Overview:
If you have a newer Mac that uses an Intel chip, they you can use either Parallels or BootCamp to run Windows. You then run AirMail in the Windows environment on your Mac. Parallels is the currently trendy solution to the problem, and has the advantage that you don't have to re-boot to switch operating systems. See www.parallels.com BootCamp also works fine for Mac's with Intel chips but does require re-booting to change between operating systems. Instructions for both Parallels and BootCamp are below.
If you have an older Mac that uses a PowerPC chip (2006 or earlier), you can use VirtualPC.
How to install Airmail on a Mac
May 2007
© 2007 John Purins
send any questions or comments to:
jp0001@comcast.net
If your Pactor modem has a serial interface then you will need a USB to serial adapter. There are a number of these on the market but the Keyspan USA-19HS model has proven to be reliable and works well with Sailmail. Drivers are available for Mac OS X and Windows.
Basically, two methods can be used to run Windows software on an Intel processor Mac.
One way is to use the BootCamp software. BootCamp was developed by Apple and works by dividing your hard disk into two separate sections. These sections are called partitions and each partition contains an operating system. OS X is installed in one partition and Windows is installed in the other. When the computer is started, you can choose the operating system that is to be used and the selected operating boots up and runs the computer. This means that if you chose Windows, Windows will actually be running the hardware just the same as if the computer was a PC.
BootCamp requires that you have a copy of Windows XP and is not be able to use earlier versions of Windows. There are reports that Vista can run in a BootCamp partition but this is not officially endorsed by Apple. In fact, the BootCamp software is still in beta testing but it will be included with the next version of OS X. The beta version of BootCamp can be downloaded at no charge from the Apple. Just go to the Apple website and do a search for BootCamp for more information and instructions on how to install BootCamp.
After you have installed Windows in the BootCamp partition, follow the instructions provided with the Keyspan USB adapter to install the Keyspan driver under Windows. Once this has been done, Windows should have a serial port (COM port) assigned to the Keyspan adapter.
With BootCamp, installing the Airmail software in Windows is identical to installing it on a PC so just follow the instructions that are in the Sailmail documentation. Just be sure to set Airmail's Comm port to the one that is assigned to the Keyspan adapter.
The second method of running WIndows on a Mac entails using an emulator. Basically, an emulator is software running under Mac OS X that makes the Mac appear to be a PC to Windows but OS X is actually in control of the hardware. The environment that the emulation software creates is known as a virtual machine and Windows is installed within this virtual machine. This method has a distinct advantage in that OS X is running the computer without exposing the MacBook to the security and reliability issues of Windows.
VirtualPC is an emulator for PowerPC based Macs such as G4 iBooks and PowerBooks and was initially developed by a company called Connectix. Connectix was subsequently bought out by Microsoft but when Apple switched to Intel based processors, Microsoft decided not to develop an Intel processor based version of VirtualPC. Two other companies have developed emulators for the Intel based Macs; Parallels and VMware. Parallels Desktop for Mac has been available for some time and has proven to be a good product. The VMware product, called Fusion is currently in beta testing but initial reports are that it also is going to be a good emulator. Since Parallels is fully developed software, these instructions are for the use of the Parallels Desktop for Mac product.
One advantage of Parallels is that any version of Windows can be installed under it as well as Linux, DOS and a number of other operating systems. Parallels also allows for the sharing of folders between OS X and Windows and that is not possible with BootCamp. Furthermore, since a Windows installation under Parallels is contained in one folder, it is easy to backup Windows by just making a copy of that folder. Windows can then be easily restored by simply copying the backup folder back to its original location without having to go through the installation process again.
These instructions are for installing Windows SP4 under Parallels Desktop for Mac Build 3188. The reason for using Windows is mainly to obtain optimal performance. Later versions of Windows do not really provide much in additional capabilities and will definitely not run as fast under an emulator. Windows is quite stable by Windows standards and has USB support. Using XP and later versions of Windows will make the Parallels files considerably larger but Airmail won't run any better.
To start the installation, connect your MacBook to a high-speed Internet connection.
