Bizhawk supports running DOS and several Windows systems using the DOSBox-x emulator. Please refer to its documentation for its usage (e.g., built-in commands and programs). Here we provide additional instructions for making and submitting movies made with this core.

Table of contents

Supported Media

The emulator supports the following media types:
  • The following extensions for floppy disks are supported: .ima, .img, .xdf, .dmf, .fdd, .fdi, .nfd, .d88.
  • The image must be one of DOSBox-x's supported formats
  • It may be a bootable disk.
  • Floppy Disks will be mounted on drive A:
  • All the CD-ROM extensions supported by Bizhawk can be mounted on this core.
  • Only ISO9660 and UDF-formatted discs will be automatically idenfitied.
  • Other formats must be passed explicitly within a multi-disk bundle
  • You may mount bootable CD-ROMs.
  • CD-ROMs will be mounted on drive D:
  • Pre-populated HDD images can be mounted by providing a file with extension .hdd
  • If no such file is provided, you can choose one of the built-in pre-formatted HDD images (see Sync Settings).
  • You may choose to run this core without an HDD mounted.
  • In either case, the supported size range for HDDs is (0, 4GB).
  • If provided, the HDD will be mounted on drive C:
  • The HDD is writable and fully mounted in memory. Be mindful to have enough free memory for it.
  • You may export the contents of your HDD for future use (e.g., verification movie or Windows installation) by clicking DOS > Export Hard Disk Drive...
When multiple disks, or a combination of media is required, you need to create a multi-disk bundle .xml file. For this you can use the tool included in Bizhawk at Tools > Multi-disk Bundler.
The first floppy disk specified will automatically start mounted in the A: drive on boot-up. To switch to the next or previous in the list, use the Next Floppy Disk and Previous Floppy Disk commands, respectively. When the desired disk is selected, use the Swap Floppy Disk command to eject the current one and insert the selected one. You may assign hotkeys to these commands in the Config > Controllers... > Normal Controls > Console menu.
The CD-ROM disk specified will automatically start mounted in the D: drive on boot-up. To switch to the next or previous in the list, use the Next CDROM and Previous CDROM Disk commands, respectively. When the desired disk is selected, use the Swap CDROM Disk command to eject the current one and insert the selected one. You may assign hotkeys to these commands in the Config > Controllers... > Normal Controls > Console menu.
Only one HDD can be mounted at any given time and no swapping is implemented for it.
You may add a DOSBox-x configuration file with an .conf extension as an additional file in your multi-disk bundle. The settings provided in this file will override any pre-existing configuration. You can use this to set any DOSBox-x configuration that your game might require and is not exposed by the core. It is not recommended to use this mechanism if you plan to submit a movie to TASVideos without previously checking with the judging staff.
You may find an extensive list of possible settings in DOSBox-x Full Reference Configuration File

Configuration

All presets are created on top of the same base configuration. This provide a basic set of settings to properly emulate the vast majority of games and applications.
We provide a selection of machine configuration presets. These are a set DOSBox-x parameters that approximates retail DOS and Windows-compatible computers that were sold throughout the early 80's, up to the late 90's.
You must select one of these presets to run your game. The choice needs to be made considering the publication year of the game. That is, the machine should have been one produced at or around the game publication as reasonable. Choosing a much modern preset may result in the game running too fast, whereas an older machine may be too slow or incompatible. In case of doubt, you can ask the Judging staff.
When using TAStudio, and due to the higher use of memory in modern systems (especially when running Windows), it is recommended that the Save State History buffer sizes are increased beyond their default values. You can find these at Metadata > Savestate History Settings....
We expose a selection of relevant emulation settings through the core's sync settings. We recommend to leave these unaltered to fully reflect the selected preset's configuration unless some specific change may be required. Other settings are referred to inputs (enable/disable mouse and joysticks) or whether to mount a preformatted hard disk drive. These settings may be freely modified as needed.
Other settings relate to Bizhawk's interaction with the DOSBox-x core. Specifically:
  • Force FPS Numerator and Force FPS Denominator specify the number of Bizhawk frames per second of emulation. These settings have no effect in the speed at which DOSBox-x runs. That is, it won't change the speed at which the game runs or the frequency of VSync. Instead, these settings can be used to adjust the granularity at which Bizhawk sends inputs to DOSBox-x. You may increase FPS if you require more precise inputs in your game. As a consequence your movie will contain more frames and might take a little more CPU usage to run. The default value reflects a common screen update frequency in DOS, which is presumed to be enough in the majority of cases. We recommend that these values are unchanged if you are unsure whether you need finer controls.
  • Mount Formatted Hard Disk Drive If your game requires a HDD for installation, you may choose one of the preformatted HDD images included in Bizhawk. These HDD images are formatted with a FAT16 file system and contain no files. We recommend you choose the smallest image as required, to reduce memory usage. You may choose to ignore this setting if you don't need an HDD at all, or if you are providing your own HDD file. The following images are offered:
    • 21Mb (FAT16)
    • 41Mb (FAT16)
    • 241Mb (FAT16)
    • 504Mb (FAT16)
    • 2014Mb (FAT16)

