DOSBox Wii

From GameBrew
DOSBox Wii
Dosboxwii2.png
General
AuthorTantric, Carl
TypeComputer
Version1.7
LicenseGPL-2.0
Last Updated2012/06/30
Links
Download
Website
Source

A port of DOSBox to the Wii using SDL Wii.

Features

  • USB Keyboard and mouse support.
  • Wiimote pointer support.
  • SD/USB mounting.
  • Most DOS games are playable.
  • Home menu, with on-screen keyboard.

User guide

You need a Wii Remote and a USB keyboard. The C: drive will automatically be mounted to sd:/DOSBox/ if loaded from apps/dosbox-wii/. Otherwise, the directory the dol is loaded from will be mounted as C, and sd:/DOSBox as D (if present). The Z: driver is a virtual drive that is part of DOSBox.

Other drives can be mounted using the MOUNT command. Prefix sd: for an SD card, and usb: for a USB drive. The Wii's DVD drive and network folders can't be mounted at this time.

The configuration file is loaded from the directory the dol is located in (if present) and sd:/DOSBox/dosbox.conf otherwise. This file will be created automatically after you start DOSBox. Please edit it with a text editor to choose settings appropriate for each game.

Press the Home button, type "exit", press Ctrl+F9, or press Reset (on the console) to exit.

Compatibility list

Most games work properly now; however, many games will require some sort of adjustment to the dosbox.conf file. It is recommended to try the game you want to play on the PC version of DOSBox first to discover the optimum settings.

At present, DOSBox running on a high-end machine will roughly be the equivalent of a Pentium I PC. DOSBox can be configured to run a wide range of DOS games, from CGA/Tandy/PCjr classics up to games from the Quake era.

DOSBox compatibility list on WiiBrew.

Troubleshooting

A certain game closes DOSBox, crashes with some message or hangs:

  • Delete the dosbox.conf file to restore the default settings.
  • Disable the sound (use the sound configuration program that comes with the game, additionally you can set sbtype=none and gus=false in the DOSBox configuration file)
  • Change some configuration entries in dosbox.conf, especially try:
    • fixed cycles (for example cycles=10000)
    • memsize
    • ems=false
    • xms=false
    • umb=false

or combinations of the above settings.

  • Use loadfix before starting the game.

A certain game runs slowly:

  • Change the CPU cycles. By default DOSBox tries to detect whether a game needs to be run with as many instructions emulated per time interval as possible.
    • You can force this behaviour by setting cycles=max in the DOSBox configuration file.
    • In this mode you can reduce the amount of cycles on a percentage-basis (hit CTRL-F11) or raise it again (CTRL-F12).
    • Sometimes manually setting the number of cycles achieves better results, in the DOSBox configuration file specify for example cycles=30000.
  • Increase the number of frames skipped. Pressing CTRL-F8 to increase the frameskip by 1. Repeat this until the game runs fast enough for you. You can also set this value permanently in the configuration file.
  • Disable the sound. You can try to disable the sound through the setup utility of the game to reduce load on your CPU further. Setting nosound=true does NOT disable the emulation of sound devices - just the sound output will be disabled.
  • Give up. The Wii can only do so much.

Media

DOSBox Wii (Cid2Mizard)

Known issues

  • The joystick works, but only with the classic controller/nunchuk analog sticks.
  • Network/CDROM support is missing.

Changelog

1.7 2012/06/30

  • Support for newer Wiimotes.
  • Updated to latest DOSBox SVN.
  • Updated to latest libogc and devkitPPC.

1.6 2011/07/06

  • Updated to latest DOSBox SVN.
  • Updated to latest libogc and devkitPPC.

1.5 2010/12/14

  • Updated to latest DOSBox SVN.
  • USB compatibility improvements.
  • Fix tilde key on keyboard.

1.4 2010/08/11

  • Updated to latest DOSBox SVN.
  • USB 2.0 via IOS58 support. Requires that IOS58 be pre-installed.
  • Improved USB keyboard/mouse support.

1.3 2010/06/24

  • Updated to latest DOSBox SVN.
  • Updated to latest libwiigui.
  • Improved on-screen keyboard.

1.2 2010/02/18

  • Updated to latest DOSBox SVN.

1.1 2009/10/27

  • Fixed "black screen" issue with numerous games.
  • Minor optimizations and bug fixes.
  • Updated to latest DOSBox SVN.

1.0 2009/10/09

  • Home menu and on-screen keyboard (a proof of concept showing SDL + libwiigui).
  • Small speed increases via SDL Wii improvements.
  • Compiled with devkitPPC r18 and libogc 1.8.0.
  • Updated to latest DOSBox SVN.

0.73.02 2009/07/01

  • Upgraded DOSBox engine to latest SVN .
  • Fixed lockup when only using the Wiimote (no attachments connected) .
  • Compiled with latest libogc and SDL Wii.

0.73.01 2009/06/03

  • Upgraded DOSBox engine to 0.73.
  • Sound issues fixed.
  • Compiled with latest libogc and SDL Wii.

0.72.01 2009/05/14

  • Initial release.

External links

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