John Kettler Posted May 14, 2003 Share Posted May 14, 2003 Don't know why, but can't get a response from the troops on the primary thread on the CMBB board, so am posting the link here for some developments which may actually offer a workable solution. Does anyone here have a MacFixIt subscription? http://www.battlefront.com/cgi-bin/bbs/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=006771;p=4 Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibsonm Posted May 15, 2003 Share Posted May 15, 2003 The MacFixIt Article follows: ALERT: Booting Mac OS 9 on 2003 (Mac OS X only) Macs After months of searching, it seems that we have finally found a solution for booting Mac OS 9 on Macs released after January 1, 2003 - which are designated as exclusively capable of booting Mac OS X by Apple. Apple recently posted a new file to its private Apple Service Provider web page (accessible only by account-holding Apple technicians and resellers) titled "MacTest Pro for Power Mac G4 (March 2003) Version 7.8.1 supports all iMac (Flat Panel) 15 inch systems only." The file is a CD image which can be downloaded and burned, then used as a startup disk. Testing in "Mac OS X-only" flat panel iMac system revealed that the image properly booted Mac OS 9. Users can then copy a stripped-down Mac OS 9 system folder to their hard drive, and select it with the "Startup Disk" System Preferences pane, delivering a Mac OS 9 bootable internal disk. It appears that a new MacOS ROM file (ver. 9.8.1) allows booting from the image. Of course, this solution is only readily accessible by Mac service providers, but it shows that Mac OS 9 boots are not impossible on Apple's new machines. Also, please note that Mac OS 9 startup was not tested on any machines other than the 2003 flat-panel iMac. UPDATE: The iMac tested in this report had a serial number later than xx303xxxxxx. Knowledge Base article #86209 states that these models boot Mac OS X only. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted May 17, 2003 Author Share Posted May 17, 2003 gibsonm, Thanks! As noted in the main thread, it seems to me that, absent some unknown hardware or software issue, in principle it ought to be possible to do much the same for other OS X only Macs. Still waiting to hear from laxx and Gyrene. Is anyone running CMBB on a pre 2003 17" gooseneck iMac? If yes, how's it working? Any display problems? This is presently my candidate for a replacement rig for the Gen One iMac here. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye Posted May 18, 2003 Share Posted May 18, 2003 John: I have a late 2002 17" iMac. CMBB plays pretty well on it, although the graphics are a little disappointing because of the downsampling that occurs. This is most noticeable for certain AFVs. Not really seen on infantry. Speed is okay, although large scenarios do slow things down a tad. Keith 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted May 18, 2003 Author Share Posted May 18, 2003 Buckeye, Thanks for the info! Now to the task at hand. Why are you getting downsampling at all? Was under the impression that the 32 MB GeForce(MX?) was plenty to run CMBB at full resolution. What resolution are you using, please? How much RAM do you have installed? Does anyone know whether this may be a driver problem? Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 John: The downsampling problem on Macs has been discussed elsewhere on the Forum. Yes, 32 megs of video RAM should in theory be sufficient to run CMBB. But it doesn't appear to be a matter of video RAM. It's also not related to resolution (I run at 1440 X 900, for what it's worth). Interestingly, some folks say that low-res mods actually look better on Macs than high-res. I don't think it's a driver either. In fact, I haven't seen anyone come up with a solution to the problem. Just as I haven't seen anyone solve the problem of blurry skies (that's the only other display issue I know of with the nVidia cards). Unfortunately, the downsampling of armor and blurry skies is sufficiently annoying that I don't enjoy CMBB from an 'eye candy' perspective as much as I did CMBO. I suspect I won't really be happy again until the Open GL version of CM arrives. Keith 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted May 19, 2003 Author Share Posted May 19, 2003 Buckeye, I didn't realize that the 17" iMacs had the problems you describe. I thought only towers were affected. Can you change the resolution on your machine, or is it fixed? Have zero LCD screen experience and don't know. The highest resolution I've personally used for CMBO was 800x600 on a 350 MHz iMac I had on loan for a few months while this 233 MHz had its CD-ROM drive tray fixed at the factory. Most of my experience has been 640x480. If you can run at slightly reduced resolution, might that not at least reduce your woes? Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarmo Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 I believe the nVidia downsampling is indeed a driver issue. NVidia jumped into mac platform at a time when Rave was already being phased out, and OSX was already there. As a result, the Rave support of geforce cards seems to be something of an afterthought. Is there a single geforce card that wouldnt be downsampling CMBB? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchlstrt Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 My sense at this point is that all Macs downsample, but it doesn't look too bad so most people aren't aware of it. Hope I'm wrong but no one who's said 'mine doesn't' has ever posted a screenie or even system specs. I get a look at my Mods in standard-res by installing a lo-res Grass & making a Scenario with no Terrain Features & only one or two different units in it. You have to quit CM to 'purge' the Graphics loading list or whatever it is. If someone gets this res with a lot more Units than this, please give us your specs. strt 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarmo Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Someone with 32meg AGP radeon posted screenshots and they didnt seem to be downsampled. A clear difference to my 32MB Radeon PCI. But certainly it's not about lack of VRAM that causes downsampling, at least that's not all there is. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarmo Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 As a related issue, apparently the new eMacs can still boot OS9 without any special gimmicks (says macintouch). But they only reported some tech info article, so dont rush headlong into buying one. A pretty tempting offer anyway, they cost almost nothing (for a mac). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye Posted May 20, 2003 Share Posted May 20, 2003 John: Just to answer your question: Yes, you can change the resolution on the 17" iMac, but like any flat panel, there's a native resolution for the screen, and things look better at that resolution than at any other. For the 17" iMac, the native resolution is 1440 X 900. Any other resolution looks a bit washed out. I don't think reducing the resolution will help CMBB much. Jarmo: You may be right that the nVidia drivers are not optimal for Rave. But I've also heard complaints of various sorts about ATI cards, so I'm afraid there's no perfect solution. Moral to the story: C'mon, BFC, get that Open GL version done! Buckeye 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted June 1, 2003 Author Share Posted June 1, 2003 Bumping in the hope that someone (hint: Gyrene and laxx) has something new to report. I have yet to hear anything from Leo Laporte, and I've tried E-mailing him at "The Screensavers" and did the same at his personal site. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted July 16, 2003 Author Share Posted July 16, 2003 I cornered Gyrene long enough on the General Discussion board to learn that he has no breakthroughs to report. Details are in the Hunt for a Spammer thread there. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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