Have you done any research yourself? Reading forums? Reading Help and FAQ pages?
Here is a edited version of earlier postings by me in these forums.
First we we see to it that we have all we need.
1. The system CD
Before we start, it is important to make sure that the MacOS 8.5 system CD is a universal system install CD that can install the system on all Mac models that can run MacOS 8.5. A CD that was originally supplied with a new Mac can install only on the model it was supplied with and can not be used with SheepShaver.
SheepShaver can be used with Mac OS versions 8.5, 8.6, 9.0 and 9.0.4.
2. SheepShaver application
After expanding the downloaded archive, rename the folder to simply "SheepShaver" and place it into your Home folder. It can be placed anywhere you like, but having the SheepShaver folder in your Home folder will keep the paths short, which helps to keep configuring SheepShaver simple.
Apart from the documentation there are the "SheepShaver" and "SheepShaverGUI" applications in the folder.
What else do we need?
3. A ROM file.
Insert the MacOS system disk and open it. On the CD there will be a System folder and in that folder you will find a file "MAC OS ROM". Copy that file to your SheepShaver folder.
There are reports that the "MAC OS ROM" file from a 8.5 CD does not work with SheepShaver and it does not work for me. So you would need to get hold of another ROM file, one from another MacOS CD, or one from a PCI PowerMac, or one extracted from the "Mac OS ROM Update 1.0" or from the Mac OS 8.6 update. To extract the ROM file from the Mac OS ROM Update or from the Mac OS 8.6 update you will need "TomeViewer" running in MacOS or Classic under MacOSX. (Do you have access to a older Mac that can use MacOS or Classic in MacOSX?)
See also:
SheepShaver FAQ:
http://www.gibix.net/dokuwiki/en:projec ... r:help:faq
About Mac OS ROM Update:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60408
Extracting ROM file:
http://www.open.ou.nl/hsp/Engels/SheepS ... ow_to.html
TomeViewer:
http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/15295
4. A "shared" folder
Create in your SheepShaver folder a new folder and name it "shared". (It can be in a different location, but I am trying to make this a s simple as possible.)
Now we can proceed to configuring the prefs and creating a disk image that will serve as the Mac OS harddisk.
Launch "SheepShaverGUI". I will describe each tab and what to do in it. You can ignore items that I do not mention.
1. Volumes
- In the box after "Unix Root" you will need to enter the path to the shared folder in your SheepShaver folder. If the shared folder is inside the SheepShaver folder inside your Home folder, that path will look like this:
/Users/yourname/SheepShaver/shared
Take care to enter the path correctly, "yourname" should of course be replaced by the name of your Home folder.
- We need to create the disk image for your virtual Mac.
Click "Create...". You will find a navigation dialog that looks different to what you are used to. At the left you see the directories (folders), at the right you see the files that are inside the open directory. You can also see all the directories and files that are normally hidden.
Navigate to your SheepShaver folder by double-clicking "Users/", than double-clicking your Home folder and than double-clicking "SheepShaver/".
Above the text box at the bottom, you will now see the line:
Selection: /Users/yourname/SheepShaver
Enter the size in MB for your harddisk image. Depending on the available space on your actual hardware disk and on the intended use of your MacOS virtual Mac, I suggest you choose to make it 500 or 1000.
Enter a name for the harddisk image file, for instance "MacOS8HD.dmg".
Click "OK".
If everything has gone well, you will now see the path to the newly created file in the box at the top of the Volumes tab.
2. Graphics/Sound
Here you will set your window properties, use the drop-down menus:
Video Type: Window
Window Refresh Rate: 15 Hz (You can try higher refresh rates later)
Width/Height 800/600 or 1024/768
(The Width and Height must be smaller than the resolution of your screen.)
3. Serial/Network
In the third box (Ethernet interface) use the drop-down menu (the triangle) to enter "slirp" in the box.
5. Memory/Misc
In the first box, use the drop-down menu to enter a value for the memory to be used by your virtual Mac. It should of course be less than the actual hardware memory available on your iMac. 128 or 256 will be plenty to run MacOS 8.5.
In the second box you need to browse to your ROM file (or you can type the path in the box: /Users/yourname/SheepShaver/Mac OS ROM)
Now we must proceed, launch SheepShaver and install MacOS, if you quit SheepShaverGUI now without launching SheepShaver, you will loose the settings.
1. Insert the MacOS 8.5 system CD and wait till it appears on your desktop.
2. In the SheepShaverGUI dialog, click on the "Start" button.
SheepShaver will launch and will boot from the CD. Halfway the process it will discover the new disk (the image you created) that needs to be initialized. Enter a name for the disk, for instance "MacOS8HD", and choose Mac OS Extended for the format.
Finally you will see the CD desktop, with the CD and the new MacOS8HD mounted. You will also see a disk icon named "Unix" that gives access to the "shared" folder in MacOSX. Open the CD and start the installation onto MacOS8HD.
When the installation is finished, you can stop the installer and choose "Restart" from the Special menu. SheepShaver will now boot from the MacOS8HD disk image.
The Configuration assistant may stall at some point while looking for network. If it takes too long and if you know how to configure MacOS manually, simply stop the assistant.
Enable sound in the "Sound" control panel (In MacOS 8.5/8.6 in "Apple Extras" folder) by selecting "Built in" for the sound output.
Shutting down the virtual Mac will also quit "SheepShaver" and "SheepShaverGUI".