I've tried the method posted here: http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2000&highlight=installing+nextstep+++ppc+macs+using by andreas_g about installing NeXTSTEP on PPC Macs with OS X, but it contrary to what he claims, it just doesn't work. The problem seems to be that I'm missing libpcap in the /opt/local/lib directory or that it's not loaded, but every time I try to start the virtual machine for NeXTSTEP, I get this error:

Link (dyld) error:

Library not loaded: /opt/local/lib/libpcap.0.dylib
Referenced from: /Users/arlenb/Applications/Q.app/Contents/MacOS/ppc-softmmu.app/Contents/MacOS/ppc-softmmu
Reason: image not found

This tells me nothing at all, since I followed the directions in his guide. Now, for something he claims will work, it's not working. I tend to think that he's made a few errors in typing, but I can't be sure. And contrary to what he says about installing libpcap, it can't be done like he says because the link for fetching that file via SVN is broken. So I downloaded it myself and installed it in that directory, and made the symbolic link as he described. Just one problem:

the file libpcap.a.dylib doesn't exist in the libpcap-1.1.1 directory, so that link does nothing. There is a file named libpcap.A.dylib in the /usr/lib directory, but his tutorial says nothing about it, and that file is from 2002.

And since I can't post on that forum because the admin is either slow or lazy in approving new members, I tried sending him a PM here because he's a member of this forum, too. But so far, no response, and he's only visited the forum twice, so he may never respond.

In the meantime, does anyone have experience with this kind of thing that can help me get it working?

Hi, welcome!

If the issue is that pcap can't be installed through the macports system (it seems it doesn't have a maintainer?), perhaps you could install it through some other software package. Wireshark (also available for PPC mac) seems to use libpcap, perhaps it installs a usable dylib file.

http://www.afterdawn.com/software/netwo ... l_versions

Best,
Cat_7

Sorry, Wireshark won't work for me. It requires Mac OS X 10.5.x, and I'm limited to running 10.4.11.

If you didn't read that post by andreas_g, please do, and then maybe you can tell me how anyone is supposed to accomplish what he suggests, when there is no such file to be found, and where you're supposed to get that an installation of libpcap that has that file libpcap.a.dylib?

Hi,

I have an old intel machine running 10.4.10. On it, I run Fink (something like macports)
Using fink, I can do a "fink install libpcap" It installs libpcap libraries etc. After installation there is a libpcap.A.dylib file in my /usr/lib folder.

However, running macports (you did install macports?), I can also install libpcap. When I cd to the folder specified in the walkthrough you linked to and run the command given there, I can see 4 libpcap related files installed to /opt/local/lib.
libpcap.0.dylib is already a link to libpcap.0.9.5.dylib. Following the directions in the guide, you should then create a link to libpcap.0.dylib named libpcap.a.dylib

I don't know what you are trying to achieve, but if it is only to run NextStep, you might also look at other solutions, like the VMware image of NextStep 3.3 available at a site called osvirtual. Perhaps that image will also run in Fusion for PPC?

Best,
Cat_7

What I'm trying to accomplish is the very thing in that post by andreas_g, but it doesn't work. Yes, MacPorts is installed, but issuing the command he specified produces an error:

:debug:main Executing org.macports.main (libpcap)
:debug:main changing euid/egid - current euid: 0 - current egid: 0
:debug:main egid changed to: 500
:debug:main euid changed to: 503
:debug:main Skipping completed org.macports.archivefetch (libpcap)
:debug:main Privilege de-escalation not attempted as not running as root.
:debug:main Skipping completed org.macports.fetch (libpcap)
:debug:main Privilege de-escalation not attempted as not running as root.
:debug:main Skipping completed org.macports.checksum (libpcap)
:debug:main Privilege de-escalation not attempted as not running as root.
:debug:extract extract phase started at Thu Dec 22 09:15:13 CST 2011
:notice:extract ---> Extracting libpcap
:debug:extract Executing org.macports.extract (libpcap)
:info:extract ---> Extracting libpcap-1.1.1.tar.gz
:debug:extract setting option extract.args to '/opt/local/var/macports/distfiles/libpcap/libpcap-1.1.1.tar.gz'
:debug:extract Environment: CPATH='/opt/local/include' CC_PRINT_OPTIONS_FILE='/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_net_libpcap/libpcap/work/.CC_PRINT_OPTIONS' LIBRARY_PATH='/opt/local/lib' CC_PRINT_OPTIONS='YES' MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET='10.4'
:debug:extract Assembled command: 'cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_net_libpcap/libpcap/work" && /usr/bin/gzip -dc '/opt/local/var/macports/distfiles/libpcap/libpcap-1.1.1.tar.gz' | /usr/bin/gnutar --no-same-owner -xf -'
:debug:extract Executing command line: cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_net_libpcap/libpcap/work" && /usr/bin/gzip -dc '/opt/local/var/macports/distfiles/libpcap/libpcap-1.1.1.tar.gz' | /usr/bin/gnutar --no-same-owner -xf -
:info:extract sh: line 1: /usr/bin/gnutar: No such file or directory
:info:extract
:info:extract gzip: stdout: Broken pipe
:info:extract shell command " cd "/opt/local/var/macports/build/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_net_libpcap/libpcap/work" && /usr/bin/gzip -dc '/opt/local/var/macports/distfiles/libpcap/libpcap-1.1.1.tar.gz' | /usr/bin/gnutar --no-same-owner -xf - " returned error 127
:error:extract Target org.macports.extract returned: shell command failed (see log for details)
:debug:extract Backtrace: shell command failed (see log for details)
while executing
"$procedure $targetname"
:info:extract Warning: the following items did not execute (for libpcap): org.macports.activate org.macports.extract org.macports.patch org.macports.configure org.macports.build org.macports.destroot org.macports.install
:notice:extract Log for libpcap is at: /opt/local/var/macports/logs/_opt_local_var_macports_sources_rsync.macports.org_release_tarballs_ports_net_libpcap/libpcap/main.log

which indicates libpcap cannot be installed at present using MacPorts. Trying to install it manually in /opt/local/lib does not produce any file named libpcap.a.dylib, and therefore the symbolic link he references can't possibly work.

