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Problem Installing "Born Again" on IIfx

Concorde1993

Well-known member
I ended up swapping the Sony power supply from my IIx. Seems to have resolved the IIfx's starting problem for now.

Returning to the core problem, I still can't mount and convert System Picker and Wish I Were 2.0. Stuffit Expander does nothing with those files and I've tried downloading both files from Mac GUI and the Macintosh Repository. Doesn't seem to make a difference where the source is coming from.

Thoughts? I have 3 out of the 5 programs working.
 

volvo242gt

Well-known member


Try downloading through the garden.
 

volvo242gt

Well-known member
There's also System Switcher, which is what I used back in the '90s on my original IIsi to switch between 7.1 and 6.0.8. Think that's what is on my SE currently, which has both 6.0.8 and 7.5.1 installed on its 80MB drive. Looks like that is on the Macintosh Repository site. Their description is incorrect on it, since they say that the Startup Disk control panel made it obsolete. Yet, this is a more polished version of System Picker.
 

Concorde1993

Well-known member
Sort of rethinking the value of System Picker. As noted in the first post, I already created a partition on the HD using Silverlining 5.7 - one for System 7.5.1 and the other for the new OS 8.1 volume (this was before I read Gamba's instructions). Won't the computer allow me to choose to install OS 8 on the new partition once I add the Wish I Were control panel and extensions to the System Folder?

I know Gamba's method does not involve creating a partition (that was required for Born Again), but I'd rather have System 7 and OS 8 on separate partitions and be able to switch using the Startup Disk control panel. Is this feasible under Gamba's instructions?
 

volvo242gt

Well-known member
It should allow you to do so.

With respect to the instructions, I think those do assume that you're using a drive that isn't partitioned. If it's partitioned, then, you can either go the Born Again route, or the Wish I were route, adding in the necessary code to get 8 to be happy on an '030 machine.
 

Concorde1993

Well-known member
8.1 is now installed on my IIfx. No muss, no fuss. Having a partition proved quite beneficial as I could perform the ResEdit hacks for OS 8 in System 7.5.1, install OS 8 in its dedicated partition, and then switch to the OS 8 partition using the Startup Disk control panel. No need for Network Access or System Picker.
Mac OS 8.1 .jpg
I'll say 8.1 is quite snappy with 128MB of RAM. It's definitely running better than it did on my 5215CD, which I believe only had 64MB of RAM, and was just plain lousy performance-wise even with a PowerPC chip. The only caveat is I still cannot install PowerPC games on the IIfx, so no Hoyle Card Games or Myst. However, the plan is to migrate my 8.1 files from the 5215 hard drive to my IIfx. Of course, the HD used on the 5215 is IDE. Has anyone here used an SCSI to IDE adapter? I see some bridge cards from ACARD on eBay, but they are ridiculously expensive.
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
Ill have to give this a try as well, thanks for this (if a bit old).

By the way, Myst is not PPC only. We played it on our 660av.
 

Concorde1993

Well-known member
I stand corrected. I got confused with Riven - The Sequel to Myst. That (and the accompanying Making of Riven movie) requires a minimum 90MHz PowerPC processor to run. The original Myst only requires System 7.0.1 or higher, although I swear I had a PPC only version somewhere. This is all part of the Ages of Myst: Fifth Anniversary Commemorative Edition set.

Since we're on this topic, I should try installing Myst in Windows 3.1 and see how well it works with the OrangePC card since I have the Windows version as well.
 

BacioiuC

Well-known member
8.1 is by far my favourite OS to run on a 030 mac. The most stable of all versions I tried, way more stabler than 7.5.x. I haven't tried 7.1 for too long. My SE/30 and CC2 @ 040 via sonnet presto plus love it. I found 32 mb of ram to be the bare minimum for 8.1 and 64 being a decent configuration.

If you remove unneeded extensions it's quite speedy and comfortable. And funnily enough, some games that have problems and glitches on 7.5.3 (DOOM II on my se/30) run really well on 8.1 (as well as doom can run @ 40mhz 030, but it's playable with some tweaks).

The cool part about 8.1 (besides stability on my case) is the fact that it recognised most of everything I have hooked up and I don't have to fiddle with drivers (like my NEC CD Rom drives). And HFS+ and bigger partitions support are a godsend.

I know a lot of people here love 7.1 and sing it's praise but the only time I had to re-install 8.1 was when I installed the carrera040 in my SE/30. Been running 1 se/30 and 1 CC II with 8.1 for ~ 1 year without issues. My 7.5.3 machine get's near monthly re-installs because it crashes when accessing the drive (tried multiple sd cards) and corrupts the OS. 7.1 is just to old and lacks a few convenience features.

I know I hijacked the thread a little but I do recommend more people try 8.1 on their 030's. And yes bourne again is basically useless. Wish I were, res edit and another drive/booting from rom is all you need for a mostly painless setup process.
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
I’m going to try this out. I have four partitions on my SCSI2SD, so I can try and put 8.1 on one of them.
 
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