Scraping MS-DOS games

gordonfreemanjr

Oh, so there's more messing with the config than I thought... I'm assuming you have to edit DosBox's default folder somehow then?

gordonfreemanjr

@sirhenrythe5th Wait, again:

So, the roms/pc folder contains ONLY .sh files, is that correct?
All DOS game folders are moved over to another folder, which the .sh files address?
2.1 Can I create a folder for all other game folder - say, DOSBOX DATABASE - inside the roms/pc foder, with the roms/pc containing only the .sh files?
What if a game needs to be installed?

sirhenrythe5th

@gordonfreemanjr

yes
yes.
2.1.) yes. and it has not to be in the roms/pc - folder, i used the root-folder instead and created the new folder "pcroms". You have to direct DOSBOX in its config-file to scan this path.
either install it and move the resulting game-(main)folder to your new path or install them in your new folder directly. It is the same procedure as with the preinstalled-packages, which come allready fully configured in their folders ;)

gordonfreemanjr

@sirhenrythe5th This is amazing! Thank you so much, I can't wait to try this.
In the script, is there a space right after "bash"? Or is the:

/opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox/bin/dosbox -c "mount c /home/pi/pcroms" -c "c:" -c "cd SC2000" -c "SC2000.EXE" -c "exit"

a separate line after an ENTER?

sirhenrythe5th

it is a space ;)

gordonfreemanjr

@sirhenrythe5th It doesn’t work.

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Looks like it’s trying to mount roms/pc as the C:/ anyway. I’ve copied your setup and created the pcroms folder in the /roms directory, leaving just the .sh file in the roms/pc directory.

Might a long folder name (including spaces) be the problem? Also, I’m using lr-dosbox instead of the regular dosbox.

Here's my SH file:

#!/bin/bash
/opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox/bin/dosbox -c "mount c /home/pi/pcroms" -c "c:" -c "cd 007 - License to Kill (1989)" -c "BONDE.EXE" -c "exit"

Any ideas?

mitu

Might a long folder name (including spaces) be the problem? Also, I’m using lr-dosbox instead of the regular dosbox.

lr-dosbox doesn't support .sh files.

-c "cd 007 - License to Kill (1989)"

You know that DOS doesn't support filenames with more than 8 characters, right ? 007 - License to Kill (1989) is not a valid folder name under DOS (not in this form anyway), you should rename it to 007 and re-try.

gordonfreemanjr

@mitu Thanks. I knew something was wrong with the folder name, just didn't quite remember what the DOS naming restrictions were. Thanks for the reminder.

Has DOSBox already generated some config files I should delete before?

mitu

@gordonfreemanjr said in Scraping MS-DOS games:

Has DOSBox already generated some config files I should delete before?

Most likely no. As an alternative to a .sh file, you can use .conf files with the commands added to the autoexec section.
For instance, assuming your game is in /home/pi/pcroms/007, you can create a 007 - License to Kill.conf file in your pc rom folder containing:

[autoexec]
mount c /home/pi/pcroms
c:
cd 007
bonde.exe
exit

They're easier to write and they're supported by lr-dosbox . Plus, you can just start dosbox without any games and enter the commands one by one to check if they're ok.

gordonfreemanjr

@mitu Amazing! I’ll do that.

If I use a .conf file this way, can I still save a game specific config via the RetroArch menu? Will it work? (I use it mostoy for the „cycles” option).

mitu

@gordonfreemanjr said in Scraping MS-DOS games:

If I use a .conf file this way, can I still save a game specific config via the RetroArch menu?

If you're referring to the core options part, then yes. But you can use the .conf file for that , by adding the cycles to the [cpu] section of the .conf.

gordonfreemanjr

@mitu No luck. Running the conf files from the Emulation Station just brings me to an empty DOSBox quick menu with no items available.

mitu

Can you post your .conf file ? Does it work with dosbox ?

gordonfreemanjr

This is the 007 - License to Kill.conf file:

[autoexec]
mount c /home/pi/roms/pcroms
c:
cd 007
bonde.exe
exit

It doesn't work with standard dosbox either.

mitu

What's the error you're receiving from doxbox ? Is the game path correct ?

gordonfreemanjr

@mitu Yes, the pcroms subfolder was placed in the pi/roms folder, and the .conf files are placed in the roms/pc folder. There’s no error to speak of, that’s just how it boots - empty Quick Menu. If I choose to boot the .conf with dosbox, it just doesn’t launch, bringing me back to Emulation Station.

mitu

Then a log file (/dev/shm/runcommand.log) may shed some light on the issue.

EDIT: as I said earlier, you can also start dosbox, then type each of the .conf file commands at the command line and see if you get any error (and where).

gordonfreemanjr

@mitu I just noticed a mistake regarding the file path. That’s probably what’s causing the failures. I’ll check it momentarily, but there’s something else:

while trying to configure best config for Action Supercross in lr-dosbox, I set CPU to 386_prefetch, which caused the emulator to crash. Now it won’t start, even after reboot. What do I do?

mitu

@gordonfreemanjr said in Scraping MS-DOS games:

while trying to configure best config for Action Supercross in lr-dosbox, I set CPU to 386_prefetch, which caused the emulator to crash. Now it won’t start, even after reboot. What do I do?

Revert the CPU option ?

gordonfreemanjr

@mitu Yes, but how do I do this if I’m not able to start lr-dosbox at all?