Category Archives: Virtualization (VMware)

Brain Droppings, Family, Home/Life, Technology, Virtualization (VMware)

Bettering Ourselves in 2021

So I’m now running Ubuntu 20.04 Linux (ARMv8) on our Mac Mini M1 and our 2021 MacBook Pro M1…

Ubuntu Linux for ARMv8 on the MacBook Pro M1

Both my Mac Mini M1 and my 2021 MacBook Pro M1 now have Ubuntu Linux running perfectly under Parallels now, while our older Macs (Intel) are running Windows 10, Fedora, and Ubuntu under VMware and Parallels.

Homebrew (brew.sh) and VMware won’t run properly on Apple Silicon since VMs can’t use Rosetta2 for Intel emulation on Apple Silicon. Native ARMv8 libraries and Linux distros run just fine, however.

Ken, Working from Home (Comfort of Living Room)

Since my wife now has her Master’s of Nursing Education (MSNE) and on her way to getting her second; a Master’s Certificate in Nursing Informatics (NI), there’s really no reason why I shouldn’t finish my Master’s of Information Science (MIS).

Working 32 hours/week, I thought I could still carry 6-8 credits a semester. It was Vicky who convinced me that I take “flex path” allowing me to pace my classes accordingly. This allows me to take 4-8 weeks depending on the course, my interest/aptitude, and my load, and still complete multiple courses each semester.

So in 2021, we’re both continuing our graduate education. 💕✌🏻

Gaming, Technology, Virtualization (VMware)

Benchmarking 2020 Razer Blade Studio and 2020 MacBook Pro

2020 16″ MACBOOK PRO – SPACE GRAY

* 2.4GHz 8‑core 9th‑generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz
* 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
* AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
* 2TB NVMe SSD
* 16″ LED‑backlit display with IPS technology; 3072‑by‑1920 native resolution at 226 pixels per inch

2020 15” RAZER BLADE STUDIO – 4K

* 9th-Gen Intel Core i7-9750H 6‑core processor w/ 2.6GHz/4.5GHz (base/max turbo),
* 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
* NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
* 2TB NVMe SSD
* 15.6″ 4K OLED DCI-P3 100% display

PRELIMINARY RESULTS AND THOUGHTS:

Running 3Dmark and Novabench on both laptops, the i9 8-code processor on the MacBook Pro easily smoked the i7-9750H 6‑core on the Razer. For CPU intensive apps, the MacBook is easily a far more capable laptop.

For graphics and gaming, the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory on the MacBook Pro was respectable, but about 15-20% lower specs and rendering times than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 on the Razer. The Razer Blade Studio remains a fantastic gaming laptop despite the slower CPU, but the MacBook Pro is clearly it’s equal or better when it comes to most everything else and especially virtualization.

DevOps, Meta, Systems Engineering, Virtualization (VMware)

The Cloud Is Just Someone Else’s Computer

Local vs Cloud Storage/Hosting

As I’m watching what appears to be network issues in Colorado Springs, CO, I’m getting incredibly annoyed with the intermittent connection to my server and the periodic lost of data.

I *REALLY* need to “work locally, keep everything local, and only save/backup to the cloud.”

The cloud is NOT some magic that Google and Amazon manifest that is devoid of all issues. The old saying “the cloud is just someone else’s computer” is entirely true, they just may have a very different or more expensive computer than you do.

After losing my content twice, I need to do a remote->local backup and a build a local virtual machine that mirrors my server in Colorado. I should work on my local server, and just deploy content to my public server rather than “working in production.”

You’d really think I would know better by now? 😝

Virtualization (VMware)

Mac PowerPC G3/233 to Apple XServe: Evolution of Mishamac

Mishamac lives on as a virtual Macintosh running on an Apple XServe with two 2.93Ghz Xeon processors, 96GB memory, and 6TB storage.

When Mishamac was a corporeal Macintosh, it was a Tangerine Mac G3 with a 233Mhz PowerPC processor, 512MB memory, and a 250GB storage.

Now Mishamac lives on as a virtual Macintosh running on an Apple XServe with two 2.93Ghz Xeon processors, 96GB memory, and 6TB storage.

How delicious it is to see how much has changed in the 9 years since I had a heavy Apple CRT gracing our home. 

If you’re interested in running a copy of Mishamac yourself, everything you need for Windows or Mac is right here.

Ken, his Apple XServe, and his virtual Mac G3/233 (Mishamac)
Ken, his Apple XServe, and his virtual Mac G3/233 (Mishamac)
Virtualization (VMware)

Mishamac Project – Running MacOS 9 Anywhere

Barn Owl

Barn Owl is my WinGPD2 handheld PC running Windows 10 Professional.  I’m able to do lightweight gaming (via Steam), use Ubuntu 19 either under the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) or as a stand-alone OS when dual-booted.  I was amused to see MacOS 9 running on it just fine… 😁✌🏻

Running Ubuntu 19 on a WinGPD2 handheld PC under Windows Subsystem Linux (WSL), which I can also dual-boot into stand-alone Ubuntu 19 (via Grub2)
Running MacOS 9 on a WinGPD handheld PC

Mishamac (Then)

Mishamac began as a physical iMac G3 back when Apple made beautifully translucent Macintosh G3 in a bunch of fruity colors (tangerine, blueberry, strawberry, etc).  I had the Tangerine iMac G3/233 with a 250GB SATA HDD after saving it from being thrown away back in 2011.

