MacOS on the Atari VCS

[Allpaul]

Has anyone tried to install Monterey yet?

[+x=usr(1536)]

1 hour ago, Allpaul said:

Has anyone tried to install Monterey yet?

Don't.  It still has rough edges.  Give it at least two updates before trying it.

 

Note that I'm saying this from pulling my hair out over it on Apple hardware; I can only imagine how it'll behave in a hackintosh VM.  Might be fine, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

Of course, if you want to give it a shot, doing an in-place upgrade from Big Sur might be the safest route.  Copy, not snapshot, that VM before you do it, though.

[Middleman]

Oh I have done already! Been running it on Monterey since the release of the beta.

[+x=usr(1536)]

7 minutes ago, Middleman said:

Oh I have done already! Been running it on Monterey since the release of the beta.

How's the stability?  I'll admit to only having tested it on Apple hardware thus far, but there have been issues.

[Middleman]

1 minute ago, x=usr(1536) said:

How's the stability?  I'll admit to only having tested it on Apple hardware thus far, but there have been issues.

It's pretty stable. No major issues so far I've found.

[leech]

18 minutes ago, x=usr(1536) said:

How's the stability?  I'll admit to only having tested it on Apple hardware thus far, but there have been issues.

Ha, I attempted to find real fast at the Apple store, the 'don't use the area where the notch is for anything, and just move the menu bar down' but there didn't seem to be such an option.  My macbook isn't scheduled to show up for another month... I'm just hoping by the time I get it, they figure out some sort of option to just move down the menu bar so the notch isn't a notch... as I feel that's the one design decision that makes these kind of annoying, every other decision and the performance / battery life, etc is good enough that I finally decided to buy my very first macbook...

[Allpaul]

Can anyone tell me which version numbers of the tools he was using in the screenshots? Maybe I'm crazy, but the ones I downloaded don't look the same, or seem to have the same menus:

 

MountEFI 
Opencore Configurator
Clover Configurator

 

 

Thanks!

[Middleman]

On 11/15/2021 at 6:21 AM, Allpaul said:

Can anyone tell me which version numbers of the tools he was using in the screenshots? Maybe I'm crazy, but the ones I downloaded don't look the same, or seem to have the same menus:

 

MountEFI 
Opencore Configurator
Clover Configurator

 

 

Thanks!

For MountEFI I used one downloaded last October. For Opencore Configurator to edit the config.plist I used the OC 0.6.8. which would have been version 2.35.0.0. I never used Clover for the Atari VCS.

[Allpaul]

8 hours ago, Middleman said:

For MountEFI I used one downloaded last October. For Opencore Configurator to edit the config.plist I used the OC 0.6.8. which would have been version 2.35.0.0. I never used Clover for the Atari VCS.

God bless you for responding. I'm dying to make this work. I've always been Mac guy. I replaced the 2009 Mac mini I was using for media with the Atari. This would truly be the best of both worlds, if it runs good enough.

[leech]

Ha, modern day Spectre GCR.

[RadiATIon]

Do you have an installation guide with links and different steps to install MacOS?

[Middleman]

On 3/25/2023 at 2:45 PM, RadiATIon said:

Do you have an installation guide with links and different steps to install MacOS?

I have a full guide I posted on tonymacx86.com that details the steps. Just search for Atari VCS in the search bar.

I also have extra news to share for everyone! I believe we now have full GPU acceleration under Big Sur & Monterey thanks to a new driver on Github for AMD Raven/Vega IGPUs called NootedRed.

 

When I previously ran macOS on the VCS I was unable to achieve this, only static output up to 4K, so this is really great news. I will report back when its been tested.

[leech]

On 5/14/2021 at 9:17 PM, Sauron said:

Intel compatibility will probably remain for quite a while still. I don't see the Mac Pro getting updated to Apple Silicon anytime before fall of next year.

 

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/06/apple-unveils-new-mac-studio-and-brings-apple-silicon-to-mac-pro/

You were correct.  At least this one isn't going to max out at 53k like the other?

[Middleman]

Hi folks,

I just wanted to confirm with you that full GPU acceleration has now been achieved with the Atari VCS on macOS Monterey using the NootedRed kext. Not only that but the VCS can also run the latest macOS Ventura and Sonoma OSes, all in 4K too! (if you prefer). For my test system I changed my VRAM to 8GB, but it go as high as 16GB!

  
  

I have been tinkering with this system for a long while now (over 2 years). Up until this point I was totally out of luck with how the system could be set up for GPU acceleration in macOS (because the VCS had tons of settings in the BIOS, so I didn't know where to look). A chance view of a Youtube video on upping the VRAM in the BIOS changed all that. Also some guides on current working NootedRed configs also helped.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Middleman