You've almost got it, but not quiteMeneerJansen wrote:A Mac, back in the days, came shipped w/ Quickdraw 24 bit (in its ROM). That's not good enough for advanced graphics. So it was updated to Quickdraw 32 bit. That "upgrade" is simply achieved by placing the right file (the Quickdraw 32 bit file?) in the "System" directory on the hard drive of your Mac. It's what you might call a library now-a-days (Windows: DLL, Linux: shared objec or .so in the "lib" directory). The best term for it in this case is: application programming interface (API).
Anyway, where do I obtain said Quickdraw 32 file to drop in my System folder of OS 7.5.3? Strangely enough the hard disk image that comes w/ the Windows Basilisk version from this PoP fan site (the so called "PoP Macintosh Total Pack") gives me the Quickdraw error when I use it with my BasiliskII version on Linux. This might mean that the Quickdraw API is probably not in the system dir of that image. Strangely, the old deprecated Win version of Basilisk that comes with the "Macintosh Total Pack" does not complain 'bout Quickdraw. If I use the ROM that comes w/ the "PoP Macintosh Total Pack" then my Linux BasiliskII still complaines 'bout Quickdraw 32. So it's probably not in the ROM either...? Or won't BasiliskII load the Quickdraw API/extension from a ROM? That last thing seems plausible (see below).
Micht BasiliskII (for Linux) not be Quickdraw compatible? Because (bombshell, ha ha ): I got the Mac version of Prince2 working! But in Sheepshaver! Sheepshaver's GUI menu is almost exactly the same as BasiliskII's but under the tab "Graphics/Sound" there's a checkbox called "Quickdraw acceleration". This check box is not there in BasiliskII (for Linux, dunno 'bout the Mac or Win version).
I would still like to get Prince2 working in BasiliskII and MacOS 7.5 because the music in Sheepshaver is too slow. This might be better in BasiliskII.
And I want to learn how classic Mac OS works. That is: I'd like to see the Quickdraw 32 bit API do its work by simply putting its file in the system dir. They say that a Mac costed so much more money than a PC in those days not only because of its far, far better hardware but also because of the power of this sort of major updates to the OS. Simply put a sigile API file in the system dir and your whole machine is updated in a mayor way. In Windows, or Linux for that matter, this sort of accelerated graphics updates demanded a more complicated procedure in the technical sense (for the user it simply meant clicking an "install.exe" file). If your graphics card did not fully support, for instance, Glide (3DFx, Voodoo) then it might even make your system unstable etc.
I love to learn about the inner workings of computers and operating systems. That's why I use Linux ("Put the fun back in computing"). If something doesn't work then that can make one quite irate. But when you've learned how to solve a problem and learned why and how something works like it does, that's "the fun in computing".
The Macintosh System file is really an extension of the ROM chip embedded in early Macs -- the ROM is set up in such a way that the toolbox calls can be superimposed by the System file.
QuickDraw is the graphics display toolbox -- in Performa Macs, it was already written to the ROM, so you'll find all the routines in the Performa ROM file you're using. For older Macs, they weren't 32-bit clean, and so all their toolbox calls were only 24 bits. Mini vMac, for example, only emulates 24 bit Macs.
So a major part of the System file on older Macs contains the 32-bit addressed version of Quickdraw, for those machines that can use it. With System 7.1, Apple split these hardware-dependent toolbox calls out into their own files, separate from the System file -- and called them System Enablers. So each hardware configuration got its own custom System Enabler file in the System folder, containing the correct toolbox extensions for that hardware, and none other.
With System 7.5, Apple rolled all those back into the System file, like was done with System 7.0.
So 32 bit Quickdraw doesn't really have to do with the system software you've got installed -- it has to do with whether the computer you're using is 32-bit clean. Basilisk II ONLY emulates 32-bit clean Macs. The emulation code was designed around one of the Performas (the one equivalent to the LC III I think), and then patched to also emulate one of the Quadras (650?). With this, it is emulating the hardware surrounding the Motorola 68030 (no FPU) and Motorola 68040 (FPU on chip) chipsets. Both are 32-bit clean. The 68000 chip (Mac 128k, 512k, 512ke, Plus) and the 68020 chip (Mac II series) come with 24-bit Quickdraw on ROM, and weren't 32-bit clean, so can't run PoP2. The Mac SE/30 was 32-bit clean, but came with 24-bit Quickdraw on ROM, so was patched via the System file once System 7 came along.
In general, extensions to the ROM toolbox can be stored in one of four places: the System file, the Extensions folder, the Control Panels folder, or right in the System folder. They need the correct type and creator to function in these places.
Load order is also important, and goes like this:
ROM
System file
System Enabler file
Special files in the System folder
Extensions folder
Control Panels folder
Anything lower down in the list that traps the same toolbox as anything higher up in the list will overwrite it.
In System 6, Control Panels and Extensions were stored directly in the System folder and called CDEVs and INITs (after their type codes).
So... now on to Quickdraw accelleration. Quickdraw accelleration came along with PPC macs, where the 68k Quickdraw code was patched with PPC code to enable faster drawing to the screen. SheepShaver can set the ROM bit to enable this, or disable it if you want to use 32-bit Quickdraw which is more compatible with older software.
What I'd really suggest is switching to a Quadra ROM and ensuring 68040 emulation is enabled, and that the emulator is reporting as a Quadra; beyond that, make sure that both the emulator and the OS are in 256 colour mode. This will give you the best setup for emulating software from the PoP2 era.
Oh, and one other thing: you might also have difficulties with older software and ROMs using screen resolutions that are non-standard for Mac hardware. I'd recommend 800x600, which has always worked for me. Some software that requires 256 colours will only work in 640x480. 1024x768 is non-standard for all Mac models (although I use that size myself to make video recording easy).