How to install Tiger on QEMU?

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cube queen
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How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by cube queen »

I have a Tiger install DVD. I am running Catalina on a Late 2012 Mac Mini. I wish to emulate Tiger so I can access some very old Retrospect Backup catalogs and possibly even run Retrospect 6.1. I have downloaded QEMU for Mac and have taken a look at the qemu.command file. It looks like it's set up to install OS 9.2. I'm guessing I need to alter this file to install Tiger. How might I do that please?
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Cat_7
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by Cat_7 »

Hi,

There are indeed some changes needed to the commands in the guide:

1. You need to make a bigger file to be used as hard disk. Let's say 10Gb:
./qemu-img create -f raw -o size=10G Tiger.img

2. You need to have a disk image of the Tiger installation DVD. Below that image file is called Tiger.iso. Then change the qemu.command file:
#!/bin/bash
cd "$(dirname "$0")"

./qemu-system-ppc \
-L pc-bios \
-M mac99,via=pmu \
-m 512 \
-boot d \
-drive file=Tiger.iso,format=raw,media=cdrom \
-drive file=Tiger.img,format=raw,media=disk

That should do,

Best,
Cat_7
cube queen
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by cube queen »

Thanks. I wasn't sure the line "./qemu-img create -f raw -o size=10G Tiger.img" was a Terminal command but ran it anyway. I thought nothing happened and no image was created because I couldn't find it, so I ran the command again and got "No such file or directory." Then I found the image. I really shouldn't be using my time off trying this but it's a challenge now that I can't let go of. If I get this to work, I'll post back.
Last edited by cube queen on Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Cat_7
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by Cat_7 »

Yes it is a terminal command.
Is the qemu-img program not part of your download? If so, cd to the folder in which you downloaded qemu and try again.
Or use the "new terminal here" (don't know its exact name) option in the finder to go there directly.

I've never tried creating a disk image with DU, but it should be possible as long as it is not compressed or read only.

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Cat_7
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Cat_7 wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:37 pmOr use the "new terminal here" (don't know its exact name) option in the finder to go there directly.
Right-click (or control-click) on the folder and choose from the contextual menu: Services > New Terminal at Folder
cube queen
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by cube queen »

Got my Tiger.img and Tiger.iso and changed the qemu.command file per your posted revision. Double-clicked on qemu.command and only get a blank screen. It's trying to do something it looks like, but nothing ever happens. I would post a screen shot but I don't know how to do that. Does running the qemu.command file install Tiger OS on Tiger.img or do I need to do something else? Sorry to ask so many questions but there is a ton of information online that doesn't make sense to me.
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Cat_7
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by Cat_7 »

If everything would be fine, you would see a yellow-ish screen that is after a few seconds replace by the image of Tiger booting from the CD image. From that point onward you should arrive at the installer which works exactly the same as on a real machine.

Did you run the "allow_qemu_to_run" command file as root before starting qemu-img or the qemu.command file with:
sudo allow_qemu_to_run.command

If so, you can run the qemu.command file from a terminal window to see whether it gives any additional info on what might be wrong.
cube queen
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by cube queen »

I get "-bash: ./qemu-system-ppc: No such file or directory"
I have my files in the wrong location? Or it's looking for the file in the wrong directory? Do I need to change something about this change directory command:
cd "$(dirname "$0")"

Also, I ran the following in Terminal as instructed by the Readme: "sudo ./allow_qemu_to_run.command"
Did I do it right?

Here is the screen shot:
https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=60E2348E
Last edited by cube queen on Wed Jun 30, 2021 9:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by adespoton »

The screen looks right; you should eventually go from there to the regular Tiger boot sequence and then the installer dialog. If you get stuck at the yellow screen and it drops to a command prompt, that means the virtual PPC couldn't find the EFI boot file in the /System folder on the install CD. This likely means there's a problem with the CD image.
cube queen
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by cube queen »

Eventually? So maybe I just haven't been waiting long enough? I'll start it up and let it go overnight maybe. LOL!

Actually, I think my iso file is probably not correct. I tried a terminal command AND Disk Utility to make an image. Neither worked. Disk Utility refused to let me make an image of the install disk, probably having to do with copyright protection or something. But I copied the Tiger install disk to my hard drive so its contents were like a folder, then made an image of that. It was a .cdr. I found a terminal command that was supposed to convert .cdr to .iso, but I couldn't get that to work. Then I read that .cdr is really basically the same as .iso and sometimes you can get away with simply changing the file extension from .cdr to .iso.

Now I'm attempting to download a pre-built Tiger .iso. Not sure if it's legit.

UPDATE: Whoo-hoo! Got it! Almost, maybe. Tried again to make the disk image from the DVD using Disk Utility. This time I selected the DVD drive name rather than the Tiger installer DVD name below it and told it to make a disk image with that selected. The disk image was a .cdr. This time I just left it as a .cdr and changed the command in the qemu from .iso to .cdr. Apparently the disk image does not HAVE to be .iso. The Tiger installer started, BUT now it's to the part where I choose a destination volume and there are no options showing. Errrr... so close...

