Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Um, where do I find a rubybox installer?
I've been trying for nearly 2 days now and all the links either don't work or I get the 'incompatible application package'.

Starting to get kinda frustrated now....

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

I believe I installed it using the Application Manager and the maemo Extra or Maemo Extra Developer (MED)catalogs/repositories. Sorry, I can't remember which one, but activate both & it should come up in the list of available applications. If you do enable the MED, but sure to deactivate after installing RubyBox, as not all the applications/updates are ready for primetime.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Some basic questions, where is the config file to specify the auto mount dir on startup? Where should the .key file be placed?

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

DOSBox is now on normal extras now too.

The config file is at ~/apps/DOSBox 0.73 Prefs.txt , should be autocreated at program startup with sane values.

.key files should not be place anywhere. The nokia.sys file should be place wherever you want, as long as it is accessible under DOSBox. To load it use "keyb C:\path\to\nokia.sys us".

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Thanks for your efforts and the info javispedro. One more question for you or anyone else. What's the best way to get the xkbd below working? I've come up with a method, but it's sloppy.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

I don't know the first thing about xkeyb (I'm using a N810), but just wanted to say that if you don't have a hardware keyboard you don't need nokia.sys at all (since it just does Fn keys).

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Install Ukki's excellent Rubybox.
Rubybox

Read up on everything about the Downloader and Xkbd.

It sounds like a lot of work but it's actually quite simple and you should have your keyboard set up within a few minutes after reading his wiki page.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Hey ukki and Javis!

I was prompted today to update Rubybox as well as Dosbox so I went ahead and downloaded the upgrades.

Now it's throwing fits on me. :(

If I type rbox in xterm, I get the following message:

/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/arm-linux-eabi/hildon.rb:11:in `require': no such file to load -- gtk2 (LoadError)
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/arm-linux-eabi/hildon.rb:11
from rbox.rb:2:in `require'
from rbox.rb:2

Any ideas on this?

Thanks!

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

I've been trying to get 'Jones in the Fast Lane' working under DosBox. It's a mixed-mode CD (data and an audio track).

I had to update the drivers that the disk includes to get it to work, but I managed to get a working .cue and .bin file for it.

Those files work perfectly under Windows DosBox and an Ubuntu Dosbox.

However, they I get an MSCDEX error (MSCDEX: Failure: Path not valid.) when I try to use it on my N810.

(imgmount d /path/to/JONES.cue -t iso)

Interestingly, if I try to imgmount the .bin file, it works, but I only get the data (which is as per the DosBox wiki site).

So, my guess is that either:
a) Cue files are not supported on the Maemo version of DosBox?
b) Something is wrong with the internal path parsing for the Maemo version of DosBox.
c) I am missing something horribly obvious.

Yes, I have tried to rename the cue and iso files to all lower case (thinking that might be the problem). I also tried to hard code a full pathname to the bin inside the cue file. No joy.

Any ideas? or can anyone confirm either of my hypotheses?

Thanks

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

I had this running in Dosbox over a year ago and it wasn't that hard at all if I remember correctly.

I believe I ended up installing the game from my CD onto my Windows Desktop (you won't want to install any music drivers since Dosbox on the Tablet can't handle the processing speed) and then transferred the whole folder right onto my memory card.

From there I used Rubybox and tweaked the settings for best performance.

I'm not seeing any reason to mount the entire CD like you're doing directly on the Tablet.

Post back if you have any luck or have more questions. I can always hunt down my CD somewhere and try it again with a better explanation next time.


Edit:
Does anyone need a simple explanation on how to get Xkbd installed?
I broke open a new tablet a few days ago and getting Xkbd installed was quite the pain (I thought it was packaged with Rubybox, oh well) but anyway, I have a pretty simple solution for it now.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

You're right, CUE files with audio tracks are not supported in this version because of missing SDL_audio library (which is not ported AFAIK).

If you really want the feature I can have a look at it, but I'd suggest doing what Addison says.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Heya Javis!

I'm having a little trouble getting nokia.sys properly placed and loaded in Dosbox upon initial startup.

It's currently on my internal flash at
/home/user/apps/nokia.sys --> right next to the DOSBox preferences file.

So what command would I type at the end of the [autoexec] portion in the DOSBox 0.73 Preferences.txt file to get this working?

Thanks!

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

It used to be bundled, but now that RubyBox is in extras, I can't depend on it anymore since xkbd has no source available and therefore can't enter extras.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

If you can, do it by adding the following under [dos] section:
This way you can use Linux paths, and there's no need to add "keyb" to autoexec.bat .

