[Xperia Arc Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CyberSpiderPrime:
Hello again,

I am going to attempt to help any wanting to use aDOSBox.

First of all, I will be vague on several parts because I do not know for which system you are coming from (Windows, Mac, Linux, other). Also some knowledge of DOS or the ability to do research is needed.

Programs needed or that will be helpful (I am using .74 version of DOSBox and the aDOSBox based on it)

BOCHS for your computer, or bximage (.exe using Windows) from that group of files

DOSBox for your computer

aDOSBox for your Android system

a DOS boot disk img, 6.22 is ok. If you are going to use a Win98 boot disk, disable the ASPI and CD-Rom checks - ASPI checks can freeze DOSBox, and the CD-Rom is unneeded by DOSBox (for below, I'll use a DOS 6.22 disk image). There are several sites on the web that can provide these.

Install the programs as per your systems.

I like using the harddrive approach for installing programs, mainly because when I move files, I only have to move the harddrive image between systems.

Keep names simple, follow the 8.3 format for all names. DOSBox follows the old DOS naming conventions.

Not all games need to be on a bootable drive. DOSBox provides a basic boot environment but some programs need other programs only accessible from a specific boot environment.

Using a harddrive image can save you from the old viruses that re-format or otherwise corrupt harddrives (if you use a SDCARD and not a harddrive image as your boot environment and are using an infected program, it could wipe the whole SDCARD, also this protects from those little accidents we can all make).

1) Using bximage (from BOCHS), create a harddrive image, follow the onscreen instructions.

Best to keep it relatively small, most DOS programs didn't take much space. Make note of the Cylinders count. I used a hdd image of 416mb which makes my cylinder count 845. I usually like to name my images according to what it relates to.

2) While not absolutely needed, it is a good idea to have that boot disk (mainly need the FDISK and FORMAT programs).

3) Make a folder that you will be accessing from DOSBox somewhere on your computer and move the img file to it or to a preexisting folder for this purpose.

Move the install files for whatever game/program that you want to use in aDOSBox to the same folder (your not using aDOSBox yet, it is just faster to use the computer to do the installing). Move the boot disk image here as well

4) Open DOSBox on your computer and type

mount e "full path to the harddrive image and install files"

replace "full path to the harddrive image and install files" with the system relative path (Windows uses drive letters and \, Linux uses devices and /, and I am not familar enough on Macs to say anything) to the install files and harddrive image; such as say my files are located (in Windows) on drive J: and in folder DOSBox, subfolder Temp - the line would read

mount e "j:\DOSBox\Temp"

Temp already has the hard drive image and install files, so now we need to access the harddrive image, I will name it Racer (fictious name for me, I don't normally have racing programs)

5) Mounting the harddrive: this uses the imgmount command

Non-bootable version or after the hdd has been made bootable:

imgmount c "e:\Racer.img"

or

imgmount c "e:\Racer.img" -t hdd

Create Bootable version:

imgmount c "e:\Racer.img" -t hdd -size 512,63,16,xxx -fs none

replace xxx with the cylinder count from bximage

6) Now boot into the DOS disk

boot "e:\622.img"

7) from the A: drive (where did A: come from-> when you booted into this image, the Z: drive (DOSBox drive) disappears, and a new drive A: is created)

Using FDISK, create a DOS partition, set Active if needed

Exit FDISK by pressing ESC button (or equivalent)

Shutdown DOSBox and restart it

commands:

mount e "full path to the harddrive image and install files"

imgmount c "e:\Racer.img"

boot "e:\622.img"

(remember to replace as needed)

use one of 2 commands here:

If you don't care if it is bootable:

format c:

If the image is to be bootable:

format c: /s

Shutdown DOSBox again

If you are going to be running several DOS programs, each with its own image, you can copy the harddrive image file after this on your computer giving each a unique name - saves time in the future of setting up and formatting the drive.

You now have a blank or mostly blank useable harddrive for DOSBox.

Now to put your DOS based software on it.

