DOSEMU questions

Who'sThere? · 2011-05-29 19:29:15

Hello.

I'm starting to get back into the Arch mind-set here. I'm perfectly aware I should refer to the documentation (man pages, wiki) before asking anything here.

I'm trying to setup sound in this app, but I'm at a loss of documentation.

The first question I'd like to get out of the way is...

1.) Do I need to install an external DOS first? (MS-DOS, FreeDOS, etc.)

I'm able to run apps straight out of DOSEMU without the above OSes. But... the playback on games/apps is choppy, and there isn't any sound output.

My system specs (don't laugh pls):
Pentium IV, HT, 3.4Ghz
Nvidia 8400GS, 512MB
3GB RAM
Western Digital SATA Hdd, 1TB

Would it be presumptuous to assume that I should be able to run most DOS games full speed with this?

megadriver · 2011-05-30 06:15:11

Is there a reason you must use DOSEMU instead of, say, DOSBox?

Who'sThere? · 2011-05-31 21:00:25

megadriver wrote:

Is there a reason you must use DOSEMU instead of, say, DOSBox?

Yes, I already have DOSBox installed.

One thing I forgot to post is that I'm using a SB Audigy SE, PCI, sound card. But as you can see from my specs, it's an older PC. Maybe not original MS-DOS old, but old nonetheless.

I'm pretty sure I could get the sound up, and working, if I install FreeDOS in DOSEMU. What I'd like to know is if there's some type of sound functionality in the default DOSEMU setup.

It runs programs right out the box, but without sound. At least for me...

After doing a thorough internet search, I can't find any documentation on setting up sound. All I found were other people with the same issue, no sound. Even with other *nix distros...

Last edited by Who'sThere? (2011-05-31 21:03:12)

megadriver · 2011-06-01 06:32:53

What I mean is why DOSEMU (which hasn't seen a new release since 2007), when DOSBox is much more capable and easier to configure? What can DOSEMU do that DOSBox can't do much better? Of course, if this is a "because I can" or "because I want to" thing, then, by all means, please ignore me

Anyway, DOSEMU comes with a file called "sound-usage.txt" (it's in /usr/share/doc/dosemu). Looks like it emulates a SB16, and only works with OSS (maybe that's the problem?).

karol · 2011-06-01 08:36:48

megadriver wrote:

Anyway, DOSEMU comes with a file called "sound-usage.txt" (it's in /usr/share/doc/dosemu). Looks like it emulates a SB16, and only works with OSS (maybe that's the problem?).

What's the output of

lsmod | grep oss

?
If you get nothng, run (with sudo or as root)

modprobe snd_pcm_oss

The devs removed some udev rules one of which autoloaded those modules.
http://mailman.archlinux.org/pipermail/ … 00793.html

In order to load it at every boot, add it to you MODULES array in rc.conf

MODULES=(... snd_pcm_oss ...)

Who'sThere? · 2011-06-02 22:08:12

megadriver wrote:

What I mean is why DOSEMU (which hasn't seen a new release since 2007), when DOSBox is much more capable and easier to configure? What can DOSEMU do that DOSBox can't do much better? Of course, if this is a "because I can" or "because I want to" thing, then, by all means, please ignore me

Doesn't Arch use the latest SVN commits to DOSEMU, or is it really distributing that old of an app in it's repos?

I was told that it can run certain games faster due to the emulation (DOSBox) vs API (DOSEMU) going on. Higher resolution, speed, etc..

But to be honest, I noticed that the global dosemu config file seems to have all it's options commented out. Even after uncommenting (and/or modifying) these options, I hadn't noticed any changes whatsoever. I even created the personal per user dosemu config file mentioned in the global one, but with the same results, nothing. Even without sound, this application drops tons of frames, and is too 'choppy' for DOS games playback.

megadriver wrote:

Anyway, DOSEMU comes with a file called "sound-usage.txt" (it's in /usr/share/doc/dosemu). Looks like it emulates a SB16, and only works with OSS (maybe that's the problem?).

Yeah, all I had tried was 'man dosemu', and Googling. This probably contains everything I need to get sound with Alsa, and Timidity. But with the subpar performance mentioned above, I'm not really motivated enough to test out a custom compile of Timidity.

karol wrote:

What's the output of
lsmod | grep oss
?
If you get nothng, run (with sudo or as root)
modprobe snd_pcm_oss
The devs removed some udev rules one of which autoloaded those modules.
http://mailman.archlinux.org/pipermail/ … 00793.html
In order to load it at every boot, add it to you MODULES array in rc.conf
MODULES=(... snd_pcm_oss ...)

Hmmm...

Yes, this works for enabling sound effects. I noticed that the module starts with 'snd'. Is it part of the Alsa base files?

Well anyways, thanks for all the help, but I believe this is a dead-end for me.

Last edited by Who'sThere? (2011-06-02 22:09:49)

Arch Linux

#1 2011-05-29 19:29:15

DOSEMU questions

#2 2011-05-30 06:15:11

Re: DOSEMU questions

#3 2011-05-31 21:00:25

Re: DOSEMU questions

#4 2011-06-01 06:32:53

Re: DOSEMU questions

#5 2011-06-01 08:36:48

Re: DOSEMU questions

#6 2011-06-02 22:08:12

Re: DOSEMU questions

Board footer