0.65αThanks for trying Boxer! I hope it brings you hassle-free DOS game emulation, and I'd love to hear what you think of it. Be sure to check the Boxer website occasionally for updates too.
.exe, .com or .bat file) and choose to open it in Boxer. Boxer will launch the game in DOS, using the game’s folder as drive C..boxer to the end, and you’ll be able to double-click on the folder to launch the game..iso or .cue file), Boxer will open it as CD-ROM drive D. If you drag-drop a DOS program or a game package, it will be launched as if you clicked on it.Default Folder from ~/Library/Preferences/Boxer/ and launch Boxer again.).iso or .cue/bin pair), then put it into the game’s folder: Boxer will find and mount it as drive D..cdrom: Boxer will treat the folder as a CD-ROM and mount it as drive D. (This also works with folders named .floppy and .harddisk: they will be auto-mounted as floppy disks and hard disks, respectively.)Most games will work straight away in Boxer: but the odd game may run too slow, too fast, or not at all without custom settings. If you’re familiar with DOSBox configuration files, then you can make a textfile called DOSBox Preferences.conf inside a game’s folder and put any custom settings you need for the game in there. When you run the game, Boxer will apply your custom settings along with the default settings.
(Please let me know which game you had problems with and what settings you used: this way I can make future versions of Boxer auto-configure that game.)
Important: Boxer will only use the custom settings if you launch the game or its folder directly. If you switch to the game’s folder from the DOS prompt and run the game that way, the game’s custom settings will not be detected.
If you wish to uninstall Boxer, just delete the Boxer application and the ~/Library/Preferences/Boxer/ folder.
Boxer game packages give you an easier way to play and organise your games: they turn the game’s folder into a single file you can click on to launch the game.
To create a game package for a DOS game, rename the game’s folder with the extension .boxer (e.g. Space Quest.boxer). This will make the folder act as a game package: it will be launched in Boxer and Finder will treat it as a single file. (It’s still a folder however: you can view and modify its contents by ctrl-clicking and choosing "Show package contents". To make it act like a regular folder again, just remove the .boxer extension.)
When you launch a game package, Boxer will mount the package and look for a DOS program inside it to run. If there is more than one program file in the package, you can choose the appropriate one and whether you want to run that program every time. (If you want to change your choice later, then delete the file DOSBox Target inside the package and launch the package again.)
For most DOS games, that’s it: you now have a tidy package for your game that you can launch in one click. If your game requires any special DOSBox configuration settings, then edit the DOSBox Preferences.conf file inside the package (one is created the first time the package is launched) and enter them there.
Boxer supports the standard DOSBox keyboard shortcuts, but also provides ones consistent with OS X:
You can also view the list of keyboard shortcuts at the DOS prompt by typing intro special.
If you have a non-US keyboard, you may find that certain keys (such as \) produce the wrong character in DOSBox. This is because DOSBox normally assumes your keyboard is the standard US-English layout.
To fix this, you can edit the Boxer preferences file (~/Library/Preferences/Boxer/DOSBox Preferences.conf) in TextEdit and change the keyboardlayout= setting to the appropriate one for your keyboard. The correct settings for many European keyboard layouts are listed there.
Hopefully, future versions of Boxer will be able to auto-detect the current keyboard layout of your Mac and handle these settings for you.
Most popular DOS games will work in Boxer immediately with no configuration required. However, some games require special DOSBox configuration settings to work best — or at all.
| Flashback | Enable Dynamic CPU core and maximum emulation cycles |
| Sierra AGI games (e.g. King’s Quest I–III) |
Enable Tandy 3-voice audio |
| Ultima IV, V & VI | Reduce CPU cycles to 1500 |
| Ultima VII & Serpent Isle | Disable extended and expanded memory, enable Dynamic CPU core and maximum emulation cycles |
| Ultima Underworld I & II | Enable Dynamic CPU core and maximum emulation cycles |
This list will grow as I find more games that don’t work with the defaults. If you encounter other games that need special DOSBox settings, please contact me and I will add in auto-detection for them. Boxer’s goal is zero configuration!
