[DOSBox] official thread

Ashpool

@nemo93: Thanks for the Info about Staging and about DOSBox ECE (just heard of it in the context of DOSbian before and wasn't aware that it features Glide support)!

Feel free to share any feedback if you give these a try.

I'll try to remember that, but as both games I've mentioned are in fact Windows Games (9x) I am doubtfull about any (playable) success . But inspired by this MagPi Article about installing Win98 on a Pi4, I am eager to give it at least a try ;)

Ashpool

@nemo93 And here it is, a shortened (mostly rant free) summary of my last weeks experiences with dosbox-x and dosbox ECE with a slight taste of 3dfx gaming (for dosbox-x with compiled OpenGlide as a wrapper).

Building ECE is imho a real PITA compared to dosbox-x, but nevertheless...
Under retropie (terminal) i had to experience, that as soon as usescancodes is true, and apparently thats valid for internationel keyboards if set as such (I am on a german one), the keys are shifted by 8 (backspace is u, c is right shift, etc.) - to keep it short, I had to set scancodes to false and using the keymap I found in a german forum here: Raspbian und DOSBox - Tastatur (still had to swap yz in it, but it spared me the time of making one myself).
For a quick Glide test I used (an image) of my "Extreme Assault (GER)" Cd patched within dosbox* to xa_110 (the first patch added a 3dfx exe, before it was plain/mmx enhanced only) and well... being unable to use opengl in the (pure) retropie environment, 3dfx gaming on it was unbearable as dosbox-x used its internal glide-emulation (and music was only midi, the tracks from the .cue/.bin image weren't recognized). For dosboxECE it was a complete failure, as that one was complaining/aborting the start of xa_3dfx with a "Fatal error: unable to load DLL".

Ok, switching over to Raspberry OS (not sure whether needed or not, but with enabled experimental OpenGL set in raspi-config)... compiled both forks again... no german keyboard trouble, and at least i was able to play the first three missions with openglide in dosbox-x (here the mounted image played the cda tracks just fine)... wasn't that bad an experience, but in further runs... from time to time the gfx lost the textures and showed just polygons or major glitches. Dosbox ECE had the same problem as before "unable to load DLL".

So for now, I think to skip further Glide/Voodoo experiments on the raspberry and try it under Ubuntu and Windows (later one with the option of dgVoodoo and/or nGlide vs. Openglide could be the better option... if not, german keyboard again, dosbox-x would suffer from this unfinished issue AltGr issues when using MS-DOS which is, with my intend of running a W95B/W98SE in it, somewhat a nogo. Under Ubuntu there are no keyboard problems so far. And I haven't tried ECE in WIN/UBU so far. ... but those experiences are better to be told elsewhere.

P.S.: I really don't get it why under x11 environments the scancodes have to be shifted by 8, or why the sources assume that to be true if it is a *nix system.

Edit: The .dll problem with dosbox ece was that I had forgotten that I had replaced the glide2x.ovl in the game directory with the one from dosbox-x (for the openglide wrapper test) - but dosbox ece turned out to be unplayable slow too (retropie environment, raspberry os not tested yet)

aftermath17

@nemo93 said in [DOSbox] official thread:

as per my other post above, run DOSBox Staging to get to the DOS prompt C:\>. Once you get there type in: C:\>config -wc. This will automatically upgrade your dosbox-staging.conf with all the new parameters.

provided you're running the 0.78.0 version, copy over my dosbox-staging.conf file from that page. At least the important sections which are: [sdl], [dosbox], [render] and [cpu].

