Updated DOSBOX-X to the latest revision and I am still unable to play FIFA 98 RTWC/FIFA 99 with sound on. Whenever I want to play with sound, I get sound stuttering after the loading phase from previously selected match, and as soon as I get to the match kick-off the game just freezes while the commentary is still going on without stuttering. Amazing. To be able to play the game I have to disable the DOSBOX-X sound (by selecting the wrong sbtype) and I can play, but without sound.

Try using REAL hardware. You might find the game actually works on it with sound...

No.

Bruninho wrote on 2021-05-14, 22:50:

Updated DOSBOX-X to the latest revision and I am still unable to play FIFA 98 RTWC/FIFA 99 with sound on. Whenever I want to play with sound, I get sound stuttering after the loading phase from previously selected match, and as soon as I get to the match kick-off the game just freezes while the commentary is still going on without stuttering. Amazing. To be able to play the game I have to disable the DOSBOX-X sound (by selecting the wrong sbtype) and I can play, but without sound.

Updated to latest version and things are still in the same state. Well...

PCem v17 port for macOS stopped working for me recently. I have even rebuilt and recompiled it, reinstalled and added the roms again, but it can't boot a system for its life anymore. I create the system, give it a brand new hd image to format, but... nothing, the app just exits to desktop. Well... that's a weird thing.

Fortunately, there is always QEMU to save the world.

The QEMU macOS 9.2.2 VM is back on my mac after being on iPad Pro for a long time, until UTM resolves the issue with the screen resolution on their iOS app. An UTM update patching it for screamer sound support made the 1280x960 resolution disappear for macOS 9. Tried all I could do but no luck. Downgrading was the only option. Doesn't matter, anyway. The screamer sound support is not even working for iOS, but it is for macOS version of UTM, which is a 50-50 win.

When UTM resolves both issues and when it allows users to save the VMs outside the sandboxed app, I'll go back to the app. Meanwhile, a QEMU 5.2.0 patched for screamer sound support works fine for me on my mac and 90% of my needs.

It's running fine with a few improvements and testing a brand new app called Newsstand 1.1, a RSS Reader for OS 9. Who would have thought, that in 2021 someone would still be developing apps for OS 9?

Meanwhile my QEMU Win 9x VM is still quiet. Not much to do, without 3dfx glide passthrough. The DOSBox-X win98 VM was rebuilt and restored, yet the EA games (FIFA 9x) still crash due to sound emulation. Could be anything: the drivers (latest version for SB16), some obscure DOSBox-X setting, OpenGlide, anything. I cannot figure out what is the problem yet. Meanwhile, these games are playable when sblaster is set to 'none' in DOSBox-X configuration file. Again, doesn't matter. Maximum I could play on it would be Grand Prix 2.

QEMU can run GP3 even on software mode, at an 'acceptable' speed. However, my goal is Grand Prix 4 on QEMU. Next year, moving to Spain, then I'll get an Apple Silicon MacBook and move along with it.

@Bruninho When you're running Win 9X under QEMU, it's probably better to emulate AC'97 (ICHx) audio instead of SB16. As a bonus, you'll get (software-mixed) multi-channel audio in Windows that way, which SB16 emulation wouldn't give you. Have you tried this yet?

digger wrote on 2021-07-10, 15:04:

@Bruninho When you're running Win 9X under QEMU, it's probably better to emulate AC'97 (ICHx) audio instead of SB16. As a bonus, you'll get (software-mixed) multi-channel audio in Windows that way, which SB16 emulation wouldn't give you. Have you tried this yet?

Nope. I chose SB16 because it is what I had on my old computer in the 90's. AC'97 was failing and giving me errors on QEMU logs when I tried it for XP, so there was no sound.

I could try and run AC'97 again, but I see no advantage for me on QEMU because this is not a problem for me at all. the VM runs fine on QEMU even with SB16. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference because I am hearing impaired, I use a cochlear implant for my right ear, and although it looks powerful to someone else, I really cannot tell the difference. When I use a headphone for example, I have to move the balance all to the right ear because the left one would not hear a thing.

The problem is on DOSBox-X, not QEMU. But thanks for your suggestion.

I just found a NeXT emulator called Previous. OpenSTEP for fun!

http://previous.unixdude.net

Bruninho wrote on 2021-07-16, 21:59:

I just found a NeXT emulator called Previous. OpenSTEP for fun!

http://previous.unixdude.net

That's pretty cool.