MOUNT d "./folder_in_game_package/".)buttonwrap setting to false..cue CD-ROM images. These have been given the imported UTI com.goldenhawk.cdrwin-cuesheet..img images. Currently these are always treated as floppy disk images; future versions will try to distinguish floppy, hard-disk and CD-ROM .imgs..cdrom extension as CDROMs, with the .floppy extension as floppy disks, and with the .harddisk extension as hard disks. These new folder types carry the exported UTIs net.washboardabs.boxer-cdrom-folder, net.washboardabs.boxer-floppy-folder and net.washboardabs.boxer-harddisk-folder respectively..iso, .cue and .cdrom files), floppy images (.img and .floppy files) and hard disk images (.harddisk files) found inside a game’s folder/package. This allows configuration-free mounting: just drop your images into your game's folder and Boxer will mount them..boxer..conf and .lang files so that OS X knows they are plaintext.Please send feedback, suggestions, bug reports and large cash donations for Boxer to Alun Bestor. You can get the latest version of Boxer from boxer.washboardabs.net.
If you’re having problems running Boxer, remember to mention what version of OS X you are using, what game(s) you have trouble with, and what error messages you get (if any).
If you can help out with Boxer in any way, please let me know! I’m particularly interested in configuration settings needed for your favourite games, so that Boxer can auto-detect them in future. I’m also looking for help translating Boxer to other languages.
For problems or feedback to do with DOSBox itself, it would be best to contact the DOSBox team directly.
(This readme is provided for reference only. Many of the instructions in here do not apply to Boxer, certain settings are no longer relevant, and file paths have changed.)
=====
NOTE:
=====
While we are hoping that one day DOSBox will run all programs ever
made for the PC, we are not there yet. At present, DOSBox running
on a high-end machine will roughly be the equivalent of a 486 PC.
DOSBox can be configured to run a wide range of DOS games, from
CGA/Tandy/PCjr classics up to games from the Quake era.
======
INDEX:
======
1. Quickstart
2. FAQ
3. Usage
4. Internal Programs
5. Special Keys
6. Mapper
7. Keyboard Layout
8. Serial Multiplayer feature
9. How to run resource-demanding games
10. Troubleshooting
11. The config file
12. The language file
13. Building your own version of DOSBox
14. Special thanks
15. Contact
==============
1. Quickstart:
==============
Type INTRO in DOSBox for a quick tour.
It is essential that you get familiar with the idea of mounting,
DOSBox does not automatically make any drive (or parts of it)
accessible to the emulation.
See the FAQ entry "I've got a Z instead of a C at the prompt" as
well as the description of the MOUNT command (section 4).
=======
2. FAQ:
=======
Some Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: I've got a Z instead of a C at the prompt.
Q: Do I always have to type these commands? Automation?
Q: How do I change to fullscreen?
Q: My CD-ROM doesn't work.
Q: The mouse doesn't work.
Q: There is no sound.
Q: The sound stutters or sounds stretched/weird.
Q: I can't type \ or : in DOSBox.
Q: The keyboard lags.
Q: The cursor always moves into one direction!
Q: The game/application can't find its CD-ROM.
Q: The game/application runs much too slow!
Q: Can DOSBox harm my computer?
Q: I would like to change the memory size/cpu speed/ems/soundblaster IRQ.
Q: What sound hardware does DOSBox presently emulate?
Q: DOSBox crashes on startup and I'm running arts.
Q: Great README, but I still don't get it.
Q: I've got a Z instead of a C at the prompt.
A: You have to make your directories available as drives in DOSBox by using
the "mount" command. For example, in Windows "mount C D:\GAMES" will give
you a C drive in DOSBox which points to your Windows D:\GAMES directory.
In Linux, "mount c /home/username" will give you a C drive in DOSBox
which points to /home/username in Linux.
To change to the drive mounted like above, type "C:". If everything went
fine, DOSBox will display the prompt "C:\>".
