Developer Bryan Keller was curious to know if an older version of Apple’s Mac operating system could run on the Nintendo Wii after seeing Windows NT installed on the gaming device, so he decided to give it a try. He was able to get Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah running on the Nintendo Wii, and shared a blog post going through the project.
The Wii uses the PowerPC 750CL processor, which is a newer version of the PowerPC 750CXe used by Apple in the G3 iBook and iMac, which is why Keller was optimistic that the process would be successful. Keller wrote a custom bootloader and was finally able to load OS X, with a multi-step process detailed on his website.
He had to paste the OS X kernel source code and compile a modified binary kernel, then write custom drivers so the kernel could read from the Wii SD card slot to boot from the file system. He also had to write a frame driver for the OS X interface, bridge the color mismatch between the Wii’s video hardware and OS X’s graphics code, and search the ten-year-old OS X Cheetah USBFamily source code on IRC to find working peripherals.
Keller was able to make the Mac OS X Cheetah installer work with a working keyboard and mouse, turning the Wii into a usable system that runs OS X.
Keller was so invested in the project that he took the Wii on vacation to Hawaii so he could work on it. For those curious about how he solved the many problems required to get OS X running on the Wii, his website is worth checking out. Anyone who wants to try setting up OS X on the Wii can find the project’s source code on GitHub.