Cant get any CD/images to boot SheepShaver

[wankstone]

Have tried downloading 8.0, 8.1 and 8.5 from MacintoshGarden. Each wiki page says they work with SS.

Unzipped the .sit files into a folder and burned CDs from the iso image files using disk utility. Each time i launch SS, it kicks the CDs out and stares at me with the blinking ?.

Also tried mapping the .iso files into the volume info prefs within SS. It just ignores them as well. Files are locked and read-only.

Ive also tried all these with alternating new world and old world ROMs. Either gets me to the question mark - no further.

I tried to get the 7.5.3 image, but the file sever is shut down, and its not been mirrored anywhere else that I can find. Similar problems with the 9.0.4 image except this time they are forcing torrent clients down my throat.

I've got my "shared" folder set up on my desktop, and created a 500MB virtual drive in the SS folder. [EDIT: I've set my Virtual machine ram to 256.] The SS folder lives in the main Applications directory. Something is working, cuz my SS window resized when I set my Prefs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have read posts until my eyes bled. I've got six hours into this and am at my wits end.

MacPro 2.8Ghz QuadCore; OSX 10.6.8

[Cat_7]

Hi,

Welcome!

First some info: if you want to run Mac below 8.5, you need the old-world rom file present. For anything above (and including 8.5) you can use the new-world rom.

When you use a real cd to boot SheepShaver, you need to let it appear on your desktop before you start SheepShaver.

If you want to test whether everything else is OK, please download this disk image:
http://www.emaculation.com/sheepshaver/ ... 85_PPC.img and put it top of the list in the volumes prefs pane.

Please open the preferences file and copy its contents in your answer:
open a terminal and type "open .sheepshaver_prefs" (please mark the dot (.) in front of the filename).

Best,
cat_7

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

Since various pirate sites have become inaccessible, available MacOS downloads on Macintosh Garden have changed. Through Macintosh Garden, the 8.0, 8.1, and 8.5 install disks are now available as multipart stuffit files from MediaFire. I downloaded 8.1 and after joining the segments and unstuffing, I got a "Mac OS 8.1 toast.iso" file. It can be mounted and opened in OSX (10.7.4) and is identified as a HFS volume. Using SheepShaver 2012-02-11 build, I cannot get SheepShaver to read this file when added to the volumes list, also not when converted to other image file formats. When burned as CD, that CD is also not recognized by SheepShaver. Other disk image files and CDs are shown as expected, but not this one. So it seems that something is wrong with this disk image that makes it unreadable by SheepShaver. The same may be true for the 8.0 and 8.5 image. I will try this image with BasiliskII also.

Update: Both image and CD are read fine by BasiliskII. Very strange. I will look into this further after I had my (late) breakfast.

[wankstone]

Hi there,

Thanks for looking into this.

When I "install" the disk tools image, and launch SS i get this...

The system software on this Disk is designed for starting up from a floppy only.
Please reinstall the System Software from the disks or CD that came with your computer.

Heres the Prefs file:
disk /Users/xxxxxxxx/Desktop/DiskTools85_PPC.img
disk MacOS8HD
cdrom /dev/disk6
extfs /Users/xxxxxxxx/Desktop/SheepShaver Share
screen win/1024/768
windowmodes 0
screenmodes 0
seriala /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Modem
serialb /dev/null
rom Mac OS ROM
bootdrive 0
bootdriver 0
ramsize 268435456
frameskip 0
gfxaccel true
nocdrom false
nonet false
nosound false
nogui false
noclipconversion false
ignoresegv true
ignoreillegal false
jit true
jit68k false
keyboardtype 5
ether slirp
keycodes false
keycodefile
mousewheelmode 1
mousewheellines 3
dsp /dev/dsp
mixer /dev/mixer
ignoresegv true
idlewait true

[wankstone]

here's a few interesting tidbits i uncovered on a forum while looking for download options:

macjunkie999 at 2008-04-14 18:39 CET:
I must stress again you cannot under any circumstance burn a classic os boot cd in OS X, the System Folder will be unblessed and your disk will not be bootable.

macjunkie999 at 2008-04-14 18:40 CET:
Nor should you mount any classic os bootable disk images in OS X as the system folder will be unblessed resulting in it no longer being able to boot.

and this:

Don't download this torrent, its mostly worthless. The files were passed through Windows at some point in the process and it destroyed the resource fork data so you can only use them by re-encoding them using burning software. They wont mount using Disk Copy, StuffIt or ShrinkWrap so its pointless to download them if you plan on using them on an older Mac or for emulation.