Q: Do I always have to type these commands? Automation?
A: In the DOSBox configuration file is an [autoexec] section. The commands
present there are run when DOSBox starts, so you can use this section
for the mounting.
Q: How do I change to fullscreen?
A: Press alt-enter. Alternatively: Edit the configuration file of DOSBox and
change the option fullscreen=false to fullscreen=true. If fullscreen looks
wrong in your opinion: Play with the option fullresolution in the
configuration file of DOSBox. To get back from fullscreen mode:
Press alt-enter again.
Q: My CD-ROM doesn't work.
A: To mount your CD-ROM in DOSBox you have to specify some additional options
when mounting the CD-ROM.
To enable CD-ROM support (includes MSCDEX):
- mount d f:\ -t cdrom
To enable low-level CD-ROM-support (uses ioctl if possible):
- mount d f:\ -t cdrom -usecd 0
To enable low-level SDL-support:
- mount d f:\ -t cdrom -usecd 0 -noioctl
To enable low-level aspi-support (win98 with aspi-layer installed):
- mount d f:\ -t cdrom -usecd 0 -aspi
In the commands: - d driveletter you will get in DOSBox
- f:\ location of CD-ROM on your PC.
- 0 The number of the CD-ROM drive, reported by mount -cd
See also the question: The game/application can't find its CD-ROM.
Q: The mouse doesn't work.
A: Usually, DOSBox detects when a game uses mouse control. When you click on
the screen it should get locked (confined to the DOSBox window) and work.
With certain games, the DOSBox mouse detection doesn't work. In that case
you will have to lock the mouse manually by pressing CTRL-F10.
Q: There is no sound.
A: Be sure that the sound is correctly configured in the game. This might be
done during the installation or with a setup/setsound utility that
accompanies the game. First see if an autodetection option is provided. If
there is none try selecting soundblaster or soundblaster16 with the default
settings being "address=220 irq=7 dma=1". You might also want to select
midi at address 330 as music device.
The parameters of the emulated soundcards can be changed in the DOSBox
configuration file.
If you still don't get any sound set the core to normal and use some lower
fixed cycles value (like cycles=2000). Also assure that your host operating
sound does provide sound.
Q: The sound stutters or sounds stretched/weird.
A: You're using too much CPU power to keep DOSBox running at the current speed.
You can lower the cycles, skip frames, reduce the sampling rate of
the respective sound device (see the DOSBox configuration file) or
the mixer device. You can also increase the prebuffer in the configfile.
If you are using cycles=max or =auto, then make sure that there no
background processes interfering! (especially if they access the harddisk)
Q: I can't type \ or : in DOSBox.
A: This is a known problem. It only occurs if your keyboard layout isn't US.
Some possible fixes:
1. Switch the keyboard layout of your operating system.
2. Use / instead.
3. Open dosbox.conf and change usescancodes=false to usescancodes=true.
4. Add the commands you want to execute to the "configfile".
5. Change the DOS keyboard layout (see Section 7 Keyboard Layout).
6. Use ALT-58 for : and ALT-92 for \.
7. for \ try the keys around "enter". For ":" try shift and the keys
between "enter" and "l" (US keyboard layout).
8. Try keyb.com from FreeDOS (http://projects.freedos.net/keyb/).
Look for keyb2.0 pre4 as older and newer versions are known to
have a bug in the loader routines.
Q: The keyboard lags.
A: Lower the priority setting in the DOSBox configuration file
like set "priority=normal,normal". You might also want to
try lowering the cycles.
Q: The cursor always moves into one direction!
A: See if it still happens if you disable the joystick emulation,
set joysticktype=none in the [joystick] section of your DOSBox
configuration file. Maybe also try unplugging any joystick.
If you want to use the joystick in the game, try setting timed=false
and be sure to calibrate the joystick (both in your OS as well as
in the game or the game's setup).
Q: The game/application can't find its CD-ROM.
