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DOSBox disables cores on quad-core PC

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First post, by steve_40

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I've noticed an annoying glitch in DOSBox 0.74 and several earlier versions. After running DOSBox and then exiting, all the processes on my PC have their affinity changed from 4 cores to only 2 cores, which degrades the PC's performance. I have to reboot the PC to restore things back to normal. You can check for yourself using the Windows task manager, then right-click on a running process (such as explorer.exe) and choosing "Set Affinity..." only CPU 0 and CPU 1 will be enabled.

Anyone else noticed this? It would be nice if DOSBox could reactivate the other two cores when it has finished doing its job!

Reply 1 of 4, by ykhwong

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What is your operating system?
I am using Windows 7 x64 with Phenom II X4 B55 (quad core), but no problem here.

Reply 2 of 4, by steve_40

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I'm using Windows 7 x64 with an Intel Core2 Quad.

Btw, the same problem used to happen back when I was using Windows XP (with the same hardware).

I should also add that I've noticed that the cores seem to get disabled mainly after running certain old DOS games. I suspect that DOSBox turns off some of the cores for compatibility but for some reason it doesn't reactivate them after the program is closed.

I'm currently playing Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers with DOSBox and am having this issue, but It happens after playing lots of other games too.

Reply 3 of 4, by Qbix

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dosbox is not capable of that.

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

Reply 4 of 4, by steve_40

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Good news, I've figured out the problem. No, it's not DOSBox.

I'm using "D.O.G. v1.53" frontend for DOSBox. I've just discovered that it has an option for "multicore optimisation". I've disabled that option and now my cores don't get disabled when I run DOSBox.

Cheers.

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