If you are going to be using the Keyspan USB to serial adapter, install the Keyspan driver, version 2.3, under Mac OS X. You will not be installing the Keyspan driver in Windows. This way, OS X handles the hardware which not only is more reliable but the Keyspan adapter will also be available for use by OS X applications.
One other software component that is required is a small utility called SerialClient. SerialClient is a free download from the Eudyptes website and is used to connect and disconnect the Keyspan driver from Parallels. Download the SerialClient utility and install it under Mac OS X by dragging it to the Applications folder.
The items required for the Sailmail installation are:
Parallels Desktop for Mac, build 3188 or later
Windows CD (an original Microsoft installation CD and not a restore CD that came with the purchase of a computer)
Keyspan USB to serial adapter with driver version 2.3 or later if you are using a Pactor modem with a serial interface
SerialClient version 0.10 or later
Parallels has the capability to share folders between OS X and Windows. This allows you to use OS X to drag a file into the shared folder and then access this same file from within Windows. It's generally best to have a dedicated folder for this purpose so that Windows and the emulator are only sharing one folder. Of course, this folder can contain other folders but the point is to limit the access that Windows is going to have to your hard drive. To do this, create a folder named DOSdrive under Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/. After Windows has been installed this folder will be assigned a drive letter so that it is easily accessible from Windows.
First install Parallels Desktop on the MacBook using the installation instructions provided with Parallels and then use the following procedure to install Windows .
Start Parallels Desktop. If you do not have an existing operating system installed under Parallels, the OS Installation Assistant starts automatically. If you have previously set up a virtual machine then a selection window appears. Click the New button at the bottom of the selection window to start the OS Installation Assistant.
Select Custom installation mode and click Next.
Set OS Type to Windows, select your version, and click Next.
Specify 256MB of memory (RAM) and click Next.
Select 'Create a new hard disk image' and click Next.
Specify 3 MB as the size of the virtual hard disk, select 'Expanding' and click Next.
Select 'Shared Networking' and click Next.
Create a name for the virtual machine, e.g. Microsoft Windows and click Next.
Insert the Windows installation CD and click Finish.
At this point the Microsoft Windows installation procedure will begin.
At the 'Welcome to Setup' screen, press Enter.
The next screen states that your computer's startup disk is new or has been erased. This is not referring to your physical hard disk but to the virtual hard disk that Parallels has created for the installation of Windows. Press the C key to continue.
Press the F8 key at the Windows Licensing Agreement screen.
If you are using an upgrade edition of Windows, eject the Windows CD and follow the directions on the screen to verify your eligibility to use the upgrade version of Windows.
The next screen shows the unpartitioned space on the virtual hard disk. Press Enter at this screen.
The following screen asks what format should be used for the newly created partition. Select the FAT file system and press Enter.
Press Enter at the next screen which informs you that the format will be FAT32.
If you needed to verify your eligibility to use an upgrade version of Windows , eject the CD from the drive, reinsert the Windows installation CD and press Enter.
When the screen with the restart timer appears, do not press any keys. Allow the timer to restart Windows automatically.
At the Regional Settings windows, click the upper Customize button to set the date and time formats that you would like to use. After you have these set to your preference, click the Apply button and verify that the formats are as you want them. Click the OK button and then click the Next button on the Regional Settings window.
Type in your name at the next window and then click the Next button.
Type in the Product Key from the back of the CD case and then click the Next button.
At the next window, type in a name for the virtual machine e.g. WINDOWS. Also type in the Administrator password twice and remember that the case of any letters that you type in for the password is significant. Press the Next button when you're done.
Check the date, time and time zone at the next screen and correct the time zone if necessary. Do not worry about slight differences in time between this window and the Mac. Click Next when you are finished.
Select 'Typical Settings' at the Network Settings screen and press the Next button.
At the Workgroup or Computer Domain window, select 'No, this computer is not on a network...' and click the Next button.
When the screen stating that you have successfully completed Windows setup appears, eject the Windows CD from the drive and click the Finish button.
Windows will restart at this point and a Network Identification Wizard will appear. Click the Next button on the wizard.
