Installing Mac OS 7.5.3 on Basilisk II for Windows

Tutorial by Marc Hoffman

Introduction...
Installing Mac OS 7.5.3, which is now freely downloadable from Apple Computer's website, onto Basilisk II isn't has tricky as it might sound. This tutorial will go through some of the basics on getting Mac OS 7.5.3 running under Basilisk II, with the specifics focusing on the Windows platform. The techniques described here should transfer over to the other platforms that Basilisk II runs on.

Before getting started, here's a list of some utilities that you'll need.

- Basilisk II, a free 68k Macintosh emulator
  - The Windows-specific version of Basilisk II is here
- A valid Macintosh ROM image. You need to own your own Macintosh in order to legally use a ROM image with Basilisk II. Please don't ask me to send these images out; all requests will be ignored. To find out how to obtain a Macintosh ROM image, please check out my online tutorial here.
- HFV Explorer, a utility that allows Macintosh disks and file disks to be read on Windows and UNIX.
  - The Windows-specific version of HFV Explorer is here
- Mac OS 7.5.3, a version of the Mac OS that is freely downloadable. This archive is made up of 19 separate downloadable parts, the average size of which is about 1mb. Once put onto Basilisk II, these parts will assemble into one.
- A startup disk that is able to boot Basilisk II. I have just such a disk image HERE, which contains Mac OS 7.0.1 I used this older version of the Mac OS as it is small and won't take that much extra time to download. After all, the download time for 7.5.3 is going to be long enough!

Getting Started...
The first part is the least fun, and that is to download all 19 segments of the Mac OS 7.5.3 installer. I recommend creating a folder on your desktop called "Mac OS 7.5.3 Install Segments", and saving the downloaded file to that directory. To save time, download only those segments that have the ".bin" extension. Downloading the files with the ".hqx" extension will only take more time. Do not allow WinZip or any other decompression program to alter the files in any way. Simply save them in the directory as-is.

Now, download the Mac OS 7.0.1 boot disk image here and unzip it to your Basilisk II directory.

The next step is to create a blank disk that we will eventually install 7.5.3 onto. The easiest way to do this is to launch HFV Explorer.

1. Open HFV Explorer. Once the program launches, you will notice that it bears a striking resemblance to Windows Explorer.
2. Click on the "File" menu, and then click on "Format New Volume". You should now see something similar to the picture in Figure 1 below.
3. In the "Volume Name" box, type in "Mac OS 7.5.3". This will be the name that will show up on the emulated Mac's desktop.
4. In the "Volume Size" box, choose 50 or 100mb (100mb or larger is recommended).
5. Next to "Volume file path, or floppy selection", you should see a button with two arrows on it. This is circled in red in Figure 1. Press this button, and you will get a standard Windows file requester.
6. Navigate to your Basilisk II directory.
7. Type in a name for the new disk. For this tutorial, I chose "Install.hfv". You don't actually have to type the extension ".hfv", as the program will add this automatically.
8. Press "Save".
9. Press "OK". You will now notice that a new disk has been mounted on the left pane of HFV Explorer called "Mac OS 7.5.3". This is the disk that we just created.

Figure 1: The HFV Explorer Make New Volume Requester

Copying the Files...
Now we're ready to copy the 19 Mac OS installer segments to the newly created Macintosh disk. To do this, you will again need HFV Explorer.

1. Using HFV Explorer, navigate to the volume that contains the folder that you saved the 19 installer segments to. Remember that this was called "Mac OS 7.5.3 Install Segments"
2. Now, drag the entire "Mac OS 7.5.3 Install Segments" directory over to the "Mac OS 7.5.3" disk, as is shown in Figure 2 below.
3. A requester will pop up asking you to select the copy mode. Leave the defaults, and click "OK to All", also shown in Figure 2 below.
4. HFV Explorer will now copy the entire directory over to the Basilisk II file disk, and will also make the proper conversion from the MacBinary (the ".bin" extension) to Macintosh format (neat, huh?). There is no status bar, so keep an eye on your hard drive light. When it finishes copying the files over, quit HFV Explorer.

