[subego]

If not, what was the last model which could? I'm interested in Minis specifically.

Thanks!

[SierraDragon]

My early 2011 Thunderbolt Sandy Bridge MBP came with 10.6 installed.

-Allen

[Waragainstsleep]

Pretty sure the Minis will run 10.6.3+

The current ones shipped with 10.7 but they aren't drastically different IIRC. I'm sure someone tried it and got it to work. Why do you want 10.6 anyway?

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep 

Pretty sure the Minis will run 10.6.3+

The current ones shipped with 10.7 but they aren't drastically different IIRC. I'm sure someone tried it and got it to work. Why do you want 10.6 anyway?

The quad-cores will not work, AFAIK.

[Thorzdad]

I've always been under the impression that Macs cannot run an OS older than the version they shipped with.

[Waragainstsleep]

Originally Posted by Thorzdad 

I've always been under the impression that Macs cannot run an OS older than the version they shipped with.

This is usually the case but sometimes when the hardware change is minimal they will run an older OS.

10.6.6 has drivers for the HD3000 GPU and the Core i5s and i7s as it shipped in the Early 2011 MBPs. I would have thought if anything in the current Minis was a sticking point for Snow Leopard it would be the 6630M GPU. I'm not aware this card is used in any Mac that ran 10.6.X.

[subego]

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep 

Why do you want 10.6 anyway?

Legacy After Effects plugin.

[subego]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

The quad-cores will not work, AFAIK.

Sonofa...

[MacG]

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep 

This is usually the case but sometimes when the hardware change is minimal they will run an older OS.

10.6.6 has drivers for the HD3000 GPU and the Core i5s and i7s as it shipped in the Early 2011 MBPs. I would have thought if anything in the current Minis was a sticking point for Snow Leopard it would be the 6630M GPU. I'm not aware this card is used in any Mac that ran 10.6.X.

You are right: 10.6.8 will run on all the newest hardware, EXCEPT MacMini and MacBook Air. If you use something like Deploystudio to install, they will start up, but no graphics = Black Screen.

[Big Mac]

Welcome to the Forums, MacG.

[MacG]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Welcome to the Forums, MacG.

Thanks. Because of the problems with Lion and Active Directory I have had to test which of the new machines work with 10.6.8. I´m sure if you hunted down the correct graphics .kext you could get 10.6.8 to run on the Minis and MB Airs too..

[Waragainstsleep]

Originally Posted by subego 

Sonofa...

The quad core server should be OK. Its the same chip used in the MBPs which shipped with 10.6.6.

[subego]

Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep 

The quad core server should be OK. Its the same chip used in the MBPs which shipped with 10.6.6.

Oooh. That's handy. I have one of those.

[Waragainstsleep]

If you have a 10.6.8 install on another Mac, I'd try target booting from your Mini Server that'll soon tell you if it will work or not.

[subego]

Completely didn't think if that. Double awesome.

Thanks most kindly!

[Spheric Harlot]

Report back, please.

[subego]

Now I'm confused.

I assumed you were talking about some NetBoot type deal. Looking up "target boot" I get results for firewire target disk mode.

Unless I'm mistaken, all that's going to do is give me file access to the hard drive.

[Spheric Harlot]

You can boot from external drives. A Mac in target disk mode hooked up via FireWire is just an external drive like any other.

Hold down the option key when booting the mini, and the TDM Mac should show up as a bootable volume.

[subego]

Okay, I think I get it, but we'll have to wait now because my Mini Server has my music on it and I'm rocking out to Mr. Oizo.

[aaron01]

This is usually the case but sometimes when the hardware change is minimal they will run an older OS.

[l008com]

Lion seems to be having the biggest amount of people who can't or don't want to run it, versus all previous versions of OS X. It drives me nuts on the one computer I'm running it on. I hope in the next OS, Apple gives up this whole "lets try to turn Macs into iPads" thing.

[Waragainstsleep]

I wouldn't hold your breath.

Hey Subego, what happened to reporting back? Did your Mini boot 10.6?

[subego]

Sorry this took so frigging long. One of these is the music server, the other is for work, so time when I can kill them both is infrequent.

Worked perfectly! Thanks again for the help!

[subego]

Just to reiterate, I did this test on a mid-2011 Mini Server. I have no info on a regular Mini.

[chris v]

As a datapoint, I installed the retail 10.6.3 onto an external drive from my 2007 MacBook, updated it to 10.6.8 and it boots my mid-2011 iMac with a 2.7 quad-core i7 in it just fine.

[subego]

Though this should be obvious, the Mini Server hangs on a 10.6.3 install disk (and a MacBook Air restore drive). I'm installing it on an old Core Duo Mini right now and I'll see if that boots it.

Then I figure Carbon Copy Cloner or something to get it off the CD Mini.

[chris v]

Originally Posted by subego 

Though this should be obvious, the Mini Server hangs on a 10.6.3 install disk (and a MacBook Air restore drive). I'm installing it on an old Core Duo Mini right now and I'll see if that boots it.

Then I figure Carbon Copy Cloner or something to get it off the CD Mini.

Yeah, I couldn't run the 10.6.3 installer, either. I had to run that on an older MacBook to an external drive, boot the macbook from it and update to 10.6.8. The iMac booted off that external after that.

[subego]

Whelp... It didn't like the system from the CD Mini. It boots, but semi-important things, like the dock, are missing. It also doesn't play well with Thunderbolt. My T-bolt display goes dark after the grey boot screen.

[subego]

Finally got it to work with the 10.6.7 install which came with my MBP. Said install wasn't allowed on a FireWire drive for whatever reason, but a USB key apparently has the right papers.