:
Sent: Sun Aug 20 14:43:50 2017
I would like to know about sponsor versions. I would like to know if is possible I sponsor one. reply at [... email address ...] .
It certainly should be possible. The bottom of the Variations Service Directions page gives directions for sponsoring a variation.
Let me know if anything isn’t clear, or if you have any suggestions for improving the Variation Service.
I’m thinking I should split the directions for sponsoring to a separate page, and link to it from places like the latest variations page.
Sent: Wed Aug 16 07:53:37 2017
New version Mini vMac 3.5.7 wont run on PPC G3 systems.
Console crash log: "incompatible cpu-subtype"
Thanks for the report. I have verified this issue on PowerPC G3. It turns out my GCC compiler version defaults to requiring G4 or later. I think I have a fix (changing the command line arguments generated by the Mini vMac build system).
The fix should be included in the next version, probably Mini vMac 3.6, unless some other serious problem turns up in 3.5. (Since nobody reported this in the 4 month beta period, I guess it isn’t too high priority.)
update - Mini vMac 3.5.8 should fix this.
Sent: Tue Aug 15 17:58:52 2017
Hi Paul,
Mini vMac stopped with code 0301 when I tried to open the background script of a card (the last card, where the user level is set) of Hypercard 2.2's Home stack. System 7.1.2. The host is running Windows 10 (32) on an Atom processor.
As regards the "sound" error I got the other day I haven't yet been able to reproduce it. I'll stay on the case.
Thanks!
Kind regards, Karl
Code 0301 indicates Mini vMac reached a part of the FPU emulation that hasn’t been implemented yet.
Sent: Mon Aug 14 15:12:31 2017
Paul,
Do you know about Classic Menu? I've used it for years and love it. However, it is 32-bit. Apple will soon kill all those apps. So, how can I get Classic Menu to be 64-bit? Is there someone to hire to do this.
Currently, Classic Menu is not being developed.But you can get the source code from http://www.sigsoftware.com/classicmenu/. Can you suggest anything that might help me keep this app alive?
Jorge Santini [... phone number ...]
I’d think the first step, if you haven’t already, is to ask the original developer. There is a contact form on that site.
I’m not the right person to ask. Classic Menu is pretty much the opposite of Mini vMac, which tries to look like a simple, standard, well behaved application from the point of view of the operating system. I’m not an expert on OS X programming, and don’t want to be. Most of the complexity of Mini vMac is in platform independent code which is of no concern to the operating system.
Classic Menu seems to be mostly about modifying the behavior of the operating system. This sort of thing tends to be very brittle as the operating changes. Updating it to modern MacOS would likely require a complete rewrite (to start with, moving from the Carbon API to the Cocoa API), if it is possible at all. The general trend has been to restrict modifications of the operating system.
Probably the simplest and cheapest way to continue using it is to run it in a virtual machine. The Classic Menu page says it has problems with OS X 10.7. VMware Fusion, for example, supports running OS X 10.6 server.
Sent: Sat Aug 12 16:07:47 2017
Hey paul,i would really like to see you hosting some cgi macintosh software like this one
[... link to 3D-Edit by Colin Olson on a site with Macintosh abandonware ...]
i found it in this site.
I see that 3D-Edit says that it is public domain, and so can be hosted on my pages of Software for Macintosh Plus. Thanks for the suggestion.
update - 3D-Edit has been added.
Sent: Thu Aug 10 11:00:11 2017
Hi Paul,
today I've had a crash on a Mac II mini vMac with mini vMac Code 0F19. System 7.1.2, I was working in Hypercard 2.2. Hope this info helps,
Kind regards,
Kar l
Code 0F19 indicates Mini vMac reached a part of the emulation of the Apple Sound Chip (ASC) that hasn’t been implemented yet. The problem of ASC emulation is a bit different than for FPU emulation. The FPU is fairly well documented, but extremely complicated. The ASC is much less complicated but not documented at all. So to emulate the ASC, one can observe how code is trying to access it, and guess what it is trying to accomplish. There is no way to implement a feature of the ASC without finding some code that uses it.
So, if you can give me a reproducable path that gets the Code 0F19, there is some chance I can fix it in a reasonable amount of time.