MishaMac: Tangerine iMac G3/233 with 250GB SATA HDD

Mishamac (Now)

Mishamac as a virtual machine (VM) was started as a “passion project” out of my love for Delta Tao Software’s Strategic Conquest and my adoration of Metrowerks Codewarrior.

  • Before there was Civilization or Command & Conquer, Strategic Conquest was an awesomely simple and well-balanced game about expansion and world domination that ran beautiful on the Macintosh SE since System 7.5.5.
  • Meanwhile, Metrowerks Codewarrior was a beautiful Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that allowed C, C++, Assembly, and Pascal on the Macintosh.  Comparable IDE at the time were Borland Pascal and Borland C, but neither were GUI environments on-par with Metrowerks Coderwarrior back in 1996.

So first I devoted my efforts to getting MacOS 9 to run beautifully and smoothly under Mac OS X 10.15.2 (Catalina), and then I focused on repeating my success under Windows 10 Professional, and again under Linux (Fedora, Ubuntu).

Below are my configuration settings and disk images used for making Mishamac run anywhere:

* MishaMacHDD.dsk is the MacOS 9 boot image and startup disk.
* MishaMacData.dsk is the 3GB app and storage disk.
Your mileage may vary, but I saw the best performance at 800×600 (under MacOS X) and 1024×768 (under Windows) with Dynamic refresh.
If you want to get your MacOS 9 VM online, you’ll need to change your ethernet interface to “slirp”
MacOS 9 as a VM (directory listing)
MacOS 9 as a VM (VM storage listing)

Application Files and Disk Images:

Mishamac In Action

Screenshots of folders, applications, development tools, and games installed on the Mishamac VM image.

Folders and Games on the MishaMac VM
Applications on the MishaMac VM
Developer Tools on the MishaMac VM
Virtualization (VMware)

Notes on mac OS X Catalina as a virtual machine

Notes on installing macOS X 10.5.2 Catalina on VMware and VirtualBox

THOUGHTS:

It works… after too many hours, I had success with a 4-processor, 8GB (memory), 100GB (storage) virtual machine running under either Oracle VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation 15.5.1

It’s slow, VERY slow, despite running on the latest i7-8* processors with a GTX 1060 to do graphics acceleration, it’s painfully slow compared to ANY other virtual machine running. MacOS 9, Fedora, Ubuntu ran circles around Catalina with lesser specs.

It’s not worth the effort. I’m glad I did it so that I understand what’s possible with Mac OS X as a virtual machine, but it’s way too underperforming compared to any other OS as a virtual machine.

These are all my notes for anyone else who wants to try:

1) REFERENCES:

1) HOW-TO:

1a) Install MacOS X 10.15.2 Catalina on Windows PC:
https://www.geekrar.com/install-macos-catalina-on-virtualbox-on-windows-pc/
1b) Install MacOS X 10.15.2 Catalina on VMware:
https://techsprobe.com/install-macos-catalina-vmware-windows/
1c) Install MacOS X Unlockr 3.0.2 for VMware 10-15 on Windows 7-10:
https://www.sysprobs.com/vmware-workstation-8-0-8-0-1-unlocker-to-run-mac-os-x-guest-in-windows-7
1d) Convert Virtualbox VMs to VMware:
https://www.howtogeek.com/125640/how-to-convert-virtual-machines-between-virtualbox-and-vmware/

2) LINKS:

2a) Download MacOS X 10.15.2 Catalina ISO for VMware and Virtualbox: https://www.geekrar.com/download-macos-catalina-iso-for-vmware-virtualbox/
2b) Download latest MacOS X Catalina images:
https://www.geekrar.com/download-macos-catalina-vmware-virtualbox-image-latest-version/
2c) Download latest VMware Unlockr (maintained by Paolo after Donk stopped):
https://github.com/paolo-projects/unlocker

3) WINDOWS VIRTUALBOX – EXTRADATA

cd “C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\”
VBoxManage.exe modifyvm “MacOSX Catalina” –cpuidset 00000001 000106e5 00100800 0098e3fd bfebfbff
VBoxManage setextradata “MacOSX Catalina” “VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemProduct” “iMac11,3”
VBoxManage setextradata “MacOSX Catalina” “VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiSystemVersion” “1.0”
VBoxManage setextradata “MacOSX Catalina” “VBoxInternal/Devices/efi/0/Config/DmiBoardProduct” “Iloveapple”
VBoxManage setextradata “MacOSX Catalina” “VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/DeviceKey” “ourhardworkbythesewordsguardedpleasedontsteal(c)AppleComputerInc”
VBoxManage setextradata “MacOSX Catalina” “VBoxInternal/Devices/smc/0/Config/GetKeyFromRealSMC” 1