{"id":2897,"date":"2022-02-01T15:40:29","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T14:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quantum-bits.org\/?p=2897"},"modified":"2022-08-24T10:20:04","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T09:20:04","slug":"on-retro-computing-exploring-emulation-software-on-macos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quantum-bits.org\/?p=2897","title":{"rendered":"On retro-computing : exploring emulation software on macOS"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the last post<\/a>, I explained how I jumped into the retro-computing bandwagon, and built a few DIY boxes for retro-gaming via software emulation, based on the RecalBox<\/a> project.<\/p>\n

During the same time, I also explored how to run old computers systems on the current hardware I use day by day, namely an Intel Core 7 quad core MacBook Pro.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Atari ST emulation with Hatari<\/span>
<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have been using an Atari 1040 STF<\/a> back in the late 80’s. At the time, I use to dream of having a Macintosh 512K<\/a> or a Macintosh Plus<\/a>. But it was way way way out of budget. I still remember the price tag of 24 000 Fr (around 4 800 \u20ac, not tacking into account a 40-years inflation) when it was displayed at the Fnac<\/a> stores. So I opted for the “Jackintosh<\/a>” (which was sold for 6 times less, if memory serves)<\/p>\n

I have very very fond memories of it, and learned quite a bit with it !<\/p>\n

It’s the second computer I owned. This is the machine on which I taught myself C, C++, 68000 assembly language, event-based programming, GUI programming, and wrote a lot of GFA Basic<\/a> code. I had the monochrome 640×400 bitmap display, so it could run “professional” software (and, indeed, very few games). This was the era of DTP<\/a> (Desktop Publishing), and I used software like “Publishing Partner”, “Calamus” or “Le Redacteur”. This were also the times of my first tries with digital artwork. It was also time for my firsts printers, starting with a Citizen 120D<\/a>, and a few years later, an HP Deskjet 500<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I looked around for Atari ST emulators, and the best I could find was Hatari <\/strong>(version 2.3.1): http:\/\/hatari.tuxfamily.org\/download.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The following screenshot shows Hatari<\/a> running the french version of TOS<\/a> 1.04, along with the GEM<\/a> desktop:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I tend to configure emulators to be as close as possible as the computers I owned. I set Hatari for a Motorola 68000<\/a> @ 8 Mhz micro-processor, with 1024Kb of RAM, a 640×400 monochrome display and a ROM with TOS 1.04.<\/p>\n

It worked pretty well, though the mouse pointer was sometimes a bit dodgy. It can of course emulate other configurations:<\/p>\n