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Okay. I think I'm seeing what the slight problem is here with getting the N800's hardware keys working correctly.

Hey ukki, when you have two minutes, can you upload the mapper.txt on your site to make it available for download next to Pushwall's mapper?

Thanks ahead big chief. :)

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Eh? Stop confusing me ;) The Nokia.sys file is only useful for N810, with FN and Chr keys.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

I thought the nokia.sys was for all hardware keys for both tablet models.

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I consider myself yelled at. :)

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

For those of you who would like to have the N800 hardware keys active and functional, ukki just uploaded his mapper file for them.

You can find it under his download feature in Rubybox and they work perfectly! :)

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Hey javis!

Just one simple request in case you ever update Dosbox again.

When it's not in full screen mode, all I can see is "DOSBox - OE" in the upper left hand window, before it used to show the cycle speed.

It was a very nice feature to have previously.

For example, Death Gate required an exact cycle speed of 875 with a frame skip of 4 to make the voice acting perfect with no studdering.

It's hard to know what speed I'm at while testing if I can't see this value.

It's no biggie. And if you can't get to this, that's perfectly fine. :)

Cheers.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Hey there, does anyone know if dosbox is supposed to crash if I change core to dynamic? I can't tell if this was ever integrated. I found a link to here: http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=19193

Which seems to suggest some work was being done for the ARM dynamic core. Will this be integrated into dosbox ever?

Also, a quick search couldn't find this answer: what are the buttons I press for scaling CPU/frameskip up or down? I have the n810 with the keyboard and would rather not use some crazy keyboard overlay app to achieve this.

And last but not least, does anyone have just a very general dosbox conf lying around? I know basic stuff but I always figured that part of the hard part of making a conf file is that everyone's box is differet, which isn't the case of the nokia. What's a good cpu cycle and frameskip speed? What's a good trick to keep the sound from skipping and slowing down the game? I can't seem to get rubybox to download any saved config files.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

An older version of it was integrated in 0.73, the build in extras uses risc_armv4le-thumb-niw .

AFAIU, it's only enabled if either:
-"core" is set to "auto" and protected mode is enabled.
-"core" is set to "dynamic".

Fully programmable. You can boot the key mapper with "dosbox -startmapper", and map them to the zoom -/+ keys.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Was the server down or is this problem still present?

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

I realized about two months ago that all of the settings I uploaded to your site Ukki are probably incorrect.

I had changed the default dosbox.conf file so I didn't have to keep making the necessary tweaks on each and every game.

Anyway, for some reason, those changes didn't carry over when uploading them so all of those game configurations are probably much stupid to use.

I might go back over them in a week or two and try to fix them up a bit. :)

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

I'm a newbie with an n800, trying to play Ultima 4/5/6 on dosbox. I might be missing something obvious, but how do I move around? the cursor keys aren't moving the avatar, and none of the xkbd keys work, either. I'd rather not spring for a hw bluetooth keyboard, but I definitely like the idea of playing ultima in transit.

Oh, also, I've been trying to play ultima underworld, but the mouse pointer is waaay off from where I'm poking the stylus. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

As for cursor weirdness, go to the advanced settings in Rubybox and change "sdl autolock" to false.

If you haven't already, grab and use ukki's mapper file in his download feature.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

which mapper file? I've downloaded both in the download feature, and have tried mappercsa and mapper72 with ultima iv, and niether seem to work.

As for the sdl autolock w/ UW, I changed it to false, but the mouse pointer is far to the left and slightly up from where I'm touching the screen with the stylus, still off.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Yep. Very good.

"mapper72" is the way to go for all games and applications unless you're playing around with some of Pushwall's suggestions in the Games that work well with Dosbox thread... then you would be using his instead.

The first time you tap the stylus on the screen, I match it up with wherever the cursor is at that time. Doing this, I never have an issue with the pointer behavior being off.

If you still find that the stylus and pointer aren't quite matching up together, drag the stylus to one corner of the screen so that it "catches up" to the mouse pointer. Should do the trick.

If this doesn't work, then you most likely have some funky Dosbox settings. If you've got the cycle speed cranked too high or some ridiculous frame skipping, it could very well be the cause of such behavior.

Not sure why you're not seeing any movement with your avatar.

There's also a Rightdosbox2 or Leftdosbox2 keyboard that you can place on the other side of the display screen. It has a "numlock" key that might activate the keypad. It also has the four cursor keys there as well which are represented by four circles.