A: Be sure to mount the CD-ROM with -t cdrom switch, this will enable the
MSCDEX interface required by DOS games to interface with CD-ROMs.
Also try adding the correct label (-label LABEL). To enable lower-level
CD-ROM support, add the following switch to mount: -usecd #, where # is
the number of your CD-ROM drive reported by mount -cd. Under Windows you
can specify -ioctl, -aspi or -noioctl. Look at the description elsewhere
in this document for their meaning.
Try creating a CD-ROM image (preferably CUE/BIN pair) and use the
DOSBox-internal IMGMOUNT tool to mount the image. This enables very
good low-level CD-ROM support on any operating system.
Q: The game/application runs much too slow!
A: Look at the section "How to run resource-demanding games" for more
information.
Q: Can DOSBox harm my computer?
A: DOSBox can not harm your computer more than any other resource demanding
program. Increasing the cycles does not overclock your real CPU.
Setting the cycles too high has a negative performance effect on the
software running inside DOSBox.
Q: I would like to change the memory size/cpu speed/ems/soundblaster IRQ.
A: This is possible! Just create a config file: config -writeconf configfile.
Start your favourite editor and look through the settings. To start DOSBox
with your new settings: dosbox -conf configfile
Q: What sound hardware does DOSBox presently emulate?
A: DOSBox emulates several legacy sound devices:
- Internal PC speaker
This emulation includes both the tone generator and several forms of
digital sound output through the internal speaker.
- Creative CMS/Gameblaster
The is the first card released by Creative Labs(R). The default
configuration places it on port 0x220. It should be noted that enabling
this with the Adlib emulation may result in conflicts.
- Tandy 3 voice
The emulation of this sound hardware is complete with the exception of
the noise channel. The noise channel is not very well documented and as
such is only a best guess as to the sound's accuracy.
- Tandy DAC
Emulation of the Tandy DAC utilizes the soundblaster emulation, thus
be sure the soundblaster is not disabled in the DOSBox configuration
file. The Tandy DAC is only emulated at the BIOS level.
- Adlib
Borrowed from MAME, this emulation is almost perfect and includes the
Adlib's ability to almost play digitized sound.
- SoundBlaster 16/ SoundBlaster Pro I & II /SoundBlaster I & II
By default DOSBox provides Soundblaster 16 level 16-bit stereo sound.
You can select a different SoundBlaster version in the configfile of
DOSBox (See Internal Commands: CONFIG).
- Disney Soundsource
Using the printer port, this sound device outputs digital sound only.
- Gravis Ultrasound
The emulation of this hardware is nearly complete, though the MIDI
capabilities have been left out, since an MPU-401 has been
emulated in other code.
- MPU-401
A MIDI passthrough interface is also emulated. This method of sound
output will only work when used with a General Midi or MT-32 device.
Q: DOSBox crashes on startup and I'm running arts.
A: This isn't really a DOSBox problem, but the solution is to set the
environment variable SDL_AUDIODRIVER to alsa or oss.
Q: Great README, but I still don't get it.
A: A look at "The Newbie's pictorial guide to DOSBox" located at
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewforum.php?f=39 might help you.
Also try the wiki of DOSBox:
http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/wiki/
For more questions read the remainder of this README and/or check
the site/forum:
http://dosbox.sourceforge.net
=========
3. Usage:
=========
An overview of the command line options you can give to DOSBox.
Windows Users must open cmd.exe or command.com or edit the shortcut to
DOSBox.exe for this.
The options are valid for all operating systems unless noted in the option
description:
dosbox [name] [-exit] [-c command] [-fullscreen] [-conf congfigfile]
[-lang languagefile] [-machine machinetype] [-noconsole]
[-startmapper] [-noautoexec] [-scaler scaler | -forcescaler scaler]
dosbox -version
name
If "name" is a directory it will mount that as the C: drive.
If "name" is an executable it will mount the directory of "name"
as the C: drive and execute "name".
-exit
DOSBox will close itself when the DOS application "name" ends.
