Help getting MacOS 7.6 on SE/30

[Phipli]

I didn't mention 24 bit addressing.

Oh, I'm confused now. What do you mean by a clean ROM?

 

[mikes-macs]

The OP put in a Rominator II in the SE/30.

 

[Phipli]

The OP put in a Rominator II in the SE/30.

Yup, which allows you to run 32bit, and address more than the 8MB limit with 24bit addressing, the default (32bit extensions like MODE32 aside) for a stock SE/30.

24 bit to 32bit is what you're upgrading when you install a ROMinator II

 

[Phipli]

The OP put in a Rominator II in the SE/30.

Ah, I'm sorry. I misread your post. I thought you said the ROMinator wasn't needed with 16MB. My bad

 

[mikes-macs]

Yea I tried to do Mac OS 8.1 in mine but it was slow even with 128MBs memory. so IMO the best gain is yea it allows 32 bit mode which then allows you to increase the RAM to a descent level for Mac OS 7.1

 

[joshc]

MODE32+Force32 is my preference instead of a Rominator II at all. The real 'benefit' of the custom ROM is to be able to boot from a ROM disk.

 

[Phipli]

Yea I tried to do Mac OS 8.1 in mine but it was slow even with 128MBs memory. so IMO the best gain is yea it allows 32 bit mode which then allows you to increase the RAM to a descent level for Mac OS 7.1

Yeah, just because you can doesn't mean you should. Computers are more fun when you run a fast and responsive OS on them. 6.0.8 and 7.1 are perfect for an SE/30 without a processor upgrade.

 

[joshc]

Pretty sure you can run/trick an SE/30 to do 7.6.1 and 8.0/8.1 without a Rominator II as well...

 

[Phipli]

MODE32+Force32 is my preference instead of a Rominator II at all. The real 'benefit' of the custom ROM is to be able to boot from a ROM disk.

Same, I use MODE32 on mine. But ROMinators are vastly more expensive for us brits. Perhaps it would be a better option if shipping / taxes didn't double the price.

 

[Phipli]

Pretty sure you can run/trick an SE/30 to do 7.6.1 and 8.0/8.1 without a Rominator II as well...

Yup, you can. Almost makes sense on a IIci for compatibility, but dog slow even at 25MHz.

 

[Phipli]

The other reason to use MODE32 is that the ROMinator isn't compatible with some processor upgrades.

 

[mikes-macs]

I can't think of much software you'll run into that requires Mac OS 7.6.1 or higher. Maybe Mac OS 7.5 or Higher.

 

[Phipli]

I can't think of much software you'll run into that requires Mac OS 7.6.1 or higher. Maybe Mac OS 7.5 or Higher.

Oh, there is a load. I used to intentionally run 7.6.1 on a second disk on my IIci as a kid. It was usually a lie though, enforced by installers and their OS version checks. Many things could be back ported all the way to 7.1.3.

But 7.6.1 was a common "threshold" OS around the turn of the millennium.

 

[mikes-macs]

Agreed but any attempt to run those few programs on an SE/30 would be dissatisfying IMO.

 

[Phipli]

Agreed but any attempt to run those few programs on an SE/30 would be dissatisfying IMO.

It wasn't a few, times have changed. In those times you got whatever version of a program you got, from friends or cover disks or wherever. If it ran, great, if it didn't, you didn't have that program.

Now you just grab a slightly older version from Mac Garden and don't even think about it. Basically all commercial software that received updates stopped working on pre 7.6.1, or B&W or 030s or whatever, at some point. If you didn't have access to old versions it meant trying to hack it into working.

To this day I can remember the disappointment of an error "-192" and even remember the number. That is what you get if you run PPC only software on a 68k mac.