mini vMac help needed

About Mini vMac and all other 68k emulators, including SoftMac, Executor, and MESS.

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Rhetro
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mini vMac help needed

Post by Rhetro »

(sorry I initially posted this somewhere else)

Well, I got mini vMac running with system 6.0.8.

All of this is to play Uninvited.

I downloaded the .sit file, decompressed it with aladin expander 5,
and got the folder with Uninvited and all its contents.

now what do I do?

Thanks in advance.

Rhetro
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

I am busy with other things now, but I will come back to you here to answer your questions. And yes, Uninvited will run on 6.0.8 in Mini vMac with a Mac Plus ROM. It is running now here in Mini vMac on my PowerBook G4 with MacOSX 10.4.7. ;)

In the meantime, study the documentation here:
http://minivmac.sourceforge.net/doc/index.html
It will probably answer all your questions.
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Post by Rhetro »

Thanks Ronald!

I will STUDY this link!!

wish me well!

Rhetro

btw: I think I removed that last message where I mis posted.
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Post by Rhetro »

Hey Ronald.

I read through the tutorial and I did get mini Vmac up and running. The interface is obviously a little different then Basilisk, but it's an older system as well -well, it's a Mac Plus, right? I do like setting the Volumes tab up in Basilisk so you don't have to keep messing with the system disk. But anyway...Perhaps there is a more streamlined way to do this.

I was reading along and saw that it is recommended that you use Stuffit 4.0.1 as the Stuffits for Windows could possibly corrupt the data. I'm hoping this is the case! Because in another link, it told me to use Stuffit 5.0. Which is what I've been using!

Now I noticed that you mentioned that you used it and got the game Uninvited up on your Mac with OS X. I'm guessing once the Mini vMac environment is up and running, it's pretty isolated from it's HOST environment, no? In otherwords, the fact that it's running on OS X on a Mac, or Windows won't make a difference -I'm hoping here, what do I really know?

My problem is this:

How do I g open a .sea file in mini vMac? I'm trying to move stuffit 4.0.1 into mini vMac, but it keeps asking me to initialize the disk?

Thanks in advance!

Rhetro
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Where and how did you get the .sea file and where do you keep it? If you saved the file anywhere in your Windows environment, it is now damaged beyond repair.
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Post by Rhetro »

Hey Ronald.

I did download it to my Windows environment. Curses!! At least this may shed light on what the problem is!

I downloaded it from the following site:

http://www.cam.net.uk/home/jonathan/sof ... ftware.htm

I don't know how to download it any other way. Now: I can go back to the way I downloaded the game Uninvited the first time.

Remember I made that Mac Os Standard disk on the ibook? Well, I can do the same thing.

But then how do I transfer the file onto mini vMac. It doesn't have cd rom support.

Thanks

Rhetro
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Post by Rhetro »

UPDATE:

Hey Ronald.

I just saw your other post, so I'll just address it here to keep things simple. (f I need to, I'll track down an older pre-boni blue mac if I have to and copy my Uninvited disks on it).

You wrote:

If the files are properly encoded into .hqx files, and .sit files that you download will always be encoded because otherwise they cannot survive on a non-Mac server, it should be no problem to transfer them to a emulated Mac with for instance System 7.5.5 on it, decode and decompress them with Stuffit Expander and write them to a disk image that older systems, like the emulated Mac Plus, can read.

I guess this is what I have to do first, no?

1) Update Basilisk II from 7.5.3 to 7.5.5
2) Download Stuffit Expander 4.0.1 onto the ibook.
3) Burn a copy of it onto a cd rom (with the instructions that you provided
concerning OS standard)

I'll stop there so I don't get to far ahead of myself.

good so far?

Thanks

Rhetro
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Well, yes and no. Somehow you manage to make things more complicated than they are. ;)

BasiliskII with 7.5.3 will be fine, no need to update to 7.5.5, and the version of Stuffit Expander that will expand most .sit files in 7.5.3 is version 5.5 (Stuffit Expander for Macintosh of course).