I am running dosbox-staging (0.78.1) as per my binary and my config file. I renamed my dosbox-staging.conf and then ran "C:>config -wc" as per your post. Dosbox re-generated a new dosbox-staging.conf as expected. The problem is, I'm not see the settings set the way you are describing. Have the defaults changed? I see these (to select a few):

fullscreen         = false
display            = 0
fullresolution     = desktop
windowresolution   = default
window_position    = auto
window_decorations = true
vsync              = false
vsync_skip         = 7000
max_resolution     = auto
output             = opengl
texture_renderer   = auto
capture_mouse      = seamless middlerelease
sensitivity        = 100
priority           = auto,auto
mapperfile         = mapper-sdl2-0.78.1.map
raw_mouse_input    = false
waitonerror        = true
priority           = auto,auto
mapperfile         = mapper-sdl2-0.78.1.map
screensaver        = auto

frameskip          = 0

nemo93

@aftermath17 thanks for reporting. The thing is when you regenerate dosbox-staging.conf via C:\>config -wc it won't get the values/settings from the Retropie script. Just copy/paste the file from there (make sure you pick the Raspberry one!). This should provide you with the best out-of-the-box experience on your Pi.

As with everything DOS related the file and settings above are the ones I deemed the most appropriate to run a large selection of games. Yet it won't work for all though. With DOS you always have to fine-tune your games configs!

The next Staging release is imminent (0.79) and it will bring an even smoother experience on the Pi (and all platforms in general) as well as plenty of audio related improvement (mostly Sound Blaster) to name a few. I'll update the Retropie script with the new best settings I've found in the coming days.

Hope this helps.

aftermath17

@nemo93 said in [DOSbox] official thread:

@aftermath17 thanks for reporting. The thing is when you regenerate dosbox-staging.conf via C:\>config -wc it won't get the values/settings from the Retropie script. Just copy/paste the file from there (make sure you pick the Raspberry one!). This should provide you with the best out-of-the-box experience on your Pi.

As with everything DOS related the file and settings above are the ones I deemed the most appropriate to run a large selection of games. Yet it won't work for all though. With DOS you always have to fine-tune your games configs!

The next Staging release is imminent (0.79) and it will bring an even smoother experience on the Pi (and all platforms in general) as well as plenty of audio related improvement (mostly Sound Blaster) to name a few. I'll update the Retropie script with the new best settings I've found in the coming days.

Hope this helps.

Thank you! I created a new copy of my dosbox-staging.conf using the settings from the website and that worked fine.

I've been using the DOSBox Pure core using RetroArch. That works pretty well. One thing I really like about it is the fact that you can run games from the .ZIP file.

One game that crashes for me using DOSBox Pure is FaceOff! I extracted it into a folder in my roms folder (/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc). Then, I created a faceoff.conf file that has nothing but the [autoexec] portion. If I run it from the DosBox Staging binary folder using this command line, it works without crashing!

./dosbox -conf /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/faceoff.conf

If I try to run it directly from Emulationstation (after choosing to use DosBox Staging as my emulator for this ROM), it fails because it's trying to run it using the .zip file. I know there's a '+Start DOSBox-Staging.sh' in my roms folder, so somehow I'm sure I need to get Emulationstation to use that to launch Dosbox and my custom conf file. I haven't figured out how to put those pieces together but this is promising.

nemo93

@aftermath17 glad you are able to play your game(s) on your Pi. You should have an emulators.cfg file under your Retropie configs/pc folder. Setting default = "dosbox-staging" should do the trick.

That may be a bit brutal as Retropie allows users to pick a specific emulator per game. You have to press any key/button right after launching a game to bring the runcommand menu. Then up to you to configure the way you'd like to. So that you can mix Pure and Staging for instance.

nemo93

Hi everyone, just to let you know that new DOSBox Staging has been released. You can already update to that version yet be sure to rely on values set by the new PR (to be merged in Retropie). This would ensure a smoother upgrade. I do really recommend users to move to that as it brings many improvements. You can read the full changelog there. Note that if you're a Windows 3.x user (!) that's also the version you need.

If you have any feedback (not only about Staging) feel free to share.

EDIT: After you upgrade your DOSBox Staging binary it's wise to update your dosbox-staging.conf as well. Your existing settings will be retained however extraneous comments will be dropped. You have to run DOSBox Staging first then type in the following command:

C:\>config -wc

Lolonois

@nemo93 Nice. Works like a charm, I could remove the custom settings from most of my game conf files. Tested on a Rpi4 with recent RetroPie.

