how use DOSBox-X?

[Joaquim]

i installed the DOSBox-X on Windows 98.
it's working, but seems slow or something:
1 - the mouse position isn't compatible with menu item position;
2 - the sound seems slow and\or with noise.
how can i configure the DOSBox-X for get more perfomance?

[RainyShadow]

I use D-Fend Reloaded, you can have separate configs for different programs, etc.

Not updated recently, but it works for me.

[jaclaz]

15 hours ago, Joaquim said:

i installed the DOSBox-X on Windows 98.

May I ask why?

15 hours ago, Joaquim said:

it's working, but seems slow or something:

Are you surprised that virtualizing an OS is slower than native?

jaclaz

[Gansangriff]

Dosbox, that program isn't working out of the box properly. You must configure it first.

I remember the "frameskip" option did improve the performance.

You need a lot more computing power for the emulation of an elderly device (than the target has). What kind of hardware do you use for Windows 98?

Also, some games perform very poorly in Dosbox. F1GP was one of them. You might be better off with the MS-DOS mode in Windows 98 for some games.

[RainyShadow]

As a reason to run DosBox, my guess is to use it as a workaround for missing DOS drivers (sound, most likely).

[UCyborg]

6 hours ago, jaclaz said:

Are you surprised that virtualizing an OS is slower than native?

Emulating in this case, which is much slower.

A system that still supports Win9x is likely slow to begin with. Big problem for late DOS games especially as far as emulation goes. On such system, it would be preferable to fix whatever issue you have that prevents running whatever you're trying to run natively as was meant to be.

It's possible to have a computer that has no problem running graphically intensive games natively, but struggles with games in a DOS emulator, where a single core of the CPU is pretty much all that can be utilized to the max.

[Nokiamies]

Dosbox on win98 sounds strange to me unless mean dos prompt aka dosbox. I remember nt and 2000 users having it but not 98. What is issue running dos games under Windows 98? Sound? Many ac97 cards had sound blaster emulator for sound. If mouse just make cutemouse load at dos mode.

29 minutes ago, UCyborg said:

Emulating in this case, which is much slower.

A system that still supports Win9x is likely slow to begin with. Big problem for late DOS games especially as far as emulation goes. On such system, it would be preferable to fix whatever issue you have that prevents running whatever you're trying to run natively as was meant to be.

long ago I had 2.80ghz Pentium 4 478 and it ran dos games just fine on dosbox svn daum. It had Windows XP though and not 98 and dosbox was highly tweaked to use all cpu power

[jaclaz]

14 hours ago, UCyborg said:

Emulating in this case, which is much slower.

A system that still supports Win9x is likely slow to begin with. Big problem for late DOS games especially as far as emulation goes. On such system, it would be preferable to fix whatever issue you have that prevents running whatever you're trying to run natively as was meant to be.

It's possible to have a computer that has no problem running graphically intensive games natively, but struggles with games in a DOS emulator, where a single core of the CPU is pretty much all that can be utilized to the max.

Yep .

If we draw a line in or around 2002-2005, I would say that *any* machine around that time is:
1) still compatible with win9x/me and DOS (including drivers and what not)
2) runs waaay faster than *any* machine that actually used to run DOS/9x/Me

Now, how much does it cost such a machine?

I would say with anything between 0 and 50 bucks you can find one, let's double the higher estimate to 100 so that you can possibly replace some parts.(let's say the PSU and the disk).

Is this money worth it?

IMHO (and as many MSFN members know, I am, besides old and grumpy also cheap ) yes, it is fully worth it[1].

I can understand (and actually extensively use) VM's and similar for the convenience of running another (oldish) OS in a window in the "main" machine for quick tests, experiments and what not, but unless you have a very powerful machine, and an OS and virtualization/emulation software capable of managing it, the experience - particularly with sound and games - won't be the same as the "native" one.

Running on DOS (or Win9x/Me) a VM or emulator to run a DOS (or Win9x/Me) game makes very little sense.

I am not at all familiar with Dosbox or Dosbox-X but as a rough estimate I would say that a VM/emulator will be some 30% slower than the corresponding "native", possibly with the exception of disk throughput, as you can use a ramdisk in the VM (depending on the "outer" OS, i.e. if it can manage large amount of memory - which is not hte case for Dos/9x/Me).

jaclaz

 

[1] for *some reasons* I am particularly fond of old VIA mini-itx motheboard that with a C3@600 Mhz can also be fanless and - last time I checked - worked just fine with Dos/9x/Me with a decent enough speed, surely not gaming machines, but powerful enough for classic games, as well, there are a number of suitable "thin clients" around that can be made into nice Dos/9x/Me retro game machines, example:

https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=49092

 

[Joaquim]

the slow or something is only on sound.... i will try the "frameskip"...

the game seems playing normaly.

the other problem is the mouse position:
see the black mouse postion and and the menu item position... what i mean, is the y position mouse is more big than menu item y

https://imgur.com/phz9LWI

[DosFreak]

Post here:
https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x/issues

[jumper]

If sound is glitching, look for an audio sound buffer setting that can be increased.

 

[Joaquim]

"If sound is glitching, look for an audio sound buffer setting that can be increased."

i can'f find the sound buffer option only volume for increased and sound options IRQ and others options... but not audio buffer

[RainyShadow]

I just checked Dosbox-X, seems nice. Maybe a bit overloaded with options for you though.

1 hour ago, Joaquim said:

i can'f find the sound buffer option

Configuration Tool > Mixer 

Increase buffersize and prebuffer (0-100%). This may make sound be delayed a bit.

Reduce the sampling rate in the sound mixer, and also in the emulated sound card settings (SB, GUS, etc.). Use standard values like 22050 or 11025. This will lower the sound quality a bit though, 

Also try to free some CPU from other parts of the emulation - disable unused hardware like network, floppy, IDE ports, etc. 

Enable Frameskip - this is a compromise between speed (with "jumpy" video) and smooth video (but slowed down if host CPU can't keep up). 

Disable video scaler and V-Sync.

Try Dynamic CPU core. 

Reduce emulated CPU speed/cycles. 

 

If nothing helps, try the regular Dosbox with the frontend from my first post. It has a database with settings for many games.

[Joaquim]

the sound continues with some noise can i get it more clean? at least the sound speed seems normal

and the worst is the mouse position(like you see on that imgur image link)

[jumper]

The VM must use Waveout Audio or DirectSound, so experiment with those Windows settings as well.