Running Mac OS X on x86 PC!

[S.MULLA]

a new emulator called PearPC seems to be able to run OS X on x86 machines:

http://pearpc.sourceforge.net/index.html

Check out the screenshots:

http://pearpc.sourceforge.net/screenshots.html

source:aqua-soft.org [forum]

[secretforce]

http://www.maconlinux.org/

[five04]

To nake an emulator, you first would have to study assembly and/or C/C++ (VB, C#, Java, BASIC, etc won't work, only C/C++, Fortran, D?, etc). Then you would have to buy or find a detailed book/ebook/webpage/etc on the type of processor your trying to emulate. Then you would have to start coding it, which could take years. You'll also have to make or find your own "fake" BIOS for the emulator (and coding a bios is very hard, almost or sometimes harder than making and operating system)... It isn't easy. Look at Bochs or PearPC's source, and you'll see. Trust me, I know how to make basic OSes that show test and get basic input, but it isn't easy.

quite true. the thing with the xbox emulation is that it's really just translating the xbox .xbe executable files to .exe files for windows. since microsoft made the xbox so much like a regular computer running a modified win ce, it's not as hard as something with a totally different cpu architecture would be. still, it's not an easy task.

getting back to the subject here. this looks very promising. i think it'll be something fun to just play around with. i've got an ibook g4 if i want to really use os x, but i think the cool factor in just having it work on x86 is great.

[VWW]

To nake an emulator, you first would have to study assembly and/or C/C++ (VB, C#, Java, BASIC, etc won't work, only C/C++, Fortran, D?, etc).

Um....sorry to correct you but i know for a fact you can program an emulator in java. There are emulators in existance that are made using java. As for the other languages you mentioned i cannot say for sure but i would expect you can.

[hanxuuk]

http://www.maconlinux.org/

http://www.maconlinux.org/sshots/pic11.jpg

That's not a emulater, that' just runing mac os on a linux ppc, no cpu emulation.

[mrhack636]

maconlinux is for ppc processors, so its not emulating anything really.

Its for those ppc linux users that want to run mac osx.

Useless to all of us x86 users...

MrHack

[Riz360]

Is'nt the amulation really RAM hungry though?! And that on top of the OS currently running...:s

[Pixelwix]

well it looks like it working for me, it booted up my panther cd

[SAMeAiM]

do u have more screenshots ?, "inside" the installation ?, (menus)

[lbking]

well it looks like it working for me, it booted up my panther cd

How did you make it boot up that far?

did you partition with the darwin CD first?

did you make it install ?

[secretforce]

Nice work so far Pixelwix :cool:

[aldo]

I don't think it boots up to desktop yet, or if it does it kernel panic's as soon as you get in...

[Jackalo]

Looks like it won't boot OS 10.2, 10.1, 9.2, 9.0, or 8.1. I figured it would've run 10.2 if it was capable of 10.3, but apparently not.

[Pixelwix]

here is an other one about to partion the hdd with disk utility,

i just used the 3gig image they have on thier site and booted that up and it seems to be working. kinda slow though

[aldo]

well it looks like it working for me, it booted up my panther cd

Pixelwix, could you post your config file pleasE?

[Pixelwix]

# PearPC Configuration File

#
# Resolution
#	
#	0: 640x480x8 (indexed)
#	1: 640x480x15
#	2: 640x480x32
#	3: 800x600x8 (indexed)
#	4: 800x600x15
#	5: 800x600x32
#	6: 1024x768x8 (indexed)
#	7: 1024x768x15
#	8: 1024x768x32
#
#	The indexed modes are unsupported.
#	
#	default: 4
ppc_start_resolution = 4


#
# Redraw interval (in ms)
# must be between 1 and 999
#
# If you set this higher, PearPC will spend less time doing redraws (and so run faster)
# but feel less responsive. You should adjust this to your computer speed and personal
# preference.
#
redraw_interval_msec = 200

#
# Loader 
#

#
#	Boot method
#   this can be
#   1. "auto", prom will boot the first bootable partition found (default)
#   2. "select", prom will show you a list of bootable partitions
#   3. "force", prom will load and boot the local file prom_loadfile
#
prom_bootmethod = "auto"

# Example of how to use "force":
#prom_bootmethod = "force"
#prom_loadfile = "test/yaboot"
#prom_env_bootpath = "disk"

#
#	bootargs: don't change unless you know what you are doing
#	machargs: set to "-v" to get a verbose startup
#

#prom_env_bootargs = ""
prom_env_machargs = "-v"

#
#	This is needed if you want to boot Mac OS X
#

prom_driver_graphic = "video.x"


# This will adjust the position of the initial page table (don't change)
#page_table_pa = 104857600

#
# CPU Config
#
#	Processor Version Register
#	Defaults to 0x00088302
#	Only change if you know want you are doing
#
#cpu_pvr = 0x00088302


#
# Main memory (default 128 MiB)
# must be >= 64 MiB
#
#memory_size=0x8000000

#
# IO Devices
#

#
#	PCI IDE Config
#
#	Drive type will be set according to file extension:
#  .img: Harddisk (filesize must be multiple of 516096)
#  .iso: CD-Rom
#	Or you can override this by specifying the type via
#	pci_ide0_master_type / pci_ide0_slave_type

pci_ide0_master_installed = 1
pci_ide0_master_image = "osx.img"
#pci_ide0_master_type = "hd"

pci_ide0_slave_installed = 1
pci_ide0_slave_image = "c:\osx.iso"
#pci_ide0_slave_image = "/dev/cdrom"
pci_ide0_slave_type = "cdrom"

#
#	Network (unavailable on windows)
#
pci_3c90x_installed = 0
pci_3c90x_mac = "de:ad:ca:fe:12:34"

#
#	USB
#
pci_usb_installed = 1

#
#	NVRAM
#
nvram_file = "nvram"

just so you know i have the panther cd made an iso out of it using disk utility (you have to use a mac to make the iso)

[Pixelwix]

here is it partitioning

[neufuse Veteran]

Apple is just going to love this :)

[kawai]

just a suggestion, don't use journaled, it slows down the OS even more

[Pixelwix]

i'm not i was in such a hurry to take the screenshot that i just click erase :)

[aldo]

Ok, I'm nearly up and running now. Making an ISO of my Panther CD (got the HDD bit working)

[Timan Veteran]

how long did it take you to install darwin? mines been installing for well over 30 min :s

[neufuse Veteran]

took me over an hour to install mandrake 9.1 for PPC with the minimal set of packadges installed

[Pixelwix]

hmm i seem to have hit a snag i'm maybe the hdd is too small, i'm going to try the 6gig image and see if that works

[secretforce]

Has anyone got Mac OSx 10.2 working? will it work?

[aldo]

how long did it take you to install darwin? mines been installing for well over 30 min :s

You don't need to install darwin - just use the OSX CD (image it first) and images provided on PearPC website.