Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

gabrielf · Nov 18, 2002, 09:47 AM

I wonder if there exists a m68k emulator for Mac OS X. I need to do a small program (in assembler) for a course I am doing at the moment but havn't found anything like it.

absmiths · Nov 19, 2002, 01:20 PM

Well, there used to be one built into Mac OS 7.1.2 when the first PowerPC's arrived, and I am pretty sure that it is still there. I don't know how you activate it, but I have seen enough stack traces in MacsBug on my PPC 6100/60 to now that it is there. It might only reside in Classic, however.

[APi]TheMan · Jan 24, 2005, 04:08 PM

I dug up this thread with hopes that I'll have more luck than the original poster. I'm taking an Assembly Programming course at my university and we're going to be using the 68000 family microprocessors. The professor detailed several Windows solutions for simulating the 68k linker/assembler (easy68k for example), but I'd rather use my Linux, Mac OS X, or hell, even the department's Solaris boxes.

Anyone know of anything like this? Numerous searches on google reveal references/tools for coding assembly ON old Macs and Classic Mac emulators for PC, but nothing I can use.

Thanks.

Thinine · Jan 24, 2005, 05:31 PM

Who the hell teaches 68000 assembly nowadays? Most universities teach PPC or another RISC assembly language.

[APi]TheMan · Jan 24, 2005, 09:19 PM

Originally posted by Thinine:
Who the hell teaches 68000 assembly nowadays? Most universities teach PPC or another RISC assembly language.

The professor said that 68000 is a good architecture to learn assembly on.

I guess that the class is designed to point out the model that all programming languages really follow, that it all ends up as zeros and ones in the end, whether you're using an interpreted language like Java or HTML, a compiled language like C++, or if you're actually flipping switches on the front of some mainframe. It's kinda like how in the first few programming classes they make you code a linked list, a stack, a queue, etc... then you learn that you've got the Standard Template Library and you'll never have to write your own again.

Thinine · Jan 25, 2005, 01:00 AM

I know why they have you learn assembly, but at least it should be some sort of modern version. PPC would be best, since a lot of it would work on processors that are over a decade old.

Person Man · Jan 25, 2005, 01:02 AM

Originally posted by absmiths:
Well, there used to be one built into Mac OS 7.1.2 when the first PowerPC's arrived, and I am pretty sure that it is still there. I don't know how you activate it, but I have seen enough stack traces in MacsBug on my PPC 6100/60 to now that it is there. It might only reside in Classic, however.

The 680x0 emulator is still present in Classic. What you need is a compiler that will work under Mac OS 9.2.2 from those old days.

chabig · Jan 25, 2005, 10:05 AM

Not sure, but check Basilisk II. It says it runs under X11.

[APi]TheMan · Jan 25, 2005, 11:25 AM

Originally posted by Thinine:
I know why they have you learn assembly, but at least it should be some sort of modern version. PPC would be best, since a lot of it would work on processors that are over a decade old.

I'll take your word for it.

Originally posted by Person Man:
The 680x0 emulator is still present in Classic. What you need is a compiler that will work under Mac OS 9.2.2 from those old days.

Some version of CodeWarrior 5 or Apple's MPW, I presume. I'll probably end up just using the lab at school. Maybe I could get Wine running on my Gentoo box, it's beefy enough.

Originally posted by chabig:
Not sure, but check Basilisk II. It says it runs under X11.

Basilisk II is a 68k emulator, I might as well use Classic if I'm going to be emulating anything. I really just need an IDE with a 68k assembler and some way to look at registers and stacks, etc.

I'm gonna look into Basilisk II anyways, just because it looks cool.

wadesworld · Jan 25, 2005, 01:20 PM

When I took assembly in college, it was taugh on 8086's, even though Pentium II was current at the time.

The instructor is right - 68000 is a good architecture for learning CISC assembly. Presumably, more advanced courses will also teach assembly on a RISC chip.

Wade

wadesworld · Jan 25, 2005, 01:25 PM

Did some quick searching - this looks very promising:

http://www.redlinelabs.com/bsvc/

Wade

Jan 25, 2005, 01:54 PM

Originally posted by Thinine:
I know why they have you learn assembly, but at least it should be some sort of modern version. PPC would be best, since a lot of it would work on processors that are over a decade old.

Why? They're teaching it so you have an understanding on how machine code works. The quality of the CPU matters, but not the popularity or currency of it. It's not so you can run out and get one of those numerously abundant assembly programmer jobs.

[APi]TheMan · Jan 25, 2005, 06:43 PM

Originally posted by wadesworld:
Did some quick searching - this looks very promising:

http://www.redlinelabs.com/bsvc/

That looks like it should fit the bill, but I can't get it to compile on SunOS or Panther 10.3.7. I don't really even know where to start debugging the makefile/sourcecode to get it up to date for a modern gcc (it's at least 7 years old).

Samad · Jan 25, 2005, 07:53 PM

How difficult would it be to write one's own 68k assembler and emulator? Doesn't seem terribly complicated if one is used to writing higher language parsers.

Partisan01 · Jan 26, 2005, 12:07 AM

Originally posted by Thinine:
I know why they have you learn assembly, but at least it should be some sort of modern version. PPC would be best, since a lot of it would work on processors that are over a decade old.

When I took assembly in college we learned assembly on the MIPS platform. (SGI chips..) RISC chips are much easier and cleaner than the intel stuff. I've taken at look at some PPC assembly recently and my MIPS experience translates very well.

The point of assembly classes in college isn't to teach a language, but how to think with a different mindset. Assembly gives the programmer a lower level look at how the computer works. I took some classes where we learned ML, Prolog, and others, just to break your mind out of the same paradigm. Being able to look at a problem from many different angles is a huge advantage.

Best of luck on the assembler, I know there was a discussion about CodeWarrior on the mac68k NetBSD mailing list a few months ago, places to obtain it. Keep us posted.

The Godfather · Jan 26, 2005, 06:19 PM

Is was taught 68hc11 in my undergrad EE. The school where I am getting my Masters teaches 68hc11 too. The 68k course was available to the CpE majors only

Surely using a Mac in the engineering profession is tricky. If you find that the Mac 68k emulators are of less quality, simply settle for Virtual PC and the standard Wintel solution. And there is no shame in owning a cheap PC besides a cheap Mac.

[APi]TheMan · Mar 11, 2005, 04:03 PM

For the record I've been using dosemu with FreeDOS on my Linux box. I am using the assembler/simulator (which runs in DOS) that the author of our textbook wrote, it's located here: http://www-scm.tees.ac.uk/users/a.clements/software.htm

v8q · Mar 16, 2005, 01:08 PM

Originally posted by [APi]TheMan:
For the record I've been using dosemu with FreeDOS on my Linux box. I am using the assembler/simulator (which runs in DOS) that the author of our textbook wrote, it's located here: http://www-scm.tees.ac.uk/users/a.clements/software.htm

I am using CodeWarrior 4 (old stuff) on OS9 and it works fine. I think you could download Apples MPW Workshop and use that assembler too, and it is free. It should also run just fine under Classic.