I hope we are getting DOSBox Pure at some point.

BuZz

@sirhenrythe5th btw https://readonlymemory.vg/shop/media/the-bitmap-brothers-odyssey/

(Technically spam as I helped with this project. But on topic spam :-) )

hooperre

Was released today on RetroArch!

retropieuser555

@hooperre Cool! Have you been able to install it and have a try?

Edit: Okay I got it working and am playing Champion Manager 2, I had to install GCC with G++, then in the makefile from the dosbox pure github I changed the line CXX := g++ (https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroArch/comments/khmubg/dosbox_pure_out_now_for_public_testing/ggndjer/)

From there I compiled it, put the core in a folder for retroarch to test it and it works. The only dos games I have are CM2 and Fallout though.

But yeah, as a quick test around this does work and the mouse is way easier to setup than standalone dosbox

ExarKunIv

@hooperre very cool. cant wait to try it

xwons

I hope we get a Retropie release soon!

(I'm a bit afraid of compiling it myself and messing with Retropie's own configuration)

xwons

@retropieuser555 said in I hope we are getting DOSBox Pure at some point.:

@hooperre Cool! Have you been able to install it and have a try?

Edit: Okay I got it working and am playing Champion Manager 2, I had to install GCC with G++, then in the makefile from the dosbox pure github I changed the line CXX := g++ (https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroArch/comments/khmubg/dosbox_pure_out_now_for_public_testing/ggndjer/)

From there I compiled it, put the core in a folder for retroarch to test it and it works. The only dos games I have are CM2 and Fallout though.

But yeah, as a quick test around this does work and the mouse is way easier to setup than standalone dosbox

Hey, how did you do it at the end? Did you finally compile it from source? When using the precompiled binary for arm7, it complains that `GLIBC_2.29' is not found.

This is the full output of the logfile:

pi@retropie:~ $ cat /dev/shm/runcommand.log
Parameters:
Executing: /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L  /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-dosbox-pure/dosbox_pure_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/pc/retroarch.cfg "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/1992tris (1993).zip" --verbose --appendconfig /dev/shm/retroarch.cfg
[INFO] RetroArch 1.8.8 (Git 9552f87)
[INFO] Redirecting save file to "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/1992tris (1993).srm".
[INFO] Redirecting save state to "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/1992tris (1993).state".
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] Capabilities:  NEON VFPv3 VFPv4
[INFO] Built: Nov  2 2020
[INFO] Version: 1.8.8
[INFO] Git: 9552f87
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] Loading dynamic libretro core from: "/opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-dosbox-pure/dosbox_pure_libretro.so"
[ERROR] Failed to open libretro core: "/opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-dosbox-pure/dosbox_pure_libretro.so"
Error(s): /lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/libm.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.29' not found (required by /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-dosbox-pure/dosbox_pure_libretro.so)
[INFO] Content ran for a total of: 00 hours, 00 minutes, 00 seconds.
[INFO] Unloading game..
[INFO] Unloading core..
[INFO] Unloading core symbols..
[INFO] [Video]: Does not have enough samples for monitor refresh rate estimation. Requires to run for at least 4096 frames.

retropieuser555

@xwons yup I was getting that error too with the arm7 released version on GitHub, you have to compile it yourself then it'll work.

When you first try and compile though it'll complain it can't find GCC so you'll need to install that beforehand.

xwons

@retropieuser555 Thanks! I compiled it, and it didn't even ask for any dependencies. It just took a few minutes, and then I used the dosbox_pure_libretro.so file it generated. Seems to work fine (although results vary depending on the game).

If anyone is interested in step-by-step instructions on how to configure it for an existing retropie installation, I don't mind sharing.

kash18

@xwons If you can share it step by step

xwons

Ok, so first of all, let's assume you have the latest version of Retropie. I tried it in a raspberry pi 4, but it should work on a rpi3 as well.

Let's start by connecting to your RPi via ssh and downloading the source and compiling it:

git clone https://github.com/schellingb/dosbox-pure
cd dosbox-pure
make

After a while, it will compile a file called dosbox_pure_libretro.so. We have to copy it somewhere where Retropie can find it, the folder where the libretrocores are stored:

mkdir /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-dosbox-pure
cp dosbox_pure_libretro.so /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-dosbox-pure/

And now we have to tell retropie to use that core when launching DOSBox games. I find it easier if we first install the official (non-retroarch) dosbox package with the Retropie-setup script.
Run:

sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh

and select Manage packages, Manage optional packages, dosbox, and install via binary files.
(this will add the MS-DOS entry to EmulationStation and create the pc folder in ~/RetroPie/roms/ where you can place your games).

