Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

About SheepShaver, a PPC Mac emulator for Windows, MacOS X, and Linux that can run System 7.5.3 to MacOS 9.0.4.

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hazelnot
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Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by hazelnot »

Hi,

After a lot of fiddling I managed to get SheepShaver running on Arch Linux, set everything up, but now I can't seem to be able to get the thing to recognize the boot disk. It boots from it, but the copy protection kicks in even though the ISO is marked as read-only. I'm trying to get Mac OS 9.0.4 running, and the message I'm getting is "The system software on the startup disk only functions on the original media, not if copied to another drive.".

Please help 😅
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

The iso file must be set to be read only.

If the file is set to read-only, do you you happen to run SheepShaver as root? The CD image cannot be read-only for SheepShaver if run as root.
hazelnot
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by hazelnot »

The ISO is set to read-only, but yeah, I'm also running SheepShaver as root. I'm a bit worried about having to disable OS security features to run this though.

Is there any way to boot from an ISO without doing that?
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Not sure about your security features. I would expect it to be a lot safer to run SheepShaver as normal user than as root. Will not running as root disable most security features?

Follow our setup manual. There is also a line about the impossibility to install from a disk image when running SheepShaver as root.
https://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/ubuntu

Alternatively you could burn the iso back to CD and install from the CD. The CD will always be read-only.
hazelnot
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by hazelnot »

Hm, unfortunately I don't have a CD drive in my computer. I say "disabling security features" because of this post I saw previously
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Running as root does not make it safer. On the contrary, most security features will be disabled when running anything as root.

The memory issue you are referring to is related to the unusual way BasiliskII and SheepShaver use memory. Nothing to worry about. A restart of the host machine will resolve it.

Best follow our setup manual: https://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/ubuntu
hazelnot
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by hazelnot »

I know running it as root doesn't make it safer, but running it as root while leaving the security settings in place will make it safer to run other applications, while sacrificing a bit of safety while running SheepShaver

I also already used those instructions, but they don't mention anything about the memory issue
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by emendelson »

It may be worth considering whether any software that you can run under SheepShaver - software that was almost certainly written before anyone knew that a Mac emulator could even exist - could have been written in a way that would affect the security of a surrounding host system. How likely is it that even the most evil virus-writer in the days of classic Mac could have written malware that - many years later - could infect a host system of an emulator?
hazelnot
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by hazelnot »

Again, my issue isn't with the emulator, which is why I'm willing to run it as root in the first place. My issue is the fact that if I disable the security feature that keeps it from working in user mode it stays disabled for every other program on my computer, which is where it might become a problem.
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Search the forum for "Cannot map Low Memory Globals". It is all over the place. It is a well known issue. SheepShaver (or BasiliskII) tries to use memory that is already in use by another process. Restarting the host machine will clear memory and solve the issue. No need to disable any security feature.
hazelnot
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by hazelnot »

Ohhh ok, thanks, I understand now. I thought that to be able to run SheepShaver as a user I'd have to edit /etc/sysctl.conf

I'll try rebooting and see what happens in that case

Edit: I rebooted my computer, but I'm still getting the same error
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by hazelnot »

I temporarily set mmap_min_addr to 0, and now it tries to boot in user mode as well, but I just get a black screen and have to force close the app
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

Hm, I am no Linux user myself. Maybe your Linux version does not normally allow use of low memory? Can other forum members clarify?

The SheepShaver build itself is probably OK as it eventually booted from the CD-image when you ran it as root.

Where did you get it, or did you compile it yourself?

You may need to configure SheepShaver again for the user. The configuration prefs file may be saved in a different location and/or the user has no access to the prefs file created as root.
hazelnot
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by hazelnot »

I compiled it myself from the repo at https://github.com/cebix/macemu

I also pretty much configured it the same on both "versions", but I also have no idea where the config files are located at all

Interestingly enough, it now also refuses to boot and only gives be a black screen when running it as root as well
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Ronald P. Regensburg
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by Ronald P. Regensburg »

I am not 100% certain about Linux, but I suppose the prefs file will be in your Home directory and will be named .basilisk_ii_prefs (note the leading dot).

The kanjitalk755/macemu fork we use here is more up-to-date than the cebix/macemu source: https://github.com/kanjitalk755/macemu/
Try to build from that source.

Note that you need to install SDL2 (version 2.0.14 or later) first. The SDL2 download page tells Linux users to "Please contact your distribution maintainer for updates" https://www.libsdl.org/download-2.0.php

The main page at kanjitalk755/macemu gives the commands for building for Linux(x86/x86_64):

$ cd macemu/BasiliskII/src/Unix
$ ./autogen.sh
$ make

We also have instructions for compiling in our wiki, but I am not sure those are up-to-date for Linux: https://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/co ... r_basilisk
hazelnot
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Re: Can't seem to get SheepShaver to recognize the boot disk

Post by hazelnot »

Hm ok, I'll try building the fork then. I saw something about a fork but I didn't check it out because I didn't know how up to date it would be

Edit: wow ok that worked, thank you!
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