Ejecting "disk" after extracting content to emulated environment

Deployment: local node
EaaSI Version: 2021.07
Browser: Firefox v. 78.15.0esr (64-bit)

Description: I am attempting to run a program in an emulated Mac OS 7.5 environment. The program required an additional application called “Hypercard 2.1”. I loaded an ISO of Hypercard 2.1 into eaasi then attached it to the OS 7.5 environment. This step worked great as the Hypercard app showed up in the emulated environment on the desktop as a disk. After opening the disk, I copied the needed software to the desktop of the emulated environment. After the software was successfully saved to the emulated desktop, I attempted to eject the Hypercard “disk”. I attempted this by dragging the disk icon to the trash as well as using the special menu → Eject option. Both were unsuccessful. I am wondering if there is a way to eject a “disk” after retrieving the needed content? The end goal was to save a OS 7.5 + Hypercard environment, then load the software that I was originally trying to access. Ultimately, I was able to save an OS 7.5 + Hypercard environment, it even contains the software that I saved to the desktop. The problem is that the actual “disk” of the Hypercard app is still present and cannot be ejected. When I attempt to load the additional software ISO into my new environment is does not show up. Only the Hypercard “disk” is present (with the saved software present on the desktop). I Thought this may be because an environment cannot load more than one “disk” at a time. I’m wondering if since Hypercard cannot be ejected, the additional ISO is not able to load into the “OS 7.5 + Hypercard” environment. Hopefully this makes some sense. I would be grateful for any input the community can provide. Thank you!

Urgency: Not urgent

hello @maj_84! I can certainly help clarify some of the functionality here and see if we can get you where you want.

  1. Was the “Hypercard 2.1” ISO that you loaded imported as a Software or a Content resource? That will make some difference to the expected functionality in EaaSI, namely whether the Hypercard “disk”/ISO stays present in saved Environments (like your “OS 7.5 + Hypercard” Environment) or not. If a Software resource is mounted in an Environment, then saved, the saved Environment should clear out the removable media drives (floppies, CDROM/ISOs, etc.) to free up the drive to load additional Software or Content, as you are trying to do. If you imported the HyperCard 2.1 ISO as a Software resource, the behavior you’re reporting is a bug and we’ll try to work out a fix ASAP.
    (Content resources, on the other hand, if they are loaded into an Environment and then a new Environment is saved, remain bound to the Environment’s drive. In that case, the behavior you describe would be considered expected, and I would suggest re-uploading Hypercard as a Software resource and trying your same workflow again to get to your desired program)

  2. The issue with disks not ejecting in the traditional way during an emulation session in MacOS (by dragging to the trash can or using Eject in the Special menu) is a limitation of BasiliskII, which provides our M68K Mac emulation (also SheepShaver, so the behavior is present in many PowerPC Mac environments too). CDROM hardware emulation is quite hacky in these programs and if you look very closely you will see that the legacy MacOS does not even properly understand the ISOs we mount as CDROMs per se (if you File → Get Info on the mounted HyperCard ISO, you will see it says “Kind: disk”, meaning MacOS thinks it is a hard disk). It is a “Known Issue” listed in e.g. Emaculation’s setup guides for Basilisk and SheepShaver that trying to eject a virtual CDROM from within the emulator can provide buggy and unexpected results, and that the only way to properly mount and remove disk images is editing the emulator preferences between sessions. This is all just for context, and to say that your inability to “Eject” the Hypercard “disk” in OS 7.5 is unrelated to it showing up in subsequently saved Environments - that is a matter of editing or clearing out the drive in the preferences file, which is what EaaSI should handle.

Hi Ethan!

Thanks so much for getting back to me. Below are a few clarifying points you asked about in your reply.

“If you imported the HyperCard 2.1 ISO as a Software resource, the behavior you’re reporting is a bug and we’ll try to work out a fix ASAP.”

  • I did load the Hypercard 2.1 ISO as a software resource so it appears my issue may be a bug. I even tried the entire process again just now and got the same results.

" CDROM hardware emulation is quite hacky in these programs and if you look very closely you will see that the legacy MacOS does not even properly understand the ISOs we mount as CDROMs per se (if you File → Get Info on the mounted HyperCard ISO, you will see it says “Kind: disk”, meaning MacOS thinks it is a hard disk). It is a known issue.

  • Looks like you were absolutely right about this! Thanks for the info and im glad im not crazy.

Side question: Sometimes when I try to delete a test environment or software that i’ve imported, It does not appear to be deleted. Meaning: I delete the environment, I get the message it was deleted, then when I search for it, it still shows up. Is this a known bug?

Thanks in advance!