2002.01 Mac on Linux Running the Mac Emulator Under a Ppc Linux Box

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compile it themselves. Next, invoke the commands
below. This copies the MacOS ROM file from the
MacOS System CD.
mount -t hfs /dev/cdrom /mnt
strip_nwrom /mnt/System Folder/Mac OS ROM U
/usr/lib/mol/rom/rom.nw
Two copies of
MOL running
happens, you must configure MOL manually. Edit the
The above instruction assumes that you intend to use /etc/ molrc file and make the appropriate volume
MacOS 8.6 or later. Should you wish to use an earlier available.
version, you ll need to grab a copy of the ROM and
convert it into a ROM image, using the ROM Grabber Performance issues
utility, which is available from the MOL downloads Running software through emulation or API layers
page: http://www.maconlinux.com/download.html will always cause some loss of performance.
This is reason enough to use a version of MacOS later However, depending on your machine and what kind
than 8.5. The MacOS ROM file from MacOS 8.6 of application you want to run, it may prove to be
onwards will work on any PPC Mac. worth it for the sake of convenience, particularly
Finally, invoke the boot command from the bash given how long the MacOS (and Linux) can take to
shell: boot.
Some software is not designed to boot up for a bit
startmol
of quick work. While you may want to quickly load
an image editor to alter file formats, or boot up a
The MacOS should now be booting. If instead of word processor to fire off a letter, it is difficult to see
booting, it is displaying a flashing question mark, this why you would ever want to run the likes of Quark
means that the MacOS cannot find a suitable XPress for a few seconds. In cases like this you would
partition to boot from. It is looking for a HFS probably be better served by rebooting natively into
partition with a working system folder. If this the MacOS.
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Issue 16 " 2002 LINUX MAGAZINE
KNOW HOW
Running
MacBench
MOL seems to be little or no slower than Classic ,
even on this older machine.
Users of MacOS X and Photoshop, which has not If your MacOS requirements are more in the
as yet been carbonised , will know that heavy-duty AppleWorks or MYOB accounting vein, then MOL is
graphics manipulation under emulation is a pain. perfect.
PPC/Linux users would be better served by rebooting
to MacOS 9, or using the Linux native GIMP, which Conclusions
offers most of Photoshop s features at, wait for it, All in all, Mac-on-Linux can only be a good thing. The
no cost. performance loss your system will suffer when using
However, the performance tests for Mac-on-Linux it is minimal, to say the least. Mac-on-Linux opens up
are rather revealing. The Linux Icebox section of the a whole world of applications to PowerPC Linux users
famed Mac Web site, ResExcellence, found that Mac- and though the MacOS must still boot, not forcing
on-Linux was only slightly slower than the OS X you to halt Linux is a fantastic boon.
Classic environment. I cannot compare like for like Perhaps the best thing about MOL is that it makes
as I currently run PPC/Linux on an iMac G3/233 and Linux a true alternative to MacOS X for users of older
OS X on a Power Mac G4/400, but I will state this: Power Macs, which simply won t run Apple s next
generation operating system. By offering similar
features to the Classic environment in OS X it
CHRP Common Hardware Reference Platform. A basic open platform developed by enables users to have the power of Unix alongside
several hardware companies, including Apple, for producing machines that would the familiarity and legendary ease of use of the Mac.
run a series of operating systems, including Unix, MacOS, BeOS and, interestingly, Without MOL, Linux would not compare to the
Windows NT. This plan never came to full fruition as Apple effectively pulled the functionality of OS X, but with it you can really get
plug. productive on your computer after all, isn t that
HFS Hierarchical File System. The native disk format for MacOS. Also known as the why you bought a Mac in the first place?
MacOS Standard. However, the best news has been kept for last.
HFS+ An improved disk format for PPC Macs. Also known as the MacOS Extended. Though I haven t personally tried it, MOL will
MOL Mac-on-Linux apparently boot BeOS, and MacOS X compatibility is
Power MacintoshMacintosh computers that use the Power PC processor. Earlier being worked on. Imagine that, a computer than can
Macs used the Motorola 680x0 series, commonly referred to as 68k. natively run, MacOS 9.1, MacOS X, BeOS and of
PPC PowerPC. A chip series developed by Apple, IBM and Motorola. Used in Macs course Linux. Now that is a workstation. �%
since the mid 1990s and in high-end IBM servers. To be used in the Nintendo
Gamecube.
ROM Read Only Memory (chip). A non-writeable area of computer memory. In this
Info
case it contains booting information and basic OS services for the Mac.
The Linux Icebox PPC site http://www.resexcellence.
RPM Red Hat Package Manager. An installation application for Linux.
com/linux_icebox/
68k Motorola 680x0 series of CPUs. Included the 68000, 68020, 68030, 68040 and
The Mac-on-Linux site http://www.maconlinux.
68060. Used in the original Macintoshes and also in the Amiga, Atari ST/TT/Falcon
org
and the Japanese M680x0 computer.
42
LINUX MAGAZINE Issue 16 " 2002 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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