Setting up SheepShaver for Mac OS X

(Last updated November 20, 2011)

(You can also set up SheepShaver for Windows and SheepShaver for Linux)

This manual is revised for use with the 25-10-2009 and later builds of SheepShaver.

For descriptions of the latest builds and download links, see this forum topic.

We start with the description of a classic setup with all files together in a folder named “SheepShaver”. That folder can be anywhere you like, for instance in your Applications folder or in your Home folder. In this setup, with the needed files together with SheepShaver in the SheepShaver folder, no full paths are required for configuration, just the file names will work. However, files and folders can be renamed and/or moved to different locations, provided you make sure the file names and/or full paths to the files are entered in SheepShaver preferences.

Note: Changed settings in preferences will take effect after SheepShaver is quit and launched again. With only a restart in the emulated machine new settings will not be used.

If you start using the 06-11-2010 build of SheepShaver in Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), you may prefer to use this build in 32-bit mode. See the section Known issues in this guide.

Please post questions and comments on E-Maculation SheepShaver forum: http://www.emaculation.com/forum/.

You will need a compatible Mac OS install CD to be able to install a Mac OS in the SheepShaver emulated machine. Depending on the used ROM file (see below for more info on ROM files), SheepShaver can run System 7.5.3 through Mac OS 9.0.4. SheepShaver cannot run 9.1 or later.

Only generic retail Mac OS install CDs are fully compatible with SheepShaver. A system install CD that was originally provided with a new Mac will only install on that specific model. *

* You may be able to install in SheepShaver from a model-specific install CD using a special hack and you may be able to use a restore CD by copying the system manually. However, with both procedures, the installed system may or may not work and when it works, it may not be fully functional.
See discusion in this forum topic: http://www.emaculation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3119

(A disk image of a retail Mac OS install CD can be used instead of the real CD. The disk image must be in a non-compressed format and the image file must be locked in the Finder to convince the installer that it is on the original read-only CD. One can also burn a CD from the image that can be used just like the original CD. If the disk image is in a format that SheepShaver cannot read, it may still be possible to burn a CD from the image that will work. Throughout this manual, instructions for using a install CD disk image instead of a real CD are in italics.)

Previously, also a SheepShaverGUI application was needed. However, current builds of SheepShaver for Mac OS X have a built-in preferences editor and as long as SheepShaver is used in window mode, a separate SheepShaverGUI or SheepShaverPrefs application is not needed anymore. When SheepShaver is used in full-screen mode, the stand-alone SheepShaverPrefs application is still needed because in full-screen mode the built-in preferences editor cannot be opened.

SheepShaver will not run without a compatible ROM file. If SheepShaver does not find a compatible ROM file, it will immediately quit on launch.

It may be difficult to get hold of a compatible ROM file as distributing bare ROM files violates Apple license agreements.

The ROM file from a 9.0.4 system CD will not work with any version of SheepShaver. ROM files from a 8.5 or 8.6 system CD may work with SheepShaver for Windows, but do not work with SheepShaver for Mac OS X (with a few specific exceptions that are beyond the scope of this manual).

ROM files that will work with SheepShaver for Mac OS X are either an “old world” rom image grabbed from an actual hardware PowerMacintosh ROM, or the “new world” rom file extracted from the “Mac OS ROM Update 1.0” using TomeViewer. The “Mac OS ROM Update 1.0” can be downloaded from Apple, but you need to have a working Mac OS system (or Classic in Mac OS X) to run TomeViewer.

About Mac OS ROM Update
Extracting the ROM file from the Mac OS ROM Update
Extracting a ROM for use in SheepShaver using Basilisk II
Download TomeViewer

Emaculation.com site policy is to not offer or link to bare ROM files, although Apple seems to have stopped taking action against distribution of ROM files, but you can find compatible ROM files when you search the web for “redundant robot sheepshaver” (without the quotes).

With the old world rom file SheepShaver can run System 7.5.3 through Mac OS 9.0.4, with the new world rom file SheepShaver can run Mac OS 8.5 through 9.0.4.

If you want to install 8.6 through 9.0.4, best use the new world rom.

When you have acquired a compatible ROM file, rename it “Mac OS ROM” (without the quotation marks and without a file name extension) if that is not yet its name. (SheepShaver will recognize a ROM file with that name in the same folder when no prefs file is yet configured.)