At the next windows select 'Windows always assumes the following user has logged on to this computer:'. Your name will be preselected and you just need to set your password. Type in the password twice, remembering that case matters and then press the Next button. This can be the same password that you previously typed in for the Administrator account. It's easier to remember if the passwords are the same.
Click the Finish button to close the wizard. A Getting Started with Windows screen will appear. In the lower left corner of this screen, clear the 'Show this screen at startup' checkbox and then press the Exit button on the screen.
Restart Windows by clicking the Start button in Windows, select Shut Down, select Restart and then click OK
The basic installation of Windows is now complete but some additional work needs to be done.
The Windows default display setting is 16 colors at a resolution of 640x480 but this can be changed by installing the Parallels Windows display driver. Notice that when you move the cursor, it has been captured by Windows and won't move outside the Windows desktop. To release the cursor from Windows, press the Ctrl and Alt keys simultaneously.
On the Parallels menu bar select Actions and from the drop down menu select Install Parallels Tools. After you click OK on the warning dialog, the Parallels Tools Setup wizard will start. Accept all of the default values in the wizard to install the complete set of tools. Click OK on the screen that talks about unsigned drivers and then click the wizard's Restart button to restart Windows . Once Windows has restarted, click on the Windows desktop to capture the cursor but notice that now the cursor can be moved freely between OS X and Windows .
To change the display resolution, in Windows , click Start > Settings > Control Panel and then double-click the Display icon in Control Panel. After clicking the Settings tab, in the Colors listbox, select True Color (32 bit) and then move the Screen area slider to 1024x768. Click the Apply button and then click OK in the message box that pops up. Next, click the Yes button in the Monitor Settings message box that asks if you want to keep these settings, click OK on the Display Properties window and then close the Control Panel window.
The next thing to be set up is the capability of Windows to share a folder with OS X. At the bottom of the Windows Parallels Desktop screen is a status bar with a number of small icons on the right side. The right-most icon is for shared folders. Click on this icon and then click Add from the menu that pops up. In the 'Add Shared Folder' dialog box that appears, type a name in the Name field, e.g. DOSdrive and then click the Choose button. Navigate to the DOSdrive folder that you previously created, select it, click the Choose button and then click OK to close the dialog box.
To assign a Windows driver letter to this shared folder, double-click My Computer on the Windows desktop and from the menu bar select Tools > Map Network Drive. Choose the drive letter that you want to use from the Drive listbox and then click the Browse button. On the Browse for Folder window that opens, click the + sign in front of Parallels Shared Folders, click the + button in front of \\.psf and then select the name of the folder that is being shared. Click the OK button to close the Browse for Folder window. Make sure that the 'Reconnect at logon' box is checked and click Finish. The chosen drive letter will now be mapped to the shared folder and a Network Drive window showing the contents of the shared folder will be displayed. Close this window and then close the My Computer window.
At this point of the installation, Windows does not have any of the current maintenance applied. You should update Windows, generally via the internet or sometimes via a service pack CD.
The next step is to configure Windows to use the internet but also prevent the virtual hard drive from filling up with files that Internet Explorer stores in its cache. To do this, a couple of Internet options need to be set. Click Start > Settings > Control Panel and double-click on the 'Internet Options' icon. This opens the Internet Properties window. Select the General tab and in the Home Page section, click on 'Use Blank'. Now select the Advanced tab, scroll down to the Security section and select 'Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed' and then click Apply. Click OK to close the Internet Properties window and then close Control Panel.
On the Windows desktop, double-click 'Connect to the Internet' to start the Internet Connection Wizard. Select 'I want to set up my Internet connection manually...' and click Next. Select 'I connect through a local area network' and click Next. Select 'Automatic discovery of proxy server...' and click Next. Select 'No' at 'Do you want to set up an Internet mail account now?', click Next and then click Finish.
Maintenance for Windows and Internet Explorer. This is done via the Internet using the Windows Update function of Internet Explorer.
To do this, double-click the Internet Explorer icon on the Windows desktop, type http://www.microsoft.com/downloads into the Address bar and press Enter. A 'Work Offline' dialog window will appear stating that no connection to the Internet is currently available. Click the 'Try Again' button and Windows will find the Internet connection and open the Microsoft downloads webpage. Find the 'Browse for Downloads' section and click on 'Internet'.
