Classic OS Reading CD-Rom Problem

About SheepShaver, a PPC Mac emulator for Windows, MacOS X, and Linux that can run System 7.5.3 to MacOS 9.0.4.

Moderators: Cat_7, Ronald P. Regensburg, ClockWise

Post Reply
Tman8816
Space Cadet
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue May 14, 2013 2:29 am

Classic OS Reading CD-Rom Problem

Post by Tman8816 »

So hello, first time poster here.

I was rummaging through my old Mac games (I grew up on a Mac OS9 system) and I found some that I am DYING to play again. Right now I use a Windows 7 64 bit self built gaming machine. Without much research, i downloaded VM Virtualbox and installed Snow Leopard, hoping to play my old games. Much to my delight, it read my disks without any problems, and let me see all of the files, however I get a message about Classic Mode not being able to open. After further research, I see that Apple stopped supporting Classic mode in 9.0.4.

So, I turned to Sheepshaver to run OS9. I got that all working (sorta, see below), however I can't get it to read any of the CD's.

I say I sorta got it working because I can launch it, but nothing comes up to initialize a new HD. So the only HD is the ISO file for 9.0.4, so obviously I can't install it on itself.

Any solutions from anyone? I really appreciate it and can't wait to solve this conundrum so I can play my childhood over again!

YAY Castles: Seige and Conquest
YAY Escape Velocity
User avatar
Cat_7
Expert User
Posts: 6121
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2004 8:59 am
Location: Sittard, The Netherlands

Re: Classic OS Reading CD-Rom Problem

Post by Cat_7 »

Hi,

64-bit Windows requires signed drivers. The cd-rom driver (cdenable.sys) which SheepShaver needs to read mac cd-roms is not signed, and thus no cd-rom access in 64 bit Windows.
You second problem (no hard disk) might be due to you not creating a hard disk file for SheepShaver to install 9.0.4 on.

You need the SheepShaverGUI to create such a file. Do you have it installed and working? It needs a gtk-runtime to work. In the Volumes tab you can create new disks. Add one of sufficient size and start SheepShaver. It will then come across the disk and will ask you to initialise it. You can then install Mac OS 9.0.4 on that disk.

All of this is described in our guide: http://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/sheepshaver_setup
See the section about running on 64 bit systems for tips on using cd-rom images instead of real cd-roms. Beware that some cd-rom contain multiple sections. These can't be read successfully by SheepShaver. You would need to use the virtual cd/dvd program to mount images of such cd-roms.

Using the Virtual DVD-ROM/CD Utility:
In some cases, when the CD has a special format or when the software insists that the original CD needs to be present, you need to use the Virtual DVD-ROM/CD Utility to get a CD image to mount in SheepShaver.

http://www.emaculation.com/basilisk/Vir ... v1.0d0.sit

- Create an image of you cd-rom with a cd-reading/burning program and add the image to the volumes list in the GUI.
- Start SheepShaver.
- Install the Virtual DVD-ROM/CD Utility
- Create a new volume with the preferences editor, large enough to hold the contents of the CD image you will create. For one CD image, 800 Mb should be enough. You can create a larger volume to hold more such CD images.
- Shut down and restart SheepShaver. The new disk image will need to be initialized.
- Launch the Virtual DVD-ROM/CD Utility, click the button “Create CD/DVD Toast image”, and select the mounted CD volume.
- Save the new image to the large volume you created for this purpose.
- Unmount the first CD volume from MacOS, remove the CD image from the volumes list, save, and shut down SheepShaver.
- Start again SheepShaver and launch the Virtual DVD-ROM/CD Utility, click the button “Mount Toast .ati file as Virtual DVD-ROM” and open the image you created with this utility. This image will now mount in SheepShaver as a CD.

SheepShaver also runs in your SnowLeopard virtual machine, and will read cd-roms there.

Best,
Cat_7
Tman8816
Space Cadet
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue May 14, 2013 2:29 am

Re: Classic OS Reading CD-Rom Problem

Post by Tman8816 »

Thank you so much for the prompt response!