Question: Do you have any version of Stuffit Expander already available on your BasiliskII emulated Mac? If so, which version is that? (A couple of days ago you mentioned the Aladdin Expander installer.)

If you do not have any version of the Expander, do you have addresses where you can download them? If so, which addresses? Or do you have the Expander in any other form on a disk? How and where?
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Post by Rhetro »

Hey Ronald.

As far as me making things more complicated, I've always done that! :? -it's easier for me that way!!!!

Yes. I do have a version of Stuffit Expander on my Basilisk II desktop.
Version 4.0.1

Good start, no?

Rhetro
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Yes, that helps.

1. Now, first you are going to add a disk in BasiliskIIGUI. That disk will serve as a kind of virtual floppy to transfer files from one environment to the other. The size depends on the size of the files you want to move. I suppose that 2 or 3 MB would be plenty. Give the file an appropriate name, for instance "mover.dsk"

(Note that you should never have the disk mounted or opened in different environments at the same time. Always stop the one you are using before you mount or open the disk in another environment.)

2. Start BasiliskII. While booting, the Mac system will ask you wether it should initialise the new disk and will ask for a name. Give the disk an appropriate name, for instance "Mover Disk" and let the system initialise it.

3. When the virtual Mac has fully booted, the "Mover Disk" will appear on the desktop. You can now again shut down the BasiliskII virtual Mac.

4. From this page
http://kyscorner.codeccorner.com/macutil.htm
you can download the Mac version 5.5 of Stuffit Expander. You can download it to your Windows PC. The file is encoded in .hqx format and will in this encoded format survive on a non-Mac system. Do not do anything to it, make sure it is not decoded, save it to disk as it is. The file name will be "aladdin_exp55.hqx".

5. This step you will know better than I do. I understand that you have a Windows utility that can access Macintosh HFS disk images. Is that correct?
Then use it to copy the file "aladdin_exp55.hqx" to the disk image in "mover.dsk".

6. Now again start BasiliskII. You will now need the Stuffit Expander 4.0.1 te decode "aladdin_exp55.hqx". Maybe double-clicking "aladdin_exp55.hqx" will do that, or else you can drag the aladdin_exp55.hqx icon onto the Stuffit Expander icon, or you can launch Stuffit Expander and choose "Expand..." from its File menu. The decoded file will be the "Aladdin Expander 5.5 Installer". Quit Stuffit Expander 4.0.1 if it is still running (check in the application menu at the very right in the menu bar).

7. Launch the installer and after a couple of "Continue", "Agree", "Install", "OK" clicks, this Stuffit Installer will be installed in a "Stuffit Expander 5.5" folder on your virtual hard drive and an alias (shortcut) of the Expander will be conveniently be installed on your desktop.
You can now remove the older version of the Expander if you wish.

Well, start with this.While you are busy I will write the next steps to get Uninvited onto your Mini vMac.
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Post by Rhetro »

Thanks Ronald!!

I'll get started right away!

Rhetro
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

I hope everything went as I expected. Then, let's proceed with the next steps.

8. Maybe you already did that, but you can download Uninvited from the Macintosh Garden site here:
http://209.120.136.205/index.php?show=game&id=164
It is a .sit file, but it is a more recent Stuffit format that does survive a Windows environment, so it is no problem to download it to your PC. Again, make sure it is not decompressed because the decompressed files cannot survive on a PC disk and save the file to disk as it is. The file name will be "AWBRBVWCSOBHEWBDEANW.SIT".

9. Use your whatever Windows utility to copy the file to the disk image in "mover.dsk".

10. Start BasiliskII. The file "AWBRBVWCSOBHEWBDEANW.SIT" will be on the "Mover Disk".

11. This .sit file cannot be recognized by the system because it existed outside strict Mac environments, so double clicking it will not do anything. (The system can be made to recognize it, but I want to keep this simple.)Although the file cannot be recognized by the system, you can make Stuffit Expander 5.5 decompress it by dragging the AWBRBVWCSOBHEWBDEANW.SIT icon onto the Stuffit Expander icon or onto the icon of its alias that was installed on the desktop. If no changes were made to the Stuffit Expander default settings, the expanded "Uninvited Æ’" folder will be written next to the original compressed file onto the "Mover Disk".
You can now shut down the BasiliskII virtual Mac.