The keycodes file is needed with other than US-English QWERTY keyboard layouts. It is not needed (but does no harm either) if only a US-English keyboard will be used. If you did not get a keycodes file with your SheepShaver application, you can download one here:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ronaldpr/sheepshaverforum/keycodes.zip

From within SheepShaver you will have access to a folder on the Mac OS X side. That folder will appear on the SheepShaver desktop as a disk named “Unix”. Files copied or saved in SheepShaver to the “Unix” disk, will appear in the shared folder on the Mac OS X side and files placed in the shared folder on the Mac OS X side will appear in the “Unix” disk in SheepShaver.

Before you start configuring SheepShaver, create a folder that can serve as shared folder. Do not use the SheepShaver folder as shared folder. Otherwise, the folder can be anywhere it is convenient for you and it can have any name you like. Below I describe configuring SheepShaver for a shared folder that I created on my Mac OS X desktop and that I named “Shared”.

Note: Although the most serious bugs that plagued the shared folder feature in early versions of SheepShaver have been solved, we still advise to not use folders like your Documents folder or your Home folder as shared folder and not keep the only existing copy of a file in the shared folder.

When the needed files are in the SheepShaver folder, when you have created a shared folder, and when you have your Mac OS system install disk ready, you can start configuring SheepShaver.

If SheepShaver does not find a compatible ROM file, it will immediately quit on launch.

If a compatible ROM file with the name “Mac OS ROM” or “ROM” is present in the same folder, SheepShaver will launch and show in its window the grey floppy icon with blinking ”?”, indicating that the emulated Mac has not found a startup volume.

Note: At this stage you can only quit SheepShaver pressing Control-Escape.

The preferences settings will be saved in a invisible file .sheepshaver_prefs in your Home folder. The following description assumes that SheepShaver is set up for the first time and that there is no pre-existing ~/.sheepshaver_prefs file.

ROM File
First add the ROM file name using the “Browse…” button to find and “Open” the ROM file.

Volumes
You can now proceed with creating the disk image file that will be the virtual hard disk on the emulated Mac. Click the “Create…” button.

Choose an appropriate name for the image file, for instance MacOS9. (An extension .dsk will be suggested, but no extension is needed.) Choose a size for the volume (for instance 500MB or 1000MB) and save the file in the SheepShaver folder. (Creating a large disk image may take a while after the “Save” button is clicked. Wait till the dialog closes and the created volume appears in the Volumes list.)

(If a install CD disk image file is used instead of a real install CD: Use the “Add…” button to find and “Open” the CD disk image file. The file will appear in the Volumes list below the created volume. See also the information above, under “You need a Mac OS install CD”, about using a disk image file.)

Unix Root
Add the path to your shared folder using the second “Browse…” button to find and “Open” the folder you created to be the shared folder. (In this example I used a folder named “Shared” on my desktop.)

Do not keep the default value ”/”, that setting would make your entire hard disk the shared folder !

RAM Size (MB)
Enter a value for the amount of RAM that the virtual Mac will have. For instance 128 or 256 or 512.

Leave Boot From set to “Any”.

Leave Disable CD-ROM unchecked.

Video Type
Set Video Type to “Window”. (Do not use “Fullscreen” at initial set up. We will discuss using full-screen mode later.)

Refresh Rate
On fast Intel machines the preferred setting is “Dynamic”. (On slower machines a lower setting like 30Hz may improve performance and will lower the extreme CPU hunger of SheepShaver on PPC machines.)

Width and Height
Set Width and Height for the window to lower values than the width and height of your screen. If you have a large screen, you can enter higher values than those in the menu, for instance 1280 x 800.

Check Enable QuickDraw Acceleration.

The Audio Settings can be ignored.

CPU Options
Check only “Enable JIT Compiler”, “Allow Emulated CPU to Idle”, and “Ignore Illegal Memory Accesses”.

Mouse/Keyboard
Check “Use Raw Keycodes” and browse for the keycodes file in the SheepShaver folder if your keyboard lay-out is not US-English.

“Mouse Wheel Function” and “Lines to Scroll” is a matter of taste. The image shows my preference.

Serial/Network
Ignore “Modem Port Device” and “Printer Port Device”.

For “Ethernet Interface” enter “slirp” (without the quotation marks).

Click “Save” to save the settings and to close the Preferences window.

The emulated machine cannot be shutdown normally while waiting for a boot disk and SheepShaver cannot be quit with the emulated machine still running. So at this point we use Control-Escape to quit SheepShaver, which is equivalent to a hard shut down of the emulated machine.

If you use a real install CD, first insert the CD and have it mount in Mac OS X.

