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What have you done with a PowerPC today?

Last year, I showed off how I got the latest IOQuake3 engine working on Mac OS X 10.3.9 by using my Panther SDL2 (current version requires 10.5!). Unfortunately I lost my modified Panther compatible source, now I'm not giving up till I figure out how I did it so I can finally release it and maybe eventually get the official IOQuake3 Panther compatible again, like it used to be!

Then I'm creating NeXcode, which is just a special macports prefix containing all the modern equivalents of programs in old Xcode versions. This will allow not only me but others to use modern tools without compiling them for days in MacPorts. Which then can be used by fellow enthusasits for things like the latest MAME (my next goal!) and maybe even TFF if that works with GCC 7.
 
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alex_free said:
Last year, I showed off how I got the latest IOQuake3 engine working on Mac OS X 10.3.9 by using my Panther SDL2 (current version requires 10.5!). Unfortunately I lost my modified Panther compatible source, now I'm not giving up till I figure out how I did it so I can finally release it and maybe eventually get the official IOQuake3 Panther compatible again, like it used to be!

Then I'm creating NeXcode, which is just a special macports prefix containing all the modern equivalents of programs in old Xcode versions. This will allow not only me but others to use modern tools without compiling them for days in MacPorts. Which then can be used by fellow enthusasits for things like the latest MAME (my next goal!) and maybe even TFF if that works with GCC 7.
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Working again! (have to have all the pak files in the app or it crashes tho because the error messages displayed by the GUI crashes everything 😆).
 
So I just found out there is an open source Half life game engine called Xash3D. And someone saw the same thing I saw in the changelog about partial big endian support for MIPS processors. I’ve found two links from this guy who got it running somewhat on Leopard PPC:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/aajzm7

68kMLA

Forum software by XenForo
68kmla.org 68kmla.org

That was almost 2 years ago and with no download ever available.

I’m really curious if Panther SDL2 could get this to work on Tiger and 10.3.9. Even if I only got it running as well as this guy. I could break the half life Mac OS PPC curse and actually release a download for PPC Macs.

For those who don’t know, a half life port (classic Mac OS?) was started then cancelled. A few years later, a port was started again (for Mac OS X?) and then cancelled. Then radomly it was released like a decade later in 2013 for Intel Macs. Then this guy shows off this video and it never see the light of day.
 
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alex_free said:
So I just found out there is an open source Half life game engine called Xash3D. And someone saw the same thing I saw in the changelog about partial big endian support for MIPS processors. I’ve found two links from this guy who got it running somewhat on Leopard PPC:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/aajzm7

68kMLA

Forum software by XenForo
68kmla.org 68kmla.org

That was almost 2 years ago and with no download ever available.

I’m really curious if Panther SDL2 could get this to work on Tiger and 10.3.9. Even if I only got it running as well as this guy. I could break the half life Mac OS PPC curse and actually release a download for PPC Macs.

For those who don’t know, a half life port (classic Mac OS?) was started then cancelled. A few years later, a port was started again (for Mac OS X?) and then cancelled. Then radomly it was released like a decade later in 2013 for Intel Macs. Then this guy shows off this video and it never see the light of day.
Click to expand...

I know who has the code for the official PowerPC port… Rebecca Heineman! The very person who was responsible for DOOM on the 3DO.
 
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za9ra22 said:
Well, not exactly a PowerPC, though the profiler says it is. It's a Raspberry Pi 400, running SheepShaver, System 7.6.1, and it works like a charm. Mostly.

It boots and loads the desktop, but now I have to work out how to get some software on it!
Click to expand...

Not quite so much a charm it would seem. It does boot nicely, and it actually does feel like a real Mac, except for the Pi's rather dubious keyboard, but it's been a struggle to get any software onto it, despite the fact it's laden with .sit and .dsk files that promise a whole lot.

I was finally able to get some basic utilities onto it by adding their dsk files to the Sheepshaver boot loader, but I can't get it to recognize the Pi's USB ports or ethernet, so it isn't at all obvious how I might add stuff from somewhere like MacGarden, or even the installer files I have on CDs.

That said, I've forgotten everything I almost never knew about System 7 anyway, so I'm probably just not doing it right.

It is, however, the first time I recall working on a System 7 screen in full 1080 HD! Rather more screen than classic Mac OS really needs, I think!!
 
za9ra22 said:
Not quite so much a charm it would seem. It does boot nicely, and it actually does feel like a real Mac, except for the Pi's rather dubious keyboard, but it's been a struggle to get any software onto it, despite the fact it's laden with .sit and .dsk files that promise a whole lot.

I was finally able to get some basic utilities onto it by adding their dsk files to the Sheepshaver boot loader, but I can't get it to recognize the Pi's USB ports or ethernet, so it isn't at all obvious how I might add stuff from somewhere like MacGarden, or even the installer files I have on CDs.

That said, I've forgotten everything I almost never knew about System 7 anyway, so I'm probably just not doing it right.

It is, however, the first time I recall working on a System 7 screen in full 1080 HD! Rather more screen than classic Mac OS really needs, I think!!
Click to expand...
Sheepshaver is maybe not the best piece of software in the world. It's generally a little on the unstable side. It's a good thing you're using a more powerful Pi, because emulating PPC is also on the demanding side of things, too. But for what you're having trouble with, I can point you at one tool that should be able to help.