However, for instance "Dungeon Keeper" and "The Last Express" need higher values for buffersize (4096) and prebuffer (120). But that is not an issue.

Thanks a lot for all the effort to improve dosbox-staging.

nemo93

@Lolonois thanks for reporting and for the positive comment. All credits to the dev team and maintainers of the project!

I didn't have to increase the values for the 2 games you've mentioned but given the flexibility of DOSBox it's indeed easy to set values best suiting your needs.

ecto

I'm also very happy with the latest Dosbox-staging!
What I did though, was changing the cycles back to auto, as i.e. Dungeon Keeper was too slow, especially in high-res mode. DK is now playable on my setup with staging, but Dosbox SVN still is more fluent with this games.

I will try other "high-res" games, and see how dosbox-staging is performing there. Wing Commander 4 for instance is running just fine now!

I'm very exited, but I don't have much time to test right now... :(

jamrom2

@nemo93

Thanks for the good new, however, mine fails on a Pi3B+. Log files say it's looking for a shader. Where are the shaders for DosBox as they don't seem to build with the update.

I'm running A-10 Tank Killer, which worked fine on the previous version of DosBox.

2022-09-20 12:58:36.261 | SDL: version 2.0.10 initialized (RPI video and alsa audio)
2022-09-20 12:58:36.265 | CONFIG: Loaded primary conf file /home/pi/.config/dosbox/dosbox-staging.conf
2022-09-20 12:58:36.266 | CONFIG: Loaded custom conf file /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/a10_staging.conf
2022-09-20 12:58:36.266 | RENDER: Shader file 'sharp' not found
2022-09-20 12:58:36.266 | RENDER:
2022-09-20 12:58:36.266 | RENDER: List of available GLSL shaders
2022-09-20 12:58:36.266 | RENDER: ------------------------------
2022-09-20 12:58:36.266 | RENDER: Path './glshaders' does not exist
2022-09-20 12:58:36.266 | RENDER:
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER: Path '/home/pi/.config/dosbox/glshaders' has no shaders
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER:
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER: Path '/opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox-staging/bin/../resources/glshaders' does not exist
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER:
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER: Path '/opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox-staging/bin/resources/glshaders' does not exist
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER:
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER: Path '/usr/local/share/dosbox-staging/glshaders' does not exist
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER:
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER: Path '/usr/share/dosbox-staging/glshaders' does not exist
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER:
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER: Path 'resources/glshaders' does not exist
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER:
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER: The above shaders can be used exactly as listed in the "glshader"
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER: conf setting, without the need for the resource path or .glsl extension.
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | RENDER:
Stack trace:
5 0x76956718 __libc_start_main + 268
4 0x217394 /opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox-staging/bin/dosbox() [0x217394]
3 0x31178 /opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox-staging/bin/dosbox() [0x31178]
2 0x310e8 /opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox-staging/bin/dosbox() [0x310e8]
1 0x155bfc /opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox-staging/bin/dosbox() [0x155bfc]
0 0x3dd28 /opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox-staging/bin/dosbox() [0x3dd28]
2022-09-20 12:58:36.267 | ABORT: RENDER: Fallback shader file 'none' not found and is mandatory
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/+Start DOSBox-Staging.sh: line 43: 19422 Aborted "/opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox-staging/bin/dosbox" "${params[@]}"

Thanks!

JamR

mitu

@jamrom2 You'll have to wait for the install script to be updated in order to get the default shaders included and get past this error. Or you can create the shaders' folder as $HOME/.config/dosbox/glshaders and copy the files from here in that folder.

EDIT: I found it funny that specifying glshader = none in the configuration file would actually make dosbox to load a shader from none.glsl file.

jamrom2

@mitu ok, I'll give that a try. I would think without a shader specified it should just load without it, or default to none and skip it.

