How to identify model specific MacOS?

edited June 2015 in Software
Is there any way to identify the various model-specific releases of MacOS just looking at the ISO or floppy?

I think some of the ones on Winworld are likely mislabeled.

Of course, it would have helped if there were label scans.

Comments

  • As in what model systems can run a certain version?
  • TCPMeta wrote:
    As in what model systems can run a certain version?

    Yes, back in the day there wasn't just only universal system disks. I remember System 7.x and MacOS 8.x disks that specified it was for a specific Macintosh series, i.e. a series of Proformas or Power Macs that shared similar specifications and/or released around the same time.

    It may be necessary to check through the text files on the CD. On a MacOS 8 CD for example there was an 'About MacOS 8' and 'Installing MacOS 8' SimpleText files where it may contain this info.
  • Well, the one I was looking at (7.5.5) had a couple of text files mentioning PowerPC, but they were not specific. At minimum, that one is not universal, as it would not install in Basilisk II under any machine settings. So I've marked it as such.

    Was there ever a bootable universal 7.5.5 CD?

    Also, the 7.5 CD kept complaining about wanting an "installmefirst" floppy that was not included, so I marked that as incomplete for now.
  • SomeGuy wrote:
    Was there ever a bootable universal 7.5.5 CD?

    It's possible there was one included with a Mac, though as far as I'm aware retail copies were just 7.0, 7.1, 7.5, and 7.6 with the additional updates either sourced from floppies/CD, or off the net. I thought to boot from a CD it was a matter of holding down the Shift key upon boot up. The 'Install Me First' disk was the first in of a series of floppies, so I question whether the copy you are trying was sourced from an original CD. I don't recall ever using a floppy or two, then to finish off the install using a CD like you would with the earlier versions of NT.

    You may have more success with Sheep Shaver using an 'Old World ROM' to emulate a PowerPC model.

    Looking around on Google it's not easy finding answers though I came across a couple of links that might help somewhat.

    http://www.oldapplestuff.com/InstallSoftware.html

    Towards the bottom of the page, there's a list of System 7 disks and the appropriate model alongside. This may narrow it down a bit. The models mentioned for 7.5 and 7.5.1 I think were predominately 68040 based, so those could work under Basilisk II.

    http://macintoshgarden.org/how-restore-the-performa-software

    Down to the section "Restore the Performa software in emulators using the CD", it gives some indication as to which restore CDs work under emulation.
  • I only used the copies Apple had on their FTP site back in the day. They were also universal for all Apple compatible 68K systems and 7.5.3 was the only PPC version available. When I was emulating a mac I used vMac for system 7 and 7.5 and basilisk II for 7.6.1 and 8.1

    Apple only released 7.5.5 as a update from what I remember. A matter of fact I found a old friend's tripod site that has 7.5.3 and the 7.5.5 update.
    http://igsi.tripod.com/mac/
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