1DOSBOX(1) General Commands Manual DOSBOX(1)
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6 dosbox - an x86/DOS emulator with sound/graphics
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9 dosbox [-fullscreen] [-startmapper] [-noautoexec] [-securemode] [-user‐
10 conf] [-scaler scaler|-forcescaler scaler] [-conf configfile] [-lang
11 langfile] [-machine machinetype] [-socket socketnumber] [-c command]
12 [-exit] [NAME]
13
14 dosbox --version
15
16 dosbox --printconf
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18 dosbox --editconf [editor]
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20 dosbox -eraseconf
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22 dosbox -resetconf
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24 dosbox -erasemapper
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26 dosbox -resetmapper
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28 dosbox -opencaptures program
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31 This manual page briefly documents dosbox-staging, an x86/DOS emulator.
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33 The optional NAME argument should be a DOS executable or a directory.
34 If it is a dos executable (.com .exe .bat) the program will run auto‐
35 matically. If it is a directory, a DOS session will run with the direc‐
36 tory mounted as C:\.
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38 For an introduction type INTRO inside dosbox.
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41 A summary of options is included below.
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43 -fullscreen
44 Start dosbox in fullscreen mode.
45
46 -startmapper
47 Start the internal keymapper on startup of dosbox. You can use
48 it to change the keys dosbox uses.
49
50 -noautoexec
51 Skips the [autoexec] section of the loaded configuration file.
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53 -securemode
54 Same as -noautoexec, but adds config.com -securemode at the end
55 of AUTOEXEC.BAT (which in turn disables any changes to how the
56 drives are mounted inside dosbox)
57
58 -userconf
59 Load the configuration file located in ~/.config/dosbox. Can be
60 combined with the -conf option.
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62 -scaler scaler
63 Uses the graphical scaler specified by scaler. See the configu‐
64 ration file for the available scalers
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66 -forcescaler scaler
67 Similar to the -scaler parameter, but tries to force usage of
68 the specified scaler even if it might not fit.
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70 -conf configfile
71 Start dosbox with the options specified in configfile. This file
72 has a section in which you can put commands you wish to execute
73 on startup. Multiple configfiles can be present at the command‐
74 line.
75
76 -lang langfile
77 Start dosbox with the language specified in langfile.
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79 -machine machinetype
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81 Setup DOSBox to emulate a specific type of machine. Valid
82 choices are:
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84 hercules
85 Hercules Graphics Card (monochrome)
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87 cga IBM Color Graphics Adapter
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89 cga_mono
90 IBM CGA attached to monochrome display (monochrome)
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92 pcjr IBM PCjr
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94 tandy Tandy Graphics Adapter (Tandy 1000)
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96 ega IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter
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98 vgaonly
99 IBM Video Graphics Array (see below)
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101 vesa_oldvbe
102 VESA SVGA - VESA BIOS Extensions (VBE) 1.2
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104 vesa_nolfb
105 VESA SVGA - VBE 2.0 with Linear Frame Buffer disabled
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107 svga_paradise
108 VESA SVGA - Paradise Systems PVGA1A - VBE 2.0
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110 svga_et3000
111 VESA SVGA - Tseng ET3000 - VBE 2.0
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113 svga_et4000
114 VESA SVGA - Tseng ET4000 - VBE 2.0
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116 svga_s3
117 VESA SVGA - S3 Trio - VBE 2.0
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119 The default is svga_s3.
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121 For some special VGA effects the machinetype vgaonly can be
122 used, note that this disables SVGA capabilities and might be
123 slower due to the higher emulation precision."
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125 The machinetype affects the video card and the available sound
126 cards.
127
128 -socket socketnumber
129 Passes the socket number socketnumber to the nullmodem emula‐
130 tion. See README for details.
131
132 -c command
133 Runs the specified command before running file. Multiple com‐
134 mands can be specified. Each command should start with -c
135 though. A command can be: an Internal Program, a DOS command or
136 an executable on a mounted drive.
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138 -exit dosbox will close itself when the DOS program specified by file
139 ends.
140
141 --version
142 Output version information and exit. Useful for frontends.
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144 --editconf [editor]
145 Open the default configuration file in a text editor. If no edi‐
146 tor name is given, then use the program from EDITOR environment
147 variable, otherwise DOSBox will try to guess the name.
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149 -opencaptures program
150 calls program with as first parameter the location of the cap‐
151 tures folder.