Know what? I'll try looking into this a little later tonight if I can find the time to do so unless one of these suggestions ends up working for you. :)

Cheers.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Yeah, still nothing. I tried Rightdosbox2 and using the circle keys, as well as NL and the keypad, and still no movement. The select button in the middle of my directional keys is working as "enter", but for some reason the directional keys aren't working at all.

Would it help if I told you I installed xkbd via rubybox? I know I have libxpm4 installed, so that shouldn't be an issue. It's kinda frustrating, I feel like I'm right on the edge of exploring Britannia again, but the avatar has his feet glued to the grass : P

Your method for the mouse pointer in UW works fantastically, I can't believe I hadn't thought to do that. Now I just need to figure out if I can get it to not run like a slug.

I'd still appreciate any help, and thanks again.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Okay. I'll find some time later tonight to help you problem solve for this.

Give me about 3 hours or so after the wife passes out. :)

In the meantime, maybe you should have a look at these:

Aklabeth - Ultima 0

xu4 - Ultima 4 RPG Engine

Exult Ultima 7 RPG remake

Pentagram - Ultima 8 Engine

I haven't installed any of these myself because it seemed a little too complicated to do so.

If you "Search" the forums however, there's been a few discussions on these games.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

I just tried the Ultima IV that you can download through RubyBox, since that is the one with enhanced graphics and music. The directional keys work fine for me on the map. I'm using the mapper72 file like Addison suggested. Here's a reference for all the key commands too if that helps:
http://www.paradroid.net/u4/refguide/refguide.html

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Did you try rebooting your tablet? xkbd can sometimes really mess up the input.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

I tried rebooting, still no movement.

For what it's worth, I do have the upgraded in-program download version of U4, and here are the options I have checked on in the rubybox settings:

Basic:

cpu cycles max
render frameskip 4
sdl fullscreen true

advanced:

dos keyboardlayout auto
dos keyboardlayoutfile auto
mixer prebuffer 400
sdl autolock false
sdl mapperfile /home/user/.rubybox/.mappers/mapper72.txt


I tried it with and without the keyboardlayout options enabled, niether made a difference. : /

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

FWIW, here are my settings that I have checked...

Basic:
cpu cycles max
render frameskip 2
sdl fullscreen false
Advanced:
mixer prebuffer 400
sdl autolock true
sdl mapperfile /home/user/.rubybox/mappers/mapper72.txt

I'll check when I have time and see if I can see why you're having problems.

UPDATE: Try the setting: sdl fullscreen false when starting the game. (You can go fullscreen once the game is launched.) See if that helps. I just tried launching the game fullscreen and ran into your problem. When I start the game in a window I don't have the problem.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

I tried starting w/ windowed mode... still no luck. I should also add that i have this problem with all of the dosbox games. my directional keys work fine with everything else, though.

ironically, if i could just kill some skeletons or orcs, it might relieve some frustration!

is it to the point of a necessary uninstall/reinstall of dosbox?

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Setting CPU cycles to max is a really bad idea. :)

It's much better to set that value with a number, somewhere between 800 and 1800 I believe.

Stereoprism, open up Xterm while you have a Xkbd keyboard on the screen and start pressing the number pad. Post back on your results.

Let's start from there to better problem solve what's happening on your end.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Okay, opened up rubybox, ran U4 in windowed mode, started xterm, and all the keys in xkbd seem to be working in xterm, including the directional/dot keys. It's only the directional keys in dosbox that aren't working.

I did get one of the directional keys to work in duke nukum I - The down key fires his gun : P none of the others do anything, though.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Okay. That's one closer step in figuring out what's wrong on your end.

And you're sure that you have "mapper72" active with each game you're testing?

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

yes, mapper72. It's just weird that only the directional keys aren't working.

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Okay. Next test.

Have Rubybox point to any file in a game folder that's not an .exe file causing it to crash and go to the Dos Command prompt.

Try using the keypad at that prompt and post back.

Stupid question, but you don't have the setting for joystick enable do you?

Re: DOSBox 0.65 ... ftw
 

Okay, I tried that, same thing, I can type in anything on the xkbd, but the directional keys still don't work. And no, I don't have any of the joystick options enabled.

Maybe I just need to consider a bluetooth keyboard or connecting a keyboard through usb... though it seems goofy to use a full size keyboard on a handheld device : ) Though it might not matter if I can't get what I have now to work.