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David Jenkin

Q: Old program compatability

I just got a few games from a friend, and he uses an iBook. When I try and run them it says they are not compatible with this system, which i figure is because I am on a macbook (intel based) and he uses an iBook (PPC). Is there any way that I can get around this issue, or can I not use them??

Black Macbook 80GB, Mac OS X (10.4.8), Black iPod Nano (1st gen) 4GB

Posted on Oct 25, 2006 12:17 AM

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Q: Old program compatability

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  • by CRhysB,

    CRhysB CRhysB Oct 25, 2006 12:39 AM in response to David Jenkin
    Level 2 (245 points)
    Oct 25, 2006 12:39 AM in response to David Jenkin
    Hi there David,

    Try opening the programs using your MacBook's "translation" software for programs not designed to run on Intel-based Macs, called Rosetta.

    Control-click the unopened file and click "Get Info" on the resulting menu. You should see a box to check that says "Open using Rosetta". Check that box, close the menu and try opening the application.
  • by David Jenkin,

    David Jenkin David Jenkin Oct 25, 2006 1:27 AM in response to CRhysB
    Level 1 (45 points)
    Oct 25, 2006 1:27 AM in response to CRhysB
    I was aware of that option, and it does not appear in the Get info window. Does this mean that its come from the even older Classic OS9??
  • by thecompkid,

    thecompkid thecompkid Oct 25, 2006 1:29 AM in response to David Jenkin
    Level 2 (240 points)
    Oct 25, 2006 1:29 AM in response to David Jenkin
    Well, if it was a PPC OS X program, it would just run in rosetta automatically. In fact, you wouldn't even see an "open in rosetta" check box in the get info panel. Rosetta emulation is complelety automatic. That "open in rosetta" checkbox is for universal apps, if for some reason you want to run them as if they are ppc apps.

    You are probably trying to open an OS 9 program. The only way to do this on intel macs at this time is to use a program called sheepshaver.
  • by David Jenkin,

    David Jenkin David Jenkin Oct 25, 2006 1:43 AM in response to thecompkid
    Level 1 (45 points)
    Oct 25, 2006 1:43 AM in response to thecompkid
    I have tried sheepshaver, but you need a cd with the old OS on it which I dont have.