DOSBox v0.58 Usage: ====== With the new internal shell,we've changed the command line a bit, so let's just give some examples of what you can do now. dosbox With nothing on the command line you'll end up on the internal drive and from there you can mount directories as drives. dosbox [filename/directory] If dosbox detects a directory it'll mount that as the C: drive and then start the shell from c:\. If dosbox doesn't detect a directory it'll assume you mean an executable. This can be .bat .com .exe. Doesn't need to have extension included. It will mount the directory the file is in as the C: drive. Then start up the shell which will start the file. There also are a couple of command line switches. dosbox -fullscreen starts dosbox in fullscreen mode. dosbox -conf file loads file as a configfile. dosbox -lang file loads file as a languagefile. You can also add commands to be executed before the main program starts. Or you can use them to start the program. To add commands use the -c command line switch. For example: dosbox c:\atlantis\atlantis.exe -c "MOUNT D C:\SAVES" This would mount c:\atlanis as c:\ and run atlantis.exe. Before it does that it would first mount C:\SAVES as the D drive. In Windows you can also drag directories/files on the dosbox executable. Internal Programs: ================== MOUNT Program to mount local directories as drives inside DOSBox. The option -t specifies the media: Where can be. dir = harddisk floppy = floppy drive cdrom = cdrom drive The option -cd lists all found cdrom drives and their id. The option -usecd [x] forces to use the cdrom number x (id as shown in list -cd) The option -aspi forces to use aspi driver (only valid if mounting a cdrom and on Windows systems with ASPI-Layer). The option -ioctl forces to use ioctl functions (only valid if mounting a cdrom and on Win2000/XP/NT systems). For example to mount c:\floppy as a floppy : mount a c:\floppy -t floppy For example to mount system cdrom drive e as cdrom drive d in dosbox mount d e:\ -t cdrom For example to mount system cdrom drive at mountpoint /media/cdrom as cdrom drive d in dosbox mount d /media/cdrom -t cdrom -usecd 0 It is also possible to mount a directory as cdrom, but it's limited. MEM Program to display the amount of free memory CONFIG Utility for generating a config file and language file. The option -writeconf filename is used to write the current config settings. The option -writelang filename is used to write the current language strings. For more information use the the /? command line switch with the programs. The Config File: =============== A config file can be generated by CONFIG.COM, edit it to customize DOSBox. The file is divided in several sections (the names got [] around it). Some sections have options which you can set. # and % indicate commentlines. The generated configfile contains the current settings. You can alter them and start dosbox with the -conf switch to load the file and use these settings. The Language File: ================= A language file can be generated by CONFIG.COM. Read it and you will hopefuly understand how to change it. Start Dosbox with -lang switch to use your new language file Or you can setup the filename in the config file in the [dosbox] section. There's a language= entry that can be changed with the filename. Special Keys: ============= ALT-ENTER Go full screen and back. CTRL-F5 Save a screenshot. CTRL-F6 Start/Stop recording sound output to a wave file. CTRL-F7 Decrease frameskip. CTRL-F8 Increase frameskip. CTRL-F9 Kill dosbox. CTRL-F10 Capture/Release the mouse. CTRL-F11 Slowdown emulation. CTRL-F12 Speedup emulation. System requirements: ==================== Fast machine my guess would be pentium-2 400+ to get decent emulation of games written for an 286 machine. FAQ: ==== Q: I've got a Z instead of a C at the prompt. A: In DOSBox you can mount directories as drives in win32: mount c D:\ would give you an C in DOSBox which points at D:\ in win32 in linux: mount c /home/username would give you and C in DOSBox which points at /home/username in Linux Q: The mouse doesn't work. A: Normally dosbox detects the mouse being used by a game, if you click on the screen then it should get locked and work. Sometimes the dosbox mouse detection doesn't work with certain games, you might have to force to lock the mouse then with ctrl-f10. Q: The sound stutters. A: Your using too much cpu power to keep dosbox running at the current speed. You can either lower the cycles or skip frames or get a faster machine. For more questions check the site/forum. To run resource-demanding games: =============================== DOSBox emulates the CPU, the sound and graphic cards, and some other 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 looking at the Task Manager in Windows 2000/XP and the System Monitor in Windows 95/98/ME. Once 100% of your real CPU time is used there is no further way to speed up DOSBox unless you reduce the load generated by the non-CPU parts of DOSBox. So: Close every program but DOSBox Overclock DOSBox until 100% of your CPU is used (use the utilities above to check) 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 You can also try to disable the sound through the setup utility of the game to further reduce load on your CPU. Building your own Version DOSBox: ================================= Dowload the source. Check the INSTALL in the source distribution. Special Thanks: =============== Vlad R. of the vdmsound project for excellent sound blaster info. Tatsuyuki Satoh of the Mame Team for making an excellent FM emulator. The Bochs and DOSemu projects which I used for information. Freedos for ideas in making my shell. The Beta Testers. Contact: ======== Harekiet harekiet@zophar.net http://dosbox.zophar.net