Now we add dosbox-pure as an emulator for "pc" games:
Edit the /opt/retropie/configs/pc/emulators.cfg file with your preferred text editor and leave it like this:

dosbox = "bash /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/+Start\ DOSBox.sh %ROM%"
lr-dosbox-pure = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L  /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-dosbox-pure/dosbox_pure_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/pc/retroarch.cfg %ROM%"
default = "lr-dosbox-pure"

Finally, since dosbox-pure can run games directly in .zip format, we tell EmulationStation to include Zip files in the list of games:
Edit the /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg, search for the section corresponding to the pc system, and add .zip and .ZIP as valid extensions. It should look like this:

<system>
   <name>pc</name>
   <fullname>PC</fullname>
   <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc</path>
   <extension>.bat .com .exe .sh .conf .zip .BAT .COM .EXE .SH .CONF .ZIP</extension>
   <command>/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 _SYS_ pc %ROM%</command>
   <platform>pc</platform>
   <theme>pc</theme>
 </system>

Save, and restart Retropie. MS-DOS should now be an entry and your games should be listed in there. Many games will already be preconfigured to use a gamepad, and you can bring up a virtual keyboard by pressing L3 (the left analog stick in Playstation-like controllers).

Enjoy!

A Former User

@darksavior it seems eventually there will be no limit to what vintage game the Raspberry Pi can run, it has already emulated the overwhelming majority of gaming systems out there, the one thing it appears to be missing is full DOS x86 emulation with 3D acceleration and support for Windows 9x, which was also used as a gaming OS by many.

retropieuser555

@xwons nice write up! So which games have you tried and found don't run quite so well? I've also noticed putting games in zips makes them load slower.

xwons

@retropieuser555 For some reason, I was not able to run any games that need to mount a CD image to work. I kept receiving errors that the CD could not be mounted. I must look into it. Maybe being inside a Zip file is the reason? I left them that way for convenience.

Many games ask what sound card you want to use when starting. Selecting SoundBlaster usually works fine, but selecting other options often crashes the game.

Also, some games run slow, like Duke Nukem 3D, or are not configured to use a gamepad (e.g. Simcity 2000 or Street Fighter II).

ecto

@xwons said in I hope we are getting DOSBox Pure at some point.:

@retropieuser555 For some reason, I was not able to run any games that need to mount a CD image to work. I kept receiving errors that the CD could not be mounted. I must look into it. Maybe being inside a Zip file is the reason? I left them that way for convenience.

I think on the DosBox Pure Git page it is mentioned that tere is a bug and the CD image has to be in any subfolder. This will certainly be fixed sonn, I guess.

BugAttack

@xwons thanks for the write-up, I installed the latest version (0.4) from GitHub based on your instructions and was impressed how easy/well the couple of games worked that I tested. Hopefully it will soon be added as a standard option for RetroPie.

acril

@xwons thank you for your writeup - it was really helpful. I had one issue with EmulStation which did not want to load my DOS games. It was actually my fault, because I was making changes in /home/pi/.emulationstation/es_systems.cfg earlier and it seams that it has higher priority to /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg.

Now I have different issue -> I have poor performance on DOSBox Pure 0.5 (display is fine I guess, but sound is bad).

Probably I messed up with Retroarch configuration, but I am not sure what exactly. Could anyone share some screenshots of Retroarch options directly from game? I 've tried to make some tweaks but with bad results.

BTW, I am on RPI 4B, 2GB RAM, overclocked: arm 1850, gpu 750, v3d 750, overvoltage 5. Probably not relevant, because other platforms works just fine.

acril

Update to previous message:
I am able to successfully play games (without weird sound) when started RetroArch directly from RetroPie menu instead of starting the game from PC / MS DOS menu. I checked configuration I've tried copy saved config file when everything seams to working directly to /opt/retropie/configs/pc/retroarch.cfg and ~/.config/retroarch/config/dosbox_pure_libretro.cfg, but sound is the same.

I am confused, why opening with RetroPie menu -> RetroArch works well and opening directly a game from Emulastation creates such crackling noise...

ZzackK

When will be add to experimental packets in retropie?

BenMcLean

The problem with DOSBOX Pure is that its format encourages game rips which is bad for game preservation because we need to preserve installation media. DOS needs a standard archiving format which includes installation media and (for CD games) disc images.

hooperre

@benmclean Do you mind explaining why it encourages game rips over full disc images?