Mini vMac - How to create own bootable images?

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

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ResEdi
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Mini vMac - How to create own bootable images?

Post by ResEdi »

Hello,
i know this will be a well known basic problem using this application?

i would like to create own images with old 68k games, and also additional other bootable images with old Mac OS Systems.

i have tried this for such a few days in fact, and it did not work. i have tried it with toast, with disk utility, with the terminal also and via SheepShaver with Disk Copy, but without any succesable result.

I was following this instruction and offering tools from there:

http://minivmac.sourceforge.net/image.html

which is really good. But,...it dont work even with the blanket images. Any help? What should i configure it trying it with disk utility for example?


Mini vMac tell me:

PLEASE UNLOCK THE DISK AN TRY AGAIN.

But in fact i create this via disk utility - writeable -, so where i cant find this option to disable this protection?

Thank you very much.




And at least something general for this forum:

is it possible to enable the signature option here that i could post there my basis system configurations?

Here are my configurations:

Hardware:
Mac OS X
Version 10.5.4

MacBook Pro
2,6 GHz Intel Core Duo
4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Softare:

Mini vMac 3.0.4
07. November 2007
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: Mini vMac - How to create own bootable images?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

ResEdi wrote:which is really good. But,...it dont work even with the blanket images. Any help? What should i configure it trying it with disk utility for example?
Exactly what does not work and how doesn't it work? You should not use Disk Utility, try disk images from the "blanks" image collection. They work fine for me.
Mini vMac tell me:

PLEASE UNLOCK THE DISK AN TRY AGAIN.

But in fact i create this via disk utility - writeable -, so where i cant find this option to disable this protection?
Disk images created with the options available by default in Disk Utility will not work with Mini vMac.
ResEdi
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Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:45 am

Post by ResEdi »

hello and good morning,
maybe i am thinking in the wrong direction? this is what i have done right now following the instructions:

- I am opening one blank .dsk image from the blank-folder

- convert this into .dmg by renaming it manualy

- then mounting and copy a compete old mac os system. this are no installer files.

- close image .dmg and rename it again as .dsk

- starting mini vmac and choose open image

- but the disk with questionmark do not disappear, and the included system dont start.


so what is wrong generally? thanks for reply.
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

When you open a bootable disk image, or drag that image into the Mini vMac window, Mini vMac will startup from that disk.

Which system version are you copying? What is the source from which it is copied?

You copy the system while in MacOSX. That may not work, because in MacOSX the System Folder cannot be blessed and thus will be not be bootable.

You need to have a bootable image to startup from to be able to bless the system folder on the copied system.
ResEdi
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Post by ResEdi »

in fact i dont have a bootable system. i have them directly downloaded from Apple:

Index of /Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/German/Macintosh/System

Here is the wellknown url:

http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/German/Macintosh/System/

So how do i have to continue after download the files and putting them alltogether into one folder, here for expample with the german OS 7.0.1.

http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/German/Macintosh/System/System_7.0.1/

here are the files as - .image.sea - listed as follows or example:

D-7-1.0.1-Disk Tools.image.sea

i decompressed them with stuffit.

D-7.0.1-Disk_Tools.i..> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 1.0M
D-7.0.1-Fonts.image...> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 642k
D-7.0.1-Install_1.im..> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 976k
D-7.0.1-Install_2.im..> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 519k
D-7.0.1-Printing.ima..> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 530k
D-7.0.1-Tidbits.imag..> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 656k
D-7.0.1.txt 22-Feb-2002 19:54 1k

what do i have to do in general to work out a bootable system to install for mini vmac or basilisk for example?

Thanks for reply.
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ClockWise
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Post by ClockWise »

Would it be easier if you started out with a pre-prepared boot disk?

Here's a system 7 boot disk that works well with mini vMac.

http://personal3.iddeo.es/jgusart/tut1/tut1_2.htm

If you boot that up, you should be able to then install stuffit and then whatever operating system you like on a blank disk of your own.
ResEdi
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Post by ResEdi »

hello,
thank you. i have downloaded both. but for sys 7.1 i get the following window:

Image

could it depends on the used ROM-file? i think so...
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ClockWise
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Post by ClockWise »

I get the same message using the 7.1 boot disk. So try the 7.0 boot disk. It works for me.
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

ResEdi wrote:D-7.0.1-Disk_Tools.i..> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 1.0M
D-7.0.1-Fonts.image...> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 642k
D-7.0.1-Install_1.im..> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 976k
D-7.0.1-Install_2.im..> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 519k
D-7.0.1-Printing.ima..> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 530k
D-7.0.1-Tidbits.imag..> 22-Feb-2002 19:54 656k
- Place the image files inside the same folder as the Mini vMac application and the ROM file.
- Rename the disks as follows:

D-7.0.1-Install_1.image -> disk1.dsk
D-7.0.1-Install_2.imgage -> disk2.dsk
D-7.0.1-Tidbits.image -> disk3.dsk
D-7.0.1-Printing.image -> disk4.dsk
D-7.0.1-Fonts.image -> disk5.dsk

Add a fresh blank disk image of sufficient size and rename it disk6.dsk. That will be the disk that you are going to install the system on.

Launch Mini vMac. You will be greeted by the installer. Make sure the installer chooses the disk6 as target to install the system on, being a fresh blank image it will be called "untitled" (or the equivalent in German).
Follow the instructions. At the end you will be asked to restart. Mini vMac will restart with the blinking "?". Drag the disk6.image into the Mini vMac window and Mini vMac will boot happily from the newly installed system.

That's it.

In Mini vMac you can change the name of the mounted disk to something more appropriate, like "System 7 disk".

Make sure to shutdown the system from the Special menu before quitting Mini vMac.

You can now move the disks 1-5 out of the Mini vMac folder and rename disk6 to something more appropriate, like "System7.dsk".
ResEdi
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Thank you very much...

Post by ResEdi »

...this works, of course! It can be so easy generally, not even incredible but perhaps logical and simple.

Image

Maybe you should put this on top of the Mini vMac as STICKY-Thread? I didnt have found such easy explantion elsewhere in the web.

For me with such nonknowledge about technical things of old Macintosh 68k it was easy to understand. Most of the tutorials in the www seams to expect proffesional background in a way?

Just again thank you very much. I will start to install the other missing OS for my Mini vMac collection.
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: Thank you very much...

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

ResEdi wrote:I didnt have found such easy explantion elsewhere in the web.
The information is available in the Mini vMac documentation, but one needs to really read the documentation to encounter this (and other) information.
From the Mini vMac Home page http://minivmac.sourceforge.net/ follow the links: Documentation > HARDWARE (Emulated Hardware Reference) > Floppy Drives
The sixth paragraph starts with: "When Mini vMac is launched, it can automatically mount disk images named “disk1.dsk”, “disk2.dsk”, up to “disk6.dsk”."
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