OK, the problem is still there.
What I did:
-uninstall completely DOSBOX
-fresh reinstall with all the default settings
...DOSBOX starts correctly
-deleted dosbox.conf
-restarted dosbox and executed the command "config -writeconf xxx.conf", exit
-verified that xxx.conf is identical to dosbox.conf from the fresh install
-as a verification: restarted dosbox with the following BAT file :
cd "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.71"
"C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.71\dosbox.exe" -conf "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.71\xxx.conf"
...DOSBOX starts correctly
-added the line "scaler normal3x" at the end of xxx.conf
-restarted DOSBOX like previously....and I get the error!
-done again the same procedure but with the following BAT file instead of modifying xxx.conf :
cd "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.71"
"C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.71\dosbox.exe" -conf "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.71\xxx.conf" -c "scaler normal3x"
....I get the same error
Additional infos:
-I did also the same test on my son's PC ( Windows XP SP1 ) and I got the same error.
-Yes it was in windowed mode, but the problem exists also in fullscreen mode.
-The contents of the Status Windows (copied from a windows screenshot just before it disapears) is :
CONFIG:Loading primary settings from config file C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.71\xxx.conf
MIDI:Opened device:win32
Exit to error: RENDER:Wrong source bpp 0
-The main DOSBOX window is also present for 2 seconds before disapearing,
however it is completely black and its title is:
DOSBOX 0.71, Cpu Cycles: 3000, Frameskip 0, Program: CONFIG
...there is not the blue box with "Welcome to DOSBox v0.71", no prompt, and the program running is "CONFIG",
not "DOSBOX"
-I've done also the following tests, this may help you:
If I specify "fullscreen=true" in the section [sdl] , DOSBOX starts fullscreen, but the screen is also
completely black and DOSBOX exits on the error after 2 seconds.
If I specify scaler=normal3x in the [render] section of the config file, then the problem occurs if I add the
line "scaler normal2x" in the [autoexec] section, not if I add the line "scaler normal3x".
The problem appears also when I try other values for the scaler.
It seems that the problem exists only if we specify in [autoexec] (or on the command line) a scaler value which
is different from the one initially in the [render] section.
- I digged a bit in the DOSBOX source, and apparently the problem is detected in render.cpp, in function
RENDER_Reset : when the error occurs, the value of render.src.bpp must be 0 at the level of line 456, which triggers the call to E_Exit on line 482.
But I'm not familiar enough with the inner working of DOSBOX to track back the problem further.