Macintosh emulators -- FusionPC, SoftMac

vsp · 03-13-2003, 09:20 PM

I did a little digging on one of my favorite emulation sites tonight, and decided to see if any progress had been made on Macintosh emulators for the PC. To my surprise, there has.

I found a link to <a href="http://www.emulators.com/download.htm">Emulators.com</a>, with versions of FusionPC (older product, now free) and SoftMac (newer product, 30-day trial activation) available for download. Each product supports up to Mac OS 8.1, and just about any pre-PowerMac (i.e. 68040-or-older) Mac ROM images. Apparently, these do not require repartitioning of the resident PC's hard drive -- they create virtual drive images that are simply hundreds-of-megabytes files on the C: drive, and as long as you don't muck around with them within Windows, the two OSes should be able to coexist.

Has anyone here ever experimented with either of these programs? I'm intrigued, and may start tinkering with FUSION when I get back from a weekend trip (that, and I need to obtain a MacOS 8.1 disc, or use the 7.5.5 and BIOS from my IIfx).

mbpark · 03-13-2003, 11:07 PM

I'm using Amiga Forever, which has WinUAE built into it and legit Kickstart images for a really fast 68K amiga.

Those emulators are darn good. WinUAE can even play most Amiga demos, even the AGA ones. You'll like the change. And the ability to play old Mac games.

I also have MacOS 8 somewhere, too. I should load up one of the old Mac emulators for the Amiga on WinUAE.

vsp · 03-14-2003, 10:41 AM

I took the plunge and snagged a generic MacOS 8.1 CD package (still shrinkwrapped, even) off of eBay. It was cheap, so even if I end up not being happy with Fusion it's no great loss.

The docs mention that it's now possible to install LINUX in a similar manner, i.e. as a drive-image file instead of in a separate partition. Ever fiddled with THAT? Not wanting to repartition has been the main thing keeping me from trying a dual-boot system.

03-14-2003, 10:43 AM

Yes. It's okay, but not as cool as just running it. I recommend getting an extra hard drive; that way, you don't need to repartition. Hard drives are dirt cheap nowadays - a twenty gig isn't going to cost you much.

russotto · 03-14-2003, 11:03 AM

I once took the old vMac emulator (Mac Plus only) and updated it as far as the Mac II. Kind of a neat toy, and came in handy for testing an application with old systems, but a toy was all it was. But then again, my main machine is a Mac.

vsp · 03-14-2003, 11:24 AM

Fusion can emulate anything up to a Quadra 950, and the maintainers claim to deliver up to 50-70% of the PC's clock speed in emulation. ("In other words, a 500 MHz PC running Windows 98 can emulate the equivalent of a 300 MHz Macintosh Quadra running Mac OS 8," according to them.) Your mileage may vary, and likely will (those numbers are STAGGERINGLY high).

Bitman · 03-14-2003, 05:31 PM

I ran the Mac emulator ShapeShifter under UAE on the Amiga. Works great, too! Not too slow, as the Mac and Amiga use the same processors, so ShapeShifter doesn't need to emulate the CPU.

Emulation is great 'cuz if you have a fairly modern PC, you can usually give more resources to the emulator than you're willing to buy for a dedicated machine.

Uryoces · 03-14-2003, 06:46 PM

I've been playing with Basilisk II, an open-source 68K Mac emulator for PC's.

Just get a Rom image file -- from a living Mac or Google, pick up a used OS 8 CD, and you're golden.

Emulates: 68040
ROM Required: Yes - 512 KB or 1 MB
Memory: Unlimited
Sound: Supported
Mac OS supported: 7.x - 8.1
Modem Support: Yes
Ethernet Support: Yes
Hard Drive size: Unlimited
Current Version: V0.9-1 (Win - Build 143)
Creator:Christian Bauer
Price:Free
Runs On: Amiga, Linux, UNIX, BeOS, Windows 9x, Windows NT (and Win2000 and WinXP)

I managed to save copies of Photshop 3.0 and Illustrator 5.0 for Mac 68K from the dumpster at my old job, but never could figure out what to do with them. Now I know!

vsp · 03-18-2003, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Uryoces

I managed to save copies of Photshop 3.0 and Illustrator 5.0 for Mac 68K from the dumpster at my old job, but never could figure out what to do with them. Now I know!

Yeah -- you can send Photoshop to me, so I can finally tinker with images and post something to Fark.

I tried out Fusion and Basilisk II tonight, and found myself vastly preferring Basilisk II for a simple reason -- it lets you access the rest of the PC's hard drive (as "My Computer"), which means I can download archives via my PC's DSL connection and seamlessly transfer them to the Mac's HD image (no utilities required). The sound was also better, though the mouse is a little mushy (making Apeiron difficult, but still playable).

I'll try these out on my friend's 450 MHz Dell next, and see how well Basilisk holds up on that. The speed was blazing on my Athlon 1300.

Uryoces · 03-20-2003, 02:07 AM

You may have noticed the Basilisk droppings it leaves in every folder it vists, the hidden folder resource.frk and the file finder.dat. I also use the program hfvexplorer, which allows you to read Mac disks and disk images. The cool thing is that you can take an HD image and burn it to CD in Nero on the PC side as an HFS volume, basically a Mac format CD. You can install the Basilisk ethernet drivers and let the Mac do the surfing, too. You have to release the IP address on the PC, start Basilisk and surf, then renew the IP settings once you're done. If you have a DHCP assigned ip it's easier. I made a batch file that contained this:

ipconfig /release
C:\basiliskII\basilisk.exe
ipconfig /renew

It releases the IP, and starts Basilisk. When you're done, and you shut down, the batch file completes and renews the ip. Not sure how to do that with static IP's yet, but it works manually.