-c command
Runs the specified command before running "name". Multiple commands
can be specified. Each command should start with "-c", though.
A command can be: an Internal Program, a DOS command or an executable
on a mounted drive.
-fullscreen
Starts DOSBox in fullscreen mode.
-conf configfile
Start DOSBox with the options specified in "configfile".
Multiple -conf options may be present.
See Chapter 10 for more details.
-lang languagefile
Start DOSBox using the language specified in "languagefile".
-machine machinetype
Setup DOSBox to emulate a specific type of machine. Valid choices are:
hercules, cga, pcjr, tandy, vga (default). The machinetype affects
both the videocard and the available soundcards.
-noconsole (Windows Only)
Start DOSBox without showing the console window. Output will
be redirected to stdout.txt and stderr.txt
-startmapper
Enter the keymapper directly on startup. Useful for people with
keyboard problems.
-noautoexec
Skips the [autoexec] section of the loaded configuration file.
-scaler scaler
Uses the scaler specified by "scaler". See the DOSBox configuration
file for the available scalers.
-forcescaler scaler
Similar to the -scaler parameter, but tries to force usage of
the specified scaler even if it might not fit.
-version
output version information and exit. Useful for frontends.
Note: If a name/command/configfile/languagefile contains a space, put
the whole name/command/configfile/languagefile between quotes
("command or file name"). If you need to use quotes within quotes
(most likely with -c and mount).
Windows and OS/2 users can use single quotes inside the double quotes.
Other people should be able to use escaped double quotes inside the
double quotes.
win -c "mount c 'c:\program files\'"
linux -c "mount c \"/tmp/name with space\""
For example:
dosbox c:\atlantis\atlantis.exe -c "MOUNT D C:\SAVES"
This mounts c:\atlantis as c:\ and runs atlantis.exe.
Before it does that it would first mount C:\SAVES as the D drive.
In Windows, you can also drag directories/files onto the DOSBox executable.
=====================
4. Internal Programs:
=====================
DOSBox supports most of the DOS commands found in command.com.
To get a list of the internal commands type "HELP" at the prompt.
In addition, the following commands are available:
MOUNT "Emulated Drive letter" "Real Drive or Directory"
[-t type] [-aspi] [-ioctl] [-noioctl] [-usecd number] [-size drivesize]
[-label drivelabel] [-freesize size_in_mb]
[-freesize size_in_kb (floppies)]
MOUNT -cd
MOUNT -u "Emulated Drive letter"
Program to mount local directories as drives inside DOSBox.
"Emulated Drive letter"
The driveletter inside DOSBox (eg. C).
"Real Drive letter (usually for CD-ROMs in Windows) or Directory"
The local directory you want accessible inside DOSBox.
-t type
Type of the mounted directory. Supported are: dir (default),
floppy, cdrom.
-size drivesize
Sets the size of the drive, where drivesize is of the form
"bps,spc,tcl,fcl":
bps: bytes per sector, by default 512 for regular drives and
2048 for CD-ROM drives
spc: sectors per cluster, usually between 1 and 127
tcl: total clusters, between 1 and 65534
fcl: total free clusters, between 1 and tcl
-freesize size_in_mb | size_in_kb
Sets the amount of free space available on a drive in megabytes
(regular drives) or kilobytes (floppy drives).
This is a simpler version of -size.
-label drivelabel
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 CD-ROM. If you don't specify a label and no
lowlevel support is selected (that is omitting the -usecd # and/or
-aspi parameters or specifying -noioctl):
For win32: label is extracted from "Real Drive".
For Linux: label is set to NO_LABEL.
If you do specify a label, this label will be kept as long as the drive
is mounted. It will not be updated !!
-aspi
Forces use of the aspi layer. Only valid if mounting a CD-ROM under
Windows systems with an ASPI-Layer.
-ioctl
Forces use of ioctl commands. Only valid if mounting a CD-ROM under
a Windows OS which support them (Win2000/XP/NT).
-noioctl
Forces use of the SDL CD-ROM layer. Valid on all systems.
