Back in the day (2000-2003) I played Diablo 2 — a lot. A bit of nostalgia and the upcoming release of Diablo 3 meant it was time to give it another shot — but I couldn’t find my CDs anywhere. No problem, I went out and purchased the Diablo 2 Battle Chest which includes the original game plus the expansion pack — Lord of Destruction.
But would it work on my Intel-based Mac. My backup plan was to install it on an old PC, but ideally I wanted it to work on my Mac. There’s a few roadblocks to that plan though. 1) It was written for the old Mac OS, not “OS X” which is based on Unix. It was also written to run on a different processor, not the Intel I have in my Mac. It was a bit of a hassle to get it working, and tech notes on how to do so were lacking, but in the end it works. You just can’t expect to pull out the CDs from the box and get it working though.
This blog entry is meant to document first how to do it, then the pitfalls I hit along the way.
Quick Install Steps
- Download and run the OS X Installer instead of the one on the CD. Find it here (hopefully):
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=20758 - Run the Installer downloaded above. Be sure to click the full install for Diablo 2, Lord of Destruction. Do not even think it makes sense to first install Diablo 2, then the expansion. This installer will prompt you to install both versions and all CDs
- Download the patch for the expansion from the above link. Do not download the patch for the original, just the expansion.
- Install the patch
- Manually copy the file “Diablo II Expansion Music” from the Expansion CD into your Diablo 2 folder. This is optional but by doing so you won’t need to have the CD in the drive to run the game.
Lessons Learned
I made a few mistakes, hit a few road blocks, learned a few things.
- Installer won’t run from CD. Says classic environment no longer supported. The native OS X installer fixed that.
- I installed Diablo 2 first using the native installer, then when it was done, I went to install the expansion and got the error: “Diablo II is already installed at this location. Please try installing to a different location” — the fix is to delete the Diablo II folder and start over — this time just install the full install of the expansion pack to start with, and it will prompt you to shovel in the CDs for the original as well.
- OK to use OpenGL for video, at least on my Mac. I read some places to use the software rendering or it’d crash. I haven’t encountered that.
- Hit CMD-M to make it run in a window. Hit CMD-M to bring it back to full screen
- It’s a CPU hog, even on my 3.06 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac. Remember, it’s running in emulation mode. It’s not a native Intel app.
- When you run it, a small window pops up with video options. There’s a small arrow at bottom right to flip to additional screens. Don’t miss it!
- Remember when 800×600 was hi res?
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the instructions for installing Diablo 2 on Intel-based Mac OS X. However, I have a problem that I cannot seem to overcome or find help for anywhere, so I am really hoping you can assist me.
I have downloaded the installer from Blizzard. When I go to install though (your step 2), after about 30 seconds of installation I receive this error:
The file “/Volumes/Diablo II Install/Support/Diablo II Game Data” could not be read, because an error -36 occurred. (InstallerFile::Read)
Since I use an Intel-based mac, which doesn’t support Classic, I cannot even read the Installer File in my CD (as with all Classic apps, there’s a big gray X over it and clicking on it results in an error message of “does not support”). And the Blizzard support webpage is of no assistance whatsoever.
Any help you can offer me is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
That sounds like the CD is bad. Check it for scratches. Return and exchange it if possible.
You can also try the disk utility program in Utilities folder to check the CD. or use it to create a disk image and then try to install from that.
You’re absolutely right. Disk Utility tells me the disk is bad, despite there not being any visible cracks. I’ll see what I can do about that.
Thanks for your help!
Perfect instructions…except I keep encountering a problem. I have attempted to install the game about 5 times, and every time I have the same result:
It tells me I have successfully installed the game, but every time I launch the app it unexpectedly quits. The last time I installed it I used your instructions (I tried several times doing basically the same thing before I found your website). Do you have any idea why this is happening and how I can fix this issue?
Thanks!
Sorry Juli, only thing I can think of is make sure you’re running the latest version of OS X with all the patches. Also, if you run the console app (in the utilities folder of Applications) you might see some messages in it when running that might point you in the right direction, especially if you Google the messages.
