:
Sent: Sun Feb 28 16:01:05 2021
Why does it show me when I open minivmac some information and always know mato sends to your site and still shows me
status : responded
My guess is that you’re asking about the message Mini vMac shows when it can’t find the Macintosh ROM image it needs in any of the locations it checks. Please see the Getting Started with Mini vMac instructions.
Sent: (via email) Fri, 26 Feb 2021 20:24:03
Hello,
There is a problem on the variations page (3) for Mini vMac, I am preparing a configuration and it throws me a message that the base options must not be white, but I have no problem on the introduction page, he does it there...
:/
status : responded, possible change pending
(Assuming the exact wording was “Sorry, the Base Options may not be left blank.”) That is intended behavior. Except for the Variations Service Intro, all the other Variations Service pages are for making a new variation based upon an existing variation. The options for the existing variation must be entered in the base options field.
It might be clearer if I removed the Variations Service Intro, replacing it with Variations Service Basic, so all the Variations Service pages work the same.
If you are using the Text Based variations service page, and want to specify a variation from scratch, not based on an existing variation, just put all your options in the Base Options field and nothing in the Changed Options field.
Sent: Sat Feb 20 14:08:20 2021
Hello,
vMac can using printer?
I have trouble with save and load files from my linux system. Is possible to add any way to put document do user disk? I'm a writer, I'm not need internet but I need save my text and print it on my printer.
Thanks
Marek [... last name ...] [... email address ...]
status : responded
There is no direct support for printing in Mini vMac, but you can use the ability built into System 6.0.8 and later to print to a Postscript file. You can then export this file to the host computer, and print it from there. See the "How can I print from Mini vMac?" question in the FAQ.
To save a single file to your real computer, not inside a disk image, so that other programs on your real computer can access it, you can use the ExportFl utility.
For exporting plain text, ClipOut may sometimes be more convenient.
Sent: Thu Feb 18 14:44:29 2021
Hallo Paul
Mini vMac 2' kan niet worden geopend omdat Apple het bestand niet kan controleren op kwaadaardige software.
Mini vMac cannot be opened because Apple cannot control the file on dangerous software
What do I have to do? Hans
status : responded
See OS X notes for Mini vMac. If that doesn’t work, let me know.
Sent: Sat Feb 13 00:47:34 2021
I really love this app MinivMac because it emulates a real Macintosh!
But I would really love the bug on the Macintosh II emulator is when I restart the emulated computer it freezes.
Ps: I would really like a Powerbook 100 emulator to be released.
Sent: Sat Feb 13 05:30:20 2021
Hello!
Is there any MinivMac that emulates a Powerbook 100
status : awaiting information
The Restart command in the Finder seems to work for me using several different system versions in the Macintosh II emulation. What operating system version are you using? Any non-default install options for the operating system? What version of Mini vMac?
There is the beginnings of Powerbook 100 emulation in the Mini vMac source code, but it does not yet get too far in booting.
Sent: Thu Feb 11 00:06:42 2021
Sent: Mon Feb 15 23:51:04 2021
Hi Paul, I submitted a message on the 22nd Jan but it has not been answered. I notice that two other messages from around that time remain unanswered, but all of the more recent enquiries have been answered. Did you miss them perhaps? Thanks
Patrick
Hi Paul, I submitted a message on the 22nd Jan but it has not been answered. I notice that two other messages from around that time remain unanswered, but all of the more recent enquiries have been answered. Did you miss them perhaps? Thanks
status : received, reply pending
Sent: Sun Feb 7 13:53:48 2021
Hi,
thanks so much for creating mini vMac! I was wondering if there's a way to save files I've created in MacPaint to my actual computer. does ejecting the disks i've saved the files in keep them? what i mean is: do the ROM and dsk files i drop onto mini vMac get changed and written on by the program, or do i have to make do with screenshots and such?
thanks!
status : responded
Yes, changes to a disk image file are saved, at the time it is ejected (if not sooner). The ROM image (acronym for Read Only Memory) is read only, and not modified.
If you would like to save a single file to your real computer, not inside a disk image, so that other programs on your real computer can access it, you can use the ExportFl utility.
