SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

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

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Elyus
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SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by Elyus »

I've been playing around with the beta for macOS 11.0: Big Sur.

The good news is that SheepShaver builds and runs just fine!

Image

There are a couple considerations though:

1. This is running on Intel, so it's not too surprising that everything's fine. Not much has changed since Catalina. I'm sure we'll have more trouble when ARM-based Macs start to appear. I do have hope that it will survive the transition for a couple reasons, although only time can tell. In its favor:
  • Rosetta 2 should provide support for a while, and
  • SheepShaver on Raspberry Pi and other ARM builds show a lot of promise.
2. Big Sur is a lot more locked-down than Catalina in some ways.
  • Its more proactive about forcing privacy and permissions, at least as far as I remember from my little use of Catalina. Sheep will refuse to run without being given disk access, even building from within Xcode. At present, when people install it in Big Sur, they'll need to manually add a rule for Sheepshaver to have full system access.
  • There are a number of ways to workaround the issue (for instance, launching from terminal to leverage its api calls for permission), but a couple ideas for addressing it in code: a) SheepShaver could request access to the files and folders it needs after reading the preferences or b) adopt Apple's sandboxing structure and consolidate how Sheep stores its files (needed for Gatekeeper, App Store Signing, etc. although not needed for things like notarization).
Some other tidbits:
  • I don't like some of the changes Apple is implementing to the OS. One example is that System files are forbidden from changing from a default install, and are verified by checksum regularly! Kernel extensions are going away soon. I get the benefits to security, but I don't want it to become iPadOS.
  • Big Sur is exceedingly, horribly buggy at present. In my opinion, it's hardly worth even trying to test with this beta for developers needing to port their apps. Just my experience so far.
In general, I was glad to see SheepShaver run, but I feel everything else is just ok, not good or bad. The end of Mac OS X, and the move to macOS 11 feels more significant to me than Apple advertised, and I have mixed feeling about the ARM transition, but we'll see where this goes.

Anyone else playing with the macOS 11 beta or perhaps applying for a Dev Transition Kit?
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Elyus wrote:The good news is that SheepShaver builds and runs just fine!
- Can you tell us which source code you used for building?
- Does my latest version 2.5 build for Catalina (15 March 2020) run in Big Sur?
rscaboyke
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by rscaboyke »

Ronald

Your 2.5 build for Catalina runs just fine in Big Sur

https://ibb.co/WykgRnJ

Thx
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

With your Retina screen, you may want to use the advanced scaling algorithms that are available for version 2.5.
See: https://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/sh ... uilds_only
Elyus
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by Elyus »

Regarding the source repo, I built from a fork of kanjitalk's latest code.
podolsky
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by podolsky »

Same here, SS appears to run just fine in Big Sur Beta. I ran some rather demanding image mining routines and could not detect any difference between BSB and Catalina. Be aware, that if you install BSB to a disk that drive is not back compatible to any previous version of MacOS without a fully erasure, as per this Big Sur release note:

If macOS Big Sur 11 beta is installed into the same APFS container as previous versions of macOS, system software updates can no longer be installed on the previous versions of macOS. (64411484)

So, install BSB onto its own drive....
kanjitalk755
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by kanjitalk755 »

My fork is ready to build for Apple Silicon.
But I think it won't work correctly because not debugged yet.
petergrigorian
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by petergrigorian »

how can I download it?
can I get the download link?
your sincerely
Peter
Am looking forward to see your reply with the link :arrow:
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Cat_7
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by Cat_7 »

Here:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=7360

Best,
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petergrigorian
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by petergrigorian »

:arrow:
craches directly after launch
((((
:cry:
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Yes, it will if you do not set it up as described in the setup manual. Without at least a compatible rom file, SheepShaver will crash on launch.

You will need to also download the SheepShaver folder (from same place as where you downloaded the application)
Put the SheepShaver app inside the SheepShaver folder.
Then follow our setup guide: https://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/sh ... os_x_setup
petergrigorian
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by petergrigorian »

Hey yup!
Thank sure, but where should I put this Sheepshaver folder?
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

You can put the SheepShaver folder anywhere you like, any place that is convenient for you.
petergrigorian
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by petergrigorian »

Ronald P. Regensburg wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 3:10 pm You can put the SheepShaver folder anywhere you like, any place that is convenient for you.
Oh thanks! I finally did it!
iamdavid
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by iamdavid »

I can run Sheepshaver in Big Sur, but I can't change preferences as the Preferences app is still 32-bit. Is there a 64-bit version anywhere?
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

You do not need the old (and long obsolete) Prefs app. Since 2008 all SheepShaver for MacOSX builds have the prefs editor built-in. Just choose Preferences from the SheepShaver menu in OSX/macOS.

Note: After saving changes in Preferences, you need to quit (not restart) SheepShaver and launch it again.

Do you use a recent SheepShaver build? See for downloads here: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=7360
More information, also about newer features, see the setup manual here: https://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/sh ... os_x_setup
petergrigorian
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by petergrigorian »

Hey, I did a new icon for Sheepshaver for macOS 12 (it works!)
Get it here: https://sites.google.com/view/vmflameco ... r-macos-12
iamdavid
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Re: SheepShaver on macOS Big Sur

Post by iamdavid »

Thanks to Ronald and Peter.
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