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From: Mike Rosenberg on 15 Jan 2010 16:43
Nick Naym <nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

> > Nick Naym <nicknaym@_remove_this_gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
> >
> >> What about David's comment?
> >
> > What about it?
>
> <sigh>

Rather than sighing, perhaps you'd care to explain what you want to know
about David's comment.

--
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Mac and geek T-shirts & gifts <http://designsbymike.net/shop/mac.cgi>
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From: John Albert on 15 Jan 2010 20:36
RE:
"No, I said that it can't be done. When Apple releases a new
model of computer, it is unable to run any previous
operating system version."

I'd like to offer this up for what it's worth.

I have a "white" Intel iMac 24".
A friend has a newer "aluminum" iMac - about 2 years' newer
than mine, at least "2 revisions away".

Both of them are running 10.6.2.
Each installation was "specific to that machine" (i.e., done
with independent 10.6 installation DVD's).

I took a backup copy of my boot drive (created with
CarbonCopyCloner) to his place. It was on a "bare" 3.5"
drive, and I connected it with one of those USB/SATA docking
stations.

I just wanted to show him how the docking station concept
worked, but - for the heck of it - I rebooted the aluminum
iMac, then held down the "option" key to invoke the Startup
Manager at reboot.

Surprise! The newer iMac booted from my version of OS X
which had been installed to a different model of iMac.
Worked fine.

I recall hearing once that - once installed to a drive - any
installed version of OS X could boot any other Mac capable
of running that particular version of the OS.

This is not to be confused with the proviso that you can't
install OS X on one Mac with the "specific install" disks
tailored to _another_ Mac.

So I'll hazard a guess that if one has the OS install disks
for, say, an iMac, and needs to install to a MacBookPro,
even though one can't BOOT the MBPro with an iMac install
DVD, you can still install a "working OS" from the disc,
provided you can "get connected" somehow (such as through
"target disk mode").

Or more simply - if you can just get the OS installed, it
will boot.
The trick is _getting_ the installation to go through.

- John
From: David Empson on 16 Jan 2010 02:28
John Albert <j.albert(a)snet.net> wrote:

> RE:
> "No, I said that it can't be done. When Apple releases a new
> model of computer, it is unable to run any previous
> operating system version."
>
> I'd like to offer this up for what it's worth.
>
> I have a "white" Intel iMac 24".
> A friend has a newer "aluminum" iMac - about 2 years' newer
> than mine, at least "2 revisions away".
>
> Both of them are running 10.6.2.
> Each installation was "specific to that machine" (i.e., done
> with independent 10.6 installation DVD's).
>
> I took a backup copy of my boot drive (created with
> CarbonCopyCloner) to his place. It was on a "bare" 3.5"
> drive, and I connected it with one of those USB/SATA docking
> stations.
>
> I just wanted to show him how the docking station concept
> worked, but - for the heck of it - I rebooted the aluminum
> iMac, then held down the "option" key to invoke the Startup
> Manager at reboot.
>
> Surprise! The newer iMac booted from my version of OS X
> which had been installed to a different model of iMac.
> Worked fine.

No problem with that, as long as the system is new enough to support
both models.

That has always worked, and isn't what Mr. Strat was talking about.

If your older 24" iMac was running an earlier system version and you
tried to use the same trick to boot the 27" iMac from it, it might boot,
but it wouldn't be fully functional, because it would be missing support
code and drivers for the new model.

> I recall hearing once that - once installed to a drive - any
> installed version of OS X could boot any other Mac capable
> of running that particular version of the OS.

Not quite as simple as that: newly introduced models require not only a
specific minimum version of Mac OS X, but also a particular "build
number". A generic install of Mac OS X on an older model which is then
updated to match the version number which came with the new model is
still not going to work, because the new model came with a customised
system with additional support files.

For example, the 27" iMac first came with a customised version of 10.6.1
(build 10A2155). A generic install of 10.6.1 is 10B504, and 10.6 is
10A432. In this case there was an unusual discrepancy that the new iMac
had the wrong letter in its build number (10A implies it was actually
the same major kernel build as 10.6, not 10.6.1).

This means that the new iMac won't work with a retail 10.6 DVD (build
10A432) because A=A and 432 < 2155, but it might work with a retail 10.6
updated to 10.6.1 (build 10B504) because B > A. It will defintely work
with a retail 10.6 updated to 10.6.2 (build 10C540) because C > A.

> This is not to be confused with the proviso that you can't
> install OS X on one Mac with the "specific install" disks
> tailored to _another_ Mac.

Correct. Install DVDs that come with a Mac check the model and won't
install on anything else (within some small range of supported models,
e.g. all those which were released at the same time, and sometimes a
limited range of earlier models in the same family).

> So I'll hazard a guess that if one has the OS install disks
> for, say, an iMac, and needs to install to a MacBookPro,
> even though one can't BOOT the MBPro with an iMac install
> DVD, you can still install a "working OS" from the disc,
> provided you can "get connected" somehow (such as through
> "target disk mode").

Yes. As long as the iMac came was a later system version than is the
minimum version supported by the MacBook Pro. To be on the safe side,
update it to the next minor version number as well.

Doing this is probably a violation of the licence agreement, however.

> Or more simply - if you can just get the OS installed, it
> will boot.
> The trick is _getting_ the installation to go through.
>
> - John


--
David Empson
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Kir=E1ly?= on 17 Jan 2010 14:33
Mr. Strat <rag(a)nospam.techline.com> wrote:
> No, I said that it can't be done. When Apple releases a new model of
> computer, it is unable to run any previous operating system version.

That's not true. In some cases the Mac *can* run older versions of
OS X, but doing so comes with caveats. See this example:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2217

Apple says not to install older versions, because after an installation
that appears to be successful, the "computer may exhibit unexpected
behavior". http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2186

So it's not correct that "it can't be done." But it is reasonable to
say "it can't be done with guaranteed satisfactory results".

--
K.

Lang may your lum reek.
From: Mike on 19 Jan 2010 14:02
On 2010-01-14, Mr. Strat <rag(a)nospam.techline.com> wrote:
> In article <him2hu$qbb$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, Mike
><mikee(a)mikee.ath.cx> wrote:
>
>> I reloaded an iMac 27" with 10.5 and that's working fine except for
>> the brightness control. I partitioned the hard drive and loaded
>> 10.6 in the second partition. My two questions are how to adjust
>> the brightness in 10.5 and how to fix the freezing issues in 10.6.
>
> There's no way you're going to load 10.5 on a new 27" iMac. It will
> reject the DVD when you try to boot from it.

Funny, 10.5 is working (except for brightness control) and 10.6 isn't
working at all. The DVD was accepted just fine.

Mike
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