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153 --printconf
154 Prints the location of the default configuration file.
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156 -eraseconf, -resetconf
157 removes the default configuration file.
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159 -erasemapper, -resetmapper
160 removes the mapperfile configured in the clean default configu‐
161 ration file.
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164 dosbox supports most of the DOS commands found in command.com. In addi‐
165 tion, the following extra commands are available:
166
167 MOUNT [-t type] [-size size] driveletter sourcedirectory [-label drive‐
168 label] [-freesize freesize]
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170 MOUNT -u driveletter
171
172 Program to mount local directories as drives inside dosbox.
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174 driveletter
175 The driveletter inside dosbox (eg. C).
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177 sourcedirectory
178 The local directory you want to have inside dosbox.
179
180 -t type
181 Type of the mounted directory. Supported are: dir (stan‐
182 dard), floppy, cdrom.
183
184 -size drivesize
185 Sets the size of the drive. See the examples in the
186 README for details.
187
188 -freesize size_in_mb
189 Sets the amount of free space available on a drive in
190 MB's. This is a more simple version of -size.
191
192 -label drivelabel
193 Sets the name of the drive to drivelabel. Needed on some
194 systems if the cd label isn't read correctly. Useful when
195 a program can't find its cdrom. If you don't specify a
196 label:
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198 For win32: label is extracted from "Real Drive".
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200 For Linux: label is set to NO_LABEL.
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202 If you do specify a label this label will be kept as long
203 as the drive
204 is mounted. It will not be updated !!
205
206 -u Unmounts a mounted drive. Doesn't work on virtual Drives
207 (like Z:\)
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209 Example:
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211 To mount your /home/dos/dosgames directory as C drive in dosbox:
212 mount c /home/dos/dosgames
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214 MEM
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216 Display the amount of free memory
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218 CONFIG [-writeconf] [-writelang] file
219
220 CONFIG -securemode
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222 Write the current configuration or language settings to file, which is
223 located on the local filesystem. Not a mounted drive in dosbox.
224
225 -securemode
226 Switches dosbox to a more secure mode. In this mode the
227 internal commands MOUNT, IMGMOUNT and BOOT won't work.
228 It's not possible either to create a new configfile or
229 languagefile in this mode. (Warning you can only undo
230 this mode by restarting dosbox.)
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232 The configuration file controls various settings of dosbox: The amount
233 of emulated memory, the emulated soundcards and many more things. It
234 further allows access to AUTOEXEC.BAT.
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236 The language file controls all visible output of the internal commands
237 and the internal dos. See the section FILES for more information.
238
239 LOADFIX [-size] [programname] [parameters]
240
241 LOADFIX -f
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243 Program to reduce the amount of memory available. Useful for old pro‐
244 grams which don't expect much memory to be free.
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246 [programname]
247 The name of the program which is executed after loadfix
248 eats up its memory.
249
250 [parameters]
251 Parameters given to the programname executable.
252
253 -size The amount of memory to eat up (in kb). Example -32, -64
254 or -128
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256 -f Frees all memory eaten up by loadfix.
257
258 RESCAN [-All] [Drive:]
259
260 Make dosbox reread the directory structure. Useful if you changed some‐
261 thing on a mounted drive outside dosbox. (Ctrl+F4 does this as well!)
262
263 -All Reread directory structure for all drives.
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265 Drive: Reread directory structure for drive Drive:
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267 If both -All and Drive: are missing, then the current drive is used.
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269 IMGMOUNT
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271 A utility to mount disk images and CD‐ROM images in dosbox.
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273 Read the README of dosbox for the full and correct syntax.
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275 BOOT
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277 Boot will start floppy images or hard disk images independent of the
278 operating system emulation offered by dosbox. This will allow you to
279 play booter floppies or boot to other operating systems inside dosbox.
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281 Read the README of dosbox for the full and correct syntax.
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283 IPX
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285 You need to enable IPX networking in the configuration file of dosbox.
286 All of the IPX networking is managed through the internal dosbox pro‐
287 gram IPXNET. For help on the IPX networking from inside dosbox, type
288 IPXNET HELP and the program will list out the commands and relevant
289 documentation.
290
291 Read the README of dosbox for the full and correct syntax.
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293 KEYB
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295 Keyb can change the keyboardlayout and the codepage used inside dosbox.
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297 Read the README of dosbox for the full and correct syntax.
