A tech hobbyist managed to run Mac OS 9.2 on a Wii via virtualization software. Some interface elements are not displayed correctly and the sound is not very good. Despite all this, the guy managed to run Doom for Mac OS on Wii.
explains Pierre Dandumont, a French tech hobbyist on his blog page How to install Mac OS 9.2. Made it work on a Wii console. The man notes that this console has almost the same PowerPC G3 processor as, for example, the iMac G3 and iBook G3.
Dandumont first make sure your Wii console has the latest version of the Homebrew Channel. This is the software that allows Wii users to bypass the console’s security and run their own applications on the console. Then the guy installed BootMii, a program that allows users to have a low level of control over the console. He then moved on to Mac-On-Linux virtualization software, where he had to modify the source code and completely recompile it so that it could run on the Wii. Once this is done, it can prepare Mac OS 9.2 for a virtual installation.
The operating system starts up without issues, but the text doesn’t look great according to Dandumont. This is primarily because virtualization software cannot create a virtual GPU that the software can also use. This hinders the graphics capabilities. The sound doesn’t sound great either, but according to the guy, it works. Video playback also causes problems.
To back up his experience, Dandumont tried to install and run Doom for Mac OS 9 and it worked. However, the game was unplayable because the Wii console only showed a frame every few minutes.
According to the guy, the Wii console should also be able to run Mac OS X. He tried to install Max OS X Puma, but it received several errors. According to Dandumont, the lack of enough RAM is currently the main problem.