12. Start the Mini vMac. When it has booted completely, you can drag the "mover.dsk" icon into is window or use "Open disk image" from the file menu.

13. "Mover Disk" will mount on the Mini vMac desktop with "Uninvited Æ’" folder on it. Copy the "Uninvited Æ’" folder (by dragging) to the Mini vMac boot disk. Unmount "Mover Disk" (by dragging its icon to the Trash). Go to your boot disk, open "Uninvited Æ’" folder, double-click the Uninvited application icon... :)
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Post by Rhetro »

Hey Ronald.

Hit a road block here:

4.you can download the Mac version 5.5 of Stuffit Expander. You can download it to your Windows PC. The file is encoded in .hqx format and will in this encoded format survive on a non-Mac system. Do not do anything to it, make sure it is not decoded, save it to disk as it is. The file name will be "aladdin_exp55.hqx".

I got to step 4. and was unable to proceed with step 5. When I tried to copy (the untouched) "aladdin_exp55.hqx"

I got a:

aladdin_exp55.hqx: hqx file header not found.

Now. I now this is probably more of a PC type problem. But for some reason, the software I use for this (HFVExplorer) couldn't see the hqx file.

You may not know what to do at this point since it's on a pc. But then again, I don't either. I even tried making a virutal disk in HFVExplorer and moving the the file that way, but it still couldn't recognize it. (perhaps this wasn't the right thing to do since you told me to create the disk in Basilisk II anyway, but I'd thought I'd try it).

Any other ideas (perhaps I did it incorrectly but I don't think so. I followed your instructions) What about using the ibook?

Rhetro



5. This step you will know better than I do. I understand that you have a Windows utility that can access Macintosh HFS disk images. Is that correct?
Then use it to copy the file "aladdin_exp55.hqx" to the disk image in "mover.dsk".
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Post by Rhetro »

UPDATE:

I tried the copy process again and actually took a look at a drop down menu which gave me the following attributes for copying Expander 5.5 hqx to the Mover disk:

1) Automatic, let the program decide
2) MacBinary 2
3) Binhex
4) Text with cr/lf conversions
5) Raw copy data fork
6) Raw copy resource fork

I don't know if this helps but I left it on Automatic, let the program decide

Rhetro
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

I suppose you did copy files before to a HFS disk image using HFVExplorer? So the problem will not be that you do not know how to do that.

The "aladdin_exp55.hqx" file, can you see what its size is? It should be 1,120,650 bytes.
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Use "Raw copy data fork " for this particular file.
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Post by Rhetro »

Hey Ronald

I used the "Raw Copy Data Fork" and it coppied!!!

I started Basilisk II and saw that the Mover disk had the Aladin Expander 5.5.hqx file in there!

However, When I tried to get expander 4.0.1 to expand it, I got the following message:

The document "aladdin_exp55.hqx" could not be opened, because the application program that created it could not be found

Coud not find a translation extension with appropriate translators.

and then an OK button to click on.

I don't know if this helps, but I do have a Aladdin Expander 5.1.2 Install disk on my Basilisk II desktop. From the utilities disk that I coppied a few days ago.

Rhetro



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Post by Rhetro »

UPDATE:

I figured since Expander 4.0.1 couldn't see it. Why not try 5.1.2?

It did see it!

I even got a window that said it was expanding expander 5.5 hqx. However, it isn't anywhere on my Basilisk desktop!

I hope I didn't do anything wrong. I just decided to take the chance (otherwise I can start over) I know it's getting late in Holland!