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300 Configuration and language files use a format similar to Windows .ini
301 files. If no configfile is specified at the commandline, a file named
302 dosbox.conf (if present in the current directory) will be loaded auto‐
303 matically. If a configfile is specified at the commandline that one
304 will be used instead. If no configfile is specified or found in the
305 current directory then dosbox will load one from $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/dos‐
306 box/ (which defaults to ~/.config/dosbox/). It will try to create a
307 new default config file if it does not exist yet.
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310 Alt+Enter Switch between fullscreen and window mode.
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312 Alt+Pause Pause/Unpause emulator.
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314 Ctrl+F1 Start the keymapper.
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316 Ctrl+F4 Swap mounted disk‐image (only used with imgmount). Update
317 directory cache for all drives.
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319 Ctrl+F5 Save a screenshot.(png)
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321 Ctrl+F6 Start/Stop recording sound output to a wave file.
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323 Ctrl+F7 Start/Stop recording video output to a zmbv file.
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325 Ctrl+F9 Kill dosbox.
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327 Ctrl+F10 Capture/Release the mouse.
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329 Ctrl+F11 Slow down emulation (Increase dosbox Cycles).
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331 Ctrl+F12 Speed up emulation (Decrease dosbox Cycles).
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333 Alt+F12 Unlock speed (turbo button).
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335 These are the default keybindings. They can be changed in the keymap‐
336 per.
337
338 Saved/recorded files can be found in current_directory/capture (can be
339 changed in the configfile). The directory has to exist prior to start‐
340 ing dosbox else nothing gets saved/recorded !
341
342 Note: Once you increase your dosbox cycles beyond your computer's maxi‐
343 mum capacity, it will produce the same effect as slowing down the emu‐
344 lation. This maximum will vary from computer to computer, there is no
345 standard.
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348 Fast machine. My guess would be Pentium-2 400+ to get decent emulation
349 of games written for an 286 machine. For protected mode games a 1 Ghz
350 machine is recommended and don't expect them to run fast though!! Be
351 sure to read the next section on how to speed it up somewhat.
352
353 To run resource-demanding games
354 dosbox emulates the CPU, the sound and graphic cards, and some other
355 stuff, all at the same time. You can overclock dosbox by using
356 Ctrl+F12, but you'll be limited by the power of your actual CPU. You
357 can see how much free time your true CPU has by various utils (top).
358 Once 100% of your real CPU time is used there is no further way to
359 speed up dosbox unless you reduce the load generated by the non-CPU
360 parts of dosbox.
361
362 So:
363
364 Close every program but dosbox.
365
366 Overclock dosbox until 100% of your CPU is used. (Ctrl+F12)
367
368 Since VGA emulation is the most demanding part of dosbox in terms of
369 actual CPU usage, we'll start here. Increase the number of frames
370 skipped (in increments of one) by pressing Ctrl+F8. Your CPU usage
371 should decrease. Go back one step and repeat this until the game runs
372 fast enough for you. Please note that this is a trade off: you lose in
373 fluidity of video what you gain in speed.
374
376 Any configuration option can be override using an environment variable.
377 Environment variables starting with prefix DOSBOX are processed and in‐
378 terpreted as follows: DOSBOX_SECTIONNAME_PROPERTYNAME=value
379
380 For example, you can override render aspect this way:
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382 $ DOSBOX_RENDER_ASPECT=false dosbox
383
385 While we hope that, one day, dosbox will run virtually all programs
386 ever made for the PC... we are not there yet. At present, dosbox run
387 on a 1.7 Gigahertz PC is roughly the equivalent of a 25MHz 386 PC.
388 While the 0.60 release has added support for "protected mode" allowing
389 for more complex and recent programs, but note that this support is
390 early in development and nowhere near as complete as the support for
391 386 real-mode games (or earlier). Also note that "protected mode" games
392 need substantially more resources and may require a much faster proces‐
393 sor for you to run it properly in dosbox.
394
396 To report a bug, please visit https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-
397 staging/issues
398
399
401 You'll find long and detailed manual in README file in
402 /usr/share/doc/dosbox-staging
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406 DOSBox Staging project is maintained by the DOSBox Staging Team
407 (https://dosbox-staging.github.io/)
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409 This manual page was written by Peter Veenstra <H.P.Veenstra@stu‐
410 dent.rug.nl> and James Oakley <jfunk@funktronics.ca>, for the Debian
411 system (but may be used by others), updated by Patryk Obara
412 <dreamer.tan@gmail.com> for dosbox-staging project.
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416 Jan 23, 2021 DOSBOX(1)