Recalbox emulates the Macintosh (the Mac II, System 7 era) with the Mini vMac core. It is a computer system: it needs a mouse — the only truly mandatory device — and a keyboard comes in very handy.
Two files are indispensable and must be placed here:
/recalbox/share/bios/macintosh/MacII.ROM
/recalbox/share/bios/macintosh/MinivMacBootv2.dsk
MacII.ROM is the emulated machine's ROM.MinivMacBootv2.dsk is the boot disk: it holds the system and its control panels.The BIOS manager will confirm that both files are recognised.
Games go into /recalbox/share/roms/macintosh/. Accepted extensions are .dsk and .hvf (3.5-inch floppies), .img (hard disks), plus .zip and .7z archives.
Many old Macintosh games require a two-colour screen before they will run. That setting lives in the system's Monitors control panel… which is not always present in the MinivMacBootv2.dsk boot disk that circulates.
You then have to add that control panel to the boot disk, from a PC. You will need:
MinivMacBootv2.dsk and MacII.ROM files;Unable to locate MacII.ROM, drop the MacII.ROM file into the folder where you extracted the emulator.MinivMacBootv2.dsk, either by dragging it into the emulator window or through File → Open Disk Image.Installer file, then click Continue.Custom Install.Control Panel by clicking the triangle on its left, tick Monitors, then click Install.Restart. The restart can take one to two minutes; if a floppy icon appears, open MinivMacBootv2.dsk again.Apple → Control Panels → Monitors. Then shut the virtual machine down properly (Apple → Shut Down).📷 Screenshot to come:
macintosh-minivmac-custom-install.png
Copy the modified MinivMacBootv2.dsk back into /recalbox/share/bios/macintosh/, replacing the old one. When a game asks for a two-colour screen, open Apple → Control Panels → Monitors and pick Black & White.
Always shut the emulated machine down with
Apple→Shut Downbefore quitting: just like on a real Mac, an abrupt cut can damage the boot disk.