HOWTO: Pro Pinball: Timeshock! in Dosbox on Rpi3

DRB

OK, I've made progress, but still cannot get the script to work. I can launch DOSBox and mount the C: drive to /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/pptime

Then I can get the CDROM mounted with the following line:
C:\ imgmount d /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/pptime/pptime.cue -t iso

Then I can launch and play the game via C:\ pinball.exe

Here's where I need help...
How can I properly translate those commands to create the .sh file?

edmaul69

@DRB you didnt post any caps, but if there are caps in any of the names you need to fix them in this info. this is what you need to put in the .sh file.then you need to give your .sh files 0777 permissions. you used "-t iso" so i posted that. however to truly make it a cdrom drive, i believe it should be "-t cdrom -fs iso"

#!/bin/bash 
/opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox/bin/dosbox -c "imgmount d /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/pptime/pptime.cue -t iso" -c "mount c /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc" -c "c:" -c "cd/pptime" -c "pinball.exe" -c "exit"

DRB

Thanks edmaul69, I will try this later today. I have a couple clarifying questions though.

What are 0777 permissions and how do I do that?
With regard to the -t iso, that is exactly how I typed it when it worked.
What does the -c do?
I noticed that you didn't include the backslashes (/) at the end of each command; is that an issue? One of the other repliers above noted that I didn't add them to one of the scripts that I tried.
Can your script be copy/pasted exactly as is or should each new line start with -c?
To address your questions about the caps; what I typed is what worked exactly. The only caps were in RetroPie.

Thanks for the help. I will try this later and report back.

edmaul69

@DRB put it exactly how i have it. No seperate lines no backslashes. I have made hundreds of .sh files this way. They all work. As far as caps, when you make an .sh file caps matter. You need to make sure the pptime folders and pptime.exe match what is in this file

backstander

@DRB

What are 0777 permissions and how do I do that?

That number represents what the Linux system uses for file attributes. 777 just makes it so anybody can execute a file. Here's how I'd change the attributes to executable (from the command line):

chmod +x /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/pptime.sh

With regard to the -t iso, that is exactly how I typed it when it worked.

@edmaul69 is pretty much the DOSBox guru around here so I'd listen to him!

What does the -c do?

Basically it just tells DOSBox to use what follows as a command to execute in DOS.

I noticed that you didn't include the backslashes (/) at the end of each command

You only use the backslashes if you want to continue code on the next line. If you use @edmaul69's example and put it all on one line then you don't need the backslashes.

Can your script be copy/pasted exactly as is or should each new line start with -c?

Yes, @edmaul69's script can be copied and pasted exactly.

To address your questions about the caps; what I typed is what worked exactly. The only caps were in RetroPie.

@edmaul69 was just try to emphasize that file & directory name case is important in Linux (case sensitive). Windows is not case sensitive so most users new to Linux get confused about that.

DRB

Alright guys, I really appreciate you putting up with my [very steep] learning curve. I understand the caps issue with Linux and all caps issues are correct. Unfortunately I do not know what to do with the following line suggested by @backstander

chmod +x /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pic/pptime.sh

I have created a proper .sh file with a copy/paste from @edmaul69 's post but it still doesn't work (as suspected until I know what to do with the above line of code.)

Thanks again in advance for your help!

edmaul69

@DRB said in HOWTO: Pro Pinball: Timeshock! in Dosbox on Rpi3:

chmod +x /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pic/pptime.sh

Are you accessing the .sh with a pc? If you are using something like winscp you can right click on the file and choose properties. Then change permissions from 0644 to 0777 and save. Then it will work. Also

chmod +x /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pic/pptime.sh

Says pic instead of pc. You need to change it to:

chmod +x /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/pptime.sh

backstander

@edmaul69 @DRB
My bad. I have updated my original post. I was copying and pasting something from earlier on this thread and I must had got pic but yes it should be pc!

