UNPOOPED Mac OS

If your Mac is using an earlier version of any Mac operating system, you should install the latest Apple software updates, which can include important security updates and updates for the apps that are installed by macOS, such as Safari, Books, Messages, Mail, Music, Calendar, and Photos. Unpopped popcorn kernels can be caused by heating the kernels too slowly. To avoid this, do not stop the microwave when popping a bag of popcorn, even for just a few seconds. Also ensure the microwave is operating on the correct power percentage, such as 80 to 100 depending on the popcorn package’s instructions.

So, you’ve decided to download an older version of Mac OS X. There are many reasons that could point you to this radical decision. To begin with, some of your apps may not be working properly (or simply crash) on newer operating systems. Also, you may have noticed your Mac’s performance went down right after the last update. Finally, if you want to run a parallel copy of Mac OS X on a virtual machine, you too will need a working installation file of an older Mac OS X. Further down we’ll explain where to get one and what problems you may face down the road.

A list of all Mac OS X versions

We’ll be repeatedly referring to these Apple OS versions below, so it’s good to know the basic macOS timeline.

Cheetah 10.0Puma 10.1Jaguar 10.2
Panther 10.3Tiger 10.4Leopard 10.5
Snow Leopard 10.6Lion 10.7Mountain Lion 10.8
Mavericks 10.9Yosemite 10.10El Capitan 10.11
Sierra 10.12High Sierra 10.13Mojave 10.14
Catalina 10.15

STEP 1. Prepare your Mac for installation

Given your Mac isn’t new and is filled with data, you will probably need enough free space on your Mac. This includes not just space for the OS itself but also space for other applications and your user data. One more argument is that the free space on your disk translates into virtual memory so your apps have “fuel” to operate on. The chart below tells you how much free space is needed.

Note, that it is recommended that you install OS on a clean drive. Next, you will need enough disk space available, for example, to create Recovery Partition. Here are some ideas to free up space on your drive:

  • Uninstall large unused apps
  • Empty Trash Bin and Downloads
  • Locate the biggest files on your computer:

Go to Finder > All My Files > Arrange by size
Then you can move your space hoggers onto an external drive or a cloud storage.
If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning the Mac manually, there are some nice automatic “room cleaners”. Our favorite is CleanMyMac as it’s most simple to use of all. It deletes system junk, old broken apps, and the rest of hidden junk on your drive.

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.4 - 10.8 (free version)

Mac

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.9 (free version)

Download CleanMyMac for OS 10.10 - 10.14 (free version)

STEP 2. Get a copy of Mac OS X download

Normally, it is assumed that updating OS is a one-way road. That’s why going back to a past Apple OS version is problematic. The main challenge is to download the OS installation file itself, because your Mac may already be running a newer version. If you succeed in downloading the OS installation, your next step is to create a bootable USB or DVD and then reinstall the OS on your computer.

How to download older Mac OS X versions via the App Store


If you once had purchased an old version of Mac OS X from the App Store, open it and go to the Purchased tab. There you’ll find all the installers you can download. However, it doesn’t always work that way. The purchased section lists only those operating systems that you had downloaded in the past. But here is the path to check it:

  1. Click the App Store icon.
  2. Click Purchases in the top menu.
  3. Scroll down to find the preferred OS X version.
  4. Click Download.

This method allows you to download Mavericks and Yosemite by logging with your Apple ID — only if you previously downloaded them from the Mac App Store.

Without App Store: Download Mac OS version as Apple Developer

If you are signed with an Apple Developer account, you can get access to products that are no longer listed on the App Store. If you desperately need a lower OS X version build, consider creating a new Developer account among other options. The membership cost is $99/year and provides a bunch of perks unavailable to ordinary users.

Nevertheless, keep in mind that if you visit developer.apple.com/downloads, you can only find 10.3-10.6 OS X operating systems there. Newer versions are not available because starting Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.7, the App Store has become the only source of updating Apple OS versions.

Purchase an older version of Mac operating system

You can purchase a boxed or email version of past Mac OS X directly from Apple. Both will cost you around $20. For the reason of being rather antiquated, Snow Leopard and earlier Apple versions can only be installed from DVD.