Sent: Wed Aug 9 11:30:30 2017
Hi Paul,
I've used a Standard Mac II beta Mini vMac build on a Windows PC (.exe file: Mini vMac 26) with System 7 and have opened Claris Resolve. After showing Resolve's start screen, Mini vMac stops and shows a message "Abnormal Situation" with code 0304.
Kind regards, and thanks for this great software,
Karl
Code 0304 indicates Mini vMac reached a part of the FPU emulation that hasn’t been implemented yet, specifically, a floating point operation with a Packed Decimal argument.
Sent: Tue Aug 8 04:52:21 2017
I am using a Raspberry Pi 2 B, Raspbian Lite (Jesse), a USB Apple Pro Keyboard (M7803), in minivmac-3.3.3-larm.
The option and command keys are also swapped if a Macintosh keyboard is attached to a Windows computer, or a Linux Computer.
Adding an Mini vMac option to swap these keys does look like the best solution.
Sent: Fri Aug 4 16:49:46 2017
Where can i find the Twiggy Mini vMac application?
Support for two versions of the ROM from the “Twiggy” Macintosh prototype is new to Mini vMac 3.5 Beta. This is not currently supported by the Variations Service, you need to compile your own version. Be aware that normal Macintosh disks will not work with it, you need images of System Software made for this particular hardware.
Sent: Thu Aug 3 08:57:46 2017
Hello,
The various Parameters stored in PRAM on a real Mac, such as caret blink speed, sound volume etc., aren't stored by Mini vMac, instead the Emulation uses the values defined during compile time (if I understand right).
Now that Mac II emulation is in stable beta, could you perhaps add a parameter for the colour of selected (highlighted) text? This can be set in at least System 7's "Color" Control Panel, but the setting currently doesn't survive a shutdown and restart of Mini vMac. Thanks!
Kind regards,
Karl
Thanks for the suggestion. That would be a good feature for Mini vMac 3.6.
Sent: Tue Aug 1 15:56:05 2017
First, thank you for your work on Mini vMac; it is a phenomenal program! My question, though is how to correct my Apple keyboard's Option and Command keys being recognized as switched?
That is, in Mini vMac (and only in Mini vMac; the keyboard works correctly in macOS/OS X), when I press Option MvM recognizes a Command key, & vice-versa.
I know you have a compile-time option to switch the Command & Control keys, but is there any way to have MvM swap the Command & Option keys? (Or am I missing some other cause for my problem?) Thank you!
~Travis Clark
Thank you for the bug report. That is strange, it hasn't been reported before. What kind of computer, and operating system, and keyboard are you using? And what version of Mini vMac?
If a keyboard for Windows is attached to a Macintosh, the position of the option and command keys will be swapped. But that applies to all software, not just Mini vMac. I was thinking about providing a option/command key swap for this situation.
update - follow-up message
Sent: Tue Jul 25 18:32:52 2017
Can you give a new link of vmac please,the original is broken and i want to use macos 128k
An alternate link to the original vMac project that might work better for you is http://www.vmac.org/main.html.
But the original vMac does not emulate a Macintosh 128K. Mini vMac has added this ability, as a compile time option. I can compile Mini vMac for you, see the Variations Service.
Sent: Sun Jul 23 19:19:03 2017
Your Program Is has an undefined program
Could you give more details of the problem?
I notice that the user agent string of the web browser you used to post this message indicates you are using Mac OS X 10.12. Please be sure to read the OS X notes. Mini vMac will not work correctly if these issues are not dealt with.
Sent: Wed Jul 19 15:53:19 2017
You should make a list of systems that has software compatible with it,for example:System 6.0:macpaint,macwrite,slime invaders. System 7.0:Macwrite,GameMaker,Stuffit.
My pages of Software for Macintosh Plus often indicates whether a program requires System 7. This is mostly a collection of freeware and shareware, plus some links to other software still available. Giving information for all software ever written that works on Macintosh Plus doesn’t seem feasible.
Sent: Sun Jul 16 00:00:05 2017
How do i learn to make a macintosh plus program?
A good resource may be used books. I maintain lists of Macintosh 680x0 related books, including Apple Documentation and other books about Macintosh Programming. Many of the “Inside Macintosh” books can be still be downloaded from Apple for free. I provide links.
Another resource is existing software for which source code is available. Some of the “Software for Macintosh Plus” hosted by the Gryphel Project include source code. Also all of the “Mini vMac Extras” include source.
