PowerPC on Lion/Mountain Lion

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Hello,

Currently I have a late 2006 MacBook running Snow Leopard. However, I am thinking of upgrading it to Lion and/or buying a new Mac Mini. There's a problem, though. One of my hobbies is LEGO Robotics, and I've consistently had trouble getting the older programming software (ROBOLAB) to run on my computers. Back when I ran only Windows, the problem was that drivers for the USB Infrared tower used to download programs to the robot only existed for 32bit editions of Windows. On mac, the problem is that this particular system was made obsolete at roughly the same time Macs switched to Intel, so it was never ported to Intel, and remains a PowerPC Application. I'm looking for a way to run ROBOLAB on a Lion or Mountain Lion-based computer. Assuming there's no way to natively run PowerPC applications on 10.7/.8, can I install Snow Leopard on a Boot Camp partition? Can I use WMWare or Parallels to run SL in a virtual environment? Or am I stuck running Snow Leopard on my MacBook? Obviously I could install Windows (likely XP) in a Boot Camp partition, but I'd rather keep everything inside OSX where possible.

Any help is very much appreciated.

dhmmjoph
 
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You cannot use boot camp to run another copy of the mac os. You can partition the drive and keep a smaller partition running Snow leopard to allow you to use the PowerPC app.

You may be able to use a virtual machine, but since that breaks the EULA for Snow Leopard, you're on your own as we cant discuss that subject on the forums
 

chscag

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You have two choices for running the Lego Robotics program:

1. After updating to Lion and or Mountain Lion, create a separate partition on the hard drive using Disk Utility (not Boot Camp) and install Snow Leopard. That will allow you to dual boot.

2. The EULA now allows for running OS X in a virtual machine on genuine Mac hardware. You can install Parallels, Fusion, or the free VirtualBox, and then install Snow Leopard to the VM.
 

chscag

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You may be able to use a virtual machine, but since that breaks the EULA for Snow Leopard, you're on your own as we cant discuss that subject on the forums

Not true. The EULA now allows for running OS X in a virtual machine provided it runs on genuine Mac hardware.
 

pigoo3

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Here is what I would do if I was in your situation (two options). Firstly...the newest OS your MacBook can run is OS 10.7 (assuming your have at least 2 gig of ram). And the two options assume you have the proper OS versions to install.

The two options:

1. Erase your HD...and partition it for 2 partitions. Partition #1 install OS 10.7 (once you've downloaded & purchased it). Partition #2 install Leopard (OS 10.5). Why 10.5? Because your PowerPC LEGO application will run natively (it doesn't run natively via 10.6...Snow Leopard).

2. Erase your HD...and partition it for 2 partitions. Partition #1 install OS 10.7 (once you've downloaded & purchased it). Partition #2 install Snow Leopard (OS 10.6)...make sure you also do the optional install of "Rosetta" so your PowerPC app. will run.

- Nick

p.s. Option #2 was mentioned if you do not have an OS 10.5 install disk.

p.p.s. If you buy a new Mac-Mini...then you will not be able to run your PowerPC LEGO app....since there is no way to run PowerPC apps. on new Macintosh models. If you get a new Mac-Mini...then you will have to use the Windows version of your LEGO app. and install Windows on your new Mac-Mini via Parallels or VMWare fusion...or via Bootcamp.
 
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p.p.s. If you buy a new Mac-Mini...then you will not be able to run your PowerPC LEGO app....since there is no way to run PowerPC apps. on new Macintosh models. If you get a new Mac-Mini...then you will have to use the Windows version of your LEGO app. and install Windows on your new Mac-Mini via Parallels or VMWare fusion...or via Bootcamp.

...even if I install SL in a virtual machine using VirtualBox or similar? (as detailed in previous post)
 
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You can run PPC apps in Snow Leopard with Rosetta (the PowerPC emulation engine) within that virtual machine, so you wont have to boot into Snow leopard separately every time you need to run the LEGO app
 

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...even if I install SL in a virtual machine using VirtualBox or similar? (as detailed in previous post)

The newest Mac-Mini's (2011) cannot run SL. No SL means no Rosetta. And no Rosetta means no PowerPC apps.

If you wanted to run SL on a "newer" Mac-Mini…is would have to be a 2010 Mac-Mini or older (of course it must be an Intel Mac-Mini to run SL).

- Nick
 
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The OPs best bet might just be to find a reasonably priced older Mac that can boot natively to OS 8/9, max out the RAM and HDD as desired and run the software there. In the end that's probably cheaper and far more effective than all the emulation hoops required to run old software.
 

pigoo3

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The OPs best bet might just be to find a reasonably priced older Mac that can boot natively to OS 8/9...

Probably a good area to clarify.:) I assumed we were talking about a "pre-Intel" app. that required OS X to run.

@dhmmjoph: Just so we are 100% sure…can you verify if this LEGO app. is a "Classic app. (OS8/OS9)…or a PowerPC app that needs OS X (10.0 thru 10.5)….or emulation via Rosetta in Snow Leopard?

I thought that the LEGO app. required OS X (but maybe it is a "Classic" environment app.)…maybe I'm mistaken.

- Nick
 
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Probably a good area to clarify.:) I assumed we were talking about a "pre-Intel" app. that required OS X to run.

@dhmmjoph: Just so we are 100% sure…can you verify if this LEGO app. is a "Classic app. (OS8/OS9)…or a PowerPC app that needs OS X (10.0 thru 10.5)….or emulation via Rosetta in Snow Leopard?

I thought that the LEGO app. required OS X (but maybe it is a "Classic" environment app.)…maybe I'm mistaken.

- Nick
Your original assumption is correct. This is a PowerPC app that needs OSX to run.
 

pigoo3

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My mistake, thought it was a classic App.

In that case, piggo3s recommendation above is probably the best way to get it to work on newer hardware/OS.

One question though. Do you have hardware that it currently runs on? If so, why not just keep that hardware running with the software that works for what you want but upgrade the rest of your setup as desired to keep up? Is it imperative that this particular old app be run on you main machine or is it just a nice to have? I ask this because as time moves on it will become increasingly harder and harder to run older OSs on newer hardware even with emulation. If you are thinking "long term solution" just keeping the older hardware that supports the app running is probably easier as long as the hardware is maintained.
 

pigoo3

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One question though. Do you have hardware that it currently runs on? If so, why not just keep that hardware running with the software that works for what you want but upgrade the rest of your setup as desired to keep up?

An excellent idea!:)

- Nick
 
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chas_m

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Is there an up-to-date Windows version of the application you need? If so, you might consider running Windows in a virtualizer program like Parallels (et al) to solve the issue.

Crossover (if it runs under that), Parallels and VMWare (at least) all have a mode where Windows apps appear to run in the Mac environment (ie the Windows interface is hidden).
 

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