Sent: Fri Feb 5 19:03:39 2021
i'm trying to decompress the two system startup and additions disks on my macos terminal—i have the 'ua608d' folder and the .sea.bin file in the same folder.
but when i try to run the command ( ./ua608d SSW_6.0.8-1.4MB_Disk1of2.sea.bin "System Startup" ) the terminal just prints "-bash: ./ua608d: is a directory".
status : responded
My guess is that you have downloaded the source code instead of the compiled tool. If you have a recent Macintosh, but not a new Apple Silicon one, you should download “ua608d-1.00-mc64.bin.tgz” from the Download ua608d Binaries page.
I’ll consider how to revise the ua608d page to help avoid this confusion in the future.
Sent: Tue Feb 2 14:38:42 2021
Is there a MacOS Big Sur compatible version of Mini vMac?
status : responded
As far as I know, Mini vMac should work fine in Big Sur, after applying the fix in OS X notes for Mini vMac.
However, if you are running Big Sur on a new Apple Silicon Macintosh, the Intel x86-64 version should still work fine (in Rosetta 2), but you may want to try the Mini vMac 37 beta, for a faster and more native version.
Sent: Sat Jan 30 06:56:50 2021
Sent: Sat Jan 30 14:18:26 2021
Sent: Sat Jan 30 15:19:32 2021
Hi Paul,
I am still hopeful that the audio problem with LucasArts games will eventually be solved. It is a lot better in Mini vMac 37, but still present. Something throws out the timing of MIDI audio tracks, so that you cannot get through extended music sequences without some amount of stuttering and musical instruments temporarily going out of sync. I have never been able to resolve it with settings or speed changes. It affects all the LucasArts games, but is particularly noticeable in the latter games that use the "iMuse" dynamic musical scoring system, such as Monkey Island 2 and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. To be fair, this problem also affects other emulators like SheepShaver.
Regards,
Adam
status : received, reply pending
Sent: Fri Jan 29 00:01:16 2021
Hi Paul,
I last wrote on the 14th Dec about the missing audio on v37 beta using the latest XCode. You updated your reply with:
"update 12/20/2020 - The lastest SDL seems to have moved on to a different Macintosh sound API. But before that happened, Dominik Reichardt created a patch for SDL that can be adapted to Mini vMac. This is done in the new Mini vMac 37.02 beta."
However when I download and compile 37.02 it's still mute and I still get the warning about the deprecated audio component. Does the 37.02 source download definitely have the fixes for this issue? Or are you doing something to force the compiler to allow it?
Thanks,
Patrick
status : received, reply pending
Sent: Wed Jan 27 15:17:11 2021
Hi Paul,
the full screen function doesn't work on the first screen in a two monitor setup. The whole system is flickering if I press ctrl-F.
If the vMac app is on the second screen it works perfect.
It's 36.04-mc64 on Mac Big Sur, iMac Pro 5k with 34" LG as second screen.
thanks
Stephan
[... email address ...]
status : received, reply pending
Sent: Fri Jan 22 20:53:36 2021
Mini vMas PC is Off
Sent: Fri Jan 22 20:55:01 2021
Mini vMac is working it can't turn on
So I like Mini vMac
status : information needed
Thanks for the bug report. But more information is needed. Starting with, what kind of computer and what Operating System are you attempting to run Mini vMac on?
I notice that the user agent string of the web browser you used to post these messages indicates you are using Android. If you are trying to use the Android port of Mini vMac, I’m not involved with it, and can’t really help you. You could first try out the OS X, Windows, or Linux ports, which I could help you with, and after figuring that out, try the Android port.
Sent: (via email) Fri, 22 Jan 2021 19:08:31
Hello there, Paul!
How have you been?
I am going back to Mini VMAC, and I was thinking about making a build that fits my needs so I would like to ask you some questions:
-I know I can manually adjust the sound buffer on the sources. For a system where MinvMAC is going to be the ONLY running program (aside from kernel and it's threads), what would be the MINIMAL buffer size do you recommend me?
-Is there a way to FORCE the emulation to sync to the video refresh rate of the host machine? For example, SDL2 could create an SDL_WINDOW_FULLSCREEN window, which IF it's made as a 640x480, it would make SDL2 physically change the video mode on the video connector to match the standard vsync rate of the classic 640x480 video mode. Bur... what's the video mode used by a MAC II, for example? If it's not possible to set the EMULATED MAC to 640x480, what vsync rate would it use?
Or... maybe old MACs just don't have a "fixed" refresh rate? (Some games, like Arkanoid, move smoooothly ONLY if the vsync rate of the emulated MAC matches the one on the HOST machine....that's what I want to archieve!)
Thanks!
Manuel
status : received, reply pending
Sent: Fri Jan 22 07:18:29 2021
I am a Chinese user.