Can't say how accurate this info is - but it might possible shed some light on the issues we're seeing.

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

I tried both the 8.1 and 8.5 images downloaded through Macintosh Garden and the CDs burned from them. SheepShaver can read them fine (I should not do such tests on an empty stomach ), but they appear to be not bootable in SheepShaver. SheepShaver boots fine from my original 8.5 install CD.

I thought of the possibility that the System Folders are not blessed, but they are blessed (= showing their System Folder icon in MacOS). To be sure, I converted the 8.5 image to a read/write format, mounted it in a MacOS environment in SheepShaver, blessed the System Folder again (= Open the folder in MacOS so the MacOS Finder can "see" the System and Finder files and close the folder again). Locked the image and tried to boot form it. Still does not work. There must be something else that is wrong about these images.

BTW: The System Folder not being blessed after burning a MacOS boot CD in OSX is only true when the files and folders are actually copied in OSX. The blessed state is not lost when the CD is burned from a disk image. I have also never experienced a MacOS bootable image turning into a unblessed state when the image was mounted in OSX. If that were true, all of my dozens of bootable images would have become unbootable by now. But, yes, copying the System Folder in OSX will turn it to an unblessed state.

The system software on this Disk is designed for starting up from a floppy only.
Please reinstall the System Software from the disks or CD that came with your computer.

You can ignore that message.

Maybe it is possible to boot from the DiskTools85_PPC.img and then use the installer on the install CD (image). I appear not to be able to boot from DiskTools85_PPC.img in Lion (SheepShaver crashes), so I will try this in Snow Leopard. Need to boot into 10.6.8 for a different reason anyway.

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

Well, I seem to be unable to have SheepShaver boot from DiskTools85_PPC.img, also in 10.6.8. The MacOS logo appears and then either MacOS system crashes or SheepShaver crashes. It used to work, don't know why not anymore.

If you can boot from DiskTools85_PPC.img, you could try to use that image to boot from and use the 8.5 image from Macintosh Garden to run the installer.

Something is wrong with the install disk images that can currently be downloaded through Macintosh Garden, something that makes them not bootable in SheepShaver. Whatever it is, it is not the System Folder not being blessed. There used to be other images linked from Macintosh Garden that worked fine.

I suppose you may need to look for other disk images from elsewhere.

[wankstone]

Wow - I'm a happy camper.

Turns out that SS will boot off the Disk Tools image. All I had to do was - as was mentioned - ignore the message. LOL

So, it boots up and instantly mounts my OS8.1 CD (from the CD drive). (The one i burned from the MacGarden image file)

Install went without a hitch, dropped in the necessary apps and extensions, and now I'm happily salvaging years of musical work from Studio Vision on my new little Mac-within-a-Mac.

Thank you so much! This app is a life-saver. :-D

[kurbads]

No real CDs nor CD Images work in SheepShaver!

1) Real CDs under 10.7.5 host do not appear in OS 9.0 guest neither when inserted before nor after launching SheepShaver.

2) Disk images in neither *.iso, *.dmg nor *.img format marked as read only and attached via 'SheepShaver -> Preferances -> Volumes' are readable within SheepShaver. They just want to be Initialized!


3) The only way to install OS is:
- boot from ready made *.dsk image (which you have to pull from your sleeve)
- copy install *.img to internal hard drive
- mount it with disc copy inside SheepShaver
- then installation goes OK

4) Accessing installation files on host mounted disk via shared folder do not work

There is no info available anywhere what on Earth makes a real CD mounted and showing on OSX desktop appear within SheepShaver. I think it is a joke and not true.

Having a sane mind you first try to attach an OS9 setup *.img disk image (e.g. from Mac_OS_Anthology_2000) within SheepShaver preferences to receive an offer to intialize it:


Then you try to mount it in OSX to get this:

Converting to *.dmg let's it mount in OSX but brings up the same Initialisation message in OS9 when attached in SheepShaver!

