VOGONS


Fullscreen Issues

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First post, by Kenley

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I've been using DOSbox for a couple of weeks, and it's really nice. However, I can't get the fullscreen mode to work. I press alt+tab, and it does open up and fill the whole screen, but the display gets stuck on whatever was on the screen when I put it into fullscreen mode. Nothing moves. Sometimes I get half a second of movement before the screen freezes.

The game itself seems to be entirely unaffected: the music and sounds continue as normal, and when I bring it back to windowed mode, whatever I've done (with the mouse, etc.) is reflected in the window, and it continues to run as normal.

These issues persist regardless of what game I'm running, or even just the DOS interface itself.

I have a Dell Inspiron laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium. I've got 8 GB of ram, an Intel core i5-2410M cpu at 2.3 GHz, and an Intel HD Graphics Family graphics card with 1.6 GB of memory. I don't know what of this (if any) is relevant to my specific problem, but I thought I'd give you the basics.

Any insight you guys have would be appreciated. If you need any more information, I would be happy to give it to you.

Reply 1 of 21, by Dominus

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Change output in the config file (try which one works) and/or update the graphics drivers to its latest and greatest

Windows 3.1x guide for DOSBox
60 seconds guide to DOSBox
DOSBox SVN snapshot for macOS (10.4-11.x ppc/intel 32/64bit) notarized for gatekeeper

Reply 2 of 21, by Kenley

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Oh man, that was way easier than I expected. Thanks for helping me with my stupid problem. 😀

Reply 4 of 21, by nostlund

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I am having the same problem as the guy who opened this thread. How specifically was this issue resolved? Please let me know. Thank you!

Reply 6 of 21, by nostlund

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What specifically needs to be done? Pardon my ignorance, but I am not fully literate on how to do the two things that you mentioned about. I would really appreciate your help in resolving this issue. Thank you!

Reply 7 of 21, by Dominus

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read the dosbox readme on how to change your settings. then change the output setting of dosbox.
if that doesn't help update your graphics drivers. Google on how to do this.

Windows 3.1x guide for DOSBox
60 seconds guide to DOSBox
DOSBox SVN snapshot for macOS (10.4-11.x ppc/intel 32/64bit) notarized for gatekeeper

Reply 8 of 21, by nostlund

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I'm sure that I don't need to update my graphics drivers, since it is a new computer. As far as chnging the output settings, what settings do I change it to? Do you have games that are played using DOSBOX that work well in full screen mode? What are your settings? Please let me know. Thank you for your help!

Reply 9 of 21, by Dominus

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just try the few output settings on which work for you.

New computer doesn't mean newest drivers. New computer can mean only low level support drivers from Windows Update. But if you don't want to upgrade your drivers, that's fine by me. It worked for many others but that doesn't mean it has to work for you. Your decision.

Windows 3.1x guide for DOSBox
60 seconds guide to DOSBox
DOSBox SVN snapshot for macOS (10.4-11.x ppc/intel 32/64bit) notarized for gatekeeper

Reply 10 of 21, by collector

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Dominus wrote:

New computer doesn't mean newest drivers.

Exactly. Who knows how old the image is that they use for any given model. New drivers for graphics cards can come out every few months, especially if bugs are found in the last release. This means that even a "new" PC may ship with drivers that may be even more than one version outdated.

Reply 11 of 21, by nostlund

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I don't mean to be bothersome, but which settings work? What lines do I change in the configuration file? Can you tell me your settings? I did look at the DOSBox README file, but I am still confused. I don't want to keep on bothering you, but I am a real idiot when it comes to thing like this. If you could spell out what exactly needs to be done and what I should type, that would be extremely helpful. I really appreciate the help that you have given me so far. Thanks again!

Reply 13 of 21, by Dominus

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in the dosbox folde startmnenu entry is an option to "edit dosbox.conf". Click that, search for output in the file, read the stuff above it and change accordingly. just try the ones that are listed. one after the other.

Windows 3.1x guide for DOSBox
60 seconds guide to DOSBox
DOSBox SVN snapshot for macOS (10.4-11.x ppc/intel 32/64bit) notarized for gatekeeper

Reply 14 of 21, by nostlund

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I looked at my configuration file, which is named "dosbox-07.4.conf" and did search for the word "output". The only reference to the word "output" in the file is a line that states "output=surface". It says the other possible values are overlay, opengl, openglnb, and ddraw. What setting do you have? Is it the same setting or is it something different? Are you using Windows 7 as an operating system or are you using something different? I have asked you multiple times to tell me your settings and you haven't told me. Why won't you tell me? Is it a secret? Please tell me your settings. That will at least help me narrow down the issue. Thank you again for all of your help!

Reply 16 of 21, by wd

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Why won't you tell me?

Looks like he hates you deep from his heart. Really.

Reply 17 of 21, by Dominus

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My settings won't help you narrow anything down. I have a completely different OS. When I used to have Windows 7, all of them worked fine, as I had the latest drivers installed.
Trying out those four settings would have been faster than writing your last post. But to answer your question with a question, why don't you just do what I wrote? I told you multiple times what to do but you don't do it. Why? Is it a secret?

Windows 3.1x guide for DOSBox
60 seconds guide to DOSBox
DOSBox SVN snapshot for macOS (10.4-11.x ppc/intel 32/64bit) notarized for gatekeeper

Reply 18 of 21, by nostlund

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Thank you for the operating system information. That really helps. I also checked out my graphics drivers and they did need updated. Thank you for mentioning that. I did try the game after updating my grpahics drivers and the full screen issue still happens. I will try changing the output line in my DOSBox configuration file to the other possible values and hopefully another setting will resolve the issue on my computer. Once again, thank you for all of your help!

Reply 19 of 21, by PunkMaister

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I've all but given up trying to use full screen on my multiple display configuration I've opted for changiing the DOSBox settings so it opens in a 1024x768 OpenGL based window instead and on multiple display configurations that is as good as it gets.