Is SheepShaver Hiding Something ... ?

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

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ruff.init
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Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 5:34 pm

Is SheepShaver Hiding Something ... ?

Post by ruff.init »

Greetings,

How is it that after a complete uninstall, SheepShaver still retains the settings from my previous install? Here is the breakdown:

1. Removed SheepShaver using AppCleaner. The SheepShaver.plist file was among those deleted (located at ~/Library/Preferences/SheepShaver.plist).

2. Conducted Admin search of entire system (to include hidden files) for SheepShaver remnants. None found.

3. Logged out and restarted my Mac (I'm running 10.11.6).

4. Performed a fresh install of SheepShaver from downloaded zip files that are stored on an external HDD.

5. Opened up SheepShaver Prefs, and all of my settings are still there from the last install - the virtual hard drive name, the path to the Unix share, RAM size, and all of the other checkboxes and settings. Everything was exactly the same.

6. Conclusion: there is a hidden file on my machine that is retaining this info somehow and persisting through the uninstall process.

Just to be sure, I replicated this problem two more times. On the last time I even named my virtual drive "I_am_from_a_previous_install" then attempted to completely sanitize my machine of SheepShaver (even using CCleaner to clear out caches), and performed a 'clean' install. Lo and behold, no change to the preferences. It was the same as the last.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Not only do I want to perform a virgin install of SheepShaver, but I also really need to know why this is occurring.

Thanks, and peace!
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: Is SheepShaver Hiding Something ... ?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

SheepShaver uses two hidden files in your Home folder:
~/.sheepshaver_prefs
~/.sheepshver_nvram
(An inheritance from the Unix origin of this software.)

Included in the downloads that are available from topic SheepShaver builds for Mac OS X, links and downloads you will find two scripts that can remove those files.
Last edited by Ronald P. Regensburg on Mon Feb 19, 2018 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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ruff.init
Space Cadet
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 5:34 pm

Re: Is SheepShaver Hiding Something ... ?

Post by ruff.init »

Wow... I feel kind of dopey ... I absent-mindedly forgot to include system files in my search results for SheepShaver remnants. Thank you my friend... no longer flummoxed. I simply located and deleted the two files you mentioned and all should be well now. Thanks again for your patience. Peace!

PS - sometimes the simplest things are what trips us up... I remember getting ready to toss my computer from a second-story window when writing code a few years back. I poured through the lines looking for the error and just got more and more frustrated with each line... the code seemed perfect. It was only after I left it alone and came back to it the next day with a fresh set of eyes did I see that I had a case sensitivity error in one character. Must've looked at it a billion times the day before. The forest and the trees, you know. Thanks again.
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adespoton
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Re: Is SheepShaver Hiding Something ... ?

Post by adespoton »

I highly recommend using .sheepvm containers to hold your configurations; that way, you're not dealing with hidden files in your user directory, but can place your virtual OS 9 system wherever you want.
ruff.init
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Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2018 5:34 pm

Re: Is SheepShaver Hiding Something ... ?

Post by ruff.init »

Thank you so much my legacy-Mac brothers and sisters! Peace!
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