-usecd number
Forces use of SDL CD-ROM support for drive number.
Number can be found by -cd. Valid on all systems.
-cd
Displays all detected CD-ROM drives and their numbers. Use with -usecd.
-u
Removes the mount. Doesn't work for Z:\.
Note: It's possible to mount a local directory as CD-ROM drive.
Hardware support is then missing.
Basically MOUNT allows you to connect real hardware to DOSBox's emulated PC.
So MOUNT C C:\GAMES tells DOSBox to use your C:\GAMES directory as drive C:
in DOSBox. It also allows you to change the drive's letter identification
for programs that demand specific drive letters.
For example: Touche: Adventures of The Fifth Musketeer must be run on your C:
drive. Using DOSBox and its mount command, you can trick the game into
believing it is on the C drive, while you can still place it where you
like. For example, if the game is in D:\OLDGAMES\TOUCHE, the command
MOUNT C D:\OLDGAMES will allow you to run Touche from the D drive.
Mounting your entire C drive with MOUNT C C:\ is NOT recommended! The same
is true for mounting the root of any other drive, except for CD-ROMs (due to
their read-only nature). Otherwise if you or DOSBox make a mistake you may
loose all your files.
It is recommended to put all your applications/games into a subdirectory
and mount that.
General MOUNT Examples:
1. To mount c:\DirX as a floppy :
mount a c:\DirX -t floppy
2. To mount system CD-ROM drive E as CD-ROM drive D in DOSBox:
mount d e:\ -t cdrom
3. To mount system CD-ROM drive at mountpoint /media/cdrom as CD-ROM drive D
in DOSBox:
mount d /media/cdrom -t cdrom -usecd 0
4. To mount a drive with ~870 mb free diskspace (simple version):
mount c d:\ -freesize 870
5. To mount a drive with ~870 mb free diskspace (experts only, full control):
mount c d:\ -size 512,127,16513,13500
6. To mount /home/user/dirY as drive C in DOSBox:
mount c /home/user/dirY
7. To mount the directory where DOSBox was started as D in DOSBox:
mount d .
MEM
Program to display the amount of free memory.
CONFIG -writeconf localfile
CONFIG -writelang localfile
CONFIG -set "section property=value"
CONFIG -get "section property"
CONFIG can be used to change or query various settings of DOSBox
during runtime. It can save the current settings and language strings to
disk. Information about all possible sections and properties can
be found in section 11 (The Config File).
-writeconf localfile
Write the current configuration settings to file. "localfile" is
located on the local drive, not a mounted drive in DOSBox.
The configuration file controls various settings of DOSBox:
the amount of emulated memory, the emulated soundcards and many more
things. It allows access to AUTOEXEC.BAT as well.
See section 11 (The Config File) for more information.
-writelang localfile
Write the current language settings to file. "localfile" is
located on the local drive, not a mounted drive in DOSBox.
The language file controls all visible output of the internal commands
and the internal DOS.
-set "section property=value"
CONFIG will attempt to set the property to new value. At this moment
CONFIG can not report whether the command succeeded or not.
-get "section property"
The current value of the property is reported and stored in the
environment variable %CONFIG%. This can be used to store the value
when using batch files.
Both "-set" and "-get" work from batch files and can be used to set up your
own preferences for each game.
Examples:
1. To create a configfile in your current directory:
config -writeconf dosbox.conf
2. To set the cpu cycles to 10000:
config -set "cpu cycles=10000"
3. To turn ems memory emulation off:
config -set "dos ems=off"
4. To check which cpu core is being used.
config -get "cpu core"
LOADFIX [-size] [program] [program-parameters]
LOADFIX -f
Program to reduce the amount of memory available. Useful for old programs
which don't expect much memory to be free.