8) Restart DOSBox again, with these commands:

mount e "full path to the harddrive image and install files"

imgmount c "e:\Racer.img"

e:

type the name of the installer program (normally install.exe or .bat, setup.exe, or the program name.exe, some older programs may even end in .com)

Install to the c: drive

If the c drive was created as bootable (and formatted as such) type

boot "e:\Racer.img"

If the drive was not created as bootable

boot "e:\622.img"

c:

Change to the installed program's directory on C: and run startup program

cd "directory name"

Racer

9) Test your game out, making notes if needed. After you do research (or if you already know how), tweak the DOSBox's config file (it is a text file).

Example: After installing Windows 98, I was having problems installing mainly due to programs not running; changing the CPU from auto to pentium_slow fixed that problem for me.

10) Mount your tablet or smartphone that you installed aDOSBox on to your computer. Create a folder in the root of the card with a name similar to the game or program you will be running. Move your harddrive image (and boot image if the drive isn't bootable) to that folder. Unmount the device.

11) Open aDOSBox on your device then press Menu button and select the SDL option. Select your SDCARD as your data storage.

This gives you a chance to access later your aDOSBox config files, since it can be hard to find even if you are rooted.

12) Remount your device on your computer.

Browse the card to find the config file.

app-data/org.hystudio.android.dosbox/.dosbox/dosbox-0.74.conf

Note: that . before dosbox is the Linux/Android way to hide files and folder and is needed in the file path

Open the config file in any text editor, and jump to the end of the file, you are looking for [autoexec]

add to it something along these lines:

(if it starts up from booting, like OS's)

imgmount c /sdcard/folder you created/Racer.img

boot /sdcard/folder you created/Racer.img

or

(you start by running a program)

imgmount c /sdcard/folder you created/Racer.img

c:

cd Racer

Racer

If you did any tweaks in the computer version of the program, look for the same section(s) in the config file and make those here as well.

Save the file.

unmount the device again.

13) On the device, run the aDOSBox app. It should run as well or similarly as it did on your computer.

If you have to make more tweaks to the program, I personally find it is best to mount, change, unmount on the computer and retry on the device as needed. If you have a physical keyboard on your device (you connected one or it is built on), you may try editing the file locally - remember that the config directory is hidden and needs that dot before the dosbox folder name.

Again, sorry to be vague on some points but this is meant to be a general outline not a specific tutorial. I have no idea what your main computer, what android device you are using, nor your personal experience level. The internet is a great tool, and researching is a great way to learn new information. Good luck.

Notes: If you are wonder why I used drive e instead of c like others would: I usually use c as a boot drive, d as a data drive, and e as a temp drive when making virtual pc's. Using e right away leaves me that little bit of leeway.

Command group summary

1) Creating the image

bximage

4, 5, 6, 7a ) prepping the image

mount e "full path to the harddrive image and install files"

(any one of the following 3)

imgmount c "e:\Racer.img"

imgmount c "e:\Racer.img" -t hdd

imgmount c "e:\Racer.img" -t hdd -size 512,63,16,xxx -fs none

boot "e:\622.img"

fdisk

7b)

mount e "full path to the harddrive image and install files"

imgmount c "e:\Racer.img"

boot "e:\622.img"

(any one of the following 2)

format c:

format c: /s

8)

mount e "full path to the harddrive image and install files"

imgmount c "e:\Racer.img"

e:

(various versions of the following, 9 listed)

install.com

install.exe

install.bat

setup.com

setup.exe

setup.bat

program name.exe

program name.com

program name.bat

(one of the next 2)

boot "e:\Racer.img"

boot "e:\622.img"

c:

cd "directory name"

Racer

Update:

I can install both versions of Win9x, but as soon as they finish the install and boot into the final setup (a normal bootup) I start getting Regserv32, RunDLL32, and Explorer Errors.

It appears that these may be caused by Illegal Reads and Writes to 4 memory addresses (don't have the addresses with me at the moment, but do end in 0000-0003). All 4 address repeat over and over again, when written to they have the same data each time.

Also the problems seem to be related to video (since it happens right after the boot screen goes away (Reg and Run errors) and after the task bar loads (Explorer errors, at least 2). This happens in both DOSBox and aDOSBox.