One other thing. I do remember reading that some people suffered crashes due to video driver issues, so try fiddling with that in the start up dialog box that comes up when you first run it. Like turn off hardware acceleration or turn it on, etc…
Hello
Is it possible to run this game from cd-installer? I have no internet to download this native installer from Blizard. I get the error when trying to open the game and it just won’t start.
this might seem like a stupid question..
but after you get everything downloaded, how do u manually copy the music filed and put it in the Diablo 2 folder?
thank you much
Sign up for a Blizzard account for free (google the url, it’s different depending on where you are in the world).
You can add your existing game licence keys to your Blizzard account. This then allows you to donwload a full copy of the game you already own. Great for people whose “play” CDs have been battered over time.
And they come fully patched and with Intel OS X installers.
i clicked the website where i can manually download from the website instead of the CD but where can i find the place where i can download it on the website?
Hey Weave,
Great blogging instructions
My problem is i’ve got D2 running fine however when i get a screen with many active objects, the screen starts to lag – eg: fighting many monsters or playing with a necro friend with many minions. We’re fairly sure it’s not blizzard’s servers causing the lag. So i think it’s my computer struggling with the graphics – MacBook Pro, 2.16 GHz intel core duo, with OS 10.4.11.
The version of D2 i’m running is the latest 1.12a downloaded expansion, that i downloaded from blizzard abt 2 months ago (and i’ve tested downloadding and running the 1.12a carbon patch).
Any suggestions as to how to get it to run smoothly? This is killing me in Hell.
Thanks,
stu
Hey Weave,
I tried to find the OS X Native Installer for D2 but I couldn’t get it anywhere (on the Blizzard site you have to open a Battle.net account and I think you also have to purchase the game in their online store(!) – if I’m not confused now – PLEASE could you upload the installer somewhere or provide me a link…?
Ah, they changed it. But as a comment further above stated, you can now download the entire game from their site. You don’t need to purchase the game online to get a battle.net account. Just register using the CD key(s) of your D2 and D2X box set.
This is no longer completely accurate, though it helped me a lot by pointing me at this service where I can download native installers. Now you do need to download both Diablo II AND the Lord of Destruction expansion. If you try to do just LOD, the installer lacks an “install” button. After a reboot, launching the installer gives the message that you need to install Diablo II first. I’m working on that 1GB+ download right now.
@Stephen Munn
Thank you very much for that info! I have been searching for solutions for my exact same problem on intel based mac all evening.
Much appreciate.
i did all the downloading and the patching but after i go through the video options (render Gl video , configure video options) i press okay to begin playing and my screen just goes black and with just the mouse in sight…any idea what could be wrong?
i am pretty newbie about this guides seriously
i just have got this CDs:
-CD 1 : Installer
-CD2: Diablo 2 game CD.
-CD3: Diablo 2 expansion (LOD)
-CD4: Cinema
i just put the Lord of destruction CD on my comp and open the patch wich i download. (honestly idk if that was right but anyway i get this message even when i put them together or i just try on any CD (except CD4).
http://i47.tinypic.com/j606er.png
maybe sounds stupid but i have no idea of the concepts and what exactly mean so i would like someone screen me something accurated to what should i do to get over this.
i am sorry if this annoys for the basic question but i have owned this game since 2000. and from the last year i still trying to find a way to make it playable on my Mac
i have a Mac OS X v 10.6.3 intel core 2 Duo with Leopard installed btw.
thanks in advance
this post has helped me alot in poniting me the right way but.
i am having the same problems as emerson above.. they downloads complete patches are installed but when i go thru the video options my screen becomes black any ideas of what i can do?
I know you have a lot of comments but i was wondering if you can do this without the expansion
Been ages since I tried this but I do believe you can just download the “original” patch and it should work — or register the CD key on Battle.net and download the entire program over the net.
I just figured it out sorry but thanks for the useful blog