SheepShaver in 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.

Moderators: Cat_7, Ronald P. Regensburg, ClockWise

Post Reply
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Now, after upgrading to Mojave, I STILL run Sheepshaver v. 2.4 (emulating Mac OS 9 v. 9.0.4) on an Intel Mac (a MacBook Pro c. 2014-15). I have been too fearful to upgrade to Big Sur for fear of possibly losing SheepShaver, but now it seems holding off longer is not an option, so I have the same primary question again:

If I upgrade the Mac to Big Sur, can I expect SheepShaver to transfer and continue running successfully -- all files and other content intact and fully operable (as Sheepshaver has done on all prior upgrades)?

Secondarily, this time I HAVE downloaded and plan to switch to v. 2.5, using what I believe is its latest build. The zip file, SheepShaver_universal_20210428, unzipped to a SheepShaver.app file. To use that properly I have a couple questions before I leap.

Last time you advised:

"You can simply replace the application with the new application in your existing setup.
"If you use the keycodes file, you will also need to replace that file..."

How do I "replace the application," and what is "the key codes file"?

Also, adespoton wrote: "There are also new options you can set in the prefs file that weren't available under 2.4, so you may want to read the wiki page on here to see if you want to use any of the new settings." There is no link to the wiki page. Is that still available?

Thank you once again for your invaluable service!
User avatar
adespoton
Forum All-Star
Posts: 4208
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 5:11 am
Location: Emaculation.com
Contact:

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by adespoton »

https://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/sh ... os_x_setup

— it’s linked from the main page.

I’ve been using SheepShaver 2.5 since it was released, and had no difficulties upgrading to Big Sur. 2.4 might have some issues.

I use the same files I’ve used since SheepShaver 2.3, although I’ve added some extra settings to improve HiDPI display.
User avatar
Ronald P. Regensburg
Expert User
Posts: 7821
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:24 pm
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Do you upgrade to Big Sur directly on your Mojave machine?

Then you will only need to replace the SheepShaver application itself. If you use the keycodes file, you will also need to replace that file. All other files can be left where they are. No need to do the configuration again, It should simply work.

Best replace the files before you upgrade to Big Sur, they will also work fine in Mojave.

Both new files can be downloaded from the download post here: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=7360
For the new SheepShaver application, best download the 21 April 2021 build.

How do you replace a file?
If you followed the setup guide in the past, both the SheepShaver application and the keycodes file should be in your SheepShaver folder. Open that folder and drag the new file into that folder. The Finder will ask you if the existing file should be replaced. Confirm by clicking the Replace button.
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Thank you for the thorough response. I downloaded the recommended Apr. 21, 2021 version of 2.5, and the keycodes file also, replacing my old versions with each.

Now however SheepShaver fails to run. The first attempt elicited a warning about it being an application downloaded from the internet, but nothing more after I clicked to allow. Other attempts elicit an opening flash, then nothing.

(My OS is still Mojave.)
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Tried restarting, no affect.

I do notice, using Get Info, that the app file looks to be locked, which I can unlock (using my password) but then goes back to showing the lock closed; either way it shows that I as a user do have Read & Write privileges.
User avatar
Ronald P. Regensburg
Expert User
Posts: 7821
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:24 pm
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Hm, it should run. However, there are several possibilities why it will not. One could be an issue with your settings that did not bite you before with version 2.4.

Please post here the content of your prefs file:
Launch Terminal (in /Application/Utilities/) and type at the prompt

Code: Select all

open ~/.sheepshaver_prefs
followed by a return.
The file will open in your default text editor. Select all content and copy and paste it here in your reply.
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Thank you for the guidance; here are the contents of my SheepShaver prefs file:

disk MacOS9
cdrom /dev/disk2
extfs /Users/rb1/Desktop/Shared
screen win/1440/960
windowmodes 0
screenmodes 0
seriala /dev/cu.Bluetooth-Modem
serialb /dev/null
rom Mac OS ROM
bootdrive 0
bootdriver 0
ramsize 536870912
frameskip 1
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 0
mousewheellines 1
dsp /dev/dsp
mixer /dev/mixer
ignoresegv true
idlewait true
User avatar
Ronald P. Regensburg
Expert User
Posts: 7821
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:24 pm
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

I see no problem in the prefs file.

Now try this:
- Copy the SheepShaver application (only the application) to a different location, like your desktop.
- Trash the original SheepShaver
- Move the copy back into the SheepShaver folder
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Okay, I did all that but now the file is not the application itself but just an alias which says it cannot open because the original item cannot be found. Should I re-download and/or re-install the 2.5 build?

(Might I have messed up the copying process somehow?)
User avatar
Ronald P. Regensburg
Expert User
Posts: 7821
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:24 pm
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

I do not know what you did. Just dragging will move a file. Copying is done by dragging with the option key pressed. Dragging with command-option pressed will create an alias.

Was an alias created by just dragging without keys pressed? That will happen when you drag files out of the Applications folder. Maybe you have the SheepShaver folder inside the Applications folder?

Remove SheepShaver application and the alias. (If the alias is somewhere in the Applications folder, you can drag it to the trash and you may be asked to confirm with your admin user password.

Download SheepShaver again, make sure the zip file is decompressed outside the SheepShaver folder and outside the Applications folder.
Then copy (drag and drop while holding the option key) the SheepShaver application into the SheepShaver folder.
(You can trash the original.)
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

I got interrupted. Let me make sure not to mess anything up.

