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Powerpc emulator

jrsx

jrsx

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 2, 2013
1,057
18
Tacoma, Washington
So there was a thread for how to run Windows on a mac, and the only two emulators mentioned were Q, awful, and VPC 7, which wasn't all that much better. But I was wondering if there was any emulator software for PowerPC that could run other PowerPC operating systems, such as OS 10.1 Puma running under OS 10.4 Tiger, or would it just have to be a dual-boot?
 
SheepShaver lets you run 8.6 and 9.1 inside OS X, but I'm not aware of anything for running OS X itself.
 
OK, so I downloaded Mac-on-Mac, but how do I run it? I tried configuring it correctly and clicked boot but nothing ever happens.
 
jrsx said:
So there was a thread for how to run Windows on a mac, and the only two emulators mentioned were Q, awful, and VPC 7, which wasn't all that much better. But I was wondering if there was any emulator software for PowerPC that could run other PowerPC operating systems, such as OS 10.1 Puma running under OS 10.4 Tiger, or would it just have to be a dual-boot?
Click to expand...
You want PearPC. It'll run on Windows too. Sort of a "hackintosh" before there was a hackintosh.
 
PearPC doesn't run on PPC systems, it emulates PPC systems on x86 systems.

I don't know of any general purpose PPC-on-PPC virtualization systems, other than really custom things like IBM's high-end server systems that only run on IBM hardware.
 
Mac-on-Mac

jrsx said:
OK, so I downloaded Mac-on-Mac, but how do I run it? I tried configuring it correctly and clicked boot but nothing ever happens.
Click to expand...

Acording to wikipedia it needs X11 to run. Also "Mac-on-Mac is alpha-software. Version 0.21 is the latest available to download. Version 0.21 does not run on Mac OS X Tiger or Leopard." So you should try on Panther
 
So I read that my iBook G4 cannot run Mac OS 10.1. Is this true? If so, is the only way I can run it through a PearPC on a Windows computer? Some G4s can boot OS 9, how could mine not boot OS 10.1?
EDIT: This guy seems to be running 10.1 on the same G4 as me.....
 
Anonymous Freak said:
PearPC doesn't run on PPC systems, it emulates PPC systems on x86 systems.

I don't know of any general purpose PPC-on-PPC virtualization systems, other than really custom things like IBM's high-end server systems that only run on IBM hardware.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's true. Should have reread the OP.
 
jrsx said:
So I read that my iBook G4 cannot run Mac OS 10.1. Is this true? If so, is the only way I can run it through a PearPC on a Windows computer? Some G4s can boot OS 9, how could mine not boot OS 10.1?
EDIT: This guy seems to be running 10.1 on the same G4 as me.....
Click to expand...
The iBook G4s came out later after the iBook G3s. Like all Macs, they require a certain minimum OS to run. While it's certainly possible to install 10.1 somehow, I don't recommend it.
 
Ok, so it won't be all that good...but is there still a way to do it? Is it just normal boot up holding 'c'? Or is it more difficult than just that? I would run it in virtualization if there was a VM for PPC, I could run it in Windows, though.
 
The last time I used PearPC it was painfully slow. It is VERY un-optimized. It hasn't been updated in over 2 years (and 6 before that). It took over 7 minutes it boot 10.3 on a Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz. Plus no GPU acceleration, no sound, etc. It runs ~15x slower than the host machines CPU. (so in my case it was theoretically emulating a G4 at ~177Mhz).

So yeah try it if you want, it's not very usable though.
 
jrsx said:
Ok, so it won't be all that good...but is there still a way to do it? Is it just normal boot up holding 'c'? Or is it more difficult than just that? I would run it in virtualization if there was a VM for PPC, I could run it in Windows, though.
Click to expand...
The iBook G4 requires 10.3 or later. A copy of OS 9 (including the install CD) won't detect the hardware, and will fail to boot. For whatever reason, OS 9 doesn't seem to have any kind of generic "safe mode" that can boot on any hardware. Perhaps the chipsets are more complicated than on the PC. (For example, you can usually boot Windows 95 on a brand-new PC, but good luck getting anywhere.)

As for the guy running 10.1 on his iBook G4...most likely he is mistaken.
 
Actually I got in touch with Apple, and they said it is possible, but I would have much better luck with hardware using a early G4 or a G3. :)
 
jrsx said:
Actually I got in touch with Apple, and they said it is possible, but I would have much better luck with hardware using a early G4 or a G3. :)
Click to expand...

I've had very hit-or-miss luck with Apple tech support when talking about older hardware - remember, the average length of time someone works in tech support is under a year, and PowerPC systems have been retired for eight years now. It is extremely unlikely that the person you talk to has any actual direct experience with a PowerPC system. (I've gotten patently wrong information about PPC systems from Apple support as long ago as two years ago. Another one around the same time was great, though - when I asked about playing OS 9 games, she directly recommended getting SheepShaver.)

I absolutely guarantee you there is no way to get 10.1 running on an iBook G4. If for no other reason than the graphics chips have no 10.1 drivers.
 
In which case it just isn't at all possible to do anything about it? I'm probably getting a G3 sometime this year, anyway, so I would use that for OS 10.1.
 
Why virtualize?

jrsx said:
Mac OS 10.1 Puma. I think I will do it with Mac-on-Linux, if I can't run it natively.
Click to expand...

What apps are you trying to make work? Puma is worst than Jaguar or Panther in compatibility. Almost every app working on puma should work on at least another cat. And also puma can´t run too many apps. Final cut pro 3 can run in OS9, Puma and at least I had it installed in Panther and Jaguar, but only tried on Os9

Also there is QEMU for mac called Q but people say it is slow...
 
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