Mac OS 7.7a2 (Pre-release) archived on the garden

eric

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Sep 2, 2021
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Pre-release MacOS 7.7a2 Codename: Speedy
Discovered by user Jajan547 on 68kmla in a prototype Power Mac 6360 (Codename: SPUD). Drive appears to be used for Apple testing and development before the name was changed to MacOS 8. IDE IBM hard drive dated 1995.

There are currently two downloads. The first is an image created by DiskCopy on MacOS 9.2.2 on a TiBook. The second is a byte for byte backup using the dd command on a modern Mac. You may change the file extension once downloaded to something like .hda, if needed. IT HAS BEEN ZIPPED! Not sure if this will cause any issues... Let me know if it does. The actual image file won't upload for me because of its size.

Please let me know either at 68kmla (Johnnya101) or through the comments if there is some large error I made, or if something doesn't work right, etc. Contact Jajan547 on 68kmla for more information on this drive or the computer itself.

cc @jajan547

Intersting pre-release archived!
 

jajan547

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Mar 25, 2022
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cc @jajan547

Intersting pre-release archived!
It’s very neat indeed but still going to have to figure out how to get it to boot on my LC475 and Quadra 950
 

retr01

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I wonder since it is System 7 rather than 8, although a pre-release for 8, it will include the hardware identifiers of the 68k Macs that were removed right before the macOS 8 release? 🤔
 

jajan547

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Mar 25, 2022
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I wonder since it is System 7 rather than 8, although a pre-release for 8, it will include the hardware identifiers of the 68k Macs that were removed right before the macOS 8 release? 🤔
It should but I think when we tried using the .img or renaming it to a .hda the scsi2sd, stock scsi hdds, and BlueScsi all ddint like it. I was told it’s because this was a PPC build and I think @Johnnya101 found the actual install so maybe it works on 68k now? I haven’t tried it yet but will later today. Also this drive was IDE.
 

retr01

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Ah. What about virtual disks? Virtual disks will work on either IDE or SCSI. Virtual disks have been around since around 2000, give or take. Formats are VHD, VDI, and VMDK.
 

Jockelill

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Jul 4, 2022
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Did anyone get it to work on a 68k machine? I tried both on IIci with Carrera040 and LC475 but without success. It starts to boot but crashes into a prompt.
 

OneGeekArmy

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I think @zefrenchtoon on 68kmla was working with @OneGeekArmy to make it compatible using DiskJockey. I have no idea where the status of this currently lies maybe one of them can answer?
I haven't heard a peep in weeks. Last I checked, @zefrenchtoon had some issues with the disk images on his SD card but that was in June.

I think Disk Jockey did its job (converting the .img into a device image) so if you feel like it, you can try replicating that step and see what happens.