HFVExplorer [E-Maculation wiki]

www.emaculation.com www.emaculation.com
I don't know if you're ever going to be able to use usb flash drives, these kinds of emulators don't tend to actually support that, but you generally can mount and copy files over to the dsk files. And if that doesn't work, you should at least be able to make a new file the emulator can load with.
 
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alex_free said:
So I just found out there is an open source Half life game engine called Xash3D. And someone saw the same thing I saw in the changelog about partial big endian support for MIPS processors. I’ve found two links from this guy who got it running somewhat on Leopard PPC:
https://www.reddit.com/r/HalfLife/comments/aajzm7

68kMLA

Forum software by XenForo
68kmla.org 68kmla.org

That was almost 2 years ago and with no download ever available.

I’m really curious if Panther SDL2 could get this to work on Tiger and 10.3.9. Even if I only got it running as well as this guy. I could break the half life Mac OS PPC curse and actually release a download for PPC Macs.

For those who don’t know, a half life port (classic Mac OS?) was started then cancelled. A few years later, a port was started again (for Mac OS X?) and then cancelled. Then radomly it was released like a decade later in 2013 for Intel Macs. Then this guy shows off this video and it never see the light of day.
Click to expand...
Well, i got something to compile with GCC 7. Time to see what it does if it I give it the half life files…
 
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repairedCheese said:
Sheepshaver is maybe not the best piece of software in the world. It's generally a little on the unstable side. It's a good thing you're using a more powerful Pi, because emulating PPC is also on the demanding side of things, too. But for what you're having trouble with, I can point you at one tool that should be able to help.

HFVExplorer [E-Maculation wiki]

www.emaculation.com www.emaculation.com
I don't know if you're ever going to be able to use usb flash drives, these kinds of emulators don't tend to actually support that, but you generally can mount and copy files over to the dsk files. And if that doesn't work, you should at least be able to make a new file the emulator can load with.
Click to expand...

It's definitely not the most cooperative of platforms - there are curious quirks such as the time can't be set correctly, when it is adjusted the new setting doesn't stick. But it is interesting tinkering with it. I started with a plan to get a viable 'new hardware' solution running a classic Mac OS, and now it's become more of a curiosity to play with!

HFVexplorer looks like it could be rather useful, so thanks!!!
 
If just for running System 7 or even 8 , I prefer BasiliskII on the R-Pi. I find it very much more stable and fast than Sheepshaver.
Of course if you absolutely need PPC emulation , then you're stuck to Sheepshaver.
(Or Qemu ? but didn't checked if it runs fine on the R-Pi...)
 
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mikas said:
So you just screenshare there. I can't see any wires even, nicely tuck away.

Never used a NAS, we started with appleshare server and a PPC G3 some 19 years ago. Quickly moved to afp and smb, through a G5 to Mac Minis. latest is a smb Mac Mini i5 2012 at Mojave. It's still online (public IP), but it is mostly and only actually a warehouse for old projects. I used to automatically CCC over internet the backup of it.

Now it's DropBox for all of us, no need to backup anymore like that. I still use CCC for a lot of tasks, like cloning these PPC old HDD's to SSD and that kind of things. It's been, and is, a great software I think. I still pay for it if there is an upgrade, and will do so - if I stay with Mac that is.

ot. But those upcoming temps though. I'd be frying at 100° F (=37°C). You wouldn' t want to kick in any heavy renders to heat the room at summer.
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Yeah, the G3 and the G4 are both headless (no monitors). I do have a graphics card in the G4 though - mainly because when I reboot it, it sometimes doesn't want to boot so I hook up a monitor to see what's going on.

The G3 is running OS X 10.4.11 Server and has a 2TB RAID attached via eSATA. The G4 just has internal drives and is running Leopard.

So, yeah, I use screensharing in order to control both Macs.

I started with Dropbox in 2011. Up until some time last year (2020) I had 12GB on a free account. I only started paying because I wanted storage to hold my backups. I mainly do that simply because if anything happens I want to be able to access a backup.

As to the temps in Phoenix…well yesterday was 117º and today is supposed to repeat that. We'll be at 108º by 10am. At this point I have shut down both the G3, the G4, the two Minis in the room and my Thinkpad. My MP is the only Mac I've left running.
 
Amethyst1 said:
Holy moly! And I'm dying at 90~95° right now!
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Yeah, but like a lot of Arizonans say, "It's a dry heat." Precipitation right now is 16%.

It's weird though, because these temps are what we'd get in August, the hottest month. It's June. In about 20-30 years it's going to be like living in Death Valley I think, which hit 130º some time this week.
 
B S Magnet said:
47.2°C with a humidity of 16 per cent… I’m surprised people don’t desiccate in those conditions.
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Believe it or not, our Monsoon season started this week. :rolleyes:

PS. This is why aviation (military, private and commercial) store airplanes out here.
 
B S Magnet said:
I can only imagine that kind of heat absolutely demolishes the interiors and rooftops of vehicles.
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IDK, haven't had much issue with that and we've been here over 20 years now.

However, every year we have an epidemic of people forgetting their kids in cars. That's bad anyplace, but in Phoenix during summer it can go very bad instantly.
 
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