What's the point?
What does a BIOS offer that DosBox.conf cannot?

Using the bios for accessing peripherals was slow as molasses. Smart Operating Systems bypass bios altogether. Accessing hardware directly is a lot faster but since DOSBox emulates everything, it doesn't need to rely on a bios to do its work. Just like DosFreak, I can't see the point.

First of all, this is not to be taken as a request...

I'm not saying it would do something that dosbox.conf doesn't already do. It's just a curiosity! If maybe (in a distant future) such a feature was implemented, it would be more user friendly, as it would allow a noob to access a BIOS-like GUI and configure the dosbox.conf settings on the "fly" in a "pretty environment"(a reboot of the application would be executed automatically if the user chooses to save changes).

Please note: I'm NOT complaining about the interface, I'm just sharing an idea I had a few days ago. Just an honest oppinion is what I ask nothing more...

Ah, now I get it. So you want just a cosmetic interface change. Well, if DOSBox would have a configuration screen resembling a bios it would be cool. 😁

PS - Did you know some Ykhwong's builds have a cool built-in dropdown menu?.

Thank you , eL_PuSHeR! 😀

At least now I know my idea makes sense...

It's exactly that, a cosmetic change! Since a DOSBox frontend gives a different look to DOSBox, I thought I'd share this idea in the forum. 😎

I don't think you'd see something like this in the Official DosBox. (Nothing stopping someone from creative a patch however).

DosBox changes are about things that are actually usefull. A BIOS would be a waste of code.

I don't agree about a BIOS being more userfriendly than dosbox.conf. The BIOS have always been looked upon as a necessary evil and not userfriendly at all.

Due to the nature of DosBox only being able to access the "BIOS" upon booting of a VM would not be very helpful since some DosBox changes require realtime changes. You could leave some options configurable as normal like F11/F12 but you'd be confusing the user more with a "BIOS", it would be an extra "thing" they'd have to look at. (and who wants to bother with a BIOS anyway?)

If you made the BIOS accessible at any time like older computer BIOS's then at least you'd be a little bit better off but if you can do that then you may as well just use a GUI made using SDL (yhkwong's patch) rather than wasting code on a DosBox BIOS.

DosFreak,

It's obviously more useful and relevant for the DOSBox team to spend time improving it's stability, performance and compatibility than making a cosmetic change.

Still, did you noticed me saying it's just an idea and not a request?

As it seems, I'm not sure you understood it completely (my fault, maybe)...

You see, it's not an actual Basic Input Output System, it would be like a frontend for the dosbox.conf, graphically similar to a bios, where one could tweak all the settings.

The idea of working like a true bios would be too much trouble and not worth adding, in this I totally agree with you!

In conclusion, I only shared the idea so that if someone likes it, it would be able to build a frontend based on it...

After all, if people like dosbox.conf so much, how come there are so many users using several frontends that replace the need to use it directly? Just a thought...

There are already a couple of pretty well known frontends for DOSBox that do exactly what you're asking about. You get brownie points for navigating the search button on your own. 😉

Thanks for the tip, dh4rm4! 😎

I never actually used any frontends so far, cause all my testing is still done the "good old fashioned" way : notepad + dosbox.conf , as the file itself is very well organized and it's filled with programmer comments that allow any user (at least one with previous experience in DOS) to playtest at will!

This idea was only posted just in case someone thought it would be interesting, all in the spirit of sharing, not as something DOSBox absolutely needs to have...

And trust me, I wouldn't waste my fellow DOSBoxer's time by asking them for things that are already publicly available, as that would truly show a lack of consideration towards them!

Use the force! Use Google...! 😀

I like the idea of a text-based, BIOS-setup like interface to DOSBox. Like a BIOS.COM program on the Z-drive that acted like a wrapper around the config -get/-set command.

MiniMax, you're a mind reader!

As for the implementation of the idea, have to admit I suck bigtime at programming/coding/etc.! I'm usually a better tester with a keen eye to details... Also enjoy the practical/logical side of things! 😉

Well, the concept is out in the wild... If anyone finds it good enough, by all means use it! 😀

Moe already has such a configuration utility.

Very nice!!! Like the color, too...! 😀

Wasn't aware of it's existence till now... But then again I wasn't searching for one, so...

I'm curious, is this built in DOSBox or a separate frontend?

It is just a BAT file that is executable in DOSBox. The file is open only to the beta testers of dosbox.

Make him hungry and do not feed him... 😀

It's a bit behind current DOSBox development, mind you.

I did it as a proof of concept, and if anyone likes to maintain/update it, feel free to do so.

Maybe just post it here again so it's publicly accessible.

eL_PuSHeR wrote:

Smart Operating Systems bypass bios altogether.

<nitpick>
Today OSes ask the BIOS for ACPI tables and stuff to know how to handle devices.
</nitpick>
/me runs for cover

I agree with wd. If it's publicly available, there's always a chance that enough people like the concept and try to improve it. With any luck, it could even turn out to be something quite good!

@ ninjalj : Indeed! ACPI can't be used in older hardware, as it would lack support for it.

"The ACPI BIOS is a small BIOS that performs basic low-level management operations on the hardware. These operations include code to help boot the system and to put the system to sleep or wake it up. Note that the ACPI BIOS is much smaller than an APM BIOS because most of the management functions have moved into the operating system and ACPI tables."