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 | __ )  __ _ ___(_) (_)___| | __ |_ _|_ _|
 |  _ \ / _` / __| | | / __| |/ /  | | | |
 | |_) | (_| \__ \ | | \__ \   <   | | | |
 |____/ \__,_|___/_|_|_|___/_|\_\ |___|___|

             [ Basilisk II ]
             
Notes by TheOuterLinux (https://theouterlinux.gitlab.io)
Last updated: 2025/05/18
             
'Basilisk II' is a cross-platform, 68k Macintosh emulator that runs 
System 7.x very well and does not ask for a lot in the way of RAM when 
compared to trying similar things like running 'Windows XP' inside of 
'VirtualBox'. The following are various notes you may want to be 
aware of before playing around with Basilisk II.

Setup
-----
Because Apple's operating systems are not free and open-source, the
required files to get Basilisk running are not the most "legal" if
found online. However, there are tools in which you can "rip" your
own ROMs if you have an actual Macintosh, but you are most likely not
going to. Having that said and understand that you do the following
AT YOUR OWN RISK, this method is probably the easiest way...

1. Grab a copy of 'Basilisk II'; GNU/Linux users will most likely have
   this available via a package manager; there are also AppImages.
   
2. Grab a "Quadra 900" ROM from somewhere. This will be a single file
   of ~1MB in size and probably named "PERFORMA.ROM".

3. Grab a copy of System 7.5.3 installer disk image from
   https://emaculation.com/basilisk/OS753InstallerParts.zip

4. Grab a boot floppy image from
   https://surfdrive.surf.nl/files/index.php/s/uQgbLJvgazBPN8s/download
   
5. Use Basilisk II to create a volume of about 1GB in size and name
   it something like 'MacOS753HD.img'

6. Add the 'MacOS753HD.img', boot floppy image, and installer disk in 
   Basilisk's Volume tab.
   
7. Add the path to the Quadra 900 ROM to the "Memory/Misc" tab, along
   with setting things to 256 RAM, Quadro 900, and 68040. You may also
   want to check "Don't Use CPU When Idle" and "Ignore Illegal Memory
   Access".
   
8. Disable JIT compiler

9. Start Basilisk II and install System 7.5.3

See https://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/basiliskii_osx_setup for more
detailed installation instructions; these are for Mac OS X users, but
the methods are more or less the same regardless of OS.

Unix Root
---------
This is a share folder. Meaning, files you place here will also show-up
in the "Unix" volume on System 7. This is how you get software and games
onto the system. This is also where you will want to save documents or 
compiled applications you plan to keep or share with other people.

If this volume ever disappears from the desktop when running Basilisk,
you either changed the directory of the folder you told the system to
use as 'Unix' (Unix Root) or the name. It is also possible that folder 
permissions where changed on the modern system's side of things. Another
thing that can cause this is pointing the Unix Root to a symbolically
linked directory rather than the actual one.

QuickTime
---------
DO NOT INSTALL QUICKTIME 4; IT WILL REPLACE v3 AND IT WILL FAIL.
If you have QTv3 installed and working, keep it. Unfortunately, it is
VERY picky about what it will play. You are stuck with AVI and MOV but
with the 'rpza', 'cinepak', and 'mjpeg' codecs; see 'FFMpegAndQT3.txt'
file within the same URL directory as this one if on TheOuterLinux
website.

Software Installation Freezes
-----------------------------
Sometimes software installation freezes. When this happens, I have often
found that it is often better to use the installer's Custom option and 
go through the list of things to install one at a time. But, if the
main software you want keeps causing the freeze, you are going to have
to find an alternative.

HyperCard
---------
If you are doing this just for HyperCard, understand that even with a
color-supported Macintosh, you are going to have to use the MacPaint
file-format for graphics. However, you can do this with the help of
modern software more easily by creating your image using something like
GIMP, such as an indexed (8-bit) PNG or BMPv3/2 or JPEG. Then, use the
program 'Aldus SuperPaint v3.5' within Basilisk to open that image 
and export to the MacPaint format. SuperPaint v3.5 has both B&W and 
color options.