.\" Hey, EMACS: -*- nroff -*- .TH DOSBOX 1 "Sept 23, 2004" .\" Please adjust this date whenever revising the manpage. .SH NAME dosbox \- an x86/DOS emulator with sound/graphics .SH SYNOPSIS .B dosbox .B [\-fullscreen] .B [\-startmapper] .BI "[\-conf " configfile ] .BI "[\-lang " langfile ] .B [file] .BI "[\-c " command ] .B [\-exit] .BI "[\-machine " machinetype ] .LP .B dosbox -version .SH DESCRIPTION This manual page briefly documents .BR "dosbox" ", an x86/DOS emulator." .TP .RB "The optional " file " argument should be a DOS executable or a directory. If it is a dos executable (.com .exe .bat) the program will run automatically. If it is a directory, a DOS session will run with the directory mounted as C:." .SH OPTIONS A summary of options is included below. .TP .B \-fullscreen .RB "Start " dosbox " in fullscreen mode." .TP .B \-startmapper .RB "Start the internal keymapper on startup of " dosbox ". You can use it to change the keys " dosbox " uses." .TP .BI \-c " command" .RI "Runs the specified " command " before running " .BR file . .RI "Multiple commands can be specified. Each " command " should start with " .BR \-c " though." .TP .BI \-conf " configfile .RB "Start " dosbox " with the options specified in " .IR configfile . .TP .BI \-lang " langfile .RB "Start " dosbox " with the language specified in " .IR langfile . .TP .B \-exit .BR dosbox " will exit after running the program specified by " file . .TP .BI \-machine " machinetype .RB "Setup " dosbox " to emulate a specific type of machine." .RI "Valid choices are: " "hercules, cga, tandy, vga(default)". .TP .B \-version Output version information and exit. Useful for frontends. .SH "INTERNAL COMMANDS" .B dosbox supports most of the DOS commands found in command.com. In addition, the following extra commands are available: .HP .BI "MOUNT [\-t " type "] [\-size " size ] .I driveletter sourcedirectory .B [\-aspi] [\-ioctl] .BI "[\-usecd " number "] [\-label " drivelabel "] [\-freesize " freesize ] .LP .B MOUNT \-cd .LP .RB "Program to mount local directories as drives inside " dosbox . .RS .TP .I driveletter The driveletter inside dosbox (eg. C). .TP .I sourcedirectory The local directory you want to have inside dosbox. .TP .BI \-t " type" Type of the mounted directory. Supported are: dir (standard), floppy, cdrom. .TP .BI \-size " drivesize" Sets the size of the drive. See the examples in the README for details. .TP .BI \-freesize " freesize" Sets the amount of free space available on a drive in MB's. This is a more .RB "simple version of " \-size . .TP .BI \-label " drivelabel" .RI "Sets the name of the drive to " drivelabel ". Needed on some" systems if the cd label isn't read correctly. Useful when a program can't find its cdrom. .TP .B \-aspi Forces to use the aspi layer. Only valid if mounting a cdrom under Windows systems with an ASPI-Layer. .TP .B \-ioctl Forces to use ioctl commands. Only valid if mounting a cdrom under windows which support them (Win2000/XP/NT). .TP .BI \-usecd " number" Forces to use SDL cdrom support for drive number. .IR Number " can be found by " .BR \-cd ". Valid on all systems." .TP .B \-cd .RB "Displays all detected cdrom drives and their numbers. Use with " \-usecd "." .RE .PP .B "Example:" .TP .RB "To mount your /home/dos/dosgames directory as C drive in " dosbox : .RS mount c /home/dos/dosgames .RE .TP .B MEM .LP Display the amount of free memory .TP .B CONFIG [\-writeconf] [\-writelang] file .LP .RB "Write the current configuration or language settings to " file , which is located on the local filesystem. Not a mounted drive in .BR dosbox . .TP .B LOADFIX [\-size] [programname] [parameters] .LP .B LOADFIX \-f .LP Program to eat up memory, Useful for old programs which don't expect much memory to be free. .RS .TP .B [programname] The name of the program which is executed after loadfix eats up its memory. .TP .B [parameters] .RB "Parameters given to the " programname " executable." .TP .B \-size The amount of memory to eat up (in kb). Example -32, -64 or -128 .TP .B \-f Frees all memory eaten up by loadfix. .RE .TP .B IMGMOUNT .LP .RB "A utility to mount disk images and CD-ROM images in " DOSBox . .TP .RB "Read the " README " of " DOSBox " for the full and correct syntax." .RE .TP .B BOOT .LP .RB "Boot will start floppy images or hard disk images independent of the operating system emulation offered by " DOSBox ". This will allow you to play booter floppies or boot to other operating systems inside "DOSBox . .TP .RB "Read the " README " of " DOSBox " for the full and correct syntax." .RE .TP .B IPX .LP .RB "You need to enable IPX networking in the configuration file of "DOSBox . .RB "All of the IPX networking is managed through the internal " DOSBox " program .BR IPXNET ". For help on the IPX networking from inside " DOSBox ", type" .BR "IPXNET HELP" " and the program will list out the commands and relevant documentation." .TP .RB "Read the " README " of " DOSBox " for the full and correct syntax." .RE .SH FILES Configuration and language files use a format similar to Windows .ini files. If a file named .BR dosbox.conf " is found in the current directory, it will be automatically loaded." .SH "SPECIAL KEYS" .TP 12m .IP ALT\-ENTER Go full screen and back. .IP CTRL\-F1 Start the keymapper. .IP CTRL\-F4 Swap mounted disk-image (Only used with imgmount). .IP CTRL\-F5 Save a screenshot. .IP CTRL\-F6 Start/Stop recording sound output to a wave file. .IP CTRL\-ALT\-F7 Start/Stop recording of OPL commands. .IP CTRL\-ALT\-F8 Start/Stop the recording of raw MIDI commands. .IP CTRL\-F7 Decrease frameskip. .IP CTRL\-F8 Increase frameskip. .IP CTRL\-F9 Kill dosbox. .IP CTRL\-F10 Capture/Release the mouse. .IP CTRL\-F11 Slow down emulation (Increase DOSBox Cycles). .IP CTRL\-F12 Speed up emulation (Decrease DOSBox Cycles). .PP These are the default keybindings. They can be changed in the keymapper. .PP .BR "Note: " "Once you increase your " DOSBox " cycles beyond your computer's maximum capacity, it will produce the same effect as slowing down the emulation. This maximum will vary from computer to computer, there is no standard. .SH "SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS" Fast machine. My guess would be pentium\-2 400+ to get decent emulation of games written for an 286 machine. For protected mode games a 1 Ghz machine is recommended and don't expect them to run fast though!! Be sure to read the next section on how to speed it up somewhat. .SS "To run resource\-demanding games" .BR dosbox " emulates the CPU, the sound and graphic cards, and some other" .RB " stuff, all at the same time. You can overclock " dosbox " by using CTRL\-F12, but" you'll be limited by the power of your actual CPU. You can see how much free time your true CPU has by various utils (top). Once 100% of your real CPU time is .RB "used there is no further way to speed up " dosbox " unless you reduce the load" .RB "generated by the non\-CPU parts of " dosbox . .PP So: .PP .RB "Close every program but " dosbox . .PP .RB "Overclock " dosbox " until 100% of your CPU is used.(CTR\-+F12)" .PP .RB "Since VGA emulation is the most demanding part of " dosbox " in terms of actual" CPU usage, we'll start here. Increase the number of frames skipped (in increments of one) by pressing CRTL\-F8. Your CPU usage should decrease. Go back one step and repeat this until the game runs fast enough for you. Please note that this is a trade off: you lose in fluidity of video what you gain in speed. .SH NOTES .RB "While we hope that, one day, " dosbox " will run virtually all programs ever made for the PC..." .RB "we are not there yet. At present, " dosbox " run on a 1.7 Gigahertz PC is roughly the equivalent of a 25MHz 386 PC." While the 0.60 release has added support for "protected mode" allowing for more complex and recent programs, but note that this support is early in development and nowhere near as complete as the support for 386 real\-mode games (or earlier). Also note that "protected mode" games need substantially more resources and may .RB "require a much faster processor for you to run it properly in " dosbox . .SH BUGS Not all DOS programs work properly. .BR dosbox " will exit without warning if an error occured." .SH "SEE ALSO" The README in /usr/share/doc/dosbox .SH AUTHOR This manual page was written by Peter Veenstra and James Oakley , for the Debian system (but may be used by others).