Let me break what I did up into 3 instances. I tried 3 things, with 3 different results:

Using VM Virtualbox, I installed Snow Leopard successfully. It reads all of my CD-ROMS successfully, but I cannot use anything on it due to them requiring Classic Mode.

I installed 9.0.4 onto my Window 7 using Sheepshaver. I followed the guide on this site, but for some reason I couldn't get it to correctly set up a HD. It wouldn't read that a CD-ROM was in the tray at all with this method.

I installed 9.0.4 onto my Snow Leopard emulation using SheepShaver for Mac. Following your guide for the Mac version, I successfully got a working HD, installed 9.0.4 successfully, and everything looks great. However, while in SheepShaver it wouldn't recognize any CD, even though it was on my desktop in Snow Leopard. BUT, I downloaded the latest working Quicktime (4.1.2? I think it was) for the SheepShaver emulation, but it wouldn't open the installer because it was giving me the same 'requires Classic Mode' message I was getting using just Snow Leopard.

I haven't tried making the Toast image yet. I will get to that later tonight. I wasn't aware the 32 versus 64 bit was any different in terms of running an emulation, so I will also check out that section later when I am on tonight.

Just a quick thought, the CD-ROM i REALLY want working is one of those "300 greatest MAC games" type CDs. The actual CD has no autoplay or installer or anything like that, it is just a bunch of individual folders (genre of game)with fairly small games within the folders, each within their folder per game. Is there a way that i can just copy the games I want to play, using the Snow Leopard OS, and transfer them onto SheepShaver? Maybe that will let me bypass the whole CD image problem...

Thanks again!
Jorpho
Master Emulator
Posts: 380
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 4:22 am

Re: Classic OS Reading CD-Rom Problem

Post by Jorpho »

Cat_7 wrote:64-bit Windows requires signed drivers. The cd-rom driver (cdenable.sys) which SheepShaver needs to read mac cd-roms is not signed, and thus no cd-rom access in 64 bit Windows.
Wait, is that the problem? I thought it wouldn't work because it was 32-bit, period. I was reading up on PS3 controller drivers a while ago and it seems there are definitely ways to get unsigned drivers to work, though they aren't particularly pretty. Google around for <motioninjoy unsigned> for examples.

EDIT: Apparently the trick is to hit F8 when Windows is starting and select "Disable Driver Signing Enforcement"; unfortunately, you have to do this every time you restart.
Tman8816 wrote:Just a quick thought, the CD-ROM i REALLY want working is one of those "300 greatest MAC games" type CDs. The actual CD has no autoplay or installer or anything like that, it is just a bunch of individual folders (genre of game)with fairly small games within the folders, each within their folder per game. Is there a way that i can just copy the games I want to play, using the Snow Leopard OS, and transfer them onto SheepShaver? Maybe that will let me bypass the whole CD image problem...
IsoBuster can definitely do it, but only in the rather pricey registered version. I think HFV Explorer has the same problem. Executor, maybe? (EDIT: Nope.) The Toast image is probably the best way to go.
Tman8816 wrote:YAY Castles: Seige and Conquest
I'm not sure if the Macintosh version is particularly different, but you can buy that from GOG.com in a form that will easily run on any modern machine.
x11joex11
Space Cadet
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 4:47 am

Re: Classic OS Reading CD-Rom Problem

Post by x11joex11 »

The link supplied, http://www.emaculation.com/basilisk/Vir ... v1.0d0.sit

This just is a folder that says the installation is self explanatory with 2 folders and no program...? Did the original file get deleted?
User avatar
Ronald P. Regensburg
Expert User
Posts: 7821
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:24 pm
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Re: Classic OS Reading CD-Rom Problem

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

I tried the link. The archive contains two hidden and empty folders that are only used to display with the folder names the text "The program is pretty self-explanatory." and it contains the Virtual DVD-ROM/CD Utility application. It is a classic Mac application that is to be used inside SheepShaver. A classic Mac application will not survive outside an Apple file system. If you use SheepShaver on a Windows host, make sure the .sit archive is expanded in MacOS inside SheepShaver.
Last edited by Ronald P. Regensburg on Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason:  
Post Reply