Sent: Tue Jul 11 18:59:33 2017
Can you show a tutorial of the resedit application? I'm really confused about how to import,expand,and then open it in mini vmac
Sent: Tue Jul 11 19:46:48 2017
I cant use Stuffit expander,i am using it on system 6.0.8 and i'm trying to expand a software,but nothing like .sit,.hqx,or the files stuffit supports appears,is there something wrong with it?
See my Stuffit Expander page, which talks about this issue when using it in System 6.
Sent: Tue Jul 11 16:06:04 2017
How do i install colors in system 6.0?
For one thing, to see colors you will need the Macintosh II emulation. When installing the System, you may want to include “32-Bit QuickDraw”, so it can work with thousands or millions of colors. This used to be required for Mini vMac to work in color at all, but this seems to have been fixed by Mini vMac 3.4.
You could follow my System 6 utility disk Recipe for Mini vMac, for step by step instructions in making a System 6 disk that supports Macintosh II and color.
Sent: Fri Jul 7 23:11:35 2017
It is even possible to have a animation program in macintosh plus, like,system 6.0.8 or later?If not then ok,if yes then do you know how to make a animation software for macintosh?
I’m not sure what you mean by “animation program”. There is, for example, MacroMind VideoWorks, which later evolved into Adobe Director.
Sent: Fri Jul 7 20:07:22 2017
Do you have the .dsk file of resedit?
I provide a link to download “ResEdit” from Apple’s server. But the license prevents me from putting a copy on my server, and so I can not provide it repackaged as a disk image, either. I have revised my page to try to make it clearer this is an external link.
Sent: Tue Jul 4 19:12:23 2017
A feature request: An area in the menu bar (or control mode) to open recently used disk images.
Doing this in general for all ports may be too complicated for Mini vMac. But it might be feasible for the Cocoa port for OS X, where this functionality is provided by the operating system.
Sent: Tue Jul 4 16:26:28 2017
I know this doesnt look important,but how do i install System 7 on my Mini vMac, is it possible?
Sent: Tue Jul 4 22:05:47 2017
I know how to install system 6 and some versions,but i dont know how do i install system 7 on Mini vMac?
Yes, it is possible. See the Recipes for Mini vMac page.
Sent: Tue Jul 4 16:06:06 2017
Follow-up to: Can you tell for sure whether it says “Abnormal Situation” at the top? It is very hard to imagine how this message can be shown more than once per run of Mini vMac...
-> I can't see the words "Abnormal Situation" in the window. I tried to provoke the behaviour by hitting keys, moving the mouse (i.e. finger on trackpad), clicking etc. It seems that the tablet (or, rather, ist keyboard) "sees" a CTRL key press when I press the trackpad in a certain way.
The window does not appear when I am very gentle and careful with the trackpad.
My Interpretation is that the build quality of the tablet's keyboard is rather poor and that Mini vMac is behaving as it should - it's the tablet's problem, not Mini vMac's. I've not come across this behaviour on other machines on which I've tried the same variations. Thus, false alarm. Apologies! Kind regards, Karl
That’s good news.
My guess of what may going on is that the trackpad can detect multiple finger gestures, but doesn’t have a direct way to report them to the computer, and instead tries to fake it. So perhaps a two finger tap is simulated as holding down the control key while clicking the mouse button.
Sent: Mon Jul 3 18:48:36 2017
what should i do when i download resedit 2.1.3 on my pc
After downloading ResEdit, you can use ImportFl to import “ResEdit_2.1.3.sea.bin” into a blank disk image, then use Stuffit Expander (or binUnpk) to get “ResEdit 2.1.3.sea”, which is a “Self Extracting Archive” application you can run to get the folder “ResEdit 2.1.3”.
Sent: Sun Jul 2 14:12:48 2017
Why custom variations are now demo?
See the News for June 11, 2017. There is also this forum discussion.
Sent: Sun Jul 2 10:21:25 2017
Paul - apologies, I am using 8480 and 8481, not 8440 and 8441.
This is happening on a rather cheap Windows 10 tablet with an Atom processor. The number is very briefly shown in the window that usually pops up when I hit the control key (to set speed, full screen etc). The window shows up for maybe a fifth of a second and then closes again without me pressing any key. I haven't seen this on any past variation that I've tried on other computers (Macs and PCs).
