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dune 2 - can't start

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First post, by dunefan

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Hi guys

A few days ago i downloaded dune 2 to remind myself of the old days 😁

Well, since I've got winxp/athlon1.4 the game was not running that smoothly: music was not here at all and sound was present only when the game felt like it 😁

After that I had dled the sound patch which did not help, so i tried dosbox .63. So here is the problem:

1. when I try to run dune (either dune2.exe or waveset.bat) in dosbox, it says that setup program must be run first
2. when I try to launch setup.exe it says "IO error with setupeng.dip - exiting" and quits. Of course, the setup program runs fine in winxp, but for some reason, the changes i make in winxp dont affect dosbox.

I had tried it on another machine and ended up with the same result.
The only thing left to try is running an older version of dosbox, but i dont know which one would be the best, or where to look for it

I'd appreciate any suggestions

Regards

Reply 1 of 26, by Atreides_Liet

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I have got same error and why people ignored this thread for so many time ???

Reply 2 of 26, by leileilol

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that's because the file doesn't exist. the person who ripped it to the internet thinks it's an unneeded file or marked somehow. keyword in op: i downloaded

a proper dune2 works fine and it comes with this file.

apsosig.png
long live PCem

Reply 3 of 26, by eL_PuSHeR

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Please, avoid necroposting.

[Thread Locked]

Reply 4 of 26, by Atreides_Liet

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Dunefan wrote : 1. when I try to run dune (either dune2.exe or waveset.bat) in dosbox, it says that setup program must be run fi […]
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Dunefan wrote :
1. when I try to run dune (either dune2.exe or waveset.bat) in dosbox, it says that setup program must be run first
2. when I try to launch setup.exe it says "IO error with setupeng.dip - exiting" and quits. Of course, the setup program runs fine in winxp, but for some reason, the changes i make in winxp dont affect dosbox.

I had tried it on another machine and ended up with the same result.
The only thing left to try is running an older version of dosbox, but i dont know which one would be the best, or where to look for it

Solution was simple. You just need to put these lines under [autoexec] part in dosbox.conf and dosbox will see Dune 2 as a whole :

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
# You can put your MOUNT lines here.

mount c c:\dune2
c:
cd dune2

Also 3000 cycles are not enough on my Athlon x2.

YA HYA CHOUHADA

Reply 6 of 26, by wd

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necro-merged and necro-unlocked, behave nice now!

Reply 7 of 26, by mr_bigmouth_502

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:
6000 cycles will give you a 386DX 33 12000 a 486DX33 24000 a 486DX2 66 […]
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6000 cycles will give you a 386DX 33
12000 a 486DX33
24000 a 486DX2 66

So 6000 is quite slow and ~ a 386SX 16

I've actually been looking for a cycle-guide like this for a while now. 🤣 Thanks!

Reply 8 of 26, by eL_PuSHeR

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Your mileage may vary, as they say. I think there isn't an exact formula.

Reply 10 of 26, by Mau1wurf1977

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eL_PuSHeR wrote:

Your mileage may vary, as they say. I think there isn't an exact formula.

Hmm it's what I found on a few machines...

I tested on Intel Lynnfield, Phenom II and Intel netbook. And with a CPU cycle of 6000 you get a 386DX 33 machine.

Attached a popular DOS gaming benchmark 3dbench. I got a score of 13.3 on all of my machines. Give it a spin if you like!

Reply 11 of 26, by Qbix

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it doesn't depend on the machine. it depends on the game.

Water flows down the stream
How to ask questions the smart way!

Reply 12 of 26, by Mau1wurf1977

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Qbix wrote:

it doesn't depend on the machine. it depends on the game.

That's an interesting statement. I have vintage hardware here and so far haven't come across a game that runs unusually slower or faster with 6000 CPU cycles (and compared to a real 386 machine).

Do you have any examples of games that show otherwise?

Reply 13 of 26, by Qbix

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I don't have concrete examples to be honest. But that is the theory.
In dosbox each instruction takes 1 cpu cycle.
In a real pc each instruction takes a different amount of cycles.
Each game consists of a different set of instructions. So each game has a different ratio between real cycles and dosbox cycles.

Of course things might average out with all the instruction set variations.
Try some game that uses the FPU a lot compared to a normal game. in DOSBox the fpu is blazing fast. (100+ times faster than the real thing)

Water flows down the stream
How to ask questions the smart way!

Reply 14 of 26, by Mau1wurf1977

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Thanks for you answer!

I understand that my "CPU cheat sheet" might not be academically accurate for 100% of the games.

But it's the kind of thing a lot of beginners to DOSBox might find really helpful when they first start out using DOSBox.

I also admit to only have tested games from the 386 and 486 era. But for those game my "CPU cheat sheet" is incredible accurate 😀

My website with reviews, demos, drivers, tutorials and more...
My YouTube channel

Reply 15 of 26, by wd

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There are several cases where you'll get speed differences between some
intro animation (move/integer instructions) and gameplay (fpu usage)
so any sort of "xyz cycles==zyx machine" will just hit you badly at some point.
So please refrain of posting things like that, especially since almost no game
of the 386+ era requires a specific machine speed-wise. Checking out whether
3000, 10000, 50000 or max cycles works fine is enough.

Reply 16 of 26, by Mau1wurf1977

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There are several cases where you'll get speed differences between some intro animation (move/integer instructions) and gameplay (fpu usage) so any sort of "xyz cycles==zyx machine" will just hit you badly at some point.

Do you have any examples?

So please refrain of posting things like that, especially since almost no game of the 386+ era requires a specific machine speed-wise.

Wing Commander and Test Drive are good examples of needing a specific CPU cycle number. And many games don't run well (too slow) on just 3000 cycles (default DOSBox setting) such as Dune 2 and many others.

I stand by my list and you are all invited and welcomed to go out and find me 386 / 486 era game where this list doesn't apply.

Reply 17 of 26, by wd

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Do you have any examples?

No because I don't care as long as gameplay works.

Wing Commander and Test Drive are good examples of needing a specific CPU cycle number.

No they don't, they certainly work fine with a nice range of cycles. But that's again
something you can easily figure out without claiming cycles x is some specific
mhz equivalent of an old PC.

I stand by my list

Thanks, this is oh so appreciated.

Reply 18 of 26, by Mau1wurf1977

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No

Neither have I.

No they don't, they certainly work fine with a nice range of cycles. But that's again something you can easily figure out without claiming cycles x is some specific mhz equivalent of an old PC.

And interestingly enough the range of cycles happens to be a perfect match with real Vintage machines. E.g. a cycle of 3000 is too slow for Wing Commander, just like a 386SX is too slow and 6000 is too fast, just like a 386DX33.

My list works very well and it's the kind of information useful for DOSBox starters. I really don't see what the issue is here. A while ago I got asked to share my experiences / discoveries / findings between DOSBox and real vintage hardware.

Well this is such a finding.

I have tested many games, though I don't claim to have tested every game.

Everyone can look at the list and the examples I mentioned and draw their own conclusions. If someone finds a game that doesn't "behave" to my list I'm all ears.

Reply 19 of 26, by wd

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Neither have I.

I said there are several I just don't remember the names because I don't keep a list.

E.g. a cycle of 3000 is too slow for Wing Commander, just like a 386SX is too slow and 6000 is too fast, just like a 386DX33.

And why do you have to post a equality list rather than telling "game works fine with xyz cycles"?