Buy a boxed edition of Snow Leopard 10.6
Get an email copy of Lion 10.7
Get an email copy of Mountain Lion 10.8

The email edition comes with a special download code you can use for the Mac App Store. Note, that to install the Lion or Mountain Lion, your Mac needs to be running Snow Leopard so you can install the newer OS on top of it.

How to get macOS El Capitan download

If you are wondering if you can run El Capitan on an older Mac, rejoice as it’s possible too. But before your Mac can run El Capitan it has to be updated to OS X 10.6.8. So, here are main steps you should take:

1. Install Snow Leopard from install DVD.
2. Update to 10.6.8 using Software Update.
3. Download El Capitan here.

“I can’t download an old version of Mac OS X”

If you have a newer Mac, there is no physical option to install Mac OS versions older than your current Mac model. For instance, if your MacBook was released in 2014, don’t expect it to run any OS released prior of that time, because older Apple OS versions simply do not include hardware drivers for your Mac.

But as it often happens, workarounds are possible. There is still a chance to download the installation file if you have an access to a Mac (or virtual machine) running that operating system. For example, to get an installer for Lion, you may ask a friend who has Lion-operated Mac or, once again, set up a virtual machine running Lion. Then you will need to prepare an external drive to download the installation file using OS X Utilities.

After you’ve completed the download, the installer should launch automatically, but you can click Cancel and copy the file you need. Below is the detailed instruction how to do it.

STEP 3. Install older OS X onto an external drive

The following method allows you to download Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks.

  1. Start your Mac holding down Command + R.
  2. Prepare a clean external drive (at least 10 GB of storage).
  3. Within OS X Utilities, choose Reinstall OS X.
  4. Select external drive as a source.
  5. Enter your Apple ID.

Now the OS should start downloading automatically onto the external drive. After the download is complete, your Mac will prompt you to do a restart, but at this point, you should completely shut it down. Now that the installation file is “captured” onto your external drive, you can reinstall the OS, this time running the file on your Mac.

  1. Boot your Mac from your standard drive.
  2. Connect the external drive.
  3. Go to external drive > OS X Install Data.

Locate InstallESD.dmg disk image file — this is the file you need to reinstall Lion OS X. The same steps are valid for Mountain Lion and Mavericks.

How to downgrade a Mac running later macOS versions

If your Mac runs macOS Sierra 10.12 or macOS High Sierra 10.13, it is possible to revert it to the previous system if you are not satisfied with the experience. You can do it either with Time Machine or by creating a bootable USB or external drive.
Instruction to downgrade from macOS Sierra

Instruction to downgrade from macOS High Sierra

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Mojave

Instruction to downgrade from macOS Catalina

Before you do it, the best advice is to back your Mac up so your most important files stay intact. In addition to that, it makes sense to clean up your Mac from old system junk files and application leftovers. The easiest way to do it is to run CleanMyMac X on your machine (download it for free here).

Visit your local Apple Store to download older OS X version

If none of the options to get older OS X worked, pay a visit to nearest local Apple Store. They should have image installations going back to OS Leopard and earlier. You can also ask their assistance to create a bootable USB drive with the installation file. So here you are. We hope this article has helped you to download an old version of Mac OS X. Below are a few more links you may find interesting.

Nmap has supported Mac OS X since 2001, and our support has only improved over time. While Mac users can compile Nmap themselves, we also offer an executable installer. Nmap makes use of Jhbuild and gtk-mac-bundler which are used to build other projects for Mac OS X, such as OpenSSL, libapr, libsvn... Nmap is also available through systems such as MacPorts and Fink which package Unix software for Mac OS X.

The easiest way to install Nmap and Zenmap on Mac OS X is to useour installer. TheMac OS X section ofthe Nmap download page provides a file namednmap-<version>.dmg, where<version> is the version number of the mostrecent release. The.dmgfile is known as adisk image. Installation instructions follow:

  1. Download the filenmap-<version>.dmg.Double-click the icon to open it. (Depending on how you downloaded thefile, it may be opened automatically.)

  2. The contents of the disk image will be displayed. One ofthe files will be a Mac meta-package file namednmap-<version>.mpkg.Open it to start the installer.

