I solved my problem--sort of.

1config -writeconf "dosbox.conf"

Typing this in wrote a config file to my home directory. Can't write a config to any other directory though, mounted or otherwise.

Make sure you actually have the proper permission to write to those folders (you should have permission to write to your home folder and everything in it, as well as /tmp, but that's basically it). I haven't tried DOSBox on Linux, but I'm not sure what happens when you use the ~ shortcut. Try using an absolute path. (Such as /home/oeolycus/.dosbox/dosbox.conf)

Yes, that worked. I used the full path and it created the config file. Thanks so much for the help, Kippesoep!

Kippesoep wrote:

(Such as /home/oeolycus/.dosbox/dosbox.conf)

Is the ".dosbox/" part not that invisible?

Invisible to normal file listing commands, not inaccessible if you specify the name.

It is an old Unix-tradtion to not show directory/folder entries that starts with . (dot). This prevents file-listing commands like ls(1) from listing 2 dot-names that is always present in any Unix-directory:

. = the directory itself
.. = the parent directory

Similar, user-specific configuration files like your login profile, X11 start-up files, configuration files for mail, editors, Oracle, anything, takes advantages of this do-not-show-dot-file tradition by giving their files a dot-prefix. Here is what I have in my Cygwin home directory:

1.                .bash_logout  .emacs.d  .lynxrc    .texmf         .wgetrc
2..               .checkstyle   .forward  .mc        .tnsnames.ora
3.aliases         .completions  .fvwm     .ncftp     .twmrc
4.ant.properties  .cvsignore    .gnupg    .profile+  .vim
5.bash_history    .cvspass      .gvimrc   .rnd       .viminfo
6.bash_login      .cvsrc        .inputrc  .ssh       .vimrc

One thing I'm happy about, and I should have typed "man dosbox" before...

I renamed the dosbox.conf in my home folder to .dosboxrc

DOSBox loads its setting from there, no longer will my linux boxen have a dosbox.conf floating in home... 😀

Yup! DOSBox is a good Unix-citizen 😀 Btw. the rc-part is short for run-commands.