Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

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pbpaint
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Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by pbpaint »

Hello Emaculation community,

I have a few questions concerning Mini vMac Mac Plus version OS6.

I see several TXT files in its main disk, which runs OS 6.0.8.
Whenever I double click to execute, there shows a pop up window that says
""The file "*****.txt" could not be opened/printed(the application is busy
or missing).""


What does this pop up window saying? What is the meaning of this pop up?

What's more, whenever I click into System Folder and double click any icons
(such as General, Finder, Keyboard, etc), the same pop up display appears:
The same exact wording "The file "Finder" could not be opened/printed (the application is busy
or missing).""


I do not understand this output. I mean I can see that OS 6 is running fine. I can play old games and run Stuffit Expander. But the disk's application programs and simple text files cannot be opened or executed.

Can you explain why I cannot run such files and apps? Is there a way to run or open them?
Why System Folder's apps cannot be executed?


Please share your knowledge and experiences.

Thank you. :mrgreen:
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24bit
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Re: Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by 24bit »

What you are encountering is quite usual and normal.
Finder: As MacOS is running, the Finder is indeed used by the system. Finder is the desktop you are using.
TXT: MacOS does not use three letter extensions but file resource forks to distinguish apps or files.
If you want to open a text file, you may usually open a file from within your favourite text editor from the main menu, file/open.
I can recommend BBEdit Lite 3.5 to open all kind of text files, but there are others available, of course.

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pbpaint
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Re: Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by pbpaint »

Thank you for the clarity and recommendation.

I have one more set of questions concerning SIT files.

I am running Mini vMac in Windows 10.
I installed Stuffit Expander for Windows 9.0 inside Windows 10.

I downloaded old games in SIT format.
I expanded the game SIT file via Stuffit Expander for Windows 9.0.

But the expanded game file is unknown file type.
I right-clicked to open its Properties, and there the file type is simply "File."
Even its file icon image is white blank paper with right corner earmarked.

Question:
(1) Why is Windows 10 not reading the expanded file?
(2) Is the file only readable in real Mac, not in emulated Mac?
(3) Is there a way to run such file in Mini vMac Mac Plus version OS 6, in Windows 10?

Thank you again.
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24bit
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Re: Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by 24bit »

I never used Stuffit for Windows an will hardly do in future.
One obstacle is the fact, that file resource forks get lost on "foreign" non Macintosh file systems.
I think Stuffit Expander 5 was the last version running in MiniVMac.
Your best bet will be moving the sit file to MiniVmac in a .img container and unstuff it there.

In the long run, it may be best to install an instance of SheepShaver/MacOS8.6 on your Windows host.
SheepShaver can run Stuffit 7, which should handle almost every sit file.
Further you may easily create DiskCopy 6 img containers to share them with MiniVMac.
There are other solutions, but thats what I do to move apps to MiniVMac.
pbpaint
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Re: Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by pbpaint »

Thank you very much for sharing this information, and your experience!

I will re-state what you have said about the long-term solution, for making sure I understood correctly:

(1) Install SheepShaver and inside, MacOS 8.6.
(2) Install DiskCopy 6 inside MacOS 8.6.
(3) Install Stuffit 7 inside MacOS 8.6.
(4) Transfer the SIT file to SheepShaver MacOS 8.6 via ImportFl app.
(5) Unstuff the SIT file.
(6) Create IMG file out of the unstuffed SIT file. In other words, turn the expanded file into IMG file.
(7) Mount the IMG file in Mini vMac.
(8) Play the game.

Please correct where I am wrong.
Thank you again.

Best Regards,
pbpaint
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adespoton
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Re: Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by adespoton »

Everything looks correct except step 4 -- you have to create a disk image and use that to transfer files between. SheepShaver doesn't do ImportFl. Instead, you create a shared folder on your host OS, and can copy files from that folder onto the disk image where you can expand and prep for Mini vMac.
pbpaint
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Re: Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by pbpaint »

Thank you for the correction.

24bit said the following:
24bit wrote: Your best bet will be moving the sit file to MiniVmac in a .img container and unstuff it there.
Now, what exactly is .img container?
Specifically, I do not understand the concept of "container."
Is it that the SIT file is converted to IMG file via DiskCopy 6?

Please correct me if I am wrong.
Thank you.

Best Regards,
pbpaint
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SistemaRayoXP
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Re: Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by SistemaRayoXP »

That means putting the SIT file inside a floppy image (IMG is for floppy image). Container is just a way to say that you should put the SIT inside the floppy image, or in other words, the floppy image will contain the file
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pbpaint
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Re: Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by pbpaint »

Thank you for your clarification.

One last question:

How do you contain a SIT file inside a floppy image?
Do I use diskCopy 6 app?

Thank you.

Best Regards,
pbpaint
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24bit
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Re: Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by 24bit »

Best use ImportFL to transfer your sit files to a MiniVMac disk image to process them until you have a more convenient solution.

DiskCopy 6 needs a running MacOS to work.
The app does not only copy disks, as the name indicates, but also creates disk images of .IMG type.
The .IMG files are mounted by DiskCopy in MacOS by double click.
Once mounted, you may copy apps or else onto the mounted disk image.
That way files in an .IMG can travel safely over non Mac file systems.
(Of course the resource fork of the .IMG will get lost in Windows. That won´t matter much, as emulators usually mount .IMG without resource fork. If needed the missing resource may also be fixed pretty easy.)
If you do need a certain file inside a .IMG, just let us know. Someone will find the time for sure.

If you are ready to set up SheepShaver:
I made a bootable .DSK disk image for SheepShaver some time ago, which may help to get things rolling:
http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/macos-753-emulators
The .DSK is only 40MB, so you may want to use one of these as work volumes for inflating files:
http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/disk-images-emulators
As SheepShaver is running, you may easily add another disk image to install a MacOS 7.3 to 9.0.4 of your choice.
DiskCopy and Stuffit need to be added usually, some MacOS CDs have a installer for Stuffit Expander included though.
pbpaint
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Re: Mini vMac Mac Plus OS6 TXT files, System files pop ups

Post by pbpaint »

Thank you very much 24bit!
So much gratitude from me for sharing your knowledge.

I have downloaded linked disk images.
Such great resources.

All is good. :mrgreen:

Thank you.

Best Regards,
pbpaint
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