Will the shaders even work with a Pi3? Never did before.

Thanks!

mitu

@jamrom2 said in [DOSbox] official thread:

Will the shaders even work with a Pi3? Never did before.

They don't seem to work, but that may be because the detection in dosbox-staging for the GL driver seems to fail on a Pi3. I wonder why that is...

jamrom2

@mitu That worked. I added the shader folder.

Not sure about using the shaders though. I set mine to "none" until it's confirmed they'll work on a Pi3.

nemo93

Hi,

DOSBox Staging latest update has now been merged in Retropie (0.79.1). It contains bugfixes (mostly SoundBlaster related) as well as a new extra: mapping files for Xbox controllers. This allows users to enjoy DOS games with only their controllers. Plug your controller, point your conf to the proper mapperfile and you're good to go. Select+Start combo works the same as RetroArch: it closes Staging. The doc is there.

Shaders are there as well yet they will work only when an opengl* output is selected (RPi4 only).

I'd recommend users to upgrade to that version from the Retropie-Setup script. Staging has now been moved under the optional section.

After you've upgraded the DOSBox Staging binary it's wise to update your dosbox-staging.conf as well. Do so by typing in the following command:

C:\>config -wc

Thanks to the DOSBox and Staging community. Any feedback appreciated as well as any participation. And of course thanks a lot to mitu and buzz for excellent feedback, thorough testing and advices.

duglor

Leisure Suit Larry 6 and 7.
On the oc they run fine with no modifications. However, the dosbox on the pie is asking for a cd. Is there some batch file with mounted drive I need to create? Does the pie being drive Z mess things up as it isn’t drive C?

Specific questions I have , I know. If you need the files...to try to simulate issue....

nemo93

@duglor thanks for reporting. Not sure to understand your exact issue (what's an oc?). The Leisure Suit Larry's are all working fine on DOSBox Staging (DOSBox too I suppose) even if I prefer to go with ScummVM for those. You have to mount your CD image then go through the install process prior running the game.

There are quite a lot of docs available online covering that topic. I can point you to DOSBox Staging wiki which contains some pointers for new users. The official DOSBox wiki is also a great source of information. Please read those carefully.

The Z: drive is special as it contains necessary files to run the DOS console. It won't mess up with anything.

nemo93

DOSBox Staging 0.80.0 has landed a couple of days ago. Thanks as usual @mitu for ensuring Retropie's script has been updated accordingly (thanks!).

You can read the changelog but in a nutshell:

ReelMagic DOS games are now playable thanks to the efforts of Jon Dennis, Chris Guthrie, and Joseph Whittaker, with testing and feedback from Vogons users Uka, DonutKing, and Vetz
Mouse emulation has been improved and now supports up to six independent mice, enabling split-screen play in games like The Settlers and The Settlers II
More settings, including video, audio, and MIXER effects, can now be changed on the fly

Enjoy!

nemo93

DOSBox Staging 0.80.1 has been released with the usual bugfixes. Yet the biggest news is: new website for this fork. It just landed hence few things will be tweaked in the coming days. An overhaul of the doc should come as well.

I still consider it the best 'all rounder' fork available. Really nice performance (ie. Doom runs at 'full speed' on stock Pi4), same config file as Dosbox 'SVN' (eg. easy to make the switch) and clearly the best fork regarding audio given the many soundcards supported/emulated with great accuracy. Not as comfortable as a libretro 'core' (Pure, Core, etc) for sure yet it's worth a try. I'd like to mention also Dosbox-X which is fantastic fork as well for those wiling plenty of options.

@BuZz @mitu not sure it's the best place to ask yet would you be ok for Retropie to appear under the Downloads/Linux section of that new site? (Frankly I'd love to). We collectively spent a tremendous amount of time to ensure it works great on RPi devices and integrate well in your distro. I won't push any more PR if you agree :-)

Thanks.