I hope to translate it into Chinese.
This is the code I translated.
[... translation (lengthy) ...]
status : work pending
Thank you for this translation! I have added a Chinese page to the Mini vMac website localization pages, with your translation.
Unfortunately, as mentioned on the Mini vMac Localization page, displaying Chinese characters is not currently feasible for Mini vMac.
I used Google Translate to convert the characters into Pinyin, and added a Chinese Pinyin page. This translation can be included in the next branch of Mini vMac. But I gather, from people who have previously considered doing the Chinese translation (1 2 3), that it would not be very useful.
I put Anonymous in the copyright line, since you have not given your name. If you would give it, I’d be happy to include your name here and in the credits file.
Please let me know if you notice any mistakes. I made a few edits to match the format of the other translations.
Sent: Mon Jan 18 23:07:11 2021
Hi!
I'm on macOS 10.14, and I've downloaded both the Mini vMac and Mini vMac 26, and executed the command you provided to ensure the apps each have access to their ROM file and others.
However when I open the app (in both cases) i'm greeted with the message "I can not find the ROM image file "vMac.ROM" [or "MacII.ROM"]"." Have I missed a step? the apps were both downloaded into my Downloads folder, could that cause this problem?
Thanks for your time!
status : information needed
Thanks for bug report. Some things to check, for the Macintosh Plus emulation:
Is the ROM image file named exactly “vMac.ROM”, and located in the folder containing the application (the Downloads folder in this case)?
Is the downloaded archive named “minivmac-36.04-mc64.bin.tgz” and from the 36.04 (Stable) Standard Variations page?
The “xattr” command can also print out extended attributes, by leaving off the “c” argument. If you expand “minivmac-36.04-mc64.bin.tgz” again, and execute “xattr -r <path_to_application>”, you should see a bunch of lines ending in “com.apple.quarantine”. Then run “xattr -cr <path_to_application>”, which is supposed to clear these extended attributes. To verify, run “xattr -r <path_to_application>” again, and no lines should be printed.
Does dragging and dropping the ROM image onto the Mini vMac application window work?
Does it make any difference to move Mini vMac and the ROM image to some other folder than the Downloads folder?
Does it help to move the “vMac.ROM” file to one of the other locations Mini vMac looks for a ROM image?
Does the 32 bit version (“minivmac-36.04-imch.bin.tgz”) behave any differently?
Sent: Fri Jan 1 18:57:03 2021
Hi,
is there any way to work with "full" harddisk images, that I could `dd` onto physical media and use in a (hardware) 68k Mac?
The images I’m using successfully with mini vMac to boot it, won’t boot a real Mac SE. Looking at what "file" says about it, it’s a completely different partition map.
Thanks for replying to my last question regarding Mac II & LocalTalk emulation, it helped!
Regards
Götz
status : responded
The replacement floppy disk driver of Mini vMac can not handle a full hard disk image. It probably can handle an image of a partition of a hard disk. The dd command can be used to read and write a partition.
Sent: Wed Dec 23 20:03:39 2020
Hey, I've been using the mini vMac Tool now for several years and I have to say it is definitely one of the best mac emulation options, it has been really helpful when copying files over to real macs, testing software, and several other things. Keep up the good work!
status : received
Thanks!
Sent: Thu Dec 17 04:29:20 2020
When I try to launch Mini vMac (minivmac-36.04-mc64.bin.tgz, which appears to be the latest stable release) on my new iMac running Catalina (10.15.7), I get an error message ("The application 'Mini vMac' can’t be opened.") That is the entire extent of the message. There is no more, just an "OK" button. If I right-click or control-click on Mini vMac and select "Open" (such as to enable launching an application that is not registered with Apple), I get the same error message.
As I understand, the 37.01 beta is for macOS 11.0 or later, which I do not currently have.
I tried xattr -cr /Users/George/Desktop/Mini\ vMac/Mini\ vMac.app, but that made no difference.
You asked what is my allowed apps setting in System Preferences, Security & Privacy, General. The answer is "App Store and identified developers." The other choice ("App Store") is not selected.
As noted, I can successfully launch Mini vMac (minivmac-36.04-imch.bin.tgz) on my MacBook Pro running High Sierra (10.13.6).
'Any ideas?
Thanks,
George
status : information needed
A search on the web suggests this error message can happen if the permission flags are incorrect of a file inside the application, and it can be fixed with the chmod command. (And another page.)
