Filed under: OS, Retro Mac, Blogs, Apple History
Need to run Classic under Snow Leopard? SheepShaver can do that.
About two weeks ago, one of my consulting clients was asking if there was any way that she'd be able to upgrade to Snow Leopard and still be able to run two legacy applications in Classic, one of which was HyperCard. Being the forward-looking guy I am, I suggested that we just move the data from her old HyperCard stack over to Bento (simple), and then see if we could find a replacement for the other application into which her employees could re-enter the old data.
Yesterday I was looking at posts over on the venerable Mac website TidBITS, and blogger/author Matt Neuburg had written a post about SheepShaver. This oddly-named application is a PowerPC Mac emulator, one of several that are available for both Mac and Windows. Neuburg does a good job of explaining the process of getting a ROM image, then using a Mac OS 9 installer CD to get SheepShaver up and running.
Matt pointed out a website, E-Maculation, that is dedicated to Mac emulators and how to get them up and running. While my client loved the solution I was able to provide to her, running Classic under Snow Leopard might be a better (and more fun!) solution for other Mac users. If you're up to the challenge and fun of setting up SheepShaver on a Snow Leopard Mac, be sure to take a look at both Matt's post and the E-Maculation website.
In the meantime, I'm going to go put my aluminum foil hat to make sure that Matt stops reading my mind.
[via TidBITS]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cowicide said 6:37PM on 10-24-2009
i had massive problems with sheepshaver and apps that relied on Quicktime like QTVRAS and it was pretty much useless for that.
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L. Gordon said 6:58PM on 10-24-2009
I've had pretty good luck with SheepShaver in Leopard - I've had it running for multiple days with no problem. Its primarily used for doing some quick analysis in PAUP (a science program), and that part works well.
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Joseph said 8:34PM on 10-24-2009
Using sheepshaver seems to be akin to making a hackintosh on an ethical level. You require a ROM to run sheepshaver and the process is difficult to extract it from an old computer. Even then, ethically, you would need to keep the old hardware in the closet.
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brian said 9:47AM on 10-25-2009
System CDs from around 7.5.x (I think, maybe 7.6.1) through 9.0.4 include a ROM on the CD. I got SS up and running with nothing more than an 8.6 retail CD. Once I get 10.6 installed I'll make a screencast of my method.
Janichsan said 10:06AM on 10-26-2009
Even better: you can download a ROM file from Apple. Completely free and completely official.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60408
Jerry Daniels said 9:33PM on 10-24-2009
You MUCH more easily import your HyperCard stack into Revolution (http://www.runrev.com) and be able to work in it just like you did in HyperCard.
BONUS: you would also be able to make a standalone app out of your stack that would run on Windows and Linux.
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Howie Isaacks said 10:00PM on 10-24-2009
I can never get this to work. I would love to be able to do this though. I don't need it for anything specific. I just like to play around. If I could get my hands on a copy of NeXTStep or OpenStep, I would be even happier :)
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SIP said 6:45AM on 10-25-2009
I've got it archived somewhere on my backup disks. Don't know what the implications would be for sharing though.
I also have all the original PR material. Sadly don't have the hardware, but they do come up on eBay sometimes.
artifex said 2:28PM on 10-25-2009
The last version of NextStep I have has a patch disk for Y2K that I need to find. Yes, that old. I need it to reinstall on my mono slab :)
You might also try running a PPC build of BeOS.
Gillan said 11:56PM on 10-24-2009
This never works for me :/
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SpinThis! said 1:40AM on 10-25-2009
Ahhh, HyperCard. Those good old days. I still have my old HC 2.3 and WindowScript floppy discs/manuals for nostalgic reasons but anyone who still is running a business on a HC stack really needs to be kicked and dragged into the 21st century. I would have advised your client to convert that old HC stack into, say, a web app years ago. HC to the web is a pretty natural progression. And now with Safari's sqllite db integration, if you need to store certain data, you can even make it standalone with no server needed.
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The Iron Giant said 3:39AM on 10-25-2009
I got SheepShaver to work alright - the NetScape Communicator browser works (I downloaded iCab straightaway) and Stuffit 7.0.3 still works, too. I installed an old copy of Heaven & Earth, also works.
There is no sound. If I go to Control Panel > Sound and attempt to click the "Built-IN" device, SheepShaver crashes. Other than that, it's [u]very[/u] fast on my MacBook Pro 2.4GHz (2008) - feels about like a G4.
I have a copy of Oregon Trail on CD but it wouldn't be fun without the audio!
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HandyMac said 4:29AM on 10-25-2009
See this discussion:
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/macsonintel/topic3817.html#d21oct2009
hcgilje said 2:09PM on 10-25-2009
Did you have to do anything special to get heaven and earth to work?
Sheepshaver crashed when I tried to run it..
hc
SIP said 6:40AM on 10-25-2009
Do a Google search for:
COI (Classic-On-Intel) V4.0.1 "Chubby Bunny"
Works for me
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Ddalet said 10:46AM on 10-25-2009
Anyone try using PageMaker yet?
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Erik said 12:52PM on 10-25-2009
> "move the data from her old HyperCard stack over to Bento (simple)"
How is this done simply? Does Bento support it directly, or is there a separate tool...?
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Ted Howard said 12:20PM on 10-26-2009
If you want a forward-looking HyperCard solution, take a look at tilestack.com. It's a web site that can convert HyperCard stacks to web and mobile (including native iPhone) applications.
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