My impression is that it's happening when I move the mouse cursor using a trackpad on the keyboard attached to the tablet.
I'll try those same variations on a "real" pc, i.e. a normal Windows 10 laptop, as soon as I can and will report back.
Regards, Karl
Can you tell for sure whether it says “Abnormal Situation” at the top? It is very hard to imagine how this message can be shown more than once per run of Mini vMac. However, Mini vMac can also display other error messages in a similar style. In which case the top line would say something else. Another possibility is that the error is actually being only displayed once, but somehow getting suppressed temporarily. But in that case the keyboard shouldn't work.
By the way, what specific kind of Windows 10 tablet are you using? Perhaps I should buy one for testing, as I don’t currently have anything like that.
update - follow-up message
Sent: Thu Jun 29 15:11:28 2017
Hello Paul,
I'm using variations 8440 and 8441. I am shown many, many "Abnormal situations" very briefly during normal Operation - in fact so briefly that I can't see the number (and thus won't be able to report it).
Thus a suggestion: Have the software collect the abnormal situation codes and display them on demand from the control mode (perhaps via a new entry).
Thanks for your great work, kind regards, Karl
Thanks for the bug report. This is very strange. Mini vMac Abnormal Situations reports should not behave this way. The report should stay up until the ‘c’ key is pressed. And after the first report no more should be displayed until the program is quit.
Are you quite sure this is a Mini vMac Abnormal Situation report, which is displayed in a similar style to the Mini vMac Control Mode, and not some sort of error message from the emulated Macintosh?
Does pressing the ‘c’ key stop the reports? What specifically are you doing when the reports appear, or does it happen in multiple situations? (Including what System Software version, and what applications?)
By the way, varations 8440 and 8441 are of Mini vMac 3.4.1, where Abnormal Situation reports do not report a number. Reporting a hexadecimal number was added in Mini vMac 3.5.6.
There is a compile time debug option for outputting a log file, including all abnormal situation reports. This can potentially quickly generate gigabytes of output, and completely fill a disk. For less advanced users, this could be an unpleasant situation. So this is not a supported option for the variation service.
update - follow-up message
Sent: Tue Jun 27 05:24:16 2017
Using mini vmac with OS X 7.5.5. It ir ever be possible/added to use ethernet capabilities to use a web browsers or terminal program with in Mac os7?
will mini mac ever be able to emulate os8 or os9?
See the “Networking?” and “What System Software versions can be used with Mini vMac? ” sections of the FAQ.
Sent: Sun Jun 25 09:29:52 2017
Hi My name is John Alty and love classic Mac. Where is the mini Vmac 2 for android. It is not on Google app store and I found this variation was great when used previously. Also the disk images saved into the folder are not recognised and I can not even load os 6 onwards. Shame can you help me. [... email address ...] Thanks.
I’m not involved in the Android port of Mini vMac, and don’t know much about, and in fact have never used it, which is why there is no documentation about it on this website. Perhaps in the future this may change.
It does look like Mini vMac II for Android has been removed from the Google app store.
Sent: Sat Jun 24 18:06:13 2017
Hi Paul,
I am trying to use FDisasm to disassemble the final version of the NewWorld ROM (the "CDG5" project at the MacOS9Lives forum if you're interested). Although I am making progress, I need to patch FindCode to treat F-line opcodes as valid code.
But all my compiles of FindCode (using Symantec C on MPW 3.6d7/Mac OS 9.2.2, and MPW C on MPW 3.1/System 6.0.8) produce an app that quits immediately on launch. It seems to be a clean quit, not a crash. I am able to compile FDisasm without a problem, however.
Any thoughts?
Best wishes, and my congratulations for your great work,
Elliot
This sort of problem would normally be tracked down with a debugger. If that is not convenient, another approach is to insert a single SysBeep call somewhere in the startup code and see if you hear the beep. By moving the SysBeep call around, you can figure out exactly where the failure aborted the startup.
FDisasm is believed to be pretty accurate, since it can disassemble a number of ROM images well enough to be reassembled back to the original image. FindCode is not so easy to test. Worse, it hasn't been updated as fixes were added to FDisasm. Probably it would be simplest to throw out most of the instruction decoding in FindCode and derive it again from the FDisasm code.
