Hi All, I was looking into buying a mac laptop to install Amiga OS 4.1 onto. I read that OS 4.1 is for PowerPC computers. However, when I was cruising e-bay, I noticed that the Mac Book Pros I was looking at all have Intel chips in them.
The Amiga computer can be used to emulate several other computer platforms, including legacy platforms such as the Commodore 64, and its contemporary rivals such as the IBM PC and the Macintosh.
MS-DOS on Amiga via Sidecar or Bridgeboard[edit]
MS-DOS compatibility was a major issue during the early years of the Amiga's lifespan in order to promote the machine as a serious business machine. In order to run the MS-DOS operating system, Commodore released the Sidecar for the Amiga 1000, basically an 8088 board in a closed case that connected to the side of the Amiga. Clever programming (a library named Janus, after the two-faced Roman god of doorways) made it possible to run PC software in an Amiga window without use of emulation. At the introduction of the Sidecar the crowd was stunned to see the MS-DOS version of Microsoft Flight Simulator running at full speed in an Amiga window on the Workbench.
Later the Sidecar was implemented on an expansion card named 'Bridgeboard'[dead link] for Amiga 2000+ models. Bridgeboard cards appeared up to 486 processor variants. The Bridgeboard card and the Janus library made the use of PC expansion cards and harddisk/floppydisk drives possible. The bridgeboard card was manufactured by Commodore, later third party cards also appeared for the Amiga 500 and Amiga 600 expansion slot such as the KCS Powerboard.
Eventually, full-software emulators, such as PC-Task and PCx allowed Amigas to run MS-DOS programs, including Microsoft Windows, without additional hardware, at the costs of speed and compatibility.
Amiga Transformer[edit]
When Commodore introduced the Amiga 1000 in July 1985 it also unexpectedly announced a software-based IBM PC emulator for it. The company demonstrated the emulator by booting IBM PC DOS and running Lotus 1-2-3.[1] Some who attended the demonstration were skeptical that the emulator, while impressive technically, could run with acceptable performance.[2] The application, called Transformer, was indeed extremely slow; The 'Landmark' benchmark rated it as a 300 kHz 286, far slower than the 4.7 MHz of IBM's oldest and slowest PC. In addition, it would only run on Amigas using the 68000 microprocessor, and would not run if the Amiga had more than 512K of RAM.
PCTask[edit]
PCTask is a software PC emulator emulating PC Intel hardware with 8088 processor and CGA graphic modes.The latest version of it (4.4) was capable to emulate an 80386 clocked at 12 MHz and features include support for up to 16 MiB RAM (15 MB extended) under MS-DOS, up to two floppy drives and 2 hard drives. The emulator could make use of hardfile devices and then it could handle multiple hard disk files and hard disk partitions. It supported high Density floppies and CD-ROM if the Amiga hardware had mounted those devices.
The graphics mode available were MDA, CGA, EGA, VGA and SVGA emulating Hercules graphic cards with 512 KiB to 2 MiB RAM, and up to 256 colors on Amiga AGA machines, and could make use of Amiga graphic boards (e.g. Cybergraphics, EGS Spectrum, Picasso).
Parallel, Serial and PC speaker emulation, and mouse support, including serial mouse emulation were also granted.
If the Amiga hardware is fast enough (68060 or PPC) and has enough RAM, there could be also the possibility to run multiple PC-Task processes on the same machine, run MS-DOS applications in an Amiga window on a public screen (e.g. on Amiga Workbench GUI).
PCTask could also transfer files between Amiga side and the emulated MS-DOS machine; it could make use of GoldenGate bridge cards which allow the Amiga equipped with expansion slots to get complete control of its silent ISA slots and use PC-ISA cards. And latest version of it (4.4) could run even Microsoft Windows up to 95.
PcTask has an 8088/80286/80486 JITM (Just in Time Machine) capable to map all instructions of these processors, but require 4 megabytes extra of RAM for activating this feature.
Mac OS on Amiga[edit]
History
Also introduced for the Amiga were two products, A-Max (both internal and external models) and the Emplant expansion card. Both allowed the Amiga to emulate an Apple Macintosh and run the classic Mac OS. It required an Apple Macintosh ROM image, or actual ROMs in the case of A-Max, which needed to be obtained from a real Macintosh. The user needed to own the real Macintosh or Mac ROMs to legally run the emulator.
In 1988 the first Apple Mac emulator, A-Max, was released as an external device for any Amiga. It needed Mac ROMs to function, and could read Mac disks when used with a Mac floppy drive (Amiga floppy drives are unable to read Mac disks. Unlike Amiga disks Mac floppy disks spin at variable speeds, much like CD-ROM drives). It wasn't a particularly elegant solution, but it did provide an affordable and usable Mac experience.