Rhetro
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Rhetro wrote:I even got a window that said it was expanding expander 5.5 hqx. However, it isn't anywhere on my Basilisk desktop!
By default Expander will place the expanded file in the same location as the file that is being decoded or expanded. So, if "aladdin_exp55.hqx" is on the Mover Disk, "Aladdin Expander 5.5 Installer" will normally also be there.

If it is not, maybe Expander is set to place the expanded file in a different location. Launch Expander and check in its Preferences (File menu) what is set as the destination folder.
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Post by Rhetro »

Ronald!

I tried to expand 5.5 into its own 5.5 folder on the Basilisk II desktop (this is what I set for its destination).

It did it again with the progress bar, but when I looked in the 5.5 folder, it wasn't there but it did mention 73.5 k on disk. So something is in there but Basilisk can't see it.

I went ahead and tried Expander 5.1 on tmy Basilisk desktop that was already decompressed.

I proceeded with your instructions and and moved the Uninvited folder to the Mini vMac folder and....

IT WORKED!!!!!!

I've just spent the past five minutes shouting around my house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No crash, no nothing!!!!!

I just wanted to be sure, that maybe nothing went wrong with using Expander 5.1 as opposed to 5.5.

What do you think???!!!

It I get the go ahead from you, I'll spend another 5 minutes shouting around the house like a lunatic!!!

Rhetro
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Congratulations!

If Expander 5.1 worked to expand the files, than that will be OK.

I do not quite understand what happened with Expander 5.5.

First, if you decode (using one of the older versions of Expander) "aladdin_exp55.hqx", you will get the "Aladdin Expander(tm) 5.5 Installer" as the decoded file.
Then, when you launch this installer, and let it do its job without changing anything and without choosing a location by yourself, it will create on the BasiliskII boot disk a folder "Stuffit Expander(tm) 5.5" and inside that folder the "Stuffit Expander(tm)" application and a folder "Read Us First!". On the desktop it will create an alias "Stuffit Expander(tm)"
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Post by Rhetro »

Hey Ronald!!!

It did everything you said with version 5.1 with the alias and everything, but it didn't like 5.5 for some reason. It didn't end up installing anywhere?!

But. Oh well....

The main thing is that it works!!!!!!

FANTASTIC Then!!!

Wow. I can't thank you enough. Really, you've been very kind and patient in all of this.

(I just finished shouting for another 5 minutes)

Now:

I need to go back to all the previous posts, and write all the directions down and then have them engraved on a metal plaque!! so that I can have them for reference whenever I need to reinstall anything!!

Do you realize how much trouble you saved me!!??

So:

Basilisk II for more recent games
Mini vMac for older ones

I'm ready to start playing!!!

Kiik Uut!!!!

Thanks again my friend and have a good evening!!

Rhetro



:mrgreen:
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

I will go to sleep now. If you need me tomorrow, I will not be here. I will be visiting my nephew for his birthday. It will keep me away from my computer for the whole day.

Have fun!
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Post by Rhetro »

Hey Ronald!

Hope you had a great weekend visiting your nephew for his birthday.
My weekend was fantastic now that I have things up and running!!! Again. Thanks!

I had a question regarding the most efficient way to "Backup" all of this should my computer crash. Again. I'm writing down all of the steps should I need to reinstall all of this.

What I wanted to do was back up all of those games that I got from Macintosh Garden on cd rom. I would be using the ibook for all of this, and I would use the instructions you gave me regarding making a Mac OS Standard cd rom that Basilisk could read.

What I wanted to know was:

Should I save the files on cd rom Expanded, or Compressed as .sit files?

Thanks in advance

Rhetro
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Files that can live on your Windows PC can be saved as backup any way you are used to do that with other files. That includes more recent .sit format files like the "AWBRBVWCSOBHEWBDEANW.SIT" file, and of course the HFS disk images. Keeping backups of the BasiliskII and Mini vMac boot disk images will prevent having to do all of the configuring and installing again if something would happen to those files. Files that can only live on Mac HFS volumes are best saved onto a HFS disk image and you can save copies of those disk image files anywhere you like.
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