Sent: Mon Jun 12 19:46:38 2017
hi Paul, I'm no more able to get mini vMac working in Mac OS X Sierra (10.12.5) Intel. It doesn't load any ROM (named vMac.ROM)...
I tried also a few ROM's downloaded in Internet, no luck: always the "press C" message...
Any help, please?
Thank you.
Salvo [... email address ...]
This sounds similar to a previous message. The previous reply:
“I’m suspecting this has something to do with a new security “feature” in OS X 10.12: Path Randomization. The operating system can copy the application somewhere else before executing it. If so, moving an application into another folder from where you first unzipped it is supposed to be one way to disable this.”
“Otherwise, as documented in the ROM section in the Emulated Hardware Reference, there are two other place Mini vMac for OS X will look for the ROM image: “/Users/[your_UserName]/Library/Preferences/Gryphel/mnvm_rom/” and “[Application Bundle]/Contents/mnvm_dat/”.”
“I should get OS X 10.12 and look into the Path Randomization stuff. (But there may not be anything to do except document work arounds.)”
Sent: Thu Jun 8 16:12:15 2017
The instructions aren't working well for the Android version I downloaded -- in general Android directories mystify me, but despite having Astro I can't seem to find the folder that mini vMac is in either by searching for the name of the app or using online directions on where to search for apps. Is there a set folder that mini vMac winds up in? Also, as I'm using a Windows emulator (Basilisk II) to carry out the Mac functions, I'm finding the Stuffit-expanded system startup files are, when transferred from Mac to Windows, winding up still with a .bin extension. I'm going to try manually changing those to .sea but wasn't sure if there wasn't something else going on. If I could find the directory Mini vMac was in I could transfer directly from the Mac to Android, which I also thought might fix the issue. Thanks for any help you can offer!
Sent: Thu Jun 8 18:26:28 2017
I figured out who to ask about the Android version. Thanks for your patience!
I’m glad you figured it out.
I’m not involved in the Android port of Mini vMac, and don’t know much about, and in fact have never used it, which is why there is no documentation about it on this website. Perhaps in the future this may change.
Sent: Mon Jun 5 06:07:26 2017
Hey Paul,
I've got two bits of feedback for you
1. Using my compilation of 3.4.1, I can boot every classic version of Mac OS except 2.0.1b (System 4.1, Finder 5.5) and System 5.1 (System 4.3, Finder 6.0). These two require me to use a non-color hardware for some reason, even though both should theoretically work with a Mac II (where some of the earlier Systems that DO work, obviously should not). Any idea what might be going on here?
2. I've been having difficulties building minivmac-3.5.6-imch under macOS Sierra in XCode 8.3.2. I'm getting the fatal error "source is configured for 32 bit compiler" but I can't figure out where this is coming from. Is there some new undocumented config flag for 64-bit in the config system? Have I somehow forgotten an -ev value that's needed?
Thanks for your tireless work and feedback!
Sent: Mon Jun 5 06:18:55 2017
Finally figured out how to get rid of the fatal error: set the architecture to 32-bit only. That seems odd though; my older builds handled 64-bit just fine, and the error check is the same in old and new builds. Did something change in the target build script?
Sent: Mon Jun 5 06:29:10 2017
Regarding item two previously... I guess I haven't built in a few months :D Finally remembered and found the cpu flag again, and that item's sorted. Feel free to edit it out of the feedback unless this will help someone else.
Thanks for the report on the Macintosh II emulation issue. It seems similar to this previous message.
Regarding the second issue, for anyone else, to compile the Mini vMac 3.5.x using recent XCode, you can use options to the Mini vMac build system like “-t mc64 -ev 8210”.
Sent: Fri Jun 2 01:50:36 2017
Building Mini vMac 3.5.5 using lcc doesn't work properly, at least not for mac II emulation. It will boot up just fine but when using More About This Mac (which comes with OptiMem RamCharger 8) it will say "zero K" for several things including the built in memory (I am using system 7.5.5) . Using the same build options with Bloodshed Dev-c++ works as expected but that doesn't allow building 64 bit versions. More About This Mac can be found here : http://www.jumpdev.com/
Here is what I am using that is not working like it should (it doesn't matter if I use wx86 or wx64 the result is the same). Yet do the same exact thing with -e dvc it works fine.