(If you use a install CD disk image instead of a real install CD, make sure the CD image file is locked in the Finder: Check the “Locked” box in Finder “Get Info” for the file.)

Launch SheepShaver. The emulated machine will startup from the install CD (or from the CD disk image).

During startup, the system will encounter the newly created volume and will offer to initialize it. Give the volume an appropriate name (for instance MacOS9HD) and (for Mac OS 8.1 or later) choose Mac OS Extended for the format. Click to proceed with initializing the volume.

Finally, you will see the desktop with icons for the startup volume (the CD or the CD disk image), the icon for the new volume that you will install the system onto, and the icon for the “Unix” volume that gives access to the shared folder on the Mac OS X side.

Proceed with the system installation and when the installation is completed, you can quit the installer.

(If you used a install CD disk image file instead of a real install CD: Open SheepShaver Preferences and remove the CD disk image file from the volumes list, select it and click the Remove button.)

Shut down the emulated machine and quit SheepShaver.

If you used a real install CD, you can now remove it in Mac OS X.

The Configuration Assistant
When you launch SheepShaver, the emulated machine will boot from the installed system. The Configuration Assistant will guide you through the configuration of the new system. However, in SheepShaver the Configuration Assistant will lock-up while configuring network settings. Better quit the Assistant before it arrives at the network settings and do the remaining configuration manually in the various control panels.

The Startup Disk control panel is not functional in SheepShaver
SheepShaver will startup from the first bootable volume in the Volumes list, or from a bootable CD if no bootable volume is in the list, or always from a bootable CD when “Boot From” is set to CD-ROM in Preferences. Trying to use the Startup Disk control panel may cause SheepShaver to crash.

Enable sound in SheepShaver
In “Sound” control panel, select “built-in” for the output device. In Mac OS 9 the Sound control panel is installed with the other control panels and can be accessed in the Apple menu. In Mac OS 8.5/8.6 the Sound control panel is installed in the “Apple Extras” folder. You can use it there to select the built-in output device. If the “Apple Audio Extension” happens to be installed in the Extensions folder, remove it.

Enable network access
Set the TCP/IP control panel to Ethernet and DHCP. As soon as you start using IP network access, for instance with a web-browser, the IP adresses will become visible in the control panel.

QuickTime
The latest version of QuickTime that is compatible with SheepShaver is version 4.1.2. Note that it is not possible to downgrade QuickTime by simply installing an earlier version. If you happened to have installed a later version, you will need to remove all QuickTime related files first.

QuickTime 4.1.2 can be downloaded here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1134?viewlocale=en_US

The shared folder / “Unix” disk
As explained above, the shared folder that you created in Mac OS X will appear on the SheepShaver desktop as a disk (a volume) named “Unix”. Files copied or saved in SheepShaver to the “Unix” disk, will appear in the shared folder on the Mac OS X side and files placed in the shared folder on the Mac OS X side will appear in the “Unix” disk in SheepShaver. That way you can use the shared folder and the “Unix” disk to transfer or exchange files in both directions.

Exchanging files via the shared folder used to be crippled by many bugs. The most serious bugs have been solved but you may still encounter occasional unexpected behaviour while copying folders to and from the “Unix” disk.

If you use the shared folder and “Unix” disk to transfer applications for use in SheepShaver, always copy the applications and related files within SheepShaver from the “Unix” disk to the startup system volume (or to another mounted disk image volume) before actually using them. Applications cannot run properly from the “Unix” disk.
Note that moving files directly from the “Unix” disk onto the SheepShaver desktop, does not copy them to the startup system volume. Those files will still be on the “Unix” disk, in fact inside the folder “Desktop Folder” in the shared folder.

Trashing files from the shared folder should be done at the Mac OS X side. On the Mac OS side, the trash cannot be emptied when it contains files from the “Unix” disk.

CD-ROM
To use a CD-ROM in SheepShaver, insert and mount the CD before launching SheepShaver. SheepShaver will recognize CD-ROMs, no Audio CDs, no DVDs.

Additional volumes
In Preferences you can create additional volumes (disk image files) or add existing compatible disk image files as additional volumes. All volumes in the volumes list will appear on the SheepShaver desktop. SheepShaver will startup from the first bootable volume in the list.

1. Print to a printer that is shared in Mac OS X
In short, the procedure is to share the printer in Mac OS X and to use Desktop Printer Utility in Mac OS to set up a LPR printer with LaserWriter 8 and Generic printer description to the IP-address of the Mac OS X computer on which the printer is shared. This should work with any kind of printer, and regardless how it is connected.