ReadySoft, makers of A-Max, followed up with A-Max II in the early 1990s. A-Max II was contained on a Zorro-compatible card and allowed the user, again using actual Mac ROMs, to emulate a color Macintosh. In fact, an Amiga 3000 emulating a Mac via A-Max II was significantly faster than the first consumer color Mac, the LC.
Over time full-software virtualization was available, but a ROM image was still necessary. Example virtualization software include ShapeShifter (not to be confused with the third party preference pane ShapeShifter), later superseded by Basilisk II (both by the same programmer who conceived SheepShaver, Christian Bauer), Fusion and iFusion (the latter ran classic Mac OS by using a PowerPC 'coprocessor' accelerator card).
Virtual machines provide equal or faster speed than a Macintosh with the same processor, especially with respect to the m68k series due to real Macs running in MMU trap mode, hampering performance. Also, immediately after the 68k to PowerPC transition in 1994, there was a dearth of native PowerPC Mac software: Amiga computers with 68060 CPUs running ShapeShifter or Fusion were able to run 68k Macintosh code faster than real Macs.
One should note that although Amigas were very successful at emulating Macintoshes, it was never considered to be a Macintosh clone as it could not use Mac OS as a primary operating system.
Modern Amigas like AmigaOne and Pegasos can emulate Macintosh Machines by using Basilisk II or Mac-on-Linux.
8-bit Commodore computers[edit]
Various Commodore 64 emulators were produced for the Amiga. In 1988 Compute! reviewed ReadySoft's The 64 Emulator and Software Insight Systems' GO-64 and reported mixed results with both. Although the magazine used copies of the genuine 64 ROMs, it found that some software such as SpeedScript did not run, and both emulators' performance was inferior to the real computer.[3] Others included MagiC64 and A64.
Amigas have their own version of VICE and Frodo software emulators. VICE emulates the 8-bit machines made by Commodore, including C64, C128, PET, and VIC-20.
Atari ST[edit]
Atari ST emulation on Amiga is very easy because the two machine share the same model of processor (68000) and more or less feature the same hardware characteristics.
In the past there were produced various software based Atari emulators for the Amiga such as Amtari, or Medusa emulator.
AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS can emulate Atari ST and Atari STE platforms by using Hatari free software emulator which was released under GPL.
Amiga emulation[edit]
PowerPC-equipped computers running AmigaOS 4 can run UAE to emulate a Motorola 68000-equipped Amiga. Original Kickstart 3.1 ROM images are included with AmigaOS 4.1 Update 4.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Marisa Giancarla (2017-05-24), Amiga History - Launch Of Amiga, retrieved 2018-07-21
- ^Halfhill, Tom R. (October 1985). 'Amiga Goes IBM-Compatible'. Compute!. p. 28. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
- ^Anderson, Rhett; Thompson, Randy (February 1988). 'Two Emulators For The Amiga'. Compute!. p. 80. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emulation_on_the_Amiga&oldid=880461867'
Long ago, Mac fans and Commodore Amiga fans fought like mortal blood enemies. But we now live in a far more civilized age—one where Macs and Amigas can walk together, hand-in-hand, along the sandy shores of computerburg.
For that we can thank MorphOS 3.5, a free-to-try Amigalike operating system developed by Amiga and PowerPC aficionados. With a simple download and a CD-burn, you can turn an aging G4-era Macintosh into a modern day Amiga-compatible machine.
“Sacrilege,” you say. “Why would I want to do that?” For the same reason you might build a life-sized replica of Iron Man in your basement. It’s a hobby; a fun diversion—for most, anyway. Some people do use MorphOS as their daily computing workhorse. In this big world of ours (mostly Europe), there still exist pockets of die-hard Amiga users. For them, MorphOS is a boon because it extends the OS platform with which they’re most comfortable (AmigaOS) into a new generation of relatively modern, low-cost, and high-powered machines (PowerPC Macs).
And unlike some cottage OSes, MorphOS brings with it a large library of very usable software, much like a modern Linux distribution. Not only does it run MorphOS native programs, but also a large selection of programs written for AmigaOS.
So here, without further ado, is how you can join the “Amigalike” renaissance—or just play around with a different OS for a few hours.
Step 1: Check hardware compatibility
Before any Amigalike magic begins, you need to make sure MorphOS 3.5 will work on your system. Fortunately, MorphOS runs on a nice variety of Apple-brand machines from the early 2000s.
Here’s a list of compatible machines, which I scraped from the official MorphOS Hardware Compatibility Page.