How did you unpack the minivmac-36.04 archive? If it isn’t what you did, you could try right clicking on the icon and select Open With > Archive Utility.
By the way, the 37.01 beta should work in all versions of macOS.
Sent: Thu Dec 17 01:24:37 2020
Hi!
I’m building v37.01 with XCode 12.3 on M1. The result is a working binary, that runs my System6 systems just fine. But as soon as I try to boot a System 7.0 disk (which used to work fine on my Intel Mac before), I either get "division by zero" in the early boot up phase, or "system is damaged. Use 'Installer' to refresh".
My config is :
./setup_t -t mcar -m II -hres 512 -vres 342 -magnify 1 -drives 12 -mem 8M -mnb 1 -kyt 4 -svl 3 -lt -lto udp -e xcd -ev 12300 -n "minivmac-macii-smallscreen-m1"
Any hint is appreciated.
Regards
Götz
status : open bug report
The issue is with LocalTalk emulation for Macintosh II (“-m II -lt”). This issue was also in prior versions of Mini vMac, it is just more obvious in Mini vMac 37 now that the “-lt” option enables the AppleTalk setting in PRAM (because a bug fix allows AppleTalk to work properly when turned on at boot). If you are not actually using AppleTalk, the easiest fix is to remove the “-lt” option.
As for actually fixing the issue ... Regressions in emulation, things that used to work and now don’t, can always be fixed. For things that never worked, there is no straightforward path to a fix.
Sent: Wed Dec 16 15:41:47 2020
Hi Paul,
I'm quite used to compiling software on Linux and I was able to build minivmac v37 beta on Ubuntu with no issues. I did that first before attempting to tackle a build on my MacBook (x86_64, Big Sur 11.1, XCode 12.3 with commmand line tools installed). Building the latest v37 beta using XCode I get a working binary, but with no sound (not even the boot chime), even when I force enable it. I've tried 8bit and 16bit sampling to no avail. Here's my method:
clang setup/tool.c -o setup_t chmod +x setup_t ./setup_t -t mc64 -e xcd -ev 12300 -cl -m II -hres 704 -vres 450 -depth 3 -fullscreen 1 -magnify 1 > setup.sh chmod +x setup.sh ./setup.sh make
I also tried adding:
-sound 1 -sss 4
I see the sound API overrides seem to be for Linux only, unless I'm missing something? The build guide suggests it should automatically target the correct sound API from the other information about the target.
Thanks,
Patrick
Sent: Wed Dec 16 21:00:57 2020
Hi Paul,
Re: compilation issues for audio on XCode 12.3 - If I build as an XCode .proj project rather than via command line tools it also has no working audio. I see the following build error:
"This application, or a library it uses, is using the deprecated Component Manager for hosting Audio Components. This is not supported when rebuilding against the 11.00 or later SDK. Also, this makes the host incompatible with version 3 audio units. Please transition to the API's in AudioComponent.h."
Is the downloadable source code for 37beta up to date? I see that you've been building for Apple Silicon which seems to need the same version of XCode I am using, so I'm at a loss to explain why it wouldn't be working here.
Thanks,
Patrick
status : fixed
Thanks for the bug report. Oops, my build for Apple Silicon doesn’t have sound either. That’s embarrassing to have not noticed. One excuse is that I have been mostly developing on an M1 Mac Mini through screen sharing, which does not transmit sound. I should have looked at the deprecation warnings more carefully. Well, the public Beta is for catching things like this.
The Cocoa port descends from SDL code. So the easiest way for me to fix this is probably to examine the code of lastest SDL version.
Yes, there is no sound API option for macOS.
update 12/20/2020 - The lastest SDL seems to have moved on to a different Macintosh sound API. But before that happened, Dominik Reichardt created a patch for SDL that can be adapted to Mini vMac. This is done in the new Mini vMac 37.02 beta.
Sent: Wed Dec 16 03:35:15 2020
When I try to launch Mini vMac on my new iMac running Catalina (10.15.7), I get an error message ("The application 'Mini vMac' can’t be opened.") If I right-click or control-click on Mini vMac and select "Open" (such as to enable launching an application that is not registered with Apple), I get the same error message.
I tried xattr -cr /Users/George/Desktop/Mini\ vMac/Mini\ vMac.app, but that made no difference.
However, I can successfully launch Mini vMac on my MacBook Pro running High Sierra (10.13.6).
'Any ideas?