Unfortunately I do not know what to do with the following line suggested by @backstander

Using WinSCP might be the easiest route for you. The 2nd way is you can exit EmulationStation by pressing F4 and drop into a command line on your Raspberry Pi with an attached USB keyboard. 3rd way is to SSH in using a program like PuTTY.

DRB

@backstander - thaks for the reply and clarification on the /pic vs. /pc.

With regard to entering the command, I am familiar with the F4 and PuTTY to get to a command prompt and that is what I wanted to confirm. Once at the command prompt, do I just enter the command anywhere? Or do I need to first navigate to a particular directory?

I navigated to /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc and entered the line: chmod +x /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/pptime.sh in the bash terminal, but nothing seems to happen.

I installed WinSCP and found the permissions that you mentioned and changed it to 0777 (it was not at 0644 to start with).

I still get the same error.

backstander

@DRB

Once at the command prompt, do I just enter the command anywhere? Or do I need to first navigate to a particular directory?
I navigated to /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc and entered the line: chmod +x /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/pptime.sh in the bash terminal, but nothing seems to happen.

You can type it just like it is because it already has the directory location in it but first navigating to that directory won't hurt anything. I don't think it gives any feedback unless there was an error. If you didn't see anything after it is run then I would assume it worked.

I installed WinSCP and found the permissions that you mentioned and changed it to 0777 (it was not at 0644 to start with).

Do you remember what number it was originally? Just curious.

I still get the same error.

Are you using the gog.com version of Pro Pinball Timeshock?

DRB

@backstander

Unfortunately I don't remember the original number before I put in 0777. I thought about that right after changing it.

Yes, I am using the gog.com version of the game.

backstander

@DRB
I bet it was 0766 or rwxrw-rw-

Yes, I am using the gog.com version of the game.

Hmmm, I'm stumped. From one of the documents I posted a couple days ago, they thought it might be some kind of special code that looks for the original cd (like early copy protection) but the gog.com version shouldn't have that code in there.

DRB

Well this is quite frustrating isn't it. Since I CAN get it to work from the command prompt in DOSBoxbut cannot get it to work via the .sh script.

I'll keep searching and experimenting.

edmaul69

@DRB do you see any error message? Also can you post a pic of your contents inside the pptime folder while you are using winscp? I want to see if i can find an error

DRB

@edmaul69

The only error is: Internal error: Error 3 initialising CDROM routines.

Here are the files alt text

edmaul69

@DRB as i stated caps and lowercase was important. PINBALL.EXE is in all caps so you have to do that in the .sh file. So it needs to look like this:

#!/bin/bash 
/opt/retropie/emulators/dosbox/bin/dosbox -c "imgmount d /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/pptime/pptime.cue -t iso" -c "mount c /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc" -c "c:" -c "cd/pptime" -c "PINBALL.EXE" -c "exit"

DRB

@edmaul69

IT'S WORKING

My bad; I changed to PINBALL.EXE but still having the same error. However, I did find something that may be worthy of mentioning though. On the MS-DOS screen of Retropie, there are 2 PPTIME entries. The first one brings me to the results that I have been talking about (the error message) and the other one actually works now. Prior to this, it would only act like it is starting DOSBox then returns to the menu.

Anyway; any thoughts on how to remove the first (not working) entry? Or why it may be there?

[edit]
Well, I thought it was working. It launches and plays, but now that I hooked it up to my system with speakers I am not getting any sound. Ugh!

edmaul69

@DRB that is what everyone reports. Was sound working before?

DRB

@edmaul69

OK, I got sound (music) working now. I'm not quite sure but I am going to blame it on operator error (long day). Music is the only sound that I am getting though. No mechanical, sound effects, or voices. They work properly on Windows but not here.

I wonder if @BobHarris ever get his sound working? Maybe he will chime in.

edmaul69

@DRB start dosbox. Setup the game all manually like you were going to play but dont run pinball.exe. Run setup.exe. Setup all audio, music and sfx to soundblaster. Then boot the game. See if that works.