After Windows has restarted, double-click the Internet Explorer icon on the Windows desktop. On the Internet Explorer menu bar, click Tools > Windows Update. A Security Warning dialog windows opens and asks if you want to install and run Windows Update. Click the Yes button and then click the 'Install Now' button. When this process completes, click the Express button in Internet Explorer and a window enabling you to install the latest version of Windows Update will be displayed. Click the 'Download and Install Now' button in this window. During the installation procedure, a dialog window appears informing you that 'You have successfully updated your computer'. This dialog window has a 'Restart Now' button, a 'Close' button and a 'Configure automatic updates' link. Click on the 'Configure automatic updates' link and in the following window, select 'Turn of Automatic Updates', click Apply and then click OK. To complete the installation of Windows Update, click the 'Restart Now' button.
Windows Update is used to install the remaining maintenance and security updates for Windows . Double-click the Internet Explorer icon on the Windows desktop and on the Internet Explorer menu bar, click Tools > Windows Update. Click the 'Express' button in the Internet Explorer Windows Update screen to scan for high-priority updates. When Windows Update returns a list of High-Priority updates, click the 'Install Updates' button and then click 'I Accept' on the following screen to download and install the updates. When the updates have been installed, click the 'Restart Now' button on the Installing Updates screen to complete the process.
After Windows restarts, repeat the process in the previous paragraph until the Windows Update scan finds no more High-Priority updates.
At this point, the installation of Windows has been completed and it is a good time to make a back up. Shut down Windows by clicking the Windows Start button, click Shut Down, Select Shut down from the list box and then click OK. Using Mac OS X, create a folder named 'Windows 1 initial installation' at the location where you keep your backups. Copy the ~/Documents/Parallels/Microsoft Windows folder into this backup folder. Now if anything should happen to Windows and it needs to be restored, you can simply copy the Microsoft Windows folder from the backup folder into the ~/Documents/Parallels folder without repeating the entire process of installing and updating Windows.
As a result of installing and updating Windows , the Parallels virtual machine files will have grown considerably larger. However, Parallels Desktop has a built-in compression utility that will recover wasted space and reduce the size of its virtual machine files. Now is a good time to run the compression utility. First start Windows and wait for it to complete its startup process. At the bottom of the Parallels Desktop screen on the status bar, the second icon from the left is the virtual hard disk icon. This icon shows a green LED when the virtual drive is being read from and an orange LED when it is being written to. The Windows startup process has completed when the LED activity on the virtual disk icon stops
On the Parallels menu bar, click Actions, select 'Run Parallels Compressor' from the drop down menu and click OK on the drop down dialog box. The Parallels Compressor timer window appears and starts to count down. Do not click anything on this timer window. Just wait for the timer to expire and allow the Parallels compressor to start up in automatic mode. During the compression procedure, Windows will restart automatically and display a dialog box stating that Windows has finished installing a new devices and will ask if you want to restart your computer now. Click the No button in response to this dialog box to allow the compression utility to complete its job without interruption. The compression utility will run for 10 to 15 minutes and a drop down dialog box will notify you when the process is done. Click the OK button to close this dialog box and then click the Finish button to complete the compression procedure.
Shut down Windows by clicking the Windows Start button, click Shut Down, Select Shut down from the list box and then click OK. It's a good idea to do another backup at this point. Create a new backup folder named 'Windows 2 after compression' and copy the ~/Documents/Parallels/Microsoft Windows folder into this backup folder.
The next step is to add a serial port to the Parallels Windows virtual machine configuration. To do this, start Parallels Desktop, select Microsoft Windows from the list of virtual machines and click the Select button. On the Parallels Desktop menu bar, click Edit, select Virtual Machine from the drop down menu and click the Yes button on the drop down dialog box. The Configuration Editor window will be displayed.
Click the Add button in the Configuration Editor, select Serial Port from the Available Hardware list and click the Next button. Select 'Use a socket' and click the Next button. The following window shows the properties of the serial port. The default name of the serial port is /tmp/serial and this does not need to be be changed. Set the socket role to 'Server', check the 'Connect the Serial Port at startup' checkbox and click the Finish button to complete the setup of the serial port. Click the OK button to close the Configuration Editor and then quit the Parallels Desktop application.
