling Snow Leopard. It is no longer available from the Apple Store. The latest version of macOS is version 11.6, 'Big Sur', released on 13 Sep 2021. Recent software updates for Apple applications (like iPhoto) will not run on Snow Leopard: they require later versions of the OS. The latest iTunes available for 10.6 (11.4) will not support connecting to iOS 9 devices. This note describes how to update a machine with an older version of MacOS to Snow Leopard. The general approach applies to other major OS transitions as well.

Apple no longer supports OS X 10.9 or below. There are current security threats that attack Macs, but there are no updates for Snow Leopard or prior systems avaliable from Apple.

(01 Feb 2016) Google Chrome is no longer supported on OSX 10.6, and won't get any more updates.

If you have an Intel Mac, it will work better and faster with later versions of the OS. I carefully tried Snow Leopard out on a test computer, and waited to upgrade my main computer until some bugs were fixed. My actual install went smoothly in August 2010, and my machine seemed snappier.

Who Can Update

Not everyone can use the new OS version. if you have a PowerPC Mac, OS X 10.6 won't work on it. Stick with 10.5.8. Users who cannot update to the latest version should disable Java and be careful about the web sites they visit. What Leopard users SHOULD do now, whether or not they plan to upgrade:

  • Update to OS X 10.5.8 (Leopard) if you have not done so already.
  • Use Software Update to keep all Apple software up to date.
  • Apply all free updates to other software you use.
  • Set up an external hard drive and use Time Machine.
  • If your computer has 1GB of memory or less, add more.
  • Fix damaged and duplicate fonts.
  • Use Disk Utility to repair permissions on your hard drive.

Plan your install

When you decide to install OS X 10.6, do it carefully. You may find that there are issues that affect you: do your homework.

  • Make a list of what hardware and programs you depend on, and search the web to check that they will work.
  • Leave yourself enough time. This process will tie up your machine for a big part of a day.

The Snow Leopard FAQ on https://www.macintouch.com lists a lot of software and whether it will work on OS X 10.6.

When I was getting ready to install 10.6, I found that some software I was using, which worked just fine on 10.5.8, was not compatible with 10.6. I updated most of these old versions with newer versions marked 'compatible with Snow Leopard.'

Upgrade Your Old Mac To Snow Leopard For Free Video

Particular issues before upgrading

  • If you are using 'Classic' programs from Mac OS 9, they are not supported in Snow Leopard (or Leopard).
  • Programs that may need paid upgrades: Microsoft Office 2004, Parallels 3.0, Suitcase Fusion.
  • Fonts. Damaged or duplicate fonts may cause crashes in 10.6. Check your fonts with FontBook and fix them before upgrading.
  • Peripherals. The Apple support forums are full of whining by people whose old printers no longer work. The printer manufacturers have not updated every elderly printer driver for 10.6, and some old printers don't work. It's not Apple's fault, but people are unhappy with Apple. Make sure yours will be supported.

Installing Snow Leopard

  1. Clean up and update software before installing
    • Get the applications on your computer ready for 10.6: apply latest fixes.
    • Delete junk files
    • Delete Safari, iTunes, and Firefox caches. I used Cocktail to clean all caches.
    • Empty trash.
    • Repair disk permissions with Disk Utility.
    • Clean up damaged and duplicate fonts.
    • If you modified your Apache configuration, save a copy of /etc/apache2/httpd.conf.
    • If you installed Perl modules via CPAN or fink, make a list of them.
      perldoc perllocal | grep :: and fink list -i | grep -v virtual
  2. Backup and prepare
    1. BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVE to an external disk. I used SuperDuper to clone my whole drive.
    2. If you use MySQL, backup the database with mysqldump databasename > db.sql
    3. If you use Little Snitch, uninstall it.
  3. Install
    • Dismount and unplug external drives.
    • Set screen saver to NEVER, turn the volume way down, and turn off Time Machine.
    • Reboot
    • (Some folks think you should boot from the install disk at this point and run Disk Utility to repair the hard disk. Do this if you suspect there are file system problems.)
    • Use the OS X 10.6 disk to install the new OS. Install Rosetta and Developer Tools from 'optional installs.' (Takes hours.) (This process will reboot the computer and play some annoying music that you can't quit.)
    • Run Software Update to update to 10.6.8, then run again to make sure all software is updated. (Another hour or two, and another reboot.) (This process hung on one computer I tried it on. I had to restart the computer and retry the install.)
    • Verify that the machine is working OK for you. If you have trouble, restore your backup and go back to 10.5.8.
    • (Mail, printers, WiFi, bluetooth, network, and applications all 'just worked' for me.)
  4. Recover
    • Wait for Spotlight to finish indexing. Performance will suck till it finishes.
    • Turn on screensaver and Time Machine.
    • If Time Machine complains that it has to discard your old backup and start over, it will do a big backup, takes hours.
    • Repair permissions with Disk Utility again.
    • Note that the display gamma is changed from 1.8 to 2.2 (changed it back on my mini)
    • If you use Little Snitch, re-install and re-register it.
    • In Apple Mail ► Preferences ► Accounts ► Mailbox Behavior, uncheck 'Show Notes' for each active account.

