Best post (Low)Sierra build for emulation compatability

[Delsait]

So I've been using regular sierra for a while, but I'm thinking its high time I changed.

I really want to still use OpenEmu, Mame, PSXR, Desmume and SNES9x, I've heard Catalina only runs a very basic version of SNES9x with limited features without recording, cheats, SNESmouse and the like as well as lacks the ability to run 32 bit programs, so I'm probably going to skip that.

Does anyone know if 10.13 High Sierra, 10.14 Mojave, 11 Big Sur and maybe anything post Catalina (I doubt it though) are compatible with those emulators or at least just SNES9x, OpemEmu and Desmume with all the features?

 

[Brian33]

Sorry, I don't know anything about the emulators, but I do know that High Sierra and Mojave will run 32-bit apps, while Catalina and Big Sur will not. It seems likely to me that that is the issue.

If you don't get solid guidance, I suggest getting your hands on an unused external drive (HDD or SSD), or an unused partition of an external drive for a test. Install Mojave on the external, along with your emulators and try it out. (Just be careful to select the correct destination for the install!)

 

[velocityg4]

Those emulators don’t need any graphics acceleration. I’d just use VirtualBox and run them inside a Windows VM. That way you can still run the latest macOS.

It’s not like they need much. You could just do something light with Windows XP and dedicate 1GB RAM.

You could a Mac VM. But video would be choppy. Unless you pay for VMWare. As I think that’s the only one with graphics support.

 

[Nermal]

The latest OpenEmu needs 10.14, so that's probably your best bet if you need 32-bit support.

 

[Delsait]

Sorry, I don't know anything about the emulators, but I do know that High Sierra and Mojave will run 32-bit apps, while Catalina and Big Sur will not. It seems likely to me that that is the issue.

If you don't get solid guidance, I suggest getting your hands on an unused external drive (HDD or SSD), or an unused partition of an external drive for a test. Install Mojave on the external, along with your emulators and try it out. (Just be careful to select the correct destination for the install!)

Good idea, I might try an external hardrive for testing.

I wish the SNES9x forum was more active, I made a topic about compatibility there but didn't get a response.

Those emulators don’t need any graphics acceleration. I’d just use VirtualBox and run them inside a Windows VM. That way you can still run the latest macOS.

It’s not like they need much. You could just do something light with Windows XP and dedicate 1GB RAM.

You could a Mac VM. But video would be choppy. Unless you pay for VMWare. As I think that’s the only one with graphics support.

I'm not sure Windows SNES9x can use OSX SNES9x .srm and .frz files, same for windows Desmume and .DST files.

The latest OpenEmu needs 10.14, so that's probably your best bet if you need 32-bit support.

Lets see, what does the latest version of OpenEmu add besides support 32 bit support?

 

[velocityg4]

Good idea, I might try an external hardrive for testing.

I wish the SNES9x forum was more active, I made a topic about compatibility there but didn't get a response.

I'm not sure Windows SNES9x can use OSX SNES9x .srm and .frz files, same for windows Desmume and .DST files.

Lets see, what does the latest version of OpenEmu add besides support 32 bit support?

While I don’t know the file extensions off the top of my head. I’ve never had any issues with console ROMs not working between like emulators on different platforms. I’ve moved the same ROMs back and forth between Windows and Mac for over fifteen years.

it’s sort of like moving ISO or documents. You just need a compatible program. All that matters for the OS is that it has a compatible emulator.

 

[Nermal]

Lets see, what does the latest version of OpenEmu add besides support 32 bit support?

Change logs are here. OpenEmu has always been 64-bit as far as I know, but you said in the first post that you wanted to be able to run 32-bit apps which means 10.14 is the latest OS you can run.

 

[Delsait]

Anyone have High Sierra that can test out emulators, I can link them?

 

[Amethyst1]

I run OpenEmu and Snes9x on Mojave and they work fine afaics. Latest versions of course.

 

[Delsait]

I run OpenEmu and Snes9x on Mojave and they work fine afaics. Latest versions of course.

What about VBA and Desmume?

Also how do I install a new high sierra or mojave on a external drive and test compatibility?

 

[Ritsuka]

Those emulators are already 64bit. The only one that could be missing some features is Snes9x: https://github.com/snes9xgit/snes9x/issues/586