UPDATE AGAIN: Saw a post where someone else was told that the destination disk image must be initialized, so I did that. OS installation is well underway. Fingers crossed!
Last edited by cube queen on Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:02 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Cat_7
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by Cat_7 »

Ah, great.

.cdr or .iso only gives an indication of what the actual content of a file might be. In this case they are the same.
After the installation you have to edit the qemu.command file to tell Qemu to boot from the hard disk image:

change:
-boot d \
to
-boot c \

and start Qemu. It will not be fast, as we are emulating an old and different processor, but it will work.

Best,
Cat_7
cube queen
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by cube queen »

Thanks for telling me about changing the boot command. After installing the OS, the installer kept running over and over. Giving that a try now.
cube queen
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by cube queen »

Got the OS up and running. Next step is getting Retrospect off a CD into QEMU. I think I can figure that out. But now the question is, will I be able to access an external drive to recover backups? Backups are on an external firewire tape drive and CDs. Oy! Maybe this has all been for naught? Or not? There is a list of Removable Media under the Machine window. Perhaps that is how external drives are accessed?

Stupid Dantz anyway. Retrospect backups were supposed to be for long-term storage, but what good is that when they don't make their upgrades capable of importing old catalogs? Grrrr...
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Cat_7
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by Cat_7 »

Hi,

There are various ways to get files into Tiger, see our guide here:
https://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/pp ... mu-for-osx

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cube queen
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by cube queen »

One last question, I think. Is there a way to get QEMU to see an actual physical optical drive attached to the computer? I think the guide you posted touches on this but I'm not sure how to do it. Turns out most of the files I've been trying to recover actually pre-date our use of Retrospect backups, but we do have two CDs with Retrospect backups I'd like to recover and having QEMU with Retrospect installed able to read them the via the actual physical drive is my last hope for getting anything off them. Nothing else available will read them. Even if QEMU could access the drive it probably won't be able to read these CDs either, but I'd like to give it a shot.
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Cat_7
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by Cat_7 »

Hi,

Yes, Qemu can access disks and cdrom drives.
Insert the CD, wait for it to show up on the desktop, go to disk utlity and unmount the CD.

Edit your qemu.command to run Qemu as root:
sudo ./qemu-system-ppc \

and replace the current -drive line that points to your dvd installation image (if still there) with:
-cdrom /dev/cdrom
if that line is the last line in your qemu.command file. Otherwise end it with \ so the next line(s) will also be read during start.

Best,
Cat_7
cube queen
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by cube queen »

I think the idea is screwed then because the whole problem is that the CD WON'T mount, which may or may not have something to do with it being produced by Retrospect and nothing else will read it or that it is an old 650MB disc, a kind which it seems only our old LaCie drive is capable of reading. I think I give up.
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Older HFS disks, including CDs, will not mount in macOS Catalina and later. Possibly the CD is a HFS disk. Then it will not mount, but it can be seen (greyed out) in Disk Utility. If you can see it in Disk Utility you may still be able to use it when you run QEMU as root.
cube queen
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by cube queen »

Yeah, I've tried Disk Utility. It doesn't show there either, not even on systems older than Catalina, like High Sierra on the Mac at work and not even with being inserted in the old LaCie drive that used to be able to, and probably still would, read 650MB disks, just not the two created by Retrospect from which I'm trying to recover data. The best thing to come of this whole adventure is I was able to read the old backup catalog files with QEMU with Retrospect installed and determine that there are no Retrospect backup files anywhere other than on these two disks, so that narrows the possibilities for recovery down. It appears I will only be able to recover the files that pre-date our use of Retrospect and are not compressed.
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by kinougromit »

when trying this I get the message that the via property is not found :

"qemu-system-ppc: Property '.via' not found"

I'm trying to boot Tiger from a DVD file using "Linux 4.15.0-162-generic #170-Ubuntu " under XFCE.

I have done my install using the following package: qemu-system qemu-system-ppc openbios-ppc

Am I missing something

Thierry.
Cat_7 wrote: Wed Jun 30, 2021 3:51 pm Hi,

There are indeed some changes needed to the commands in the guide:

1. You need to make a bigger file to be used as hard disk. Let's say 10Gb:
./qemu-img create -f raw -o size=10G Tiger.img

2. You need to have a disk image of the Tiger installation DVD. Below that image file is called Tiger.iso. Then change the qemu.command file:
#!/bin/bash
cd "$(dirname "$0")"

./qemu-system-ppc \
-L pc-bios \
-M mac99,via=pmu \
-m 512 \
-boot d \
-drive file=Tiger.iso,format=raw,media=cdrom \
-drive file=Tiger.img,format=raw,media=disk

That should do,

Best,
Cat_7
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Cat_7
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Re: How to install Tiger on QEMU?

Post by Cat_7 »

Hi,

I have no idea which version of Qemu was installed with those packages.
What command line do you use?

Can you run without the ,via=pmu parameter? So only use -M mac99 \

Best,
Cat_7
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