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Batch Files For DOSBox

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First post, by UNDERDRUMMER

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How do you get DOSBox to run using a batch file? I'm trying to create a batch file to run "Arena". Here is a copy of the batch file I created....

c:
cd Dosdrive
Dosbox
mount c c:\dosdrive
c:
cd arena
arena

And here is the error I'm getting.....

Not Enough EMS.....
c:\Dosdrive\arena>e

It looks like the batch file is totally ignoring DOSBox. Anyone? 😕

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Reply 1 of 6, by MiniMax

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Move the last 4 lines into the autoexec-section of your dosbox.conf.

More info here: DOSBox Guides

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Reply 2 of 6, by DosFreak

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huh? Are you running this batch file outside of DosBox?

c:
cd Dosdrive

I assume this means that you have a directory in your "C:\" names DosDrive?

Dosbox

This executes the DosBox program in the DosDriv directory?

mount c c:\dosdrive c: cd arena arena […]
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mount c c:\dosdrive
c:
cd arena
arena

These commands should be in dosbox.conf. XP will not recognize dosbox specific commands.

And here is the error I'm getting..... […]
Show full quote

And here is the error I'm getting.....

Not Enough EMS.....
c:\Dosdrive\arena>e

It looks like the batch file is totally ignoring DOSBox. Anyone?

Yeah, it's trying to run the game in XP and it looks like you have the good ol' no EMS problem.

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Reply 4 of 6, by UNDERDRUMMER

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I guess I don't quite understand dosbox yet. Or regular Ms-Dos for that matter. But yes I made a batch file name go.bat and put a copy of Dosbox into the dosdrive folder which is my subdirectory of C:. (I found out Dosbox sends a warning if you try and mount directly to C:) Then I thought I could open regular Ms-Dos and type "Go" to start the batch file and it would take care of the rest. From your reply's I figured I must have completely missed the boat. If you don't mind, how exactly do I create a batch file using JUST DOSBox? Thanks

"They say its only vanity that writes the plays we act, they tell me thats what everybody knows."
"There's no such thing as sanity and thats the sanest fact."
"Thats the way the story goes."

Reply 5 of 6, by Qbix

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create the bat file
and drop it on dosbox.exe

Water flows down the stream
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Reply 6 of 6, by TeaRex

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UNDERDRUMMER wrote:

I guess I don't quite understand dosbox yet. Or regular Ms-Dos for that matter. But yes I made a batch file name go.bat and put a copy of Dosbox into the dosdrive folder which is my subdirectory of C:. (I found out Dosbox sends a warning if you try and mount directly to C:) Then I thought I could open regular Ms-Dos and type "Go" to start the batch file and it would take care of the rest. From your reply's I figured I must have completely missed the boat. If you don't mind, how exactly do I create a batch file using JUST DOSBox? Thanks

You have to understand that there's a difference between commands you give to XP (such as "dear XP, start running that dosbox prog") and commands you give to dosbox itself (such as "dear DOSbox, start emulating that grand-super-duper-game prog"). The games that run "in dosbox" don't really run as such at all on your computer, instead DOSbox is emulating (i.e. "behaving as if it was, but really it isn't") a DOS computer.

You can't put both kind of commands into the same file. write your batch file to start dosbox, and write those commands that you want to give *to dosbox* into the [autoexec] part of a dosbox.conf file. You can create a template by starting dosbox by hand and then saying

config -writeconf dosbox.conf

then exit dosbox, then edit that file, then restart dosbox.

tearex