I now regret writing the second e-mail, dated 2007-3-22 @ 09:21 am. Its purpose was to help you view the guide through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time without understanding technical jargon, enabling you to improve its user friendliness. For me, this MacOSX Pictorial guide is much, much better, but under developed, un-maintained, and buried in a message board purgatory (I first found it while doing a search after my first couple hours of confusion).

Unfortunately, my e-mail proved a tremendous whining distraction from my real questions, first detailed at 2007-3-22 @ 02:57 am, which remain points of confusion for me.

I admire what you all are trying to do and I do not take a bit of your work or time for granted. I have done due diligence in pouring over faqs and readmes to try to answer my own questions, but there is a whole lot of it, and I have a very hard time understanding what I’m reading, especially since it's geared toward people with backgrounds in dos running Windows XP. If I had the tech savvy to make the improvements I suggest, I would do so, but I can’t even get your program to perform.

Copy it into the Preferences/ folder of your harddisk.

What does the slash after "Preferences/" signify?

Under OSX the slash is the path delimitor (its the back-slash under windows and DOS). I wanted to stress that I am refering to the actual folder named "Preferences" by adding the trailing path delimitor. I didn't expect this to be confusing but obviously it is - next time I will try to remember leaving it out. 😉

Again, which "Documents" folder?

When you log into an OSX system for the first time you will notice that a few folders that are already there: Documents, Library, Pictures, Music, Movies and some others. Their purpose is obvious.

Of course it doesn't matter where you put your stuff. I put it into my Documents folder because I like keeping my private data in a single place. And since the various DOS programs cannot be run directly under OSX they are more like a document than an application in my eyes. Like an Excel sheet that can only be viewed or executed (if it has some spreadsheet logic in it) with the apropriate software: Excel or NeoOffice.

My instinct is to put it in my "games" folder inside "applications". 'Cause that's where I keep my games. Is that impractical?

Thats up to you to decide. I wouldn't do it but if you find it practical to have all game related stuff inside a folder then feel free to do so.

In the MacOSX Pictorial Guide, the "dos" folder is placed in the user home folder. Is that instruction obsolete?

No it is not - its just an example where to put it. It can be put anywhere you like as long as you give the exact folder location as an argument to the mount command inside DOSBox.

Pisomojado wrote:

I now regret writing the second e-mail, dated 2007-3-22 @ 09:21 am. Its purpose was to help you view the guide through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time without understanding technical jargon, enabling you to improve its user friendliness.

Hey! We are still friends (I hope).

And I will change the wording in my little guide to use the word folder instead of directory. It would perhaps be better to make 2 almost identical versions: One for Windows users, and one for Mac users, and avoid the distracting platform specific notes.

Minimax, I think that is a great idea. But I suggest what would be even better would be to update