Snow Leopard Hardware Compatibility

Save your headaches by booting into 32-bit kernel mode, the default. You won’t lose anything by doing this, and it will minimize any driver issues.

Boot mode

Snow Leopard can boot into 32-bit or 64-bit mode, though the form the final release will take is unclear.

Expect issues in 64-bit mode with hardware devices and related software.

NEC 30" LCD PERMALINK

The NEC 30" LCD 3090WQXi is my favorite monitor of all time.

I had no problems calibrating the monitor with the Spectra View II software on Snow Leoaprd.

OWC ThunderBay 4
High capacity, high-performance fault-tolerant storage for photography and video.

Non-RAID or RAID-0/1/4/5/10.
Capacities up to 64 Terabytes!

More about OWC Thunderbay 4...

Hard drives or SSD.

Sonnet Tempo E4P PERMALINK

I use this 4-port eSATA card frequently. Operation with driver version 2.1.9 has been problem-free in Snow Leopard (in the 32-bit kernel).

I am testing the beta version of the 64-bit driver; the 32-bit driver does not load if Snow Leopard is booted into the 64-bit kernel, which means that attached drives simply don’t show up on the desktop. Rebooting into the 32-bit kernel is your solution.

Sonnet Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard/34 PERMALINK

Using version 2.1.9 of the Sonnet driver, I created a 2-drive RAID stripe (using Disk Utility) which worked in 32-bit kernel mode. Booting into 64-bit kernel mode the RAID stripe would simply not appear on the desktop, because the 32-bit driver does not load in 64-bit mode. See notes above on the 64-bit driver.

New Mac?

Work from home?
Consult with Lloyd before buying!


System configuration for CPU, GPU, memory, SSD, backup, RAID, optimizing performance, workflow.
For YOUR optimal workflow

Avoid costly mistakes in throwing money at the problem for less performance and/or buying the wrong machine for your own needs!

Remote screen sharing available for RAID, software configuration, etc.

More about 2019 Mac Pro vs iMac 5K vs iMac Pro...

More good stuff for 2019 Mac Pro...

READ: 2019 Mac Pro vs iMac Pro vs 2019 iMac 5K...

Hard drives and SSDs PERMALINK

No issues found on either my 2.66GHz quad-core Mac Pro Nehalem or 2.93GHz 8-core Mac Pro Nehalem.

External enclosures PERMALINK

External drives should be unaffected. However, any specialized software or drivers associated with specialized enclosures could be a source of concern in 64-bit mode.

See Recommended Enclosures.