07-20-2019, 12:12 AM | #1 | |
just an egg
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running Catalina and High Sierra on same Mac
I wanted to start a thread for Mac users who are thinking about upgrading to macOS 10.15 Catalina (once it's released), but still want/need to be able to run 32-bit apps or other software that may balk on Catalina.
A discussion in the Calibre forum on Kindle for Mac raises this issue, followed by this suggestion: Quote:
Any thoughts and suggestions on different ways to run Catalina and High Sierra (or older macOS) on the same Mac, pros and cons, greatly appreciated. |
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07-20-2019, 04:15 PM | #2 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Hum, if I recall correctly wasn't High Sierra the version of MacOS that broke most of the de-DRM tools that worked using iTunes? I'm pretty sure that most of the de-DRM tools say that they work with 10.12 and below.
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07-20-2019, 06:00 PM | #3 | |
just an egg
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Quote:
However, that's just one reason why someone might want to run two versions of macOS on a single Mac, and I was hoping to start a discussion on options, pros and cons. |
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07-21-2019, 04:56 AM | #4 | |
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Quote:
Apparently, you can also make an external disk, such as a external hard disk or even a thumbnail, bootable and dual boot that way. That might be a better choice for what you are talking about. That way you don't have to worry about partitioning. Hum, I might try that, though I think that I would want to use a larger external drive for my purposes. Still it might be an interesting experiment. |
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07-21-2019, 11:11 AM | #5 |
Old Gadget Guy
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After I purchased my MBP 15" Retina a fews years back, I re-purposed my older Mac Mini 2012. I used Bootcamp to partition the 500 GB HDD and Installed High Sierra on one partition and Windows 10 on the other. It works pretty well, despite the age of the Mac Mini 2012 and the fact that it runs a 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5, but it does have 16 GB of RAM. Win 10 actually runs a little faster than High Sierra on it, if you overlook the fact that every few days Win 10 wants to install new updates which usually take quite a while to complete.
I would not have used Bootcamp on my primary computer. The Mac Mini was old and was destined as a backup in case something happened to my MBP, beyond that it would have done little more. So it seemed a no-brainer to use it with Bootcamp to create a dual boot system with Win 10. I have a lot of apps that I use to program ham radios and scanners that do not run natively on Mac, and ditto for some of my astrophotography related apps. I do have an old Lenovo Yoga 2 11" laptop, but it is maxed out at 4 GB of RAM and has a low powered processor. Win 10 on the Mac Mini runs much better than it does on the old laptop. I guess you could run another version of Mac OS X in the second partition rather than install Win 10. I don't think I would want to do that though, especially on my primary computer. If de-DRM stuff works on Win 10, that might be the better option. I used to do the de-DRM stuff years ago, but I quit a long time ago and have not kept up with it. I never did use calibre much, so ditto. So I'm not sure how, or if, it would work on Win 10. ETA: My Amcrest surveillance cameras still use a 32-bit app. The app is becoming quite unstable on my MBP running Mojave, but it still works very well on my Mac Mini running High Sierra. Every Mojave update seems to cause more issues with that app suite. And just recently within the past few weeks some parts no longer work at all in Mojave but work fine in High Sierra. I have not updated Mojave in quite a while, whenever the last update was released as it is up to date. Apple did push some secret squirrel updates out though. The Amcrest software has not been updated in a couple of years. Yet it is getting more and more unstable on Mojave but works fine on High Sierra. The Amcrest app and web browser sites are becoming unstable on iOS 12.3 and no longer work well via Safari. Last edited by OtinG; 07-21-2019 at 11:26 AM. |
07-21-2019, 01:07 PM | #6 |
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In general, abandonware tends to work best on the version of the operating system it was last updated for and gets more iffy with each new OS release. That's to be expected since they update the API on a regular basis.
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07-21-2019, 01:22 PM | #7 |
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In the case of Amcrest it is really not abandonware since they are still developing new surveillance cameras and updating the FW to existing ones. They have merely become lax at updating the software for managing the devices. But my point was not about any particular "abandonware," it was about the fact that more issues in running 32-bit apps are creeping into Mojave, and Catalina will likely be far more aggressive against using these older apps. So far High Sierra is much better for running abandonware.
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07-21-2019, 08:24 PM | #8 | |
just an egg
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My understanding (which could be wrong) is that when it comes to Catalina running 32-bit apps, it's a flat no, will not run, no maybes about it. Have you read otherwise? |
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07-21-2019, 09:32 PM | #9 | |
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Quote:
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07-21-2019, 09:35 PM | #10 | |
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Quote:
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07-21-2019, 11:26 PM | #11 | |
just an egg
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Quote:
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07-22-2019, 10:35 PM | #12 |
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It works. The trick is you need to install High Sierra on the external drive before you upgrade since you can't run the High Sierra installer from a newer version of the operating system. I did have to jump through a lot of hoops before I figured it out. I actually ended up installing it on a thumb drive that I had. For some reason, the external hard drive was being a bit balky.
This doesn't really help me a lot. Running Sierra off of a USB drive is pretty darn slow. Running on the mac mini works just as well for me. Now that I have the alternative working, I might try upgrading my mac mini to Sierra. |
07-23-2019, 03:02 PM | #13 | ||
just an egg
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Quote:
Would this be feasible?
If it sounds like this may work, I may give it a try. Quote:
Also, just to make sure I understand, if I boot from an external drive, it's like having a different and separate computer from my primary Mac? I would create new user accounts and re-install apps, just as if it were a new computer? |
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07-23-2019, 06:03 PM | #14 | |
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Suppose you install two versions of macOS A and B on two drives/partitions respectively. You can use the same user account, but you don't have to re-install any app that is compatible with both A and B. Otherwise, re-install some apps on an as-needed basis. If you Mac has USB 3 or some even faster interface, booting from an external SSD should be fast enough. These days SSDs are pretty inexpensive. I tend to keep one for some older version of macOS for some selective apps (similar to your intended use case), and another one for future beta OS for playing around, while keeping the internal SSD as my day-to-day workhorse. |
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07-23-2019, 08:32 PM | #15 | |
just an egg
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Looking at my Mac's directory, I have:
1) If I have High Sierra installed on my Mac and I install Mojave on an external drive, what exactly would be installed on the external drive? Just the System folder? Then the external drive would share the Applications, Library, and Users folders with my Mac? Wouldn't there be a risk of adverse effects and incompatibilities between the two systems? 2) If Apple releases a software update for Mojave, which is on the external drive, how would that work? Would I be alerted the next time I booted from the Mojave drive and the update would be applied to Mojave without affecting the High Sierra system on my Mac? I am risk-averse and don't want to do anything that might mess up my primary Mac. Thank you |
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