I need to run PPC apps. Snow Leopard needed?
Archives Forums/MacOS X Discussion/I need to run PPC apps. Snow Leopard needed?
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| I have several old PowerPC applications (mostly games) that I would like to see running again on my newer mid 2011 iMac (21.5"). I just found out that rosetta cannot be installed on Lion/Mountain Lion for some stupid reason and need to know if I can install Snow Leopard beside my existing Mountain Lion OS. Is it possible to install Snow Leopard on my machine? And what version is recommended to install? Will OS X 10.6.3 be okay or do I need a newer version? |
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| You can install Snow Leopard - but you can't run PPC. PPC is a processor architecture - which was abandoned by Apple. Current one is x86 (The same as every PC running Windows). It's a RISC x CISC CPU - so there's nothing you can do about it - programs are not binary compatible with each other, so you can't run a program made for one into another, without recompiling it's sources. And Rosetta is not made for games. More on that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_%28software%29 Last edited 2012 |
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| It's a RISC x CISC CPU - so there's nothing you can do about it ...except, y'know, run Rosetta and translate the binary PPC instructions to x86 ones. That's exactly what Rosetta is for. x86 programs for earlier x86 versions of OSX don't need Rosetta, they should on the whole just run. Anyway, Rosetta isn't the only tool that does this sort of thing. You could for instance try something like QEMU to install a PPC version of OSX (Leopard or older) in a virtual machine on your Mountain Lion host system (or even run the application without an older OSX, depending on what it is). But although there are ways to run compiled PPC programs on an x86 machine, if it is at all possible to recompile the program for the right architecture than you should do that, without reservation. Last edited 2012 |
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| If you install snow leopard and try to run a PPC program (game or otherwise) it will prompt you to install rosetta (Just say click OK to install rosetta to run this program), once that's done you can run the program no problem. Prior to snow leopard rosetta was included in the OS base install (no secondary install needed). Post Snow Leopard Rosetta has been fully removed and your options are either dual OS installs (which I would recommend, btw just install Snow Leopard on a flash drive for the rare occasions you need it without messing with your main drives) or through a complicated emulator setup which may introduce some compatibility issues depending on a million factors. Simple solution, install SL on a flash drive, boot from that, launch the PPC app which will install Rosetta. Profit. |
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| Can I install Snow Leopard 10.6.3 in a VM, update it to 10.6.8, and then copy the virtual image to a partition on my hard drive? I have 10.6.3 retail version. Apple say that 10.6.3 will not boot a mid 2011 iMac. Can someone with a good bit of knowledge help me? Please? |
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| Depends on the VM and how it handles drive images. I've never had good experiences with VM'd OS X installs. 10.6.3 *might* work on a 2011 iMac even though it's not officially supported if it's a true retail disc and not a system restore disc. Would try it first before wrstling with VM's, nothing to lose, it either boots or doesn't. Failing that I would look for another system to try to make a boot flash drive on and then if desired image that boot drive to your partition if you really want it internal. If no other system is available even to make a boot flash drive, and it won't install/boot from the older install disc, and you have no way to get a newer disc image, only then would I consider going the VM route (just too many headaches vs. any other solution, but you only have access to what you have access to). |
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| OSX should have no problem running in a VM when the host OS is also OSX. It's only supposed to be a problem when you don't have an OSX host. It's officially supported by the major virtualisation solutions as far as I can recall. ...anyway, if you're willing to install to a VM in the first place, why not keep it once it's up and running? What application can't be run from a virtual machine? If you're hoping to run a game or other high-demand graphical app, I have bad news for you: these will function even less well under Rosetta than they generally do in regular virtual machines. Rosetta is not suitable for high-performance tasks, so if it won't work in a VM... it probably won't work at all. |
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| My suggestion is: keep latest OS version on your primary drive and install SL onto an external one and, everytime you need PPC compatibility, boot from it. Second option: dual boot. Edit: just read about hardware limitations. usual Apple crap. Starting to hate them for their nonsense... Anyway, if your hardware cannot deal with SL booting, a VM seems to be your only solution. Sadness... Last edited 2012 |
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| And Rosetta is not made for games Well, that certainly explains why Unreal Tournament, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and many other games run perfectly well in Rosetta... |
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| "And Rosetta is not made for games " It probably depends on the game. Miraculous Rosetta added some overhead true. However, even the early Intel Macs were more powerful than most PPC Macs where those games were developed. Result was little if any net performance loss. Never had a complaint that SteamTRAIN didn't run well under OSX 10.5 and 10.6 on many Intel Macs. Why Apple prematurely killed off Rosetta is yet another mystery? |
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| And Rosetta is not made for games I've only tried Harry Potter 1 and 2 in Rosetta and they both run horribly. HP1 is playable must most textures turn into black and HP2 didn't even run at all. Well, that certainly explains why Unreal Tournament, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and many other games run perfectly well in Rosetta.. I think that just shows a general problems with emulators and I guess Rosetta is no exception. I mean when I run some old DOS games in DOSBox then with most I hardly notice the difference with a 'real' old MS-DOS computer, but some of them (like Pinball Fantasies to name one) run horribly, at least to me. I guess Rosetta is much the same |
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| but some of them (like Pinball Fantasies to name one) run horribly, at least to me. Back in the day, I was blown away that the Amiga version of Pinball Fantasies ran smoother on my 486 PC in UAE (Amiga Emulator) than that the native PC version itself did directly in DOS. |
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