DOSBox Wii

A port of DOSBox to the Wii using SDL Wii.

DOSBox Wii
DOSBox.png
General
Author(s)Carl Kenner, Tantric
TypeEmulation/Simulation
Version0.72.01
Links
[[Google Code|Download]]
[[Google Code|Source]]
Peripherals
Wiimote4.svg SensorBar.svg ClassicController.svg GameCube Controller USB Keyboard USB Mouse Loads files from SDHC cards in the Front SD slot USB mass storage device SD Gecko

Features

  • USB Keyboard and mouse support.
  • Wiimote pointer support.
  • SD/USB mounting.
  • Most DOS games are playable.

Instructions

You need a Wii Remote and a USB keyboard.

The C: drive will automatically be mounted to sd:/DOSBox/ if loaded from apps/dosbox-wii/. Otherwise, the directory the dol is loaded from will be mounted as C, and sd:/DOSBox as D (if present). The Z: driver is a virtual drive that is part of DOSBox.

Other drives can be mounted using the MOUNT command. Prefix sd: for an SD card, and usb: for a USB drive. The Wii's DVD drive and network folders can't be mounted at this time.

The configuration file is loaded from the directory the dol is located in (if present) and sd:/DOSBox/dosbox.conf otherwise. This file will be created automatically after you start DOSBox. Please edit it with a text editor to choose settings appropriate for each game.

Press the Home button, type "exit", press Ctrl+F9, or press Reset (on the console) to exit.

Compatability

Most games work properly now; however, many games will require some sort of adjustment to the dosbox.conf file. It is recommended to try the game you want to play on the PC version of DOSBox first to discover the optimum settings.

For a list, look at the DOSBox Wii Compatibility List.

If you can add new or updated info to the list, do it.

Known Issues

  • The joystick works, but only with the classic controller/nunchuk analog sticks
  • Sound isn't working properly.
  • Network/CDROM support is missing.

Troubleshooting

A certain game closes DOSBox, crashes with some message or hangs:

  • Delete the dosbox.conf file to restore the default settings.
  • Disable the sound (use the sound configuration program that comes with the game, additionally you can set sbtype=none and gus=false in the DOSBox configuration file)
  • Change some configuration entries in dosbox.conf, especially try:
    • fixed cycles (for example cycles=10000)
    • memsize
    • ems=false
    • xms=false
    • umb=false

or combinations of the above settings.

  • Use loadfix before starting the game

A certain game runs slowly:

  • Change the CPU cycles. By default DOSBox tries to detect whether a game needs to be run with as many instructions emulated per time interval as possible. You can force this behaviour by setting cycles=max in the DOSBox configuration file. In this mode you can reduce the amount of cycles on a percentage-basis (hit CTRL-F11) or raise it again (CTRL-F12). Sometimes manually setting the number of cycles achieves better results, in the DOSBox configuration file specify for example cycles=30000.
  • Increase the number of frames skipped. Pressing CTRL-F8 to increase the frameskip by 1. Repeat this until the game runs fast enough for you. You can also set this value permanently in the configuration file.
  • Disable the sound. You can try to disable the sound through the setup utility of the game to reduce load on your CPU further. Setting nosound=true does NOT disable the emulation of sound devices - just the sound output will be disabled.