Sheepshaver stopped working

[Inframous]

I've been using Sheepshaver for about a month, and now it's stopped working. I only get the disk icon with the flashing question mark on startup. What do I do now?

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

That means that SheepShaver cannot find a suitable disk to boot from.

Do you run SheepShaver on macOS or Windows?
Did you change anything in the setup or settings?
Did you move files or folders related to SheepShaver?
Did you have a system crash in SheepShaver the last time you ran it?

[Inframous]

I'm using MacOS 10.13.6.
I don't think Sheepshaver crashed and I haven't moved any files or folders.
I have tried trashing the preference file and starting again; it still doesn't work.

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

1. Is the name of your rom file Mac OS ROM without file name extension?

2. SheepShaver may not have created a new prefs file after you trashed the old one.

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.
If the file exists it will open in your default text editor. Select all content and copy and paste it here in your reply.

[Inframous]

This is the preference file:

disk MacOS9
cdrom /dev/poll/cdrom
extfs Sheepshaver Shared
screen win/640/480
windowmodes 0
screenmodes 0
seriala
serialb /dev/null
rom MAC OS ROM
bootdrive 0
bootdriver 0
ramsize 16777216
frameskip 8
gfxaccel true
nocdrom false
nonet false
nosound false
nogui false
noclipconversion false
ignoresegv true
ignoreillegal false
jit true
jit68k false
keyboardtype 5
hardcursor false
hotkey 0
scale_nearest false
scale_integer false
cpuclock 0
yearofs 0
dayofs 0
mag_rate 0
swap_opt_cmd false
sound_buffer 0
name_encoding 0
ether
keycodes false
keycodefile
mousewheelmode 1
mousewheellines 3
dsp /dev/dsp
mixer /dev/mixer
idlewait true

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

Strange settings. Many are SheepShaver defaults that are not really suitable for running MacOS9.

Did you do a partial configuration after you trashed the prefs file?

[Inframous]

Yes, I tried several times.

[adespoton]

The RAM is currently set to 16 MB. That seems a bit low for OS 9? I was using 16MB in System 7.5.
512MB is 536870912. 256MB is 268435456, which is what I usually use. I'd also suggest disabling JIT and increasing screen resolution to at least 800x600.

[Inframous]

No luck. I may just trash everything and reinstall. What do you think?

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

With SheepShaver starting with the question mark floppy image, you can access preferences in the SheepShaver menu.
Add the install disk image that you used when you set up SheepShaver to the volumes list as CD ROM and continue configuration as described in our setup manual, using the values as advised there. Finally you will need to quit SheepShaver using control-escape. (Note: Quitting with control-escape should only be used when SheepShaver shows the question mark floppy image!)

Does SheepShaver now boot from the install disk image? And does the MacOS9 disk also appear on the desktop and can you open it and see files on it? If so, shut down SheepShaver (in a regular way, not with control-escape) and ask here what to do next.

[Inframous]

Argh!!
It will not work. I've tried several times. This wouldn't be so frustrating if I hadn't got it working before.

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

Not sure what "will not work". Please be more explicit.
Could you add the install CD image as CD ROM to the volumes list? Could you adjust all other settings as described in our setup manual? If so, you could apparently not boot from the install CD. Do you still see the question mark? Did you then check the settings? Did the changes you made in settings stick?

[Inframous]

I followed the setup manual and installed the CD image. I still got the question mark. All settings stuck.

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

Try removing the MacOS9 file from the volumes list, leaving only the MacOS install CD image. Does SheepShaver now boot from the install CD image?

[Inframous]

I finally got a version of Sheepshaver working but when I open the "unix" disk I get items from the actual computer's hard drive not the shared folder.

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

Maybe you entered a wrong path or kept the default path "/" for Unix Root in preferences?
If you followed the instructions in the setup guide, you would have entered the path to your shared folder by browsing to and choosing that folder.

[Inframous]

I thought of that after I posted. It doesn't matter anymore since the program has gone back to flashing its question mark at me. At this point I'm just giving up. Maybe my computer just decided it doesn't like Sheepshaver after all. I don't understand how I got to work in the first place. Thank you for your time and patience with my ineptitude and whining.

[emendelson]

If you have the patience: here's one thing that always seems to work:

I print out the setup guide in large type.

As I perform each step, I check it off on paper, or put a line through the step that I completed.

It's a lot easier to get things wrong when looking at a screen. With paper in front of me, it seems a lot easier to get them right.

(And if even that fails, search online for "MacOS9 for OS X/macOS".)