Thanks,
George
P.S. My ultimate goal is to get a copy of SonyTest 7.0 onto my Macintosh SE to help me diagnose a floppy drive problem. I think the floppy drive heads need alignment, but the drive might have another problem. (It is not as simple as the eject motor needing cleaning, lubrication or a replacement gear. All that has been done.) I do not have an alignment floppy, but I do have fairly serious electronic diagnostic equipment (o'scope, etc.) Any hints on diagnosing problems with 800K floppy drives, schematics, etc. would be welcome, too.
status : information needed
First, which Mini vMac version did you download? Is it “minivmac-37.01-mc64.bin.tar”?
Second, is that the entire error message? Or does it continue with something like “because Apple cannot check it for malicious software.” Or anything else?
Third, what is your allowed apps setting in System Preferences, Security & Privacy, General?
It sounds like you know much more about floppy drive hardware than I do. Mini vMac currently doesn’t actually emulate this hardware, but replaces the driver for it in the ROM. (Mini vMac emulates most of the rest of Macintosh Plus hardware.)
update - follow-up message
Sent: Mon Dec 14 15:53:25 2020
Is it possible to build a customization for the Mac SE/30 (either with the standard ROM or the BMOW MacRominator II), or does its 68030 processor preclude this? I'm having difficulty using Mini vMac to create disk images with systems that are bootable on the SE/30, which I suspect is due to the fact that the installer thinks its a Mac mini.
status : responded
Mini vMac can not yet emulate a Mac SE/30. The ROM from an SE/30 should work in the Macintosh II emulation of Mini vMac, but that hybrid is not an SE/30 and would not be compatible with all the same software.
The SE/30 is said to support System 6.0.3 to 7.5.5, so if you run the installer for one of these versions, and ask it to install System software for any Macintosh, the result ought to run on SE/30 in addition to the computers that Mini vMac can emulate.
That is for an original SE/30. People have done modifications, like replacing the ROM with a later 32 bit clean one. Which would change the system software versions that would work.
(By “Mac mini”, I would guess you mean what other people call a Compact Macintosh, and not the much much later Macintosh model introduced in 2005.)
Sent: (via email) Mon, 14 Dec 2020 04:02:25
Hello,
I wanted to try the variations service to build myself an executable for Mac OS 9, but it seems that option was removed. I distinctly remember it being there a few years ago. Of course I downloaded the source, created a compile VM, it spat out the files for MPV, I dug up my memories on how to compile it (on real OS 9) and.. it was so buggy it froze right after boot. Then I tried playing with the parameters and using different system images (6.0.8, 7.1, 7.6.1), but to no avail.
Is it possible to produce an executable for me for said platform (MacII, sound, 800x600x256)? Or was that host platform abandoned for a reason, e.g. not enough interest, difficulty in fixing bugs etc.? I mostly just want to play Hellcats Over the Pacific on OS 9.2.2 but the last version it works on without a black screen is on is 9.0.4, so Mini vMac is my only hope. Sure, I know I might as well play it on my main machine but my OS 9 box has all my newer games so it would be really nice.
I will, of course, gladly pay for a variations subscription to support your work.
Best regards,
[... name ...]
status : received, work pending
Thanks for the bug report. Mini vMac 37 just entered Beta, so this a good time for me to test compiling for Mac OS 9. I have some memory that the very last MPW compilers were buggy, and it was necessary to use earlier ones. But that might have been for the 680x0 compile and not the PowerPC version used for Mac OS 9.
Unfortunately, I stopped producing official binaries for Mac OS 9 and earlier when I moved to using a set of cross compilers compiled from a single version of GCC. Using these cross compilers is very convenient, and allowed speeding up the Variations service from minutes to seconds. (The current form of the Variations service would not be viable if a compile could take minutes.) But I have decided this compiler set is too limited, and for Mini vMac 37 figured out how to get the same speed with multiple compilers on multiple platforms by throwing more hardware at the problem (especially memory). This made possible supporting the new Apple Silicon.
So now it is relatively easy to support any platform that has a C compiler that runs on some (possibly other) intel platform that has an SSH server and Bash. Which doesn’t directly help for supporting Mac OS 9 using MPW. One possibility is to try the Retro68 compiler again. I couldn’t get it to work some years back, but it looks like significant work has been done on it since. Another possibility is some enhancements to Mini vMac to allow better coordination with MPW running in emulation, along with some other tricks.
