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Can't get a forward slash or colon

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First post, by user2020

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I've had a look though some other topics and the FAQ but I haven't seen much about this. I may be blind.

I've got the DOSBox running and when I try to mount the oldgames folder, I can't type / or :. I tried to ctrl v them in from something else but that didn't work either (it was probably a dumb idea, i wouldn't know). I've also got DOSBox in C:/Program Files/DOSBox-0.72 . If I change the folder name to just DOSBOX will anything change? Can I still mount the oldgames folder if it's inside the DOSBOX folder or do I need to have it in the Program Files by itself?

I apologise if I have angered anyone with my lack of knowledge for this. I'm completely useless. I just want to play my games. :[

Reply 1 of 15, by MiniMax

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DOSBox belongs in C:/Program Files/DOSBox-0.72. Don't change that.

What kind of keyboard? What language? Windows XP? USB keyboard?

Btw - I am sure you can type /. Usuallly it is \ that is the problem.

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Reply 2 of 15, by Qbix

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try the Readme which has a FAQ part as well.

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Reply 3 of 15, by user2020

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Oh yes, sorry I meant the \.
Ah, I'm on Vista. My keyboard is English... I wouldn't have a clue about the rest. I can tell you I'm on a white asus laptop.
Also, I just had a read of the awesome readme but I'm still pretty baffled unfortunately.

"To switch to a different keyboard layout, either the entry "keyboardlayout"
in the [dos] section in dosbox.conf can be used, or the internal DOSBox
program keyb.com. Both accept DOS conforming language codes (see below), but
only by using keyb.com a custom codepage can be specified."
I tried to do that, but I got 'none' as an answer when I typed in 'keyboardlayout'.
As for the other points underneath that, I don't know what most of the things are. Argh.

If I plugged another normal keyboard in, would I get the keys to work??

Thanks for the replies!

Reply 4 of 15, by Qbix

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Q: I can't type \ or : in DOSBox.
A: This is a known problem. It only occurs if your keyboard layout isn't US.
   Some possible fixes:
     1. Switch the keyboard layout of your operating system.
     2. Use / instead.
     3. Open the DOSBox configuration file and change usescancodes=false
        to usescancodes=true.
     4. Add the commands you want to execute to the [autoexec]-section
        of the DOSBox configuration file.
     5. Change the DOS keyboard layout (see Section 7: Keyboard Layout).
     6. Use ALT-58 for : and ALT-92 for \.
     7. For \ try the keys around "enter". For ":" try shift and the keys
        between "enter" and "l" (US keyboard layout).
     8. Try keyb.com from FreeDOS (http://projects.freedos.net/keyb/).
        Look for keyb2.0 pre4 as older and newer versions are known to
        have a bug in the loader routines.

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Reply 5 of 15, by MiniMax

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user2020 wrote:

If I plugged another normal keyboard in, would I get the keys to work??

Maybe. Borrow a keyboard somewhere, and test it.

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Reply 6 of 15, by arablizzard2413

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Windows XP Media Center 2005 has the same problem, you have to forcibly uninstall one of the keyboard drivers (some wireless thing that I don't even own but gets installed with an update). "Microsoft eHome MCIR 109 Keyboard" or something like that, it messes up the region settings.

Reply 7 of 15, by wd

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Is this reproducable somehow under xp/vista by loading some driver?

Reply 8 of 15, by MiniMax

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An old thread about this MCIR keyboard:

Right-Shift / Backslash Keyboard Problems (SOLVED!)

And from http://forums.logitech.com/logitech/board/mes … message.id=6123

If you use the Microsoft eHome remote/receiver (official media centre remote and USB receiver) you'll notice under your device manager you have a new device named Microsoft eHome MCIR 109 Keyboard; this is the cause of the tilde key not working. It also affects your plus, minus, parenthesis, hash, @, and slash keys remapping them to different functions. (some are even weird Kanji characters)

Link to Microsoft for downloading that driver (for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 - KB912024):

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.as … 88-4CAB82F31DC8

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Reply 9 of 15, by wd

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Scary 😀

Reply 10 of 15, by user2020

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So downloading the driver will be just that, and no fiddling around?
I read your readme very hard and I've attempted to change the keyboardlayout in the config file. I've tried =uk and =au and =en. Once again, I don't have much of an idea.

Oh and the other keyboard worked with the forward slash and not the :. Joy.
Should I plug the other keyboard in and keep the config changed to =uk or something else?

Thanks very much for all of the help, sorry I can't understand very well.

Reply 11 of 15, by user2020

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Sorry, backslash. 😖

Reply 12 of 15, by MiniMax

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user2020 wrote:

So downloading the driver will be just that, and no fiddling around?

No - downloading and installing that is what creates the problem. Apparently that driver comes as standard with (some?) Vista's - including yours.

Disabling the driver as described in some of those threads will apparently fix it. Feel free to try and report back.

user2020 wrote:

I read your readme very hard and I've attempted to change the keyboardlayout in the config file. I've tried =uk and =au and =en. Once again, I don't have much of an idea.

As long as that MCIR driver is there, nothing you do will help I think.

user2020 wrote:

Oh and the other keyboard worked with the forward slash and not the :. Joy.

Ehh - what??

user2020 wrote:

Should I plug the other keyboard in and keep the config changed to =uk or something else?

If you have an UK keyboard, then keyboardlayout=uk is the right thing to have.

Note: You can easily try different keyboard layouts from the DOSBox Z-prompt. Just type keyb XX where XX is the layout you want.

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Reply 13 of 15, by user2020

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Ok, I'll try all of that.
I meant the other keyboard I plugged into my laptop typed \ but not : in the dosbox.
Shooting Gallery had better have been as cool as I remember it to be, huh!

Reply 14 of 15, by MiniMax

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MiniMax wrote:
user2020 wrote:

Oh and the other keyboard worked with the forward slash and not the :. Joy.

Ehh - what??

user2020 wrote:

I meant the other keyboard I plugged into my laptop typed \ but not : in the dosbox.

So you meant backwards slash...

Which keyboard layout was active with that : didn't work?

DOSBox 60 seconds guide | How to ask questions
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Reply 15 of 15, by user2020

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I might just stop typing the entire name out and just use the symbol eh.
I've had a look at my control panel and the properties of the driver for my keyboard.
I'm going to ruin something, so I'm giving up now. I'll have to use a different computer, thanks for all your help!

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