Figure 2
Top: Copying the Install Segments to the Basilisk II Disk
Bottom: The Copy Mode Requester

Booting into Basilisk II...
The next steps will be to prepare Basilisk II to boot off the System 7.0.1 disk and to then install Mac OS 7.5.3 onto the disk that we just created and formatted.

1. Launch the Basilisk II GUI.
2. Click on the "Disk" tab, as shown in Figure 3.
3. All available disks will show up on the right hand column under "Available disks". You should see at least two disks: "System70_boot.dsk" and "Install.hfv".
4. Double click on "System70_boot.dsk". This will move it from the Available Disks to the Installed Disks column on the left.
5. Double click on "Install.hfv". This will move this disk to the Installed Disks column as well.
6. Both disks should now appear in the "Installed Disks" section, as is shown in Figure 3.
7. Now, click on the "General" tab. Since Mac OS 7.0.1 (which is what we will be booting from first) is rather old, Basilisk II needs to be set to report itself as an older Mac. ID #7, the once great Mac IIfx, will be the target machine. This step is circled in red in Figure 3 as well.
8. Click on the "Run" button at the bottom right of the Basilisk II preferences screen.
9. Basilisk II should now boot, and if all goes well, you should see two hard disks mounted on the Macintosh's desktop.

Figure 3
Top: The Basilisk II Disks Selections
Bottom: Machine ID

Installing Mac OS 7.5.3
Yes, we're actually ready to start the Mac OS 7.5.3 installation process! The next few steps will outline this process, which is fairly easy from here on out.

1. Once Basilisk II has booted, double click the disk on the Macintosh's desktop labeled "Mac OS 7.5.3".
2. A window should appear with a folder inside, and the folder should be labeled "Mac OS Install Segments". Double click this folder.
3. A window should open with the 19 install segments. Find the first one labeled "System 7.5.3 01of19.smi", and double click it. This icon should be fairly easy to spot as it is the only one colored blue. It is also circled in red in Figure 4.
4. A license agreement will come up. Press "Agree". (NOTE: if you get an error about a "Bad F-Line Instruction", you've found a problem with the Basilisk II FPU emulation. You'll need to go back to the Basilisk II GUI, click the General tab, and uncheck the FPU option. This should fix the problem).
5. The 19 installer segments will assemble into one disk that will be mounted on the Macintosh Desktop, called "Sys7.5 V7.5.3 CD Inst". Double click this disk.
6. You should see an icon called "Installer". Double click it.
7. A welcome screen will pop up. Press "Continue".
8. The next screen that pops up will have a box in the upper left that should have the words "Easy Install". Click on this box, and make sure that "Custom Install" is highlighted. This is shown in Figure 5 below, circled in red.
9. The options will change on the window to show several options marked by "x" boxes. On the very first option, "System Software", click the triangle to the left of the "x" box to expand the list of options.
10. In the options that are shown, click in the box next to "Universal System for any Macintosh". This is circled in red in Figure 5 below.
11. Make sure that the "Destination Disk" option at the bottom of the requester reads "Mac OS 7.5.3". If it doesn't, then use the "Switch Disk" button to change it.
12. Click "Install". The rest is automatic, as the installation will take place without your having to attend to the computer.
13. When the installation completes, click "Quit", and then go to the "Special" menu and choose "Shut Down". This will cause Basilisk II to exit.

Figure 4
The First .smi File

Figure 5
Universal Install

Booting from Mac OS 7.5.3...
The last steps to take involve some cleaning up, and then booting 7.5.3 under Basilisk II.

1. Launch the Basilisk II GUI.
2. Click on the "Disk" tab.
3. Double click on the "System70_boot.dsk". This should move it back to the "Available Disks" column.
4. Click on the "General" tab.
5. In case you are wanting to run Mac OS 8 at any time, switch the "Model ID" to one of the Quadra models (e.g., ID 14, a Mac Quadra 900). This is still completely compatible with Mac OS 7.5.3.
6. Click "Run"
7. Presto! You're now booting Mac OS 7.5.3 under Basilisk II.

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