-t wx86 -e lcc -m II -magnify 1 -sss 4 -sony-sum 1 -sony-tag 1 -ccs -speed a -bg 1 -em-cpu 2
Thanks for the bug report. I have verifed this happens with just the options “-t wx86 -e lcc -m II”. And I have also found this happens in Mini vMac 3.4.1 too. I notice that Speedometer doesn’t work either.
I’d suspect a bug in lcc, but I don’t know for sure that Mini vMac is not doing something that isn’t defined by the C language.
If you just want a working version, you can you request one from the Variations Service. It would likely also be several times faster, since Mini vMac 3.5 is optimized for a particular version of the gcc compiler, and not lcc.
Sent: Thu Jun 1 16:38:41 2017
how do you unzip file once you have downloaded on a mac
A double click on the file icon should work.
I’m not sure what sort of file you are talking about. Perhaps you mean a Mini vMac application archive, whose name ends in “.bin.tgz”. This a Gnu Zip compressed TAR archive. OS X has the built in ability to decompress it. Double clicking on the icon is one way. You can also select the icon and chose the “Open” command from the “File” menu. Or you can right click on the icon and choose Open. And there are a number of other ways.
Or you might mean a zipped hfs disk image from my collection of Software for Macintosh Plus, or one of the Mini vMac Extras. OS X has the ability to decompress these too, using the same ways described above.
Sent: Mon May 29 14:32:55 2017
Dear Paul,
I found what was wrong with the keyboard and was able to solve it. It seems to happen in non-English windows but can be remedied.
By the way, I wonder if it is possible to let the Mini VMac to start automatically with some .dsk files. That way we don't have to drag System and other disks every time we start it up.
Thank you,
Albert
That’s good that it is working for you. If you would share a few details on how you solved it, that could be helpful to other people.
Yes, Mini vMac can automatically mount images on launch, if they are named “disk1.dsk”, “disk2.dsk”, and so on. See the Floppy Drives section of the Mini vMac Emulated Hardware Reference.
Sent: Sun May 21 15:08:11 2017
Hi, thanks for the great work. But I want to report some bugs with the keyboard when running under Windows 10. I am judging the experience when running Dark Castle. The keyboard doesn't work when in "windowed" or "magnified" mode. It only works when in Full screen mode. Can you fix this? Thank you.
Sent: Mon May 22 13:33:31 2017
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the great work on the Mini vMac project. It brings back a lot of great memory. Just one note about the Windows version, the keyboard doesn't work properly when in "Windowed" or "Magnified" mode. It only works with "Full screen" mode. I tested it with Windows 7 and Windows 10. Can you try to fix it?
Thank you,
Albert
Thank you for the bug report. Sorry for the delay. I’m back from travel.
Could you be more specific about how the keyboard doesn’t work? Do you type and nothing at all happens? Is this the same in both Windows 7 and 10? Are you using the same hardware for both Windows 7 and 10, or two different computers? What keyboard layout are you using? (Something other than US English?) Are you using any third party software that might affect the keyboard?
Are you using the standard variation of Mini vMac 3.4.1 (stable)?
Sent: Mon May 15 14:59:24 2017
Sent: Mon May 15 15:02:37 2017
Sent: Mon May 15 15:04:34 2017
Hello!
Can you help me with compiling the mini vmac for macintosh se/30 emulation? I don't have programs to compile this.
If you can please compile and send me (without the roms because i have one from my mac se). my email: [... email address ...]
Regards.
Please see the Variations Service.
Mini vMac can not yet emulate a Mac SE/30, but the Macintosh II emulation should be able to use a Mac SE/30 ROM image, if you rename the image to “MacII.ROM”
Sent: Tue May 9 17:34:07 2017
Your website says June 7 2017 instead of May 7 2017 on the latest 3.3.5 update
cheers
--billm--
Oops. Thank you for telling me. It’s fixed now.
Sent: Sat May 6 07:56:50 2017
G'day Paul,
I have been using Mini vMac for years. Simply fabulous.
I recently installed it on my Android phone (Android 5.1) and it boots up with the floppy disk icon with flashing question mark.
This is obviously looking for the boot disk image but unfortunately there is no menu to allow me to either drag the image or look for it. This is similar to the Linux version but at least here, the Mini vMac doesn't fill the whole screen so I can just drag the image into it and hey Presto!
