VOGONS

Can't get DOSBox to run at all

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First post, by capella07

Posted on 
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I just installed v 0.7 and when I run DOSBox two windows open up: one is a DOS window with "DOSBox Status Window" in the title and in the main window area:

"CONFIG:Loading primary settings from config fil dosbox.conf
MIDI:Opened device:win32"

The other window is a regular Windows window with "DOSBox 0.70, CPU Cycles: 3000, Frameskip 0, Program: DOSBOX" in the window title area. The window area of that window just shows whatever happens to be behind it at the time (desktop image, another window, etc).

And that's all that happens - it just sits there...

Could someone please help me figure out what's going on and how to fix it?

I'm running WinXP MCE on a 1yr old Toshiba Satellite notebook, 2 Gigs RAM.

P.S. an image is attached showing what the two windows look like...

P.S. Would D.O.G. make life easier, or should I just stick to DOSBox?

Thanks!

Reply 1 of 3, by ADDiCT

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Hmmm... Looks like DOSBox has a problem with your system. Here's some things you can try:

- Change the "output" setting in dosbox.conf (see the file for examples)
- If you have a joypad/joystick plugged in, remove it
- Update your graphics card drivers

Pls try these, and report again... I suspect it has something to do with your graphics card or graphics card driver, because of the "empty" DOSBox window. You should see a colourful "welcome" text and the "Z:\"-prompt after the DOSBox start.

Reply 2 of 3, by capella07

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Hey, ADDiCT.

Thanks a lot for replying! Your first suggestion: "Change the "output" setting in dosbox.conf (see the file for examples)" did the trick! I set it to ddraw. Since this is a laptop, I'm "stuck" with the onboard graphics adapter (translate: low-end graphics capabilities - don't even have T&L!), but I doubt that itself will be an issue.

Do you happen to know if using a different setting would improve (or degrade, for that matter) the display of the games run via DOSBox?

Thanks again!

Reply 3 of 3, by wd

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DOSBox Author

Depends on the graphics card, but in several cases ddraw and overlay
are faster than the default. Just try them if you got some heavy game.

Also would be nice if you could report back when the next version of
dosbox is out, if it still doesn't work with the default setting.

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