When I was first getting the hang Linux on my dearly departed P200mmx I used WindowMaker as my primary desktop GUI. Suited my purposes very well until I permanently jumped off the shaky ship MickySoft Windows an never looked back. Calm sailing ever since then....😉

I have only heard about NeXT/OpenStep when I was digging about the past of OS X and macOS 9... Apparently Apple Rhapsody was based on it and to my surprise, it had an intel build, running on pentium computers. One could emulate it on PCem or even QEMU.
I wonder if it would work on DOSBox-X, but anyway, even on QEMU it wouldn't have network connection because there are no drivers for the emulated devices supported by it.

Bruninho wrote on 2021-07-16, 22:30:

I have only heard about NeXT/OpenStep when I was digging about the past of OS X and macOS 9... Apparently Apple Rhapsody was based on it and to my surprise, it had an intel build, running on pentium computers. One could emulate it on PCem or even QEMU.
I wonder if it would work on DOSBox-X, but anyway, even on QEMU it wouldn't have network connection because there are no drivers for the emulated devices supported by it.

I remember it well. I was very curious on the then current plans to moved forward to use a UNIX as a platform for their new version of MacOS. It was called Darwin, which was quite appropriate and easy to swap architectures like most *nix OSs are.

A concise article of what Darwin was. https://networkinterview.com/what-is-darwin-os/

Got PCem for linux running inside a Ubuntu 20.04 VMware machine. Easiest install I have ever made. However, When booting Windows 98, the mouse pointer disappears as soon as I click the screen to lock the mouse on it. Strange.

EDIT: It actually does not disappear. The mouse does work - but its hidden in a corner. I can click and such, but I can't move. Had to give up on this.

Yikes. I have been trying to debug why DOSBox-X SDL1 with OpenGlide still refuses to run any game with sound on, and so far, I have absolutely no idea why it doesn't. When sbtype = none, All the games run and boy, they run fast enough for fun. Why sound can't keep up with it? It's so weird.

Trying to run NSFS2EA on DOSBox-X with Glide.... It gets to the intro animation before the race start where the camera flies through a tunnel until my car... and dang game crashes back to the desktop.
Something is clearly weird with how DOSBox-X handles sound in this build and games.

Caluser2000 wrote on 2021-07-16, 23:20:

A concise article of what Darwin was. https://networkinterview.com/what-is-darwin-os/

Yup. Yet sometimes I think that macOS would have been so much better if it was more like a "brother" for linux than a "cousin" (BSD).

BTW I noticed that my Ubuntu VM is using X11 instead of Wayland...

Bruninho wrote on 2021-07-21, 04:46:

Caluser2000 wrote on 2021-07-16, 23:20:

A concise article of what Darwin was. https://networkinterview.com/what-is-darwin-os/

Yup. Yet sometimes I think that macOS would have been so much better if it was more like a "brother" for linux than a "cousin" (BSD).

BTW I noticed that my Ubuntu VM is using X11 instead of Wayland...

Isn't it sloooooooow 🤣....Well, according to some without a clue.....😉

X11 is slow? Well... Works fine for me under VMware Fusion. Never complained about - but then, I have never used it for more than a hour tbh.

Finally managed to get my Windows XP SP3 VMware virtual disk converted to qcow2 and boot on QEMU with HVF. Except that I do not have mouse and keyboard working. More debugging coming soon...

Anyone have any idea of where can I improve these QEMU VMs performances?

Host: Late 2013 retina MacBook Pro 13-inch, upgraded with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD

Windows 98 SE [Gist]

Windows XP SP3 [Gist]

Windows 98 can't benefit from HVF, since it crashes every time I get to the logon screen, while Windows XP can. But these benefits are neglected when we are using Xquartz to be able to use Glide pass-through. Mouse lags a bit with movement and click, meaning that sometimes its slower to point and click.

Probably OpenGlide ini configuration file also needs tweaks. Without Xquartz, things are a bit faster, but without glide pass-through as well.

What I cannot understand is why DOSBox-X can benefit from glide pass-through (openglide) without something like Xquartz in between, but QEMU-3Dfx can't.

Note: Please do not throw another flamewar about QEMU and other emulators...