OS9 virtualization on MorphOS

[gaula92]

Hi all

Among other things, I have three Mac Mini G4 computers I got from a local seller five years ago for a good price (Apple had jumped into the X86 bandwagon by then).
I got them with MorphOS/OS4 in mind.
When MOS finally included Mac Mini G4 support, I went and tried it as soon as I could. A new Amiga OS compatible with system-friendly software at binary level! But then I realized the problem: no chipset = no demos / games / funniest software
Of course there's UAE / E-UAE, but it's impossible to get perfect refresh rate from that emulator thing: I I mean PERFECT. Even with a matching custom 50HZ video mode and a CRT monitor, no version of UAE is able to delived smooth scroll without dropping / missing a frame once in a while. This is emulation: and compared to the wonders of a real Amiga 1200 or the Minimig, it ultimately sucks (add input lags not present in the real and FPGA thing, etc).

So I haven't still got a powerful enough argument to register MOS.. until I though about iFusion and ShapeShifter. What if I could run OS9 on the Mac Mini G4 without lame emulation by the likes of the horrible Basilisk II? (Yes, I have tried it several times in several systems: it's a slow, sub-optimal solution to run OS9/8/7 software in a damn G4 that should run it natively).
What I really hate about this machine is that it's technically capable of running OS9, but Apple screw it so we couln't do so. What if I could virtualize it under MOS for awesome speedy OS9 apps running at native speed?? There's so much interesing software in OS9 to try...(something MOS lacks).

Sorry for the long rant. The simple question is: Is it somehow possible to run iFusion or Shapeshifter on MOS? I KNOW it's been said several times in MorphZone that was impossible (years ago), but mayme someone's found the way to do it. Both "virtualizators" run in RTG mode. As far as I know, they shouldn't hit the chipset.

Alternatively, I'd like to know if there's a way to boot OS9 natively on the Mac Mini G4. I don't want "possible ideas", but actually tested ones.

Thanks!

[Matt_H]

OS9 is PPC only, and I don't believe any functional PPC Mac emulators exist for the Amiga/MorphOS. ShapeShifter/Basilisk emulate 68K Macs, and iFusion is a broken, bug-riddled mess - it won't work.

If you dual boot OSX 10.3 or 10.4 on it, though, you can run OS9 stuff through Classic mode.

[bbond007]

OS9 is PPC only, and I don't believe any functional PPC Mac emulators exist for the Amiga/MorphOS. ShapeShifter/Basilisk emulate 68K Macs, and iFusion is a broken, bug-riddled mess - it won't work.

If you dual boot OSX 10.3 or 10.4 on it, though, you can run OS9 stuff through Classic mode.

Is there a port of SheepShaver for Morphos?

[gaula92]

When I say OS9, I really mean OS-pre-X. Anything 680x0 based, running native or virtualized in the Mac Mini G4 (PPC). That's where interesting software is

That's why I was thinking about Shapeshifter... It runs on RTG amigas. It doesn't hit the custom chips, it's supposedly an OS-friendly app if run in RTG mode. Or am I totally wrong here and Shapeshifter is hitting the chipset ?

[koaftder]

The state of OS9 emulation is pretty bad. The best that i've seen was sheep shaver and even then lots of problems. Very sad. Compatibility mode on OS X is also a fairly poor solution. Then again, classic MacOS was a pile of crap anyway. Lots of fun playing the old games though. Best to get your hands on the fastest machine you can find that will run OS9 natively. The old macs (and the new ones) seem to last forever.

[bloodline]

When I say OS9, I really mean OS-pre-X. Anything 680x0 based, running native or virtualized in the Mac Mini G4 (PPC). That's where interesting software is

That's why I was thinking about Shapeshifter... It runs on RTG amigas. It doesn't hit the custom chips, it's supposedly an OS-friendly app if run in RTG mode. Or am I totally wrong here and Shapeshifter is hitting the chipset ?

The G4 would have come with an OS9 installation CD.

[Crumb]

When I say OS9, I really mean OS-pre-X. Anything 680x0 based, running native or virtualized in the Mac Mini G4 (PPC). That's where interesting software is

That's why I was thinking about Shapeshifter... It runs on RTG amigas. It doesn't hit the custom chips, it's supposedly an OS-friendly app if run in RTG mode. Or am I totally wrong here and Shapeshifter is hitting the chipset ?

On BasiliskII 32bit screenmodes can work OOTB without byte-ordering so these modes should be fast, it's been a long time since I checked out Itix sources so I'm not sure if all screenmodes are "converted". 8bit screenmodes required byte swapping IIRC. It shouldn't be that slow on a G4 Mac Mini I guess but I haven't tried it much, I guess it's enough to play WarcraftII and Alone in the Dark

Sheepshaver would probably require some kind of MMU-like access to remap the first KB of memory in other memory zone when the emulator task is active.

Another option could be avoiding the use of MMU and create some smartfirmware script that reserves the first KB of memory for emulator use so Quark doesn't use it although I guess that it may not work because perhaps it's used by smartfirmware or it's protected by Quark later. Only MorphOS Developer Team could probably give the right answer.

[commodorejohn]

The G4 would have come with an OS9 installation CD.

According to what I read, the G4 Mini can't run OS9.

[bloodline]

According to what I read, the G4 Mini can't run OS9.

My PowerBook G4 came with an OS9 CD

[Matt_H]

When I say OS9, I really mean OS-pre-X. Anything 680x0 based, running native or virtualized in the Mac Mini G4 (PPC). That's where interesting software is

That's why I was thinking about Shapeshifter... It runs on RTG amigas. It doesn't hit the custom chips, it's supposedly an OS-friendly app if run in RTG mode. Or am I totally wrong here and Shapeshifter is hitting the chipset ?

If it's 68K emulation you want, then the MorphOS-native BasiliskII should do nicely.

[itix]

I investigated Sheepsaver once and came to conclusion it is impossible port it into shared address space OS. Even Basilisk II would benefit from isolated address spaces.