Sent: (via email) Mon, 16 Nov 2020 11:33:05
Hey Paul,
Was wondering if you had any insight into this issue that I've posted about on the e-maculation forums:
https://www.emaculation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10902Basically, I'm unable to get sound working on a Raspberry Pi4 with vMac compiled with SDL and ALSA. Other apps (including Basilisk II, for example) work with SDL and ALSA so my overall setup seems OK. Anyway, just wondered if you might have any pointers.
Best,
[... name ...]
status : documentation pending
To start with, “-snd-api alsa” would at best do nothing when used “-api sdl”. The code for using sdl is trying to be as platform independent as possible, and does not implement using alsa directly. The build system attempts to verify that any regular options used are valid, and any combination of them that doesn't work and the build system didn't catch is a bug. This is not true for developer options like “-snd-api alsa” and “-api sdl”, since often what is desired is to generate as close as possible to working when porting to a new platform. I should document this distinction.
I thought SDL provides its own options for choosing how sound is implemented. Also I would think alsa is normally the default for SDL on linux. But I don’t know about SDL for Raspberry Pi.
The SDL port is mostly there to provide a stepping stone for more native ports. Is there a reason you want to use it instead of the X11 port? If the SDL port is doing something better, I’d prefer to fix the more native port.
By the way, “-cpu arm” is not needed for your options, it is implied by “-t larm” (Linux on ARM).
Sent: Fri Nov 6 03:27:14 2020
Hey it's me again, the guy who asked about the vsync and less accurate mouse emulation for tablets.
Sent you some $$ because this is continues to be the best software ever! THanks so much for doing what you do.
I seem to have a bug that I'm guessing is related to high-DPI display. I'm trying to compile a custom version, nothing fancy just one that runs in the BG by default. I'm getting a strange error where the graphics draw in the lower left 1/4 of the window.
I can email you a screenshot or something. No pressure or anything, would be happy to help figure it out in any way I can. I'm using the instructions as-is on the developer page.
I can be reached at [... email address ...]
thank you~
YOU ARE THE BEST!!
status : responded
If you have not already done so, try Mini vMac 37 Alpha. This sounds like a bug that was fixed: “When compiled with a recent version XCode, like 11.4.1, Mini vMac for OS X would not draw correctly on a retina display. It now calls "setWantsBestResolutionOpenGLSurface:NO" when available. A comment found in SDL 2.0.12 explains: "Note: as of the macOS 10.15 SDK, this defaults to YES instead of NO when the NSHighResolutionCapable boolean is set in Info.plist". This problem occurred because the NSHighResolutionCapable key was added in July 2018 to make the window frame look better on retina screens.”
Sent: Tue Nov 3 15:44:58 2020
Paul,
I sent you something yesterday about Temple of Apshai Trilogy not working under Mini vMac. I have an update to that. It will work, but only by running at the slowest emulation speed. Control-S-Z
Hopefully that helps. Thanks for all your efforts!!
status : responded
That’s good that you independently found the same work around.
Sent: Tue Nov 3 01:07:43 2020
Hello there. I very much appreciate all your efforts with Mini vMac!!
Recently a playable (hacked) version of "Temple of Apshai Trilogy" was made available on Macintosh Garden. The game does start and plays the intro music but the emulator seems to have problems with sound during screen transitions. It will stick on the last note played when transitioning from the title screen to the menu and then will freeze the emulator when the next sound is to be played. (encounter in a dungeon)
This was also tested with Mini vMac alpha v37 to see if the fix for Winter Games would also apply to this issue. But alas, it does not not solve the problem.
status : responded
This game seems to work at 1x speed. The 8x default speed of Mini vMac is not compatible with all software. Making most software more usable is I think a worthwhile tradeoff.
The speed is controlled by the ‘S’ command of the Control Mode. If you use this a lot, there is also compile time option to start at 1x speed, “-speed z”.
Sent: Mon Nov 2 14:42:32 2020
I got a problem my mini vmac screen won't work can you help me
status : responded
Sorry, not without more information.
If you have not already seen it, please see the Getting Started with Mini vMac instructions.
Sent: Thu Oct 22 03:31:06 2020
Hi Paul,
Minor (?) bug report. If you run SimCity 2000 (I've tried 1.0 and 1.2) in Mac II mode and open the neighboring cities popup (button next to the big green dollar sign in the left-side toolbar) then it shows the populations of those cities with either ridiculously large population numbers or sensible numbers with many leading zeros. I always remember this working on my real Mac (when it still worked) and it seems to work okay in Basilisk II.
