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Mac OS X Cheetah Successfully Ported to Nintendo Wii
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LightBulbFun
macrumors 68030
Developer Bryan Keller was curious whether an old version of Apple's Mac operating system was capable of running on the Nintendo Wii after seeing Windows NT ported to the gaming device, so he decided to give it a try. He was able to get Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah to operate on the Nintendo Wii, and he shared a blog post walking through the project.
The Wii uses a PowerPC 750CL processor, which is a newer version of the PowerPC 750CXe that Apple used in the G3 iBook and iMac, which is why Keller had a hunch that the process would be successful. Keller wrote a custom bootloader and eventually managed to load OS X, with the multi-step process detailed on his website.
He had to patch the OS X kernel source code and compile a modified kernel binary, then write custom drivers so the kernel was able to read from the Wii SD card slot to boot into the file system. He also had to write a framebuffer driver for the OS X interface, bridge a color incompatibility between the Wii video hardware and OS X graphics code, and seek out decade-old OS X Cheetah USBFamily source code on IRC to get peripherals working.
Keller was able to get the Mac OS X Cheetah installer running with a functional keyboard and mouse, turning the Wii into a usable system running OS X.
Keller was invested enough in the project that he took the Wii with him on vacation to Hawaii so he could work on it. For those curious about how he solved the myriad problems required to get OS X running on a Wii, his website is worth checking out. Anyone who wants to try setting up OS X on a Wii can get the project source code on GitHub.
Article Link: Mac OS X Cheetah Successfully Ported to Nintendo Wii
FYI there was already a port of OS X to the Wii/Wii-U that was first made public about 6 months ago or so? but for some reason flew under the radar
Wiintosh
Hackintoshing the Wii and Wii U. Wiintosh has 6 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.
github.com
tis well worth a look as well 🙂
star-affinity
macrumors 68020
But also much less settings and features available back then.
MacsAre1
macrumors regular
If you want to game on your Wii installing Mac OS isn't the way to go. If you want to play Age of Empires II and the re-release doesn't do it for you, you could probably still get the original working on any version of Windows or Wine, Crossover Games, etc.
MacsAre1
macrumors regular
Good looking out. The fact that this repo exists makes the fact that this guy wrote everything by hand even crazier.FYI there was already a port of OS X to the Wii/Wii-U that was first made public about 6 months ago or so? but for some reason flew under the radar
Wiintosh
Hackintoshing the Wii and Wii U. Wiintosh has 6 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.
tis well worth a look as well 🙂
MacsAre1
macrumors regular
Outside of Sheepsaver or Classic that would likely be harder since it's closed source. This was made possible because Mac OS is built on Darwin which is open source, and he modified code.
Man, this article feels straight from the late 90s/early 2000s of the Mac/tech community. Definitely the type of thing I love to see!
flottenheimer
macrumors 68000
headlessmike
macrumors 68000
I have hardware running almost every version of macOS from OS 9 and newer, and to me at least it is clear that the simple design used here became unwieldy in later versions given how many different settings were shoehorned into that app. That’s not to say that what we have now is perfect, but a rethink was necessary. I have an iMac running Catalina that I still frequently use and I have to search for settings there too because they are often in unexpected places, despite it using the old grid layout.
frou
macrumors 68000
Some people here don't seem to understand the concept that you build skills doing stuff like this, which will be transferable to doing future low-level projects that aren't so ""pointless""
Apple Fan 2008
macrumors 68000
PixelPanics
macrumors regular
Padaung
macrumors 6502a
This is my favourite news story of the day 🙂
My Wii is still in regular use, it still provides joy for yet another generation of players. I love playing tennis, bowling and Mario Kart with my Mum and two children. I'm not sure they would appreciate using Mac OX10.0 on it though, but I'd like to see their faces if it were to ever boot up in it!
My Wii is still in regular use, it still provides joy for yet another generation of players. I love playing tennis, bowling and Mario Kart with my Mum and two children. I'm not sure they would appreciate using Mac OX10.0 on it though, but I'd like to see their faces if it were to ever boot up in it!
Superhai
macrumors 6502a
I am happy that most folks here spend their time doing useful stuff like fine-tuning their armchair CEO skills and abilities to post mean comments. What would the world come to if everyone used their hard earned time and curiosity to learn skills or conquer difficult tasks.
I remember those days. The public beta, then the first retail release, standing in line at CompUSA. Then 10.1 made it semi-usable and once Jaguar landed, we were off and running.
You realized skeuomorphism outlived its purpose, right?
The whole point of skeuomorphism is to simulate real world items on a bascially user foreign device to ease the transition to new technology. But, after a few years of iPhone (actually 7 years) the paradigm was no longer needed. People are adjusted to the new device and skeuomorphic UI started looking kinda toy like.
servicegoat
Suspended
It must be nice to have plenty of money in order to do this. I can think of tons of pet projects I would love to work at (writing an Atari 2600 game would be one) if I had the time and money.
erikkfi
macrumors 68000
The only bigger waste of time I can think of is registering this kind of opinion underneath someone’s hard work.
WarmWinterHat
Suspended
That's pretty cool, albeit kinda pointless, but cool none-the-less. I still have my Wii in stored away in the basement..I think the dvd-drive went out, and it makes me want to get it and bowl!
Can't say I could get excited about computers while I'm at Hawaii and have all the hiking and exploring that's available, but to each their own! No judgment here.
Can't say I could get excited about computers while I'm at Hawaii and have all the hiking and exploring that's available, but to each their own! No judgment here.