03-13-2003, 09:20 PM	#1
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	Macintosh emulators -- FusionPC, SoftMac I did a little digging on one of my favorite emulation sites tonight, and decided to see if any progress had been made on Macintosh emulators for the PC. To my surprise, there has. I found a link to <a href="http://www.emulators.com/download.htm">Emulators.com</a>, with versions of FusionPC (older product, now free) and SoftMac (newer product, 30-day trial activation) available for download. Each product supports up to Mac OS 8.1, and just about any pre-PowerMac (i.e. 68040-or-older) Mac ROM images. Apparently, these do not require repartitioning of the resident PC's hard drive -- they create virtual drive images that are simply hundreds-of-megabytes files on the C: drive, and as long as you don't muck around with them within Windows, the two OSes should be able to coexist. Has anyone here ever experimented with either of these programs? I'm intrigued, and may start tinkering with FUSION when I get back from a weekend trip (that, and I need to obtain a MacOS 8.1 disc, or use the 7.5.5 and BIOS from my IIfx).

03-13-2003, 11:07 PM	#2
mbpark Lecturer Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Carmel, Indiana Posts: 761	VSP, I use another one I'm using Amiga Forever, which has WinUAE built into it and legit Kickstart images for a really fast 68K amiga. Those emulators are darn good. WinUAE can even play most Amiga demos, even the AGA ones. You'll like the change. And the ability to play old Mac games. I also have MacOS 8 somewhere, too. I should load up one of the old Mac emulators for the Amiga on WinUAE.

03-14-2003, 10:41 AM	#3
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	I took the plunge and snagged a generic MacOS 8.1 CD package (still shrinkwrapped, even) off of eBay. It was cheap, so even if I end up not being happy with Fusion it's no great loss. The docs mention that it's now possible to install LINUX in a similar manner, i.e. as a drive-image file instead of in a separate partition. Ever fiddled with THAT? Not wanting to repartition has been the main thing keeping me from trying a dual-boot system.

03-14-2003, 10:43 AM	#4
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Yes. It's okay, but not as cool as just running it. I recommend getting an extra hard drive; that way, you don't need to repartition. Hard drives are dirt cheap nowadays - a twenty gig isn't going to cost you much.

03-14-2003, 11:03 AM	#5
russotto Professor Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,788	I once took the old vMac emulator (Mac Plus only) and updated it as far as the Mac II. Kind of a neat toy, and came in handy for testing an application with old systems, but a toy was all it was. But then again, my main machine is a Mac.

03-14-2003, 11:24 AM	#6
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	Fusion can emulate anything up to a Quadra 950, and the maintainers claim to deliver up to 50-70% of the PC's clock speed in emulation. ("In other words, a 500 MHz PC running Windows 98 can emulate the equivalent of a 300 MHz Macintosh Quadra running Mac OS 8," according to them.) Your mileage may vary, and likely will (those numbers are STAGGERINGLY high).

03-14-2003, 05:31 PM	#7
Bitman cellar smellar Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: californy, baby! Posts: 403	I ran the Mac emulator ShapeShifter under UAE on the Amiga. Works great, too! Not too slow, as the Mac and Amiga use the same processors, so ShapeShifter doesn't need to emulate the CPU. Emulation is great 'cuz if you have a fairly modern PC, you can usually give more resources to the emulator than you're willing to buy for a dedicated machine.

03-14-2003, 06:46 PM	#8
Uryoces 2nd Covenant, yo Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Pugetropolis Posts: 583	I've been playing with Basilisk II, an open-source 68K Mac emulator for PC's. Just get a Rom image file -- from a living Mac or Google, pick up a used OS 8 CD, and you're golden. Emulates: 68040 ROM Required: Yes - 512 KB or 1 MB Memory: Unlimited Sound: Supported Mac OS supported: 7.x - 8.1 Modem Support: Yes Ethernet Support: Yes Hard Drive size: Unlimited Current Version: V0.9-1 (Win - Build 143) Creator:Christian Bauer Price:Free Runs On: Amiga, Linux, UNIX, BeOS, Windows 9x, Windows NT (and Win2000 and WinXP) I managed to save copies of Photshop 3.0 and Illustrator 5.0 for Mac 68K from the dumpster at my old job, but never could figure out what to do with them. Now I know!

03-20-2003, 02:07 AM	#10
Uryoces 2nd Covenant, yo Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Pugetropolis Posts: 583	You may have noticed the Basilisk droppings it leaves in every folder it vists, the hidden folder resource.frk and the file finder.dat. I also use the program hfvexplorer, which allows you to read Mac disks and disk images. The cool thing is that you can take an HD image and burn it to CD in Nero on the PC side as an HFS volume, basically a Mac format CD. You can install the Basilisk ethernet drivers and let the Mac do the surfing, too. You have to release the IP address on the PC, start Basilisk and surf, then renew the IP settings once you're done. If you have a DHCP assigned ip it's easier. I made a batch file that contained this: ipconfig /release C:\basiliskII\basilisk.exe ipconfig /renew It releases the IP, and starts Basilisk. When you're done, and you shut down, the batch file completes and renews the ip. Not sure how to do that with static IP's yet, but it works manually.

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