    On OS X 10.8 and later, you may see a dialog likeFigure 2.2.

    Figure 2.2. Apple Gatekeeper block screen


    If this happens, it is necessary to right-click or control-click on the.mpkg and select Open,as shown inFigure 2.3.

    Figure 2.3. Apple Gatekeeper Open menu


    A dialog similar to the first will appear, this time having anOpen button (shown inFigure 2.4).Click the button to continue.

    Figure 2.4. Apple Gatekeeper Open screen


  3. Follow the instructions in theinstaller. You will be asked for your password since Nmap installs in a system directory.

  4. Once the installer is finished, eject the disk image bycontrol-clicking on its icon and selectingEject. The disk image may now be placed inthe trash.

See the instructions in the section called “Executing Nmap on Mac OS X” forhelp on running Nmap and Zenmap after they are installed.

The programs installed by the installer will run on Intel Mac OS X 10.5(Leopard) or later. Users of earlier versions will have to compile fromsource or use a third-party package. Instructions for PowerPC (PPC) Mac systems (which Apple ceased selling in 2006) are available on our wiki.

Compiling Nmap from source on Mac OS X is no more difficult thanon other platforms once a proper build environment is in place.

Compiling Nmap on Mac OS X requiresXcode,Apple's developer tools that include GCC and the rest of the usual buildsystem. Xcode is not installed by default, but can be downloaded free ofcharge from the Mac AppStore. After installing Xcode, openPreferences, select theDownloads tab, and click theInstall next to Command LineTools.

Xcode installations don't always include the command line tools. You can install them by opening Xcode from the Applications folder, opening Preferencechoosing the Download header icon and clicking the Install button next to Command Line Tools.

Once you have installed Xcode and the command-line tools, follow the compilation instructions found in the section called “Linux/Unix Compilation and Installation from Source Code”. Note that on some older versions of Mac OS X, you may have to replace the command ./configure with ./configure CPP=/usr/bin/cpp. Also, on some newer Mac OS X versions, the libpcap version of the library provided by Apple may be too old. You may have to configure Nmap with the command ./configure --with-libpcap=included in order to use the compatible version included in Nmap, or you should update the libpcap installed on your machine.

Zenmap depends on some external libraries that do not come withMac OS X, including GTK+ and PyGTK. These libraries have many dependenciesof their own. A convenient way to install all of them is to use athird-party packaging system as described inSection . Once the dependencies areinstalled, follow the instructions in the section called “Linux/Unix Compilation and Installation from Source Code” toinstall Zenmap as usual.

Mac Os Versions

Another option for installing Nmap is to use a systemwhich packages Unix software for Mac OS X. The two discussed here areFink andMacPorts. See therespective projects' web sites for how to install the packagemanagers.

Mac Os Mojave

To install using Fink, run the command fink installnmap. Nmap will be installed as/sw/bin/nmap. To uninstall use the commandfink remove nmap.

To install using MacPorts, run sudo portinstall nmap. Nmap will be installed as/opt/local/bin/nmap. To uninstall, runsudo port uninstall nmap.

Unpopped Mac Os Catalina

These systems install the nmapexecutable outside the global PATH. To enable Zenmap tofind it, set the nmap_command_path variable inzenmap.conf to /sw/bin/nmap or/opt/local/bin/nmap as described inthe section called “The nmap Executable”.

The terminal emulator in Mac OS X is calledTerminal, and is located in the directory/Applications/Utilities. Open it and aterminal window appears. This is where you will type your commands.

By default the root user is disabled on Mac OS X. To run a scan withroot privileges prefix the command name withsudo,asin sudo nmap -sS <target>.You will be asked for a password, which is just your normal loginpassword. Only users with administrator privileges can do this.

UNPOOPED

Zenmap requires the X11 application tobe installed. If it was not installed by default it may be available asan optional install on the Mac OS X installation discs.

When Zenmap is started, a dialog is displayed requesting that youtype your password. Users withadministrator privilegesmay enter theirpassword to allow Zenmap to run as the root user and run more advancedscans. To run Zenmap in unprivileged mode, select theCancel button on this authentication dialog.