How can I downgrade iTunes 11 to 10.7 in Mountain Lion?

Is it possible to downgrade from iTunes 11 to 10.7 using Mountain Lion?

I tried to replace it by simply installing the 10.7, but it says that i can't replace a newer version.

Solution 1:

12/8/12: I have updated my How To on my blog with a new method to go from iTunes 11 to 10.7 using Pacifist. It does not require any backup, just a copy of Pacifist, the iTunes 10.7.dmg & a little time. Click on the link below.

http://www.emacconsulting.com/apple/itunes/downgrade-itunes-11-to-itunes-10-7/

I've created a How To on my blog showing how to downgrade from iTunes 11 to iTunes 10.7. It also includes a link to download a copy of iTunes 10.7 if you need it.

http://www.emacconsulting.com/apple/itunes/downgrade-itunes-11-to-itunes-10-7/

I'll post it here too.

1) Open Terminal and run:

 sudo rm -rf /Applications/iTunes.app

This will delete the iTunes 11 application.

2) If your Music Library is in its default place, also in the terminal:

  open ~/Music/iTunes

3) Using Time Machine restore the following files:

• Album Artwork <– Folder
• iTunes Library
• iTunes Library Extras.itdb
• iTunes Library Genius.itdb
• iTunes Library.xml
• iTunes Library.itl
• iTunes Music Library.xml
• Previous iTunes Libraries <– Folder

No need to replace your iTunes Music Folder. You may not need to replace all these files but it can’t hurt.

4) Back in the terminal:

open /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks

Use Time Machine again to restore the following files:

• AirTrafficHost.framework
• CoreFP.framework
• DeviceLink.framework
• iTunesAccess.framework
• MobileDevice.framework

5) Download iTunes 10.7

http://appldnld.apple.com/iTunes10/041-7195.20120912.d3uzQ/iTunes10.7.dmg

6) Install iTunes 10.7.

I rebooted for good measure, but it’s probably not necessary.

You may be prompted the first time you start up iTunes 10.7 for your password. Enter it. You should now be able to do all the things you need, including syncing your iDevices, without the nasty iTunes -42408 error many people have been getting before this method.

Enjoy iTunes 10.7!

Solution 2:

I was able to do it by doing the following:

• You can retrieve it from a Time Machine backup, but you have to do it manually (if you try to use the Time Machine interface, it will tell you that you can't delete it because it is "required by Mac OS X"). Instead, browse the backup drive manually, and find a date before you upgraded to iTunes 11. You might have to drag that to the desktop first, rename it to "iTunes 10", and then move it to the Applications folder (I'm not sure if it will let you just move it to the Applications folder or not; I used the Terminal to do this).

• Next, if you opened iTunes 11, you will have to downgrade your iTunes library data. Navigate to your iTunes library (probably at ~/Music/iTunes), and downgrade iTunes Library.itl, iTunes Library Extras.itl, and iTunes Library Genius.itl, using Time Machine. You'll probably want to save both files, in case anything goes awry. I renamed the iTunes 11 versions iTunes Libraray (iTunes 11).itl, and so on, and then removed the (Original) from the names that Time Machine added.

• Next, if you want, you can delete the new iTunes. You'll have to do this with the Terminal, since the Finder won't let you modify it. I personally kept it around, but renamed it to help prevent accidentally opening it with Quicksilver (otherwise, it will "upgrade" your iTunes library files again, and they will become unusable with iTunes 10). I personally ran

sudo mv /Applications/iTunes.app/ /Applications/CrapTunes.app

in the Terminal. If you really want to delete it, run

sudo rm -rf /Applications/iTunes.app/.

I don't know if this will make it reappear in the App Store. If so, you'll have to be careful to not reinstall it there.

• Finally, I had my iPad wirelessly connected to iTunes 11 when it was open, and it seems to have changed that somehow to not be recognizable to iTunes 10. It just tells me that the iPad needs to be reset. I don't know how to fix that. Fortunately, I use iCloud backups, so I never really needed to sync with iTunes anyway. But you'll want to enable "Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically" in the "Devices" section of the iTunes preferences, or else it will constantly bug you about this, especially if you have wireless syncing enabled. (even with that option, it still bugs me). You'll have to disable wireless syncing on all your iDevices. Or else figure out how to reinstall the old helpers (that might be the only issue).

UPDATE: Apparently you can't disable WiFi Sync except with iTunes. So you'll want to do this in iTunes 11 before you downgrade. There is no (apparent) way to do it on the iPad itself. And you can't do it in iTunes 10 if it thinks your device is broken (unless you restore the device first, which is a bad idea). I guess I should figure out how to make syncing work in iTunes 10, or else I will continue to be blasted with messages that my iPad is broken every ten minutes.

Also, I get some error about the store each time I open iTunes. It's annoying, but I haven't noticed anything that doesn't work. The store seems to work (I didn't try buying anything, but it loads anyway).

And more importantly, playing music works, and it isn't s**t broken like iTunes 11!

Solution 3:

"Also, I get some error about the store each time I open iTunes. It's annoying, but I haven't noticed anything that doesn't work. The store seems to work (I didn't try buying anything, but it loads anyway)."

The error you get is -42408. A friend got the same error when I tried to downgrade to 10.7. He did not receive my warning in time, and upgraded. You need to reinstall OS X and reinstall iTunes 10.7. The error you receive is a major problem because you cannot authorize the Mac through iTunes anymore. Try it and you get another error saying it can't be authorized. So iTunes 11 really jacks up the system and going back is impossible without an OS reinstall.

Solution 4:

Nice.

You can see all the components upgraded/replaced by itunes.11 by opening this installer package with Pacifist.

To restore the itunes related components I removed iTunes 11 as root then restored itunes 10.7 by unpacking the included subpackages with replace / overwrite. Apply administrator privileges, you have to confirm each action to be sure. After all restore permissions, reboot, restore your library. If hit with the 42408 bug You should (probably) restore the DVDPlayback.framework too. You may have to delete some caches, preferences related to the iTunes-Store. Resign and assign again.