Arch Linux

black_dragon

Member

Registered: 2025-04-18

Posts: 27

[SOLVED] DOSBox audio stuttering

Hi,
I'm having audio stuttering when playing PCM sound in DOSBox.
I tried different cycles option (surely not CPU limited), different SDL backends. Looks like buffer underrun but I can't find the root cause.
My Arch is using PipeWire.
How to troubleshoot the issue? What could be wrong here?

Last edited by black_dragon (2025-04-27 14:40:19)

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 14,576

Re: [SOLVED] DOSBox audio stuttering

Please post the contents of the dosbox.conf you use and the output of pacman -Qs pipewire

---

Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky

black_dragon

Member

Registered: 2025-04-18

Posts: 27

Re: [SOLVED] DOSBox audio stuttering

pacman -Qs pipewire

local/gst-plugin-pipewire 1:1.4.2-1
    Multimedia graph framework - pipewire plugin
local/kpipewire 6.3.4-1 (plasma)
    Components relating to pipewire use in Plasma
local/lib32-libpipewire 1:1.4.2-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - 32-bit - client library
local/lib32-pipewire 1:1.4.2-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - 32-bit
local/libpipewire 1:1.4.2-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - client library
local/libwireplumber 0.5.8-1
    Session / policy manager implementation for PipeWire - client library
local/pipewire 1:1.4.2-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor
local/pipewire-alsa 1:1.4.2-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - ALSA configuration
local/pipewire-audio 1:1.4.2-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - Audio support
local/pipewire-jack 1:1.4.2-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - JACK replacement
local/pipewire-pulse 1:1.4.2-1
    Low-latency audio/video router and processor - PulseAudio replacement
local/pipewire-session-manager 1:1.4.2-1
    Session manager for PipeWire (default provider)
local/wireplumber 0.5.8-1
    Session / policy manager implementation for PipeWire

dosbox.conf

[sdl]
fullscreen = on

[autoexec]
MOUNT C game
MOUNT C savegames -t overlay
IMGMOUNT D "cd/Heroes of Might and Magic II - The Price of Loyalty.cue" -t cdrom
C:
HEROES2.EXE
EXIT

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 14,576

Re: [SOLVED] DOSBox audio stuttering

usually a bit more is needed, but that that depends heavily on the application and your hardware .

https://www.dosbox.com/comp_list.php?showID=2032 has comments from other users, that may help you .

You can also try asking for help on Celestial Heavens .
It's the most active Might and Magic community I know and their forums do have several HOMM boards .

---

Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky

black_dragon

Member

Registered: 2025-04-18

Posts: 27

Re: [SOLVED] DOSBox audio stuttering

Thanks!
So I just needed to tweak DOSBox a bit...
Here's my working config, got some bits from GOG's release:

[sdl]
fullscreen = on
priority = higher normal

[mixer]
reverb = large
chorus = normal
negotiate = false
blocksize = 2048
prebuffer = 80

[cpu]
cpu_cycles = max

[autoexec]
MOUNT C game
MOUNT C "savegames" -t overlay
IMGMOUNT D "cd/Heroes of Might and Magic II - The Price of Loyalty.cue" -t cdrom
C:
HEROES2.EXE
EXIT

Reverb and chorus can be ignored. I use DOSBox Staging btw.