Post Install Tasks

  • If you have purchased applications that are version specific, like Cocktail, buy updates and install them.
  • GraphViz: Download and install the Snow Leopard version.
  • 64-bit upgrade: Have to do some extra work if you are upgrading from a 32-bit system to 64-bit. These changes are not urgent but will take advantage of the 64-bit architecture and should run more efficiently.
    • MySQL: see instructions.
    • Perl/CPAN: see instructions.
    • Eclipse 3.6: see instructions.
    • Fink: see instructions.
    • Change your shell environment to export VERSIONER_PERL_PREFER_32_BIT=no to avoid errors from dyld
  • Apache
    • Check it. diff httpd.conf, PHP may be turned off, turn it on and make sure it works.
  • Epson scanner driver
    • Install driver 3.07A from the Epson support site if not installed already
  • Address copying in Mail.app. In 10.6, Mail.app changed to copy the User Name field as well as the mail address portion. I prefer it the old way. In Terminal, do defaults write com.apple.mail AddressesIncludeNameOnPasteboard -boolean no
  • Other
    • If you encounter Adobe licensing issues, follow instructions in the Adobe forum.
    • if Photoshop CS3 crashes on launch, see the Adobe forums.
Upgrade Your Old Mac To Snow Leopard For Free

Snow Leopard observations

Gotchas in Snow Leopard

  • Mail works differently: if you are composing and hit the 'fetch new mail' button it sends the half composed message.
  • Address book changed its sort from Last Name to First Name. I changed it back.
  • Java's pretty new Basic Authentication dialog box has a checkbox to remember the password, but it always forgets.

Apache

Apache was a pleasant surprise. I had modified /etc/apache2/httpd.conf and all of my mods were applied to the new httpd.conf. Check mod_substitute.so and ServerAdmin, and the LoadModule php5_module statement. It is still wise to save your httpd.conf before updating and compare afterward.

PHP

On occasion I have wanted to test PHP code on my Mac that will be deployed into a protected environment elsewhere. (I am very cautious about PHP because it has historically exhibited multiple security weaknesses. Every day, my websites see dozens to hundreds of attempts to take over the web server by exploiting poorly written PHP functions. Use PHP with care, and don't install PHP code you don't understand.) OS X 10.6 seems to ship with PHP available. If you must use it, php5_module should be loaded, and you need to

  • sudo cp /etc/php.ini.default /etc/php.ini
  • Edit /etc/php.ini to set date.timezone
  • If you need to use it with MySQL, change /var/mysql/ to /tmp/ in three places in /etc/php.ini.
  • sudo apachectl restart

Upgrade Your Old Mac To Snow Leopard For Free Youtube

AppleScript

AppleScript changed in Snow Leopard. I had an AppleScript, saved in 10.5 as an app. The 10.5 'file' command said 'Mach-O executable ppc' even though I saved it on an Intel machine. When moved to 10.6, the file got an icon with a 'no entry' slash. Double clicking it got a message saying that the classic environment was not supported.

Script Editor.app is replaced in 10.6 by Utilities:AppleScript Editor.app. The 10.6 AppleScript Editor opened my file but showed garbage in the program text window and got errors. I extracted the program source on Leopard, saved into a text file, pushed it over to Snow Leopard, pasted it into AppleScript Editor, and saved as an app. The resulting app launches OK. It is an application bundle directory, not a file like the old one.

I'm glad I had only one Applescript. it would be a pain to convert hundreds this way. Detailed notes from Apple do not mention that old style AppleScript apps won't work.

Upgrade Your Old Mac To Snow Leopard For Free Download

Planning for the next version

Version 10.7 of Mac OS X, codenamed 'Lion,' shipped in summer 2011. I wrote a similar web page for upgrading to Lion.

Upgrade Your Old Mac To Snow Leopard For Free Online

Home | FAQ© 2010-2021, Tom Van Vleckupdated 2021-10-01 13:28