Will 10.6.8 install to 2011 hardware?

[zephfox]

So I have a Snow Leopard original install disc around somewhere that I was given years ago (but never built into a mac at a time) and I just found out I can't upgrade it or get 10.7 or 10.8 as a freebie... since that came out in 2009 is that the only hardware likely to work with it?

I'm aware of various HCL's and such but they seem remarkably incomplete (I have to assume more than just the handful of hardware I see listed must work :-/ else only a few dozen hackintoshes must exist in the world) and I don't see hardware I have access to listed as being directly compatible. I am wondering if that means "it definately wont work" or "its a wildcard/try it and see and post your results" or "if the main chipset is supported it SHOULD work but perhaps not all features".

As soon as I have a spare hard drive to attempt an install on what I have I will I mean, but since i'm also shopping for viable hardware (but even what i'm shopping for I haven't seen in the HCL's i've looked at, and since I want to use workstation hardware there don't seem many comparable builds) i'm trying to figure out what the risk is with unverified hardware.

 

[Going Bald]

So I have a Snow Leopard original install disc around somewhere that I was given years ago (but never built into a mac at a time) and I just found out I can't upgrade it or get 10.7 or 10.8 as a freebie... since that came out in 2009 is that the only hardware likely to work with it?

You can install 10.6.8 on socket 775 (2004), socket 1366 (2008), socket 1156 (2009), socket 1155 (2011 -Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge).

Socket 1150 (2013 - Haswell / Broadwell) hardware will run 10.6 with a modified kernel, but cannot boot from HDD/SSD - it is only installed to be able to download a later version of MacOS from the App Store. Cannot even be installed on Sky Lake / Kaby Lake / Coffee Lake (socket 1151) hardware.

 

[zephfox]

Does it matter which chipset (at least consumer vs workstation) is used or should it work with all? I'm specifically trying to build off a workstation board because I want to run at least 64gigs of ECC DDR3 on it for heavier video work. (no consumer board seems to handle more than 32gig, and even those that might i'm sure wont do more than 64gb... i see workstation boards up to 256-288gb capacity!) When i'd perused HCL's in the past I almost exclusively see consumer level chipsets listed as tested only...

 

[Going Bald]

Does it matter which chipset (at least consumer vs workstation) is used or should it work with all? I'm specifically trying to build off a workstation board because I want to run at least 64gigs of ECC DDR3 on it for heavier video work. (no consumer board seems to handle more than 32gig, and even those that might i'm sure wont do more than 64gb... i see workstation boards up to 256-288gb capacity!) When i'd perused HCL's in the past I almost exclusively see consumer level chipsets listed as tested only...

Mainly because most consumers buy the standard boards, not workstation/server boards.
Workstaion/server boards will work - you just have to be careful of the PCH to make sure it is supported. Both Asus and Gigabyte single CPU server boards have been successfully used.

 

[zephfox]

Mainly because most consumers buy the standard boards, not workstation/server boards.
Workstaion/server boards will work - you just have to be careful of the PCH to make sure it is supported. Both Asus and Gigabyte single CPU server boards have been successfully used.

Oh I get that, I just assume that someone somewhere must've done it before, because I hear that someone installed it to X but can never track down an HCL entry so it's unverified.

Any idea on dual CPU server boards (even if with a single cpu if that somehow matters)? My ideal goal is to use an Intel 5520 chipset which is for the 5000 series xeons for dual socket because that supports the most DDR3 ECC RAM potential, plus there are some better cpu values than the 3000 series which is for single socketed. Is that what you mean by the PCH or is there more than one with different makers? (sorry if i'm stupid or new to this)

I've been told by other sources the Intel 5520 IS supported in Mac OSX... but that it may only be newer versions. Since 10.6 is the original disc I happen to have available i'm trying to see if I can find a dual socket workstation mobo to credibly work. (or to somehow verify it definately wont for some reason so I know to possibly get a newer OSX version closer to the era that does if necessary, either that or to put it on old hardware just to try get a 10.9 or later 'free upgrade' to install to bare metal, if that's not a violation of the spiderweb of policy rules that i'm still trying to tiptoe around without being on the wrong side of)

 

[Going Bald]

Has been done - see https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-supermicro-8-core-dual-xeon-build.20247/