There is not a tiniest information about what format the images have to be when attached in SheepShaver to be readable.

Sitting on laurels of amazing achievement and not paying attention to detail is a failure.

If all disks before attaching have to be converted to *.dsk format, it would not hurt to share it and shed a light on how to do that!

Is it Windows only HFS Explorer for that?

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

Sorry, I do not know where get this all from, but most of what you write is not true or only partially true.

1. CD-ROMs shoud mount in SheepShaver on a OSX 10.7.x host. In 10.8 and later this does indeed not work anymore.

2. Images created from a CD-ROM (like a system installation CD) by OSX Disk Utility in either read-write (.dmg) or DVD/CD Master (.cdr) format can be mounted in SheepShaver by adding them to the volumes list in SheepShaver preferences, quitting SheepShaver and launching it again. For system installers on such an image to work, the image file needs to be locked in Finder Info panel. (Note that other formats, like 'compressed' or 'read-only' will not work.)

3. "Accessing installation files on host mounted disk via shared folder do not work." No, that does not work. That is not what the shared folder is intended for.

Have you read our SheepShaver OSX setup guide?

[kurbads]

I just found out that the *.CDR disk image has to be made directly from *.IMG disk image for it to work.

If the *.CDR is made from compressed in a process *.DMG made from *.IMG, it won't work.

About the guide:

1. Thanks, but it does not say how it happens. Do they appear on both Desktops at the same time?

2. *.cdr format gives same message and slightly smaller size. A 490Mb *.cdr image with 478Mb used space appears as 353Mb unreadable disk in Sheepshaver OS9,



3. Yes, I know that, I read that in SheepShaver OSX setup guide. That is why I am so pissed off. It seems nobody has tried to follow their own guide from the scratch. It is not how guides are written. Not at all.

The "Make sure you choose either “read/write” (.dmg) or “DVD/CD Master” (.cdr) for the format." note is written under "Mountain Lion and later issue:" section.

The information about booting from CD images is scattered in about 3 places in a guide. It is not a guide. It is contemplation about the matter.

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

I just found out that the *.CDR disk image has to be made directly from *.IMG disk image for it to work.

The image should best be made from the actual physical CD. If you only have an older .img file that was created on a classic Mac system, it depends on how that .img file was created if it will work at all and which procedures could be tried.

Most .img files (if not compressed) will work fine for SheepShaver. No need to convert them, they can be added as such to the volumes list.

Exactly what was the original .img image made from and how was that done? The volume name suggests that it was not made directly from a MacOS installation CD-ROM.

1. Thanks, but it does not say how it happens. Do they appear on both Desktops at the same time?

You cannot mount an image file that is added to SheepShaver's volume list at the same time in the OSX host and in SheepShaver, at least not with recent SheepShaver builds. That is done on purpose to prevent file system corruption on the image volume.

The "Make sure you choose either “read/write” (.dmg) or “DVD/CD Master” (.cdr) for the format." note is written under "Mountain Lion and later issue:" section.

That section was added when it appeared that physical CD-ROMs could not be mounted in SheepShaver in Mountain Lion. Only on Mountain Lion and later, the workaround with a disk image is needed. On earlier OSX hosts, SheepShaver can mount physical CD-ROMs simply by inserting them in the CD/DVD drive on the host machine. I do not know why this does not work on your machine. Is it a CD, not a DVD? SheepShaver does not mount DVDs. And when you have a physical CD mounted in OSX and start SheepShaver, will you be offered to initialize the CD like that happens with the images?


Your pictures show what may be (part of) the problem. Did you link to mounted volumes? You need to link to the image files themselves and the images should not be mounted in OSX.

There may be issues with the .cdr image itself that makes it unusable in SheepShaver, possibly something that is already not right (not right for SheepShaver) in the original .img file. Most .img files will work as such when added to the volumes list.


Make sure the used images are not mounted and maybe try a copy of your original .img file.

Edit: I see that you already tried the original .img file. I really do not know what can be wrong. I suppose it is something with the image that makes it unusable in SheepShaver. In that case it can indeed be only mounted when transferred to SheepShaver ane using DiskCopy there.