VMware is for Intel-based Macs, so that is not an option. I want to install on a PPC Mac and I don't own an Intel-based Mac.

This seems to indicate gnutar can't be found to extract the downloaded libpcap file. Is gnutar installed on your system?
I also see that you didn't run port as root (at least the log indicated this). Does that make a difference?



I mentioned Fusion exactly because I know you have PPC Mac. I didn't mention VMWare, only the image for VMWare, which might also run in Fusion. But looking a bit further shows Fusion is not available for PPC Macs.

Best,
Cat_7

VMware (the company) produces Fusion, which is only for Intel-based Macs.

So you can see my frustration with this not working at all as andreas_g claims.

Yes, I see.

Your guide says: "but it may work on 10.4.x too." Perhaps you are finding out this wasn't true.

Some googling came up with these:
http://trac.macports.org/ticket/12949
http://www.tcpdump.org/#old-releases
http://lallafa.de/blog/2006/11/tfe-on-m ... ild-guide/

I'm afraid I will not be able to come up with much more.

Best,
Cat_7

He was referring to the actual running of NeXTSTEP, not the installation of libpcap. Since libpcap is installed in the Developer Tools SDK folder for 10.4, that would indicate that it indeed can be installed and used on the system outside of the Developer environment.

Perhaps there is something wrong in your config:

https://trac.macports.org/ticket/17353

Best,
Cat_7

I reinstalled Xcode (again) and for some inexplicable reason, now it works. But now when I use Qemu to startup my virtual NeXTSTEP installation, it fails and I get this in the log:



I followed the instructions in the tutorial that andreas_g posted very carefully.

Ideas, solutions?

Oops!

I would say this belongs in the qemu discussion groups. I hazard a guess that no one here would know.

Best,
Cat_7

Tragically, there are no Q (kju) discussion groups. That part of their web site (http://www.kju-app.org) does not work. Ahh, the wonders of open-source…

[Update] After much tinkering with settings, I got Q to finally start booting NeXTSTEP, but before it gets to the point of copying files to the virtual drive, I get this error:



Of course, this tells me nothing about the cause of the kernel panic, much less how I could make the kernel calm so it doesn't panic. This is all during Step 3.2, well before it's supposed to prompt me to remove the floppy disk, so in spite of doing everything in the tutorial I referenced earlier, it does not 'work' as it's claimed.

Clearly, andreas_g has made some errors in his procedure, the most egregious one being far too vague about what steps to take to achieve the desired result.

Any idea what is happening here, and how to solve it, since there are no Q forums?

Sorry for the late reply!

First i want to clarify: I wrote the guide you refer to as a service for the community. It should help people to get things running. I am a hobbyist and spent several hours of work writing this guide and making it as good as i can. As noted at the top of the guide, it worked on my system doing the steps as described. But i can't provide any warranty this will work for everyone. Furthermore i am not responsible for any annoyance installing NeXTstep in Q may cause to a user.

Now to your problem: It looks as if there is a problem with the virtual CD-ROM. You may have forgotten to add an image to the virtual CD drive (or your install CD to your real drive) or there is something wrong with the image/disk.


The PPC-Mac platform is fading away, which is sad (at least from my point of view), but it's a fact. Q is not maintained anymore and i do not have a system running it anymore. I can't maintain this guide without a system to test on. So please consider this guide obsolete. It may still be useful for someone, but again, no guarantee!

I know you're a hobbyist (aren't we all here?), but after reading the guide you posted quite a few times, I finally figured out the correct order of things, only to discover that it stopped short of actually loading the files to run NeXTSTEP!

The fact that it provides a rather cryptic message doesn't help matters.

I'm not expecting any guarantees, but I was hoping for a bit more clarity in the process you described so that I could derive some success from this venture. I think your guide needs to be rewritten so that it's much more clear and detailed in the steps, where to get the specific software needed, the process to get it working correctly, and what to do when problems arise.

On a related note, I saw your guide on the nextcomputers.org site, and was going to send you a message there, but when I tried to register at the site, my email address was rejected because the admin, 'Nitro' seems to suffer from the delusion that anyone who doesn't have their own domain and an email address to go with it must be a spammer, and has setup the registration process to automatically reject those.

But after contacting him via email, he replied, saying he would setup an account for me. That was in October of last year, and despite several emails since then, he's not replied or done anything to fulfill his promise.

If you have an Intel Mac and can run VMware Fusion, then you might want to try a complete virtual machine that runs OpenStep 4.2 (the last version of NextStep). You can find it by going to this page -

http://www.wpdos.org/chronology.html

- and searching for "OpenStep." A file that contains the username and password is included in the ZIP file.

Sorry, I don't have an Intel-based Mac, but even if I did, it wouldn't help me run any of my NeXT programs, since they're for NeXTSTEP, not OpenStep.

I think almost all programs written for NeXTstep will also run on OpenStep; I'm certainly running a lot of NeXT software on my OpenStep setup. But of course it isn't true for hardware-specific software.