Supported Input Methods

This core accepts the keys prescribed by DOSBox-x's keymap. Any changes in layout may be performed inside the emulator's command line but such a change won't be reflected in Bizhawk's inputs. To change the key binding, go to Config > Controllers... > Normal Controls > Keyboard.
Mouse inputs are supported by this core. For cursor movement, two types of inputs may be captured: Position (X and Y) and Speed. The former is captured from the mouse cursor position on Bizhawk's window (or screen, if in fullscreen) position. The latter is taken from the position differential between two consecutive frames. Depending on the application, one or the other type of mouse input might be required. To change the cursor bindings, go to Config > Controllers... > Analog Controls.
Mouse buttons (left, middle, and right) are passed directly to the core. To change the mouse button bindings, go to Config > Controllers... > Normal Controls > Mouse. These bindings won't be accessible if the mouse is disabled.
The core supports up to two joysticks, one for player 1 and the other for player 2. Each of these supports the 4 cardinal directions (left, right, up, and down) and two buttons. To change the mouse button bindings, go to Config > Controllers... > Normal Controls > Player 1 / Player 2. These bindings won't be accessible if the joystick(s) are disabled.

Fully Supported Systems

By default, DOSBox-x will boot into a DOS console. Within this console you run the necessary commands to install and/or run your game. If you are new to the DOS command line, check this useful guide. DOSBox-x provides a set of built-in commands. Most common commands are:
  • a: , to change the current drive to A: (floppy disk)
  • c: , to change it to C: (hard disk drive)
  • d: , to change it to D: (CD-ROM)
  • z: , to change it to Z: (DOSBox-x virtual read-only filesystem)
  • cd [drive:][path] to change the current folder
  • setup.exe , install.exe , typical names for game setup / installers
  • boot x: , to boot from the specified x drive.
  • shutdown /r , to reboot
  • xcopy * c:[path] , to copy all files from the current folder to c:[path] (this command supports copying directory trees as opposed to regular copy ).
  • myGame.exe , to start a game with a given executable name
All commands should be part of your movie (by pressing the corresponding keys). Please do not use the [autoexec] setting in DOSBox-x unless strictly necessary. If so, ask the judging staff in advance.
Windows 3.11 is fully supported. To submit a movie for this system you need to download the follow the steps included in the following:
This movie shall be used to create a hard disk drive containing an installed instance of Windows 3.11 with proper video and audio drivers installed. This movie syncs with Bizhawk commit #13c3a83
The Windows 3.11, codename "Janus" disks were used, as specified in the thegoodolddays database: 
File:  disk1.img
Size:  1,474,560 bytes
MD5:   f6a9079f98bf7525657931c55ce7a30b
SHA-1: 9fc53cc4edaba18126ca0246cfd31f7724aa7b2a

File:  disk2.img
Size:  1,474,560 bytes
MD5:   9d3c2d8b2d014181c10bf391a637c1f2
SHA-1: 3e64348839709639b2d068dbcedc0c603f50fa5d