-size
number of kilobytes to "eat up", default = 64kb
-f
frees all previously allocated memory
Examples:
1. To start mm2.exe and allocate 64kb memory
(mm2 will have 64 kb less available) :
loadfix mm2
2. To start mm2.exe and allocate 32kb memory :
loadfix -32 mm2
3. To free previous allocated memory :
loadfix -f
RESCAN
Make DOSBox reread the directory structure. Useful if you changed something
on a mounted drive outside of DOSBox. (CTRL - F4 does this as well!)
MIXER
Makes DOSBox display its current volume settings.
Here's how you can change them:
mixer channel left:right [/NOSHOW] [/LISTMIDI]
channel
Can be one of the following: MASTER, DISNEY, SPKR, GUS, SB, FM.
left:right
The volume levels in percentages. If you put a D in front it will be
in decibel (example mixer gus d-10).
/NOSHOW
Prevents DOSBox from showing the result if you set one
of the volume levels.
/LISTMIDI
Lists the available midi devices on your PC (Windows). To select a
device other than the Windows default midi-mapper, add a line
'config=id' to the [midi] section in the configuration file, where
'id' is the number for the device as listed by LISTMIDI.
IMGMOUNT
A utility to mount disk images and CD-ROM images in DOSBox.
IMGMOUNT DRIVE [imagefile] -t [image_type] -fs [image_format]
-size [sectorsbytesize, sectorsperhead, heads, cylinders]
imagefile
Location of the image files to mount in DOSBox. The location can
be on a mounted drive inside DOSBox, or on your real disk. It is
possible to mount CD-ROM images (ISOs or CUE/BIN) as well, if you
need CD swapping capabilities specify all images in succession.
The CDs can be swapped with CTRL-F4 at any time.
-t
The following are valid image types:
floppy: Specifies a floppy image or images. DOSBox will automatically
identify the disk geometry ( 360K, 1.2MB, 720K, 1.44MB, etc).
iso: Specifies a CD-ROM iso image. The geometry is automatic and
set for this size. This can be an iso or a cue/bin.
hdd: Specifies a harddrive image. The proper CHS geometry
must be set for this to work.
-fs
The following are valid file system formats:
iso: Specifies the ISO 9660 CD-ROM format.
fat: Specifies that the image uses the FAT file system. DOSBox will attempt
to mount this image as a drive in DOSBox and make the files
available from inside DOSBox.
none: DOSBox will make no attempt to read the file system on the disk.
This is useful if you need to format it or if you want to boot
the disk using the BOOT command. When using the "none"
filesystem, you must specify the drive number (2 or 3,
where 2 = master, 3 = slave) rather than a drive letter.
For example, to mount a 70MB image as the slave drive device,
you would type:
"imgmount 3 d:\test.img -size 512,63,16,142 -fs none"
(without the quotes) Compare this with a mount to read the
drive in DOSBox, which would read as:
"imgmount e: d:\test.img -size 512,63,16,142"
-size
The Cylinders, Heads and Sectors specification of the drive.
Required to mount hard drive images.
An example how to mount CD-ROM images:
1a. mount c /tmp
1b. imgmount d c:\myiso.iso -t iso
or (which also works):
2. imgmount d /tmp/myiso.iso -t iso
BOOT
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 other operating systems inside DOSBox.
If the target emulated system is PCjr (machine=pcjr) the boot command
can be used to load PCjr cartridges (.jrc).
BOOT [diskimg1.img diskimg2.img .. diskimgN.img] [-l driveletter]
BOOT [cart.jrc] (PCjr only)
diskimgN.img
This can be any number of floppy disk images one wants mounted after
DOSBox boots the specified drive letter.
To swap between images, hit CTRL-F4 to change from the current disk
to the next disk in the list. The list will loop back from the last
disk image to the beginning.
[-l driveletter]
This parameter allows you to specify the drive to boot from.
The default is the A drive, the floppy drive. You can also boot
a hard drive image mounted as master by specifying "-l C"
without the quotes, or the drive as slave by specifying "-l D"
cart.jrc (PCjr only)
When emulation of a PCjr is enabled, cartridges can be loaded with
the BOOT command. Support is still limited.
