Can't install multi-cd game

[nicktasios]

Hi everyone, I recently setup Basilisk II on my macbook pro and wanted to install an old classic, Broken Sword.

So I mounted both disks and, as per the instructions, copied the installer to the desktop and started it, but shortly after it asks for CD2, and it gets stuck. I cannot even exit the installer. I also tried to mount both images as 'cdrom' in the preference file, but that didn't work either (By the way, the beta GUI gets confused and sets the ROM to the second specified cdrom).

Is there away I can install this game properly? Perhaps some way to actually swap cd roms?

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

I do not know yet if the new "drop and mount" feature in BasiliskII will work for the installed MacOS as actual CD-swapping.
My latest BasiliskII (10 August 2023) build can mount disk images as CD-ROM by dragging them into the BasiliskII window. Only one image can be mounted that way at a time. Different from images mounted through the volumes list in the GUI, these images can be removed again while BasiliskII is running. Maybe it will work when you mount the first image by dropping it into the BasiliskII window and, after removing it again, drop and mount the second image.

Download of the latest BasiliskII here: viewtopic.php?t=7361
Information about the new feature: viewtopic.php?p=76806#p76806

[nicktasios]

Unfortunately, that nearly worked! I mounted CD1 as a disk and started the installer. When it asked for CD2 I dragged the image to Basilisk, and the installer continued! But then it asked CD1 again and unfortunately, dragging the image does not replace the mounted image and there is no way I know of to remove an image if I don't have access to the desktop (the installer is fullscreen). Is there perhaps a different way, e.g. through a keybind to remove the mounted cd image, or do I have to dig into the source code?

[adespoton]

Unfortunately, that nearly worked! I mounted CD1 as a disk and started the installer. When it asked for CD2 I dragged the image to Basilisk, and the installer continued! But then it asked CD1 again and unfortunately, dragging the image does not replace the mounted image and there is no way I know of to remove an image if I don't have access to the desktop (the installer is fullscreen). Is there perhaps a different way, e.g. through a keybind to remove the mounted cd image, or do I have to dig into the source code?

Has anyone tried adding the eject FKey or using the eject key keycode?

Alternatively, is there a way to get back to the desktop when you've got a blocking dialog up?

In this case, an alternative might be to copy the contents of both CDs to a folder on the disk image; sometimes this works with installers.

[Cat_7]

There is also something funny with the second CD image. If you add both to the volumes list, it shows up as a hard disk and is not write protected by itself.
You can do a minimal install that will succeed, but the game crashes at start (on my Windows host) with error -39, so I don't know whether it can be played at all.

The garden site says the game is for PowerPC and runs in ScummVM. If so, it cannot run in Basilisk.

Best,
Cat_7

[adespoton]

Error -39 is "unexpected end of file" isn't it? Definitely sounds like something wrong with disc 2.

[emendelson]

I tried creating an AppleScript that could be run from a keyboard shortcut using a utility that provides keyboard shortcuts for applications, but found this oddity:

This AppleScript returns the correct name of the mounted CD, but it seems that a CD can't be ejected from BasiliskII or SheepShaver by running an AppleScript. I haven't tried it on real hardware, but perhaps someone has a real classic Mac up and running, and could try It on a real Mac:

Code: Select all

tell application "Finder"
    eject (every disk whose ejectable is true)
end tell

This should work but doesn't. Also, if you create an AppleScript that ejects a disk by name, you're prompted to insert the disk, which is very strange.

[nicktasios]

I modified Basilisk II to be able to swap CDs. It's not a proper implementation, but it seemed to work fine. Unfortunately, the CD image that's on macintoshgarden does not seem to include a 68k version.

Nonetheless, I wanted to have a look at the installer binary to see if there is a reference to a 68k binary, but when I copy the installer to the unix mounted folder on my macbook, the file I end up with is 0B, while from Basilisk II I clearly see it's larger than that. Is somehow the OS interfering with the copying? How can I properly copy this file?

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

Copy (drag) the file from the mounted CD image to your virtual HD (not to the desktop), then copy (drag) the file from your virtual HD to "Unix".

(If te game is PPC only, try SheepShaver instead of BasiliskII)

[emendelson]

I tried creating an AppleScript that could be run from a keyboard shortcut using a utility that provides keyboard shortcuts for applications, but found this oddity:

This AppleScript returns the correct name of the mounted CD, but it seems that a CD can't be ejected from BasiliskII or SheepShaver by running an AppleScript. I haven't tried it on real hardware, but perhaps someone has a real classic Mac up and running, and could try It on a real Mac:

Code: Select all

tell application "Finder"
    eject (every disk whose ejectable is true)
end tell

This should work but doesn't. Also, if you create an AppleScript that ejects a disk by name, you're prompted to insert the disk, which is very strange.

That script works on real hardware. I tested it on a Pismo PowerBook running 9.2.2. Perhaps it tells the hardware to do something that isn't emulated in SheepShaver or BasiliskII?

[nicktasios]

Copy (drag) the file from the mounted CD image to your virtual HD (not to the desktop), then copy (drag) the file from your virtual HD to "Unix".

(If te game is PPC only, try SheepShaver instead of BasiliskII)

When I copy the file to 'Unix' it shows up as 80K within Basilisk II

But as 0B on my Macbook

[emendelson]

I got curious, and downloaded CD1 from the link in the first post. In both BasiliskII and SheepShaver, the installer is 61K, not 80K, and it's the same in the Unix folder. Perhaps try downloading again? Something strange might have happened to your copy.

[nicktasios]

I got curious, and downloaded CD1 from the link in the first post. In both BasiliskII and SheepShaver, the installer is 61K, not 80K, and it's the same in the Unix folder. Perhaps try downloading again? Something strange might have happened to your copy.

Interesting. This is from an image I received from someone that has the original UK version.

[mabam]

IIRC, the block size of the HDD (image) has an influence on the file size shown in Finder. That might explain 61K vs. 80K.

But whatever the file size, it shouldn’t shrink to 0K when copied to “Unix”.

[nicktasios]

IIRC, the block size of the HDD (image) has an influence on the file size shown in Finder. That might explain 61K vs. 80K.

But whatever the file size, it shouldn’t shrink to 0K when copied to “Unix”.

Ok, I check the file size with 'du', and it is indeed 51K on disk. But I guess it's a special file, just like modern OSX .app files which are kinda like folders.

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

IIRC, the block size of the HDD (image) has an influence on the file size shown in Finder. That might explain 61K vs. 80K.

The Finder does not only show size on disk, which depends on the disk's block size, but it also shows the actual file size. Here, the size of this installer application is always 52.797 bytes, on the CD image, when copied inside BasiliskII to the virtual HD, and when copied to "Unix". In "Unix" seen both from inside BasiliskII and from the host macOS in the shared folder.

But I guess it's a special file, just like modern OSX .app files which are kinda like folders.

I did not check it, but the application wil no doubt be a classic Mac application, consisting of a data fork and a resource fork. The two forks will appear as two separate files on a non-Mac file system.