The SheepShaver app is inside the following folder created I believe at the unzipping of the installer download:

SheepShaver_UB_20120715

That is in turn inside the Applications folder. I did not put it there; it must have been put there by the installer. Inside that SheepShaver_UB_20120715 folder may be a couple items I do not want to lose? Such as

MacOS9

and

Mac OS ROM

Please advise.
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

PS: I have not decompressed any zip file in either the SheepShaver folder or the Applications folder. That happened simply in the Downloads folder.
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

PPS: It actually appears that when the prior existing SheepShaver app was installed in 2015, two versions of the SheepShaver_UB_20120715 folder were created, one inside the Applications folder, with the app in it, the other inside another folder,

__MACOSX

(I saved all that in a sub-folder in the Downloads folder for used installers and related.)

The Downloads folder version of the SheepShaver_UB_20120715 folder contains the following folder:

SheepShaver scripts

and the following zero-byte ghost files:

Delete Prefs File.app
Zap PRAM.app
SheepShaver.app
User avatar
Ronald P. Regensburg
Expert User
Posts: 7821
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:24 pm
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

There is no installer and there has never been an installer. So if a SheepShaver folder is in the Applications folder, you must have moved it there yourself.

If downloads end up expanded in the Downloads folder, this is apparently set in Safari: "Open Safe Files After Downloading". (This is the default setting. The feature is convenient, but may adversely affect your online security.)

All downloads in the Downloads folder can be ignored (or even deleted) after the downloaded files or applications are installed or moved or copied to the location they belong. Files in the Downloads folder should not be used there.

The SheepShaver_UB_20120715 folder was how that version was distributed in 2012. But there is no "Mac OS ROM" file in it, so if there is/was a SheepShaver application in it, you never used it there.

You had a working SheepShaver installation and according to your prefs file the "Mac OS ROM" file was inside the folder with the working SheepShaver application. Where is the folder that contains the "Mac OS ROM" file? Please give the full path.
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Full path:

Macintosh HD
Applications
SheepShaver_UB_20120715
Mac OS ROM
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Mac OS ROM is a 1.9 MB TexEdit document

Also in the same SheepShaver_UB_20120715 folder is MacOS9 (a 1.05 GB TexEdit document)
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

"TextEdit"
User avatar
Ronald P. Regensburg
Expert User
Posts: 7821
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:24 pm
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

"MacOS9" is a disk image file. It is your virtual HD in SheepShaver. (It is not a TextEdit file, but probably seen as a text file because it has no file name extension.)

The "MacOS9" file contains all you did in SheepShaver, so do not loose it.

Apparently, you installed SheepShaver once and never updated. We better give it a new start while preserving what you had.

- Download a new SheepShaver folder: http://ronaldpr.home.xs4all.nl/sheepsha ... folder.zip
- Move that folder into the Applications folder
- Copy(!) the "Mac OS ROM" file and the "MacOS9" file from the old SheepShaver folder into the new SheepShaver folder
- Download the 21 April 2021 SheepShaver build: https://www.emaculation.com/sheepshaver ... 210421.zip
- Copy(!) that SheepShaver application into the new SheepShaver folder

Now launch SheepShaver by double clicking its icon. The first time you may again need to confirm that you want the application to open

If you were used to launch SheepShaver from the Dock, the old icon there will not work anymore. Drag the old icon out of the Dock and drag the new SheepShaver into the Dock so you can launch it from there.

If everything works, you can trash the old SheepShaver folder. You could keep the "MacOS9" file from the old SheepShaver folder as a backup for that file.
Best also trash the SheepShaver application from your Downloads folder.


Not about SheepShaver but about upgrading your Mac from Mojave to Big Sur:
Make sure to have a good fresh backup of your HD.
Make sure there is plenty of available space on your HD. The upgrade needs a lot of space, at least 50GB free. More is better.
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Wow! Another great piece of guidance. Thank you again.

I am not happy to hear I will need 50 GB free min, but grateful for the warning. Prepping for Big Sur, I just managed to coax the machine through doing a full backup with a little less than 30 GB free -- my first backup this year, which did not help. I will need to dump many many more un-needed picture files.

I will let you know how goes SheepShaver. Thank you again (again) in advance!
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Success! (On SheepShaver.)

Now the fun part. It is very encouraging to hear SheepShaver should carry forward into Big Sur. I was very pessimistic I would lose functionality of MS Word v. 5.1 for Mac (the best word processor ever, in my opinion). Hopefully that day of reckoning has not arrived.

Thank you again for your invaluable assistance.
User avatar
Ronald P. Regensburg
Expert User
Posts: 7821
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:24 pm
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

About Big Sur upgrade continued here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11225
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Hello again.

A senior Applecare adviser quickly identified why Migration Assist failed for lack of space: It had tried to transfer two (2) copies of my data. Now I am working -- hopefully -- in Big Sur. SheepShaver v. 2.5 boots normally.

Thank you again for your invaluable assistance.
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

The odyssey continues in that my MacBook is now in the shop. Possible hardware issue. Better maybe to buy a new machine. Any reason to hesitate going with the latest and greatest Mac notebook if I want to assure Faithful carryover of my OS9 functionality from my backup disk?
User avatar
Ronald P. Regensburg
Expert User
Posts: 7821
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:24 pm
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

With a regular migration, from the old Mac or from a backup, all of SheepShaver will be carried over and will be functional. If you go for a M1 Mac, your current SheepShaver build will run with Rosetta2. You can upgrade to the latest universal SheepShaver build that will run natively on Apple Silicon.
rbplease
Student Driver
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:04 am

Re: SheepShaver in Big Sur?

Post by rbplease »

Thank you, once again. I am very grateful so many people still value this technology and are able to maintain it.
Post Reply