I am pretty conversant with the emulator, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to access the boot image.
Tell me I am stupid because I am fairly certain I am missing something very obvious.
In the meantime, keep up the good work. Are you planning to to ever do a colour version that runs say OS 8 or 9?
Cheers,
Kevin [... last name ...]
[... email address ...]
Sent: Sat May 6 08:33:53 2017
G'day again Paul,
Yep... I'm stupid.
I finally worked it out. On Samsung Galaxy there is no menu button but rather it is a long press on the left hand screen button.
This brings up the opportunity to insert the boot image.
Perhaps you might want to post this to FAQ so other idiots like me can figure it out.
Works like a charm. Thanks again Paul
Cheers,
Kevin [... last name ...]
[... email address ...]
I’m glad you figured it out.
I’m not involved in the Android port of Mini vMac, and don’t know much about, and in fact have never used it, which is why there is no documentation about it on this website. Perhaps in the future this may change.
The last version of system software that Mini vMac may eventually be able to run is 8.1, as mentioned in the FAQ (and the last version Mini vMac can currently run is 7.5.5).
The incomplete Mac II emulation of Mini vMac can do color, and works well enough to play many games. (It should not yet be relied upon for more serious uses.)
Sent: Thu Apr 27 12:40:39 2017
Thanx for great software!
I wish that you in future versions could include some easier way to exchange files between host computer (OSX) and Mini vMac - perhaps a folder that would look like a volume in Mini vMac.
Also, support for reading the host computers's CD-drive would be great!
Are Hansen
Thank you for your donation.
I wouldn’t say never to a shared folder, but it would be complicated, and there are many other things with higher priority. Meanwhile, there is ImportFl, ExportFl, and MiniUnZp.
Using a CD-drive might work on some operating systems by mounting the device file as if it was a disk image file. Otherwise, you could make an image file from a CD and then mount the image in Mini vMac. Making an image file is a good idea anyway, for backup. A CD won’t last forever.
Sent: Tue Apr 25 22:24:43 2017
I tested your beta mini vmac 3.5.3 on Mac OS X 10.5.8 on Power PC. It Works for me.
Are you doing away Mac OS classic build ? I look they are no Mac OS classic build on this Beta page.
I hope to bring back classic 680x0 and PowerPC builds eventually. Both appear to be currently broken by compiler bugs. Perhaps sometime I’ll try harder to get the Retro68 compiler working, and then port changes to GCC version 4.7.4, which I use for all other targets. The 680x0 build turns out to have been broken in Mini vMac 3.4.1, and no one reported it until recently.
Sent: Tue Apr 25 09:42:57 2017
Hi. I downloaded "SSW_6.0.8-1.4MB_Disk1of2.sea.bin" and "SSW_6.0.8-1.4MB_Disk2of2.sea.bin", but I get the message "the document ... could not be opened because it is damaged or incomplete". Trying with Stuffit, I get a System Startup Image, but when I click on it, I get the message "legacy image should be converted". Is there something that I can do to continue? I use OS X (10.12.3) and a late 2013 iMac. My email is [... email address ...]. Thank you
Sent: Tue Apr 25 10:50:11 2017
Problem solved. [... email address ...]
THANK YOU It is great!
Evangelos
I’m not sure what the issue was, but I’m glad you solved it.
For anyone else, the Getting Started with Mini vMac page discusses ways to extract the System disk images and what to do next.
Sent: Tue Apr 25 07:01:02 2017
Hi Paul,
I noticed that all the Dynamix adventure games (Willy Beamish, Heart of China, Rise of the Dragon) cause the system to crash when launched when emulating a Mac II. It displays the bomb icon and states a system error has occurred, illegal instruction. Are you aware of this issue and is there any prospect of it being resolvable in future releases?
Adam
Thanks for the bug report. This was much easier to debug than I expected. It turns out that for the CMPI instruction Mini vMac is considering some addressing modes to be illegal when they are actually fine. This should be fixed in the next 3.5 beta.
Sent: Tue Apr 25 04:11:30 2017
Hi Paul,
Moving the rom file to "[Application Bundle]/Contents/mnvm_dat/" worked perfectly for the Mac Sierra issue I was having with the custom builds. I missed that self-contained write-up when looking through the site.