I'm guessing this has to do with the FPU emulation? Maybe this expected at this point? I seem to remember you mentioning somewhere that the Mac II emulation wasn't quite done... Anyway, thanks for your time!
Cheers!
status : open bug report, work pending
Thanks for the bug report. This has been reported before, but that it works in Basilisk II is new information. Which provides a straightforward, if very time consuming, path to fixing it.
Sent: Mon Oct 19 05:55:43 2020
i have been having issues getting the ua608d utility to unarchive the system 6 os files using command prompt on windows 10
i keep getting
usage: unar archive_file dst_file
as a response or nothing at all
so i am pretty sure i am mostly trying to use it correctly but missing something small in the syntaxing
after using cd to navigate to the folder i am using i have tried just running the command supplied './ua608d SSW_6.0.8-1.4MB_Disk1of2.sea.bin "System Startup"'
but that errors as '.' is not a recognized internal/external command program or batch file
running 'ua608d.exe ./ua608d SSW_6.0.8-1.4MB_Disk1of2.sea.bin "System Startup"' gets me my error
and using 'start ua608d.exe ./ua608d SSW_6.0.8-1.4MB_Disk1of2.sea.bin "System Startup"'
to run the executable just runs it for an instant before it quits
and follow up or advice to correct this probably user error would be appreciated
if it would be easier to email me feel free to on [... email address ...]
status : received, definitive reply pending
I’ll need to try it on a Windows machine to be sure, but I’d suggest:
ua608d.exe SSW_6.0.8-1.4MB_Disk1of2.sea.bin "System Startup"That is, get rid of the extra “./ua608d”.
In a unix style shell, “./ua608d“ will run an executable file named “ua608d“ located in the current directory. Just saying “ua608d“ will not find it in the current directory, it will instead look for it only in previously defined paths. If I remember correctly, this is to prevent unpleasantness if some joker has made an executable named such as “ls”. Apparently though, in the Windows shell it will look in the current directory.
Sent: Sun Oct 18 18:22:50 2020
Paul,
I have a small request for the next version of Mini vMac. I know the "v" icon that shows on the desktop for non-800k disks reflects the fact that you basically replaced the floppy driver with a custom virtual device that reads any size of disk image. While I would absolutely love it if Mini vMac eventually emulated a real hard drive I understand that it's not currently and might never be on your road map.
That's all great but I don't really want or need to be reminded that the underlying devices are non-authentic. So, if was hoping that you might introduce a new compile option--that would be entirely cosmetic--that would cause 1440kb (for HD floppy disks) to show the standard floppy disk icon and images of all other sizes to show the hard disk icon?
Thanks for considering my request.
status : possible feature pending
That would be a reasonable compile time preference. One complication I remember from the last time a similar request came up is that there does not seem to be a standard hard disk icon to be found in the System or Finder files, I suspect that various driver software just provided their own icon.
Sent: Sat Oct 17 00:45:24 2020
Hi, tried running Mini vMac but keep getting a "unable to locate ROM image error"
status : responded
Please see the Getting Started with Mini vMac instructions.
The relevant sentence is:
To get past this, drag the icon of your ROM image file, “vMac.ROM”, onto the Mini vMac window.
Sent: Sun Oct 4 09:30:41 2020
Hi Paul... I've been having a bit of trouble getting Mini vMac to auto load (find) my rom and dsk images on my Mac. It works fine on my PC, but I can't seem to get it to work with the same setup and files on the Mac. I started a post about it on the emaculation forums, but wasn't sure if you still stop by there. If you can offer any advice I appreciate it.
status : responded
Most likely this is because of “Path Randomization” misfeature added in macOS Sierra (10.12). See OS X notes for Mini vMac.
Sent: (via email) Sun, 27 Sep 2020 13:50:13
Paul Pratt,
Okay I see,
Yes, I moved CopyRoms into the applications folder and it gave me back a 1.00 MB (1,048,576 bytes) file - success.
Sadly vMac says the checksum failed.
