if your IBM Clone is slower then pcem has potential because its got less programming layers . (don't expect anything better than 80486 if it does it its your bonus do not expect HD sound)
If your IBM Clone is a recent fabulous thingy with SSD etc then 86box has potential because you run 64bit OS on a monster CPU that can handle hypervisors like warm knife to butter.
If you want to run some dos stuff without dosbox, pcem, 86box, etc, etc then make a usb drive with dos boot you'll have x86 CPU mode (not all do it some more modern have CSM module) great for playing Wolfenstein 3D

zapbuzz wrote on 2026-08-31, 08:23:

If you want to run some dos stuff without dosbox, pcem, 86box, etc, etc then make a usb drive with dos boot you'll have x86 CPU mode (not all do it) great for playing Wolfenstein 3D

By the way, there's also CSMWrap project which provides BIOS and VGA BIOS to UEFI-only PCs.
https://github.com/CSMWrap/CSMWrap

Jo22 wrote on 2026-09-03, 07:38:

zapbuzz wrote on 2026-08-31, 08:23:

If you want to run some dos stuff without dosbox, pcem, 86box, etc, etc then make a usb drive with dos boot you'll have x86 CPU mode (not all do it) great for playing Wolfenstein 3D

By the way, there's also CSMWrap project which provides BIOS and VGA BIOS to UEFI-only PCs.
https://github.com/CSMWrap/CSMWrap

oh cool that would be useful thanks for that

2mg wrote on 2025-05-22, 14:08:

PS: if you've tried 86box (and PCem), is your mouse laggy? I've tried some pro-tips, but it's always laggy, especially in 86box, yes even when emulation is 100% and in desktop.

In 86Box, just tick "Update mouse on every CPU frame" in the Action menu, the mouse should be much smoother then. Without that option, it polls at whatever rate the guest software (be it the BIOS or an OS driver) programs it to, which is often low (unelss you use PS2Rate or Microsoft IntelliMouse).

Battler wrote on 2026-09-22, 23:58:

2mg wrote on 2025-05-22, 14:08:

PS: if you've tried 86box (and PCem), is your mouse laggy? I've tried some pro-tips, but it's always laggy, especially in 86box, yes even when emulation is 100% and in desktop.

In 86Box, just tick "Update mouse on every CPU frame" in the Action menu, the mouse should be much smoother then. Without that option, it polls at whatever rate the guest software (be it the BIOS or an OS driver) programs it to, which is often low (unelss you use PS2Rate or Microsoft IntelliMouse).

Yeah, I'm stalking following 86box development and there was a lot about this, will give it a go once I've some time.

Jo22 wrote on 2026-09-03, 07:38:

zapbuzz wrote on 2026-08-31, 08:23:

If you want to run some dos stuff without dosbox, pcem, 86box, etc, etc then make a usb drive with dos boot you'll have x86 CPU mode (not all do it) great for playing Wolfenstein 3D

By the way, there's also CSMWrap project which provides BIOS and VGA BIOS to UEFI-only PCs.
https://github.com/CSMWrap/CSMWrap

"The idea is to drop the 64-bit or 32-bit version of CSMWrap (depending on the hardware, dropping both also works) into a /EFI/BOOT/ directory on a FAT (12, 16, or 32) partition on the medium containing the legacy BIOS OS."

I'm not following the part where the medium contains the legacy BIOS - is this something we provide ourselves?

2mg wrote on 2026-10-04, 22:09:

Jo22 wrote on 2026-09-03, 07:38:

zapbuzz wrote on 2026-08-31, 08:23:

If you want to run some dos stuff without dosbox, pcem, 86box, etc, etc then make a usb drive with dos boot you'll have x86 CPU mode (not all do it) great for playing Wolfenstein 3D

By the way, there's also CSMWrap project which provides BIOS and VGA BIOS to UEFI-only PCs.
https://github.com/CSMWrap/CSMWrap

"The idea is to drop the 64-bit or 32-bit version of CSMWrap (depending on the hardware, dropping both also works) into a /EFI/BOOT/ directory on a FAT (12, 16, or 32) partition on the medium containing the legacy BIOS OS."

I'm not following the part where the medium contains the legacy BIOS - is this something we provide ourselves?

Hi, it includes SeaBIOS, I think. It's an Open Source BIOS.
It also includes a related project valled SeaVGABIOS..
That VGA/VBE BIOS is optional, I think.
It can be used if the graphics card has no VGA BIOS anymore.

https://seabios.org/