Our forum member “emendelson” wrote detailed instructions in this forum topic.

2. Print directly to a PostScript printer on your Network
The procedure is essentially the same as described for printing to a shared printer. But now the printer does not need to be shared (the print software in Mac OS X will not be used) and you need to enter the IP-address of the printer itself while setting up the LPR printer.

For older PostScript printers, Mac OS compatible printer description (PPD) files may be available. To enable additional specific features of your printer, make sure your printer's PPD file is installed correctly and, after setting up the LPR desktop printer, select the created desktop printer icon and choose Change Setup from the Printing menu to configure your printer.

3. PrintToPDF chooser extension
For the occasional simple print job you can also use the “PrintToPDF” chooser extension. Install it in the Extensions folder and select it in the Chooser as your printer. It will print to a PDF file that can be viewed and printed on the Mac OS X side. Download PrintToPDF

See this guide: Appletalk for SheepShaver/Basilisk in Leopard, Snow Leopard or Lion (32 and 64 bit)

SheepShaver can be set to run full-screen in the Audio / Video tab in preferences by setting “Video Type” to “Fullscreen”. The resolution settings (Width and Height) will be respected and will fill the available screen maximally while retaining proportions. On a modern high-resolution wide-screen monitor, a 1024×769 resolution will be thus be shown with black bars at the left and right sides of the screen. With the resolution set to “Maximum”, the native resolution of the screen will be used.

While SheepShaver is running full-screen, the Mac OS X environment cannot be accessed. That includes the Mac OS X menu bar and thus SheepShaver preferences. If you want to make changes to SheepShaver preferences, for instance if you want to go back to running SheepShaver in window mode, you can use the stand-alone preferences editor:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ronaldpr/sheepshaverforum/SheepShaverPrefs.zip

Or you can edit the related line in the prefs file in a text editor:

Window mode and 1024×769 resolution:

screen win/1024/769

Fullscreen mode and 1024×769 resolution:

screen dga/1024/769

Fullscreen mode and maximum resolution:

screen dga/0/0

To uninstall SheepShaver, simply remove all files in your SheepShaver folder and remove the folder itself. If your shared folder is also in that folder, you might want to move some files from that folder somewhere else first (that is, if you want to keep them).

Then remove the two hidden files from your Home folder. Open Terminal (in Applications/Utilities) and enter:

rm .sheepshaver_prefs
rm .sheepshaver_nvram

That's it!

When SheepShaver is launched in Mac OS X 10.4 on PPC Macs, a message will appear that the application SheepShaver has unexpectedly quit. The message can be simply dismissed and SheepShaver will continue to run normally.

On some host machines and/or with some configurations in the installed Mac OS system, SheepShaver will crash at the beginning of Mac OS startup. In Console log you will then typically find, among the lines that refer to SheepShaver, a line that ends with “SIGSEGV”. (View the log with Console application in /Applications/Utilities/)

The exact cause of the crash is not known yet, but in most cases it can be prevented by checking “Ignore Illegal Memory Accesses” in Miscellaneous tab in SheepShaver preferences as advised in the configuration directions above. When it is impossible to start SheepShaver because of the crash, you can change preferences settings with the stand-alone preferences editor:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ronaldpr/sheepshaverforum/SheepShaverPrefs.zip

The 06-11-2010 build of SheepShaver can run in 64-bit mode in Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) on 64-bit capable Intel machines and in Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion). There are, however, still a number of issues with SheepShaver running in 64-bit mode:

• The 'hardware cursor' is not supported, only the 'software cursor' is used. As a result, you will see the Mac OS cursor stay at the border of the SheepShaver window when you move the Mac OS X cursor outside the window. Make sure you use the setting “Dynamic” for the refresh rate in Audio/Video tab of SheepShaver preferences for smooth movements of the software cursor inside SheepShaver.
• Copying text between the emulated machine and the host system does not work.
• SheepShaver may crash using some applications. (On my system SheepShaver in 64-bit mode will consistently crash when iCab is launched in the emulated machine.)
• After minimizing and again maximizing the SheepShaver window, colors will not be displayed correctly. You can force the Mac OS screen to be redrawn by switching color depths in Monitors control panel in Mac OS.

If you encounter problems while running SheepShaver 06-11-2010 in 64-bit mode, you can set it to run in 32-bit mode using the checkbox in Finder Info on SheepShaver.