Here is the checksum on the new ROM file:
E:\Virtual Machines\minivmac-36.04-wx64.bin>C:\tools\sysinternals\sigcheck.exe
-h PB165.ROM
Sigcheck v2.73 - File version and signature viewer
Copyright (C) 2004-2019 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com
E:\Virtual Machines\minivmac-36.04-wx64.bin\PB165.ROM:
Verified: Unsigned
File date: 1:49 AM 2/6/2040
Publisher: n/a
Company: n/a
Description: n/a
Product: n/a
Prod version: n/a
File version: n/a
MachineType: n/a
MD5: A495708975AEF7E23E78358547DE5F23
SHA1: C0510682AE6D973652D7E17F3C3B27629C47AFAC
PESHA1: C0510682AE6D973652D7E17F3C3B27629C47AFAC
PE256: D43EB16CE4719D96C45BE61737B497918C4EBE27640A7AAFA058B7706971BD1C
SHA256: D43EB16CE4719D96C45BE61737B497918C4EBE27640A7AAFA058B7706971BD1C
IMP: n/a
I appreciate it. I look forward to hearing back.
[... name ...]
status : responded
Checking the md5 against the 680x0 Macintosh List indicates you have successfully acquired the PowerBook 165 ROM image.
However, this ROM image will not work in the Macintosh Plus emulation of Mini vMac. Renaming it to “vMac.ROM” will not help.
Unfortunately, Mini vMac can not emulate a PowerBook 165 (or PowerBook 165c). To make this clearer, I have edited the 680x0 Macintosh List to put the “Supported by Mini vMac” line at the beginning of each entry, and to add an explicit “Supported by Mini vMac: no”, instead of just omitting this line.
Sent: (via email) Fri, 25 Sep 2020 00:36:04
To whom it may concern,
Great little program. I just started learning how to make floppy disk
images. I am a forensics student at [... school ...]. It would be great
to see how software is made for these [...] operating systems.
I wanted to get the ROM off of a Powerbook 165C. It didn't create a file
called "Unknown.ROM". It did create a 0 byte file called PB165.ROM. It
wasn't crazy at least, yet as I understand it if the hash isn't in the
list it isn't supported.
I'll provide the hashes from sysinternals/sigcheck.exe.
I am not sure these are necessary on a 0 byte file. If I can help any other
way let me know.
c:\users\[...]\desktop\PB165.ROM:
Verified: Unsigned
File date: 12:06 AM 9/25/2020
Publisher: n/a
Company: n/a
Description: n/a
Product: n/a
Prod version: n/a
File version: n/a
MachineType: n/a
MD5: D41D8CD98F00B204E9800998ECF8427E
SHA1: DA39A3EE5E6B4B0D3255BFEF95601890AFD80709
PESHA1: n/a
PE256: n/a
SHA256: E3B0C44298FC1C149AFBF4C8996FB92427AE41E4649B934CA495991B7852B855
IMP: n/a
Thank you.
Signed.
[... name ...]
status : added to documentation
The most likely reason CopyRoms failed is that there wasn’t enough free disk space. 1 megabyte (= 1024K) is needed for the PowerBook 165c ROM.
An excuse for why CopyRoms doesn't display an error dialog is that it is designed to work without a keyboard, mouse, or even screen.
It could be changed to create a file containing a useful error message. But running out of disk space is about the only error that could occur where an error file might be successfully written. And then looking for that error message would need to be documented. It might be simpler to just document that a zero length file means not enough disk space.
So I have done that, adding a paragraph to the CopyRoms documentation.
update - follow-up message
Sent: (via email) Mon, 21 Sep 2020 23:17:38
Hi,
I'm not sure how much you check Twitter, so I'm emailing you too.
After some time debugging, I found out why Winter Games doesn't work in
Mini vMac (and fixed it):
Wintergames modifies the VBL queue directly, inserting its own task at the head instead of calling VInstall, but it doesn't account for the possibility of the queue being empty, since on a real Mac the queue would have the task installed by the .Sony driver to track the disk speed (I think that's what it does, it's DT81 under P_Sony_FigTrkSpd in the Mac Plus ROM disassembly).
I fixed it in the replacement .Sony driver, by adding a task that does nothing to the queue, similar to how the time task is already added.
You can find my fix here, I'd be glad for it to be included in a future
version of Mini vMac:
https://github.com/zydeco/minivmac/commit/53c291ac120a036131a73cb2e568b57c493f51d7
status : patch merged
Thanks! That’s impressive debugging. The patch is now merged into my development version.
I’ve made a few changes. Moving the VInstall block before the conditional branch instead of after allows it to work in Macintosh 128K emulation. Putting the record for the VBL task into the SonyVars structure instead of calling NewPtr may help minimize differences from previous versions. Changing the VBLTaskFreq to once a minute (instead of the maximum of about 9 minutes) may make it easier to notice if this task is having any unexpected effect.