- Apple Mac mini G4
- Apple eMac (1.25GHz and 1.42GHz models only)
- Apple iBook G4
- Apple PowerBook G4 (models with a Radeon graphics only)
- Apple PowerMac Cube (bundled USB audio hardware not supported)
- Apple PowerMac G4 (nVidia GeForce2 MX and nVidia GeForce4 MX/Titanium cards are not supported, audio supported only with certain models)
- Apple PowerMac G5 (only a couple models are supported, and MorphOS will only use up to 1GB of RAM, no matter what)
If you’re like me, you probably have some spare Mac hardware like this floating around somewhere (in my case, I just decommissioned a Mac mini G4 that ran as a backup server for almost a decade).
Everything I’ve read suggests that installing MorphOS on a G4 Mac mini is the easiest route. It makes installing MorphOS relatively painless (if you call overwriting a perfectly good Mac OS X partition painless, that is). It’s worth mentioning that MorphOS also runs on certain exotic non-Mac hardware like the Genesi Efika.
Step 2: Download MorphOS ISO and burn it to CD
After you’ve selected your target machine, it’s time to download the software. Mosey on over to http://www.morphos-team.net/downloads and grab the ISO file made for Macs.
To go any further, you’re going to need a computer with a CD/DVD burner for this step. You’ll also need a program that burns ISO files to CD-Rs (I recommend ImgBurn for Windows and Disk Utility for OS X).
After you download the software, burn the MorphOS 3.5 ISO to a CD-R.
Step 3: Boot your Mac from the CD
This step is easy. Gently place the CD you just burned into your Mac’s CD/DVD drive (gently!), power up the machine, and just after you hear the chime, hold down the C key on the keyboard. That tells the Mac to boot from the disc in the CD/DVD drive.
After a few moments of furious churning noises from your CD-ROM drive, you’ll see a black splash screen with a blue butterfly logo in the center. If you see blue butterflies before that, it’s time to cut back on the LSD.
After further loading from CD, the MorphOS desktop will appear. A window titled Welcome to MorphOS in the center that shows various 3D-rendered vehicles will greet you, and you will be pleased.
Step 4: Tiptoe through the waters of MorphOS on CD
At this point, you have the option of playing around with MorphOS for a while without obliterating your Mac’s existing OS X installation. Think of it as a test drive.
To run some MorphOS applications, click on the Explore CD button in the welcome window. You will find most of the included applications tucked away in the appropriately named Applications folder. Some are also in the Utilities, Tools, and Games folders.
If you’re looking for a Web browser, it’s called OWB (short for Origyn Web Browser), and it’s in a folder called OWB within the Applications folder. Type in macworld.com and read this article. Congratulations; you’re now stuck in an infinite loop. To break free, read the next step.
Step 5: Install MorphOS
Before we go any further, a warning: any MorphOS installation will destroy whatever is currently on your target Mac’s hard drive. Proceed with caution.
It is possible to dual-boot MorphOS and OS X (which would still destroy your OS X partition), but that would be silly.
If you’re ready to take the plunge and do a full MorphOS install, click on the Installation button in the aforementioned Welcome to MorphOS window. A new window will pop up that leads you through the install process.
For me, the installation itself was quick and trouble-free. MorphOS asks you to set a few keyboard, mouse, time, and network preferences, and then it politely asks you to wipe out (partition) your hard drive. I recommend the automatic partition option for simplicity’s sake.
After that, the system will set up custom partitions and install the files from the CD. You can then reboot into full MorphOS glory. Amazingly, the boot process only takes a couple seconds on a Mac Mini; it’s a lean operating system.
Step 6: Use and enjoy—with a catch
After noodling around with MorphOS for about 30 minutes, you will notice a pop-up window that asks you to register, and then the system will become unbearably slow. This is where MorphOS reminds you that it is not free software.
Obviously, the architects of MorphOS would like you to purchase a license, which currently costs €79 for the Mac mini. (As of this writing, about 2300 people have done so. Seriously.) You can get around the limit by rebooting as many times as you want.
For most tinkerers, I suspect the 30-minute limit will be enough time to fool around with MorphOS. Those serious about the system can buy a license and go further.
To extend your MorphOS installation, you can download thousands of MorphOS native applications from various sites around the ‘Net. I recommend archives hosted by the Czech PowerPC User Group and the MorphOS Software Repository. You can also download and run many modern Amiga programs (written for AmigaOS 4.0 and above) from Aminet.
Plenty of support for MorphOS can also be found at the World Association of MorphOS Users website. But try as you might, nothing will ever redeem your soul for erasing a perfectly good Mac OS X installation—or so they tell me on the Macworld forums.
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