Reverting MacOS System Software

I’ve been attempting to revert my iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) to macOS Ventura 13.7.2 after dutifully installing a system update to v. 13.73. Regrettably, 13.7.3 ‘broke’ one of the main apps I still use on the iMac.

While I’ve successfully installed version 13.7.2 on a USB HDD attached to the iMac, all my attempts at installing 13.7.2 on the iMac’s internal Fusion drive end up installing the current 13.7.3 version.

Thus, I’m seeking advice from the sage techies here on TidBITS

Background:

I’ve tried several ways, to wit:

  • Downloaded macOS 13.7.2 installers from both Mr. Macintosh & OSX Daily, ran installers from the USB drive AND from the ‘Erased’ internal drive, with the intent to restore my data from a CCC backup.
  • Used Migration Assistant to ‘restore’ using Time Machine, selecting a version indicating “13.7.2”

The results are always the same - 13.7.3 is installed on the internal drive

I’m keeping the iMac 2017, primarily as a local media server, and secondarily to run my main DAW (Reaper) along with some audio plugins that have yet to update to Sequoia. The ‘media server’ is hosted by iTunes 12.9.5 (al a Retroactive) as it streams my media to both AppleTV and my new Mac mini 2024. Since Apple’s Podcasts and Movies apps store related media ONLY on the computer’s internal hard drive, it doesn’t work for me since my current Podcasts and Movies collection exceeds 2.6 TB… yeah, so I’m a pack rat

Gratefully, running iTunes on the USB HDD works but it’s kinda slow…

Thanks in advance for any advice

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Just to comment on this, not that I’ve done it with the TV app, but I don’t think that this is right about the TV app. Like iTunes, the Settings includes a Files tab that lets you set a location to store media, and it doesn’t have to be on the internal drive.

Podcasts does not seem to have this setting, though.

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Media accessed by the TV and Music apps can be stored on external drives. The location of the files is set in Settings>Files of the appropriate app. The Photos app also lets you put the Photo library anywhere with the location defined in Settings>General of the photo app. Unfortunately, Podcasts and Books files are stuck in Apple-defined locations in the home directory on the boot drive.

A few years ago, I moved the media files and photo library to an external HDD. The media apps performed satisfactorily, but photo editing was frustratingly delayed, so I moved the photo library back to the boot drive. I’ve since replaced the HDDs with USB3 SDDs but left the photo library on the boot drive.

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You can create as many separate Photos libraries as you like, just hold down Option when launching the app and you’ll be given the option to create new libraries.

To switch between libraries, either option-launch the app and pick the one you want or double-click on the library in the Finder.

The only catch is that only one library can be associated with your iCloud account at a time. But you can select the one you want using the app’s Settings.

Thanks for the feedback

I’ve only taken a cursory look into the Podcast app and was mainly relying on Kirk Mcelhearn’s “Take Control of Apple Media Apps” ebook for media storage location information wherein he advises only the Podcasts and Movies apps’ media must be stored in the internal HDD, all other media apps allow their media files to be, optionally, stored elsewhere.

  • One positive aspect of using Apple’s media apps is that searching with Spotlight returns results based on the media’s name

iTunes, despite its foibles, serves my needs better than any other app I’ve found so far. It’s truly a database allowing me to manage and find media files pertaining to the numerous topics of interest I follow. I meticulously curate my collection to include artists, album artists, release dates, and “PODCASTDESCRIPTION” metadata fields in particular - adding the metadata to the media files themselves. Using smart playlists, I can query the database to narrow down media according to my search terms.

In conjunction with that, I collect program notes and transcripts from content providers which are indexed by DEVONthink Pro 3. Sadly DEVONthink Pro 3 (nor any other database app I’ve tried so far) ‘reveals’ enough of the metadata to be a useful alternative to iTunes.

For other information junkies out there, the “Downie” app by Charlie Monroe Software is superb for downloading audio and video media files AND transcripts, where available, from a wide variety of sites

Not sure how sage I am sometimes :-)…but perhaps something in the recovery partition is causing this? Have you tried installing from the USB stick and using disk utility first to completely erase everything on the target drive?

Thanks Neil

Yes, that’s the way I’ve done it in the most recent iterations, although I’m using a USB HDD (vs. USB stick) attached to the iMac.

I came across some discussion there may be some related ‘information’ stored in the firmware, which could possibly be at play, but not likely in my case and IMHO

The mystery continues…

Might be something Apple’s doing… could it be they don’t want us to downgrade with their attention to security issues ??? The MacOS Installers clock in at 12-ish GB, but, watching Activity Monitor while running the Installer, another 5+ GB is downloaded during the process, suggesting the Installers are “phoning home” for something

A geeky relative suggested taking it into an Apple Store to see if they’d do the deed… something to consider

One other thing to try if you have the space on the internal drive would be to partition it (by adding a new volume) and see if it installs correctly. I’ve noticed the behavior you mentioned as to further data download when I was trying to restore my M1 from Recovery a few months ago. If you don’t have an internet connection, it will not complete.

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