The last thing to do before installing the Airmail software is to get the Keyspan USB to Serial Adapter driver connected to the serial port. To do this, plug the Keyspan adapter into an available USB port. If the Mac OS X Keyspan driver is working properly, the green LED on the adapter should be blinking on and off.
Start the SerialClient application and it will display a serial port configuration window. The Stream Path field will have the default name of the serial port in it and must be the same as the name given to the serial port when it was added to the Parallels virtual machine with the Configuration Editor. Set the Baud Rate to 57600 and the Flow Control to Hardware (RTS/CTS).
In your ~/Documents folder, create a new folder named SerialClient. Click File on the SerialClient menu bar, save the serial port configuration in the ~/Documents/SerialClient folder with a name of Sailmail and quit the SerialClient application. If you use Sailmail frequently, it's a good idea to create an alias for this Sailmail SerialClient configuration file and place the alias on your desktop.
Before installing the Airmail software connect the Keyspan USB to Serial adapter to your Pactor modem. Switch your SSB radio on and be sure that the Pactor modem is powered up. Start Windows , wait for it to complete its startup process and then start the SerialClient application by double-clicking the SerialClient configuration file alias or the ~/Documents/SerialClient/Sailmail file. In the SerialClient window, click the Connect button to connect the Keyspan driver to the Parallels serial port. At this point, the green LED on the Keyspan adapter should be on and not blinking.
To install the Airmail program, from Mac OS X copy the downloaded Airmail installation file to the folder being shared by OS X and Windows. In Windows , click the Start button, select Run from the pop-up menu, click the Browse button and then click on the 'Look in' list box. Select the drive letter that you assigned to your shared folder, select the Airmail installation file and click the Open button. At the Run window, click OK and then click the Setup button to start the installation of Airmail.
At this point, just follow the Sailmail installation instructions to install the Airmail software. Do not install the PTC-IIusb drivers if your Pactor modem uses a serial connection. Also do not install any of the additional programs such as GetFax at this time. The idea is to keep the installation as simple as possible and get Sailmail running first. You can install the accessory programs later after Sailmail is operational and a backup has been done. Once the installation of Airmail has completed, double-click on the Airmail3 icon on the Windows desktop and configure the program as per the Sailmail documentation.
When you have finished the installation of the Airmail software, backup the Parallels Windows virtual machine. To do this, shut down the the Airmail program in Windows. Click on the SerialClient icon in the Mac OS X dock to show the SerialClient window, click the Disconnect button and then quit the SerialClient application. Next, shut down Windows by clicking the Windows Start button, click Shut Down, Select Shut down from the list box and then click OK. Create a new backup folder named 'Windows 3 with Sailmail' and copy the ~/Documents/Parallels/Microsoft Windows folder into this backup folder.
The Sailmail installation is now complete and ready for use.
To use Sailmail, first make sure that the Keyspan adapter is connected to the computer and modem and then power on the SSB radio and modem. Start Windows and wait for it to completely initialize by observing the disk activity icon on the status bar. Start the SerialClient application using the Sailmail configuration file, click the SerialClient Connect button and then start the Airmail application.
The shutdown procedure is simply the reverse of the startup sequence except that the Disconnect button is clicked in SerialClient. Be sure to always close Windows by clicking the Windows Start button, click Shut Down, Select Shut down from the list box and then click OK.
It is a good idea to backup your Sailmail email on a regular basis separately from the backup of the entire Windows virtual machine.
Because the Sailmail program and email data are all contained within one folder, this is easy to do. In Windows , navigate to the C:\Program Files folder and select the Airmail folder. On the menu bar click Edit > Copy, navigate to the folder that you're sharing with OS X and click Edit > Paste. Using Mac OS X, drag the Airmail folder from the shared folder to wherever you keep your backups.
By doing this, if you ever need to restore the entire Parallels Windows virtual machine without losing your email, you can simply copy the backup Airmail folder into the shared folder and then from within Windows copy and paste this over the existing Airmail folder in C:\Program Files.