Thanks,
Mike
That’s good you have it working. I should get OS X 10.12 and look into the Path Randomization stuff. (But there may not be anything to do except document work arounds.)
Sent: Mon Apr 24 23:29:17 2017
Hi Paul,
My apologies for not including enough details in my original message.
I cannot get custom variations from the variations service to recognize the necessary ROM file. Checksums match although the message is "unable to locate ROM image" rather than corrupt or incorrect ROM.
OS: OS X 10.12.4 (Sierra)
Path: "/Applications/Classic Mac Emu"
My primary issue is with builds for the Mac II rom (e.g. builds 7976, 7977, 7978, 7980, 7981, 7982, 7983).
The md5 checksum for file "MacII.rom" located with the apps in "/Applications/Classic Mac Emu" is 66223be1497460f1e60885eeb35e03cc which matches one of the expected Mac II md5 checkums at http://www.gryphel.com/c/mac68k/
I also tried the MacII.rom file included in the CJ-Classics app, but it failed with same message even though it works with the 3.4.1 Intel build inside the app bundle and reports "Macintosh II" in "About This Macinstosh...".
This rom file has the md5 checksum 2a8a4c7f2a38e0ab0771f59a9a0f1ee4 which matches the Mac II FDHD/Mac IIx/Mac IIcx/Mac SE/30 checksum at http://www.gryphel.com/c/mac68k/
The rom is named "MacII.rom" rather than "MacIIx.rom" which confuses me. Based on earlier messages in the archive, I take it you built the CJ-Classics app (thank you again), so I must be missing something. I've searched your entire site to see if 3.5.x beta is set up different or what I might be doing wrong, but can't figure it out.
I previously had an issue with build 7984 and vMac.ROM but it works fine now and I can't recreate the issue. But build 7847 in the same folder with the same vMac.rom that works with the standard 3.4.1 build fails with "unable to locate ROM image" for "vMac.ROM" message.
Standard Mac drive format so it's not case sensitive, but renaming the files to .ROM do not resolve the issue.
Thanks,
Mike
Thanks for the further details.
I’m suspecting this has something to do with a new security “feature” in OS X 10.12: Path Randomization. The operating system can copy the application somewhere else before executing it. If so, moving an application into another folder from where you first unzipped it is supposed to be one way to disable this.
Otherwise, as documented in the ROM section in the Emulated Hardware Reference, there are two other place Mini vMac for OS X will look for the ROM image: “/Users/[your_UserName]/Library/Preferences/Gryphel/mnvm_rom/” and “[Application Bundle]/Contents/mnvm_dat/”.
update - follow-up message
Sent: Sun Apr 23 23:45:48 2017
Hi,
I'm putting together a system using a raspberry pi, a 1024x768 lcd and a touch panel.
My intent is to run minivmac, full screen, magnified 2x.
Works great with a mouse, and the touch screen works if windowed.
What happens in the full screen is that the scaling of touch is off. A middle rectangle of 1x size is getting scaled corner to corner in the 2x screen.
Can you suggest where in the code would be a good place to fix this scaling?
Thanks
Using a touch screen in Full Screen mode will probably work better with the “-emm 0” option.
Sent: Sun Apr 23 18:45:37 2017
Hi Paul,
Thank you for mini vMac. I've searched your site and apologize if I missed a easy answer but I cannot figure out where to store the associated ROM file for the custom 3.5.x builds. When stored in the same folder as app, the emulator complains it can't find the required file ("MacII.ROM" or "vMac.ROM" respectively). The filenames and md5 checksums are correct. What am I missing?
Thanks,
Mike
Thanks for the bug report. By custom builds, do you mean from the variation service (in which case, what is the variation number), or that you have compiled yourself (in which case, with which options, and what development enviroment, including version)? In either case, what is the host operating system and version? Are there any odd characters (anything besides a-z and 0-9) in the path (the names of all enclosing folders)? Does it make any difference if you move the application and ROM image somewhere else (like the root folder of the boot disk)?
update - follow-up message
Sent: Sun Apr 23 05:53:45 2017
After trying to compile in Visual c++ 2005, i keep getting this message.
c:\users\emu\desktop\minivmac-3.4.1-wx86\src\CNFGRAPI.h(16) : fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'windows.h': No such file or directory
See this similar previous question.