IPX
You need to enable IPX networking in the configuration file of DOSBox.
All of the IPX networking is managed through the internal DOSBox program
IPXNET. For help on the IPX networking from inside DOSBox, type
"IPXNET HELP" (without quotes) and the program will list the commands
and relevant documentation.
With regard to actually setting up a network, one system needs to be
the server. To set this up, type "IPXNET STARTSERVER" (without the quotes)
in a DOSBox session. The server DOSBox session will
automatically add itself to the virtual IPX network. For every
additional computer that should be part of the virtual IPX network,
you'll need to type "IPXNET CONNECT <computer host name or IP>".
For example, if your server is at bob.dosbox.com,
you would type "IPXNET CONNECT bob.dosbox.com" on every non-server system.
To play games that need Netbios a file named NETBIOS.EXE from Novell is
needed. Establish the IPX connection as explained above, then run
"netbios.exe".
The following is an IPXNET command reference:
IPXNET CONNECT
IPXNET CONNECT opens a connection to an IPX tunnelling server
running on another DOSBox session. The "address" parameter specifies
the IP address or host name of the server computer. You can also
specify the UDP port to use. By default IPXNET uses port 213 - the
assigned IANA port for IPX tunnelling - for its connection.
The syntax for IPXNET CONNECT is:
IPXNET CONNECT address <port>
IPXNET DISCONNECT
IPXNET DISCONNECT closes the connection to the IPX tunnelling server.
The syntax for IPXNET DISCONNECT is:
IPXNET DISCONNECT
IPXNET STARTSERVER
IPXNET STARTSERVER starts an IPX tunnelling server on this DOSBox
session. By default, the server will accept connections on UDP port
213, though this can be changed. Once the server is started, DOSBox
will automatically start a client connection to the IPX tunnelling server.
The syntax for IPXNET STARTSERVER is:
IPXNET STARTSERVER <port>
If the server is behind a router, UDP port <port> needs to be forwarded
to that computer.
On Linux/Unix-based systems port numbers smaller than 1023 can only be
used with root privileges. Use ports greater than 1023 on those systems.
IPXNET STOPSERVER
IPXNET STOPSERVER stops the IPX tunnelling server running on this DOSBox
session. Care should be taken to ensure that all other connections have
terminated as well, since stopping the server may cause lockups on other
machines that are still using the IPX tunnelling server.
The syntax for IPXNET STOPSERVER is:
IPXNET STOPSERVER
IPXNET PING
IPXNET PING broadcasts a ping request through the IPX tunnelled network.
In response, all other connected computers will respond to the ping
and report the time it took to receive and send the ping message.
The syntax for IPXNET PING is:
IPXNET PING
IPXNET STATUS
IPXNET STATUS reports the current state of this DOSBox session's
IPX tunnelling network. For a list of all computers connected to the
network use the IPXNET PING command.
The syntax for IPXNET STATUS is:
IPXNET STATUS
KEYB [languagecode [codepage [codepagefile]]]
Change the keyboard layout. For detailed information about keyboard
layouts please see Section 7.
[languagecode] is a string consisting of two (in special cases more)
characters, examples are GK (Greece) or IT (Italy). It specifies
the keyboard layout to be used.
[codepage] is the number of the codepage to be used. The keyboard layout
has to provide support for the specified codepage, otherwise the layout
loading will fail.
If no codepage is specified, an appropriate codepage for the requested
layout is chosen automatically.
[codepagefile] can be used to load codepages that are yet not compiled
into DOSBox. This is only needed when DOSBox does not find the codepage.
Examples:
1) To load the german keyboard layout (automatically uses codepage 858):
keyb gr
2) To load the russian keyboard layout with codepage 866:
keyb ru 866
In order to type russian characters press ALT+RIGHT-SHIFT.
3) To load the french keyboard layout with codepage 850 (where the
codepage is defined in EGACPI.DAT):
keyb fr 850 EGACPI.DAT
4) To load codepage 858 (without a keyboard layout):
keyb none