File:  disk3.img
Size:  1,474,560 bytes
MD5:   fad9e1049e406e6888dba0f86462213e
SHA-1: 920a981e49fab92cfed805f1a680ff24fff4e95d

File:  disk4.img
Size:  1,474,560 bytes
MD5:   54f874abc9b133829f89b0c2f71eab41
SHA-1: 582dfcc90ad4ea7ed5d812b252f2b9953642e410

File:  disk5.img
Size:  1,474,560 bytes
MD5:   dad5556c26c90fa2c5b91e46fe795001
SHA-1: f4507367afb811035b4a8a2bcb74e5797ace0de1

File:  disk6.img
Size:  1,474,560 bytes
MD5:   5bc0c7cba983c26d1300b35945a21cea
SHA-1: 5f72300cf89c117c9a654185da6f2b0300c0a9b7
You also need the following utilities CD: 
File:   windows311-utilities.iso
Size:   1,480,704 bytes
MD5:    5c82f38ae021576268981a2209648056
SHA-1:  89c66da9f5d333e3b5839f347332e71771db2f51
files contained in the following link:
  • w311.xml - Contains the multi-disk bundle that specifies all the required files
  • w311install.conf - Contains autoexec commands to facilitate installation and some useful information
What is done by the movie:
  • Follows the normal installation steps (swapping disks as required)
  • After Windows is installed, uses the video drivers to install the SVGA S3 Trio 64 video drivers and pick a resolution (changes to 800x600 x 256 Colors and Small Fonts on reboot).
  • Installs wave driver (Sound Blaster 220 IRQ 7, as default).
  • Set mouse pointer speed to the slowest speed (to reflect 1:1 the pointer in Bizhawk)
After the movie finishes, exporting the HDD image (clicking DOS > Export Hard Disk Drive...) should result in: 
File:   w311.hdd
Size:   527,966,208 bytes
MD5:    b13bc3d7c70d97e13c25b69818f209e7
SHA-1:  c1745784e946131b084b7522fd950fdc92d1ad0e
To make a new submission movie, use the produced HDD as a game file, as part of a Multi-disk bundle. Your movie should use the SVGA S3 Trio 64 video card (in Sync Settings), or you may experience video issues. Upon starting the movie, run cd windows and win to boot into Windows.

Partially Supported Systems

These systems are supported but may contain some graphical glitches, or even crashes when using 3D acceleration.
To submit a movie for this system you need to download the follow the steps included in the following:
This movie shall be used to create a hard disk drive containing an installed instance of Windows 95 with 3DFX and Direct8.0 support installed. This movie syncs with Bizhawk commit #13c3a83
The Windows 95 CD-ROM file used: 
File:  Windows 95B OEM (000-45234)(Microsoft Corporation)(July 1996).iso
Size:  626,272,256 bytes
MD5:   5c3188e4685d19a98defc011395aaa6b
SHA-1: c5684b0eb2428e033db8e6fe0d2075d0c4631fc9
You also need the following utilities CD: 
File:   windows9x-utilities.iso
Size:   17,725,440 bytes
MD5:    6b51f465a5b7fed54154f52930261544
SHA-1:  af13bd4a817cdb20981d75e3273f7e6616b7d979
files contained in the following link:
  • w95.xml - Contains the multi-disk bundle that specifies all the required files
  • w95install.conf - Contains autoexec commands to facilitate installation and some useful information
What is done by the movie:
  • Follows the normal installation steps
  • Installs DirectX 8.0
  • Installs 3DFX drivers
  • Installs DCOM95 redistributable
  • Sets resolution to 1024x768 (16-bit) colors (32-bits does not run correctly)
  • Set mouse pointer speed to the slowest speed (to reflect 1:1 the pointer in Bizhawk)
After the movie finishes, the resulting hard disk drive (exported by clicking DOS > Export Hard Disk Drive...) should result in: 
File:   w95.hdd
Size:   2,111,864,832 bytes
MD5:    edda3635c0a653aa4cd1837a06640b53
SHA-1:  e01d7087995fa5bdef4878633ad873e89918feb1
To make a new submission movie, use the produced HDD as a game file, as part of a Multi-disk bundle. Upon starting the movie, run boot c: to boot into Windows.
To submit a movie for this system you need to download the follow the steps included in the following:
Note that you may get a different input file hash if you provide a different product key as the one we used to produced the movie.
This movie shall be used to create a hard disk drive containing an installed instance of Windows 98 with 3DFX and Direct9.0c support installed. This movie syncs with Bizhawk commit #13c3a83
The Windows 98 CD-ROM file used: 
File:  Windows 98 Second Edition ver.4.10.2222A (OEM Full) English.iso
Size:  656,203,776 bytes
MD5:   CEB2663047DB6633EDDB3ED98EB9C545
SHA-1: 3FC56CA830A8094D66F2223F176115FCDEA4F37A
Note that there's an identical ISO with a different hash (probably caused by differences in how the ISOs were created) that produces exactly the same hard drive image in the end. 
File:  Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition OEM [X05-29232].iso
Size:  655,591,424 bytes
MD5:   7C32B76E1B8374597CB5EF58A22AA635
SHA-1: FA040CD3F7FD472E9612B1721BC72D7B82538450
You also need the following utilities CD: 
File:   windows9x-utilities.iso
Size:   17,725,440 bytes
MD5:    6B51F465A5B7FED54154F52930261544
SHA-1:  AF13BD4A817CDB20981D75E3273F7E6616B7D979

File:   directx_9c_redist_dec2006.iso
Size:   64,944,128 bytes
MD5:    DEF07CDFB924E83EF19C9EC3D2284D67
SHA-1:  C8A800FCD5C954FF04737B8037A81A735D6549CA
files contained in the following links:
  • w98.xml - Contains the multi-disk bundle that specifies all the required files. The Windows 98 CD image may have a different name than specified above, make sure the name you got matches the one in the XML bundle.
  • w98install.conf - Contains autoexec commands to facilitate installation and some useful information
Before you start:
  • Open w98install.conf and write a valid Windows 98 license key in the following line: 
set PRODUCTKEY=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
To ensure you get the exact same resulting hard drive image as we did in this guide, copy the license key (with the 4 dashes included) and paste it to our hashsum calculator for strings: https://tasemulators.github.io/HashCalculator.html. The hashsums of your key should be: 
MD5:  a8be71157debde4bd4a131e81c1a322b
SHA1: 336d4e068d30864006f1b419ead20c1545d66441
DO NOT SHARE THE LICENSE KEY ITSELF! IT IS ILLEGAL TO SHARE IT!
What is done by the movie:
  • Follows the normal installation steps
  • Installs DirectX 9.0c
  • Installs 3DFX drivers
  • Sets resolution to 1024x768 (32-bit) colors
  • Set mouse pointer speed to the slowest speed (to reflect 1:1 the pointer in Bizhawk)
After the movie finishes, the resulting hard disk drive (exported by clicking DOS > Export Hard Disk Drive...) should result in: 
File:   w98.hdd
Size:   2,111,864,832 bytes
MD5:    799C395887E12B00DB1E15F9DF09FD98
SHA-1:  3A523B859054C68B7C6E60CBAD5BF1F0EE86862F
Note that the hash values may differ if you use a different product key than the one used in the original verification movie. If no desyncs occurred, the resulting HDD file can be used regardless, but you'll need to tell us the hashes of your license key.
DO NOT SHARE THE LICENSE KEY ITSELF! IT IS ILLEGAL TO SHARE IT!
To make a new submission movie, use the produced HDD as game file, as part of a Multi-disk bundle. Upon starting the movie, run boot c: to boot into Windows.

Currently Unsupported Systems

There is some evidence of both Windows 2000 and Windows XP working on DOSBox-x, but even after significant efforts we failed to reproduce their results on Bizhawk. We will help any help researching this topic further and advancing support for these systems on this core.
In theory, DOSBox-x provides all the CPU support to emulate Linux. However, it fails to recognize Ext filesystems or boot a Linux CD. We will appreciate any help advancing support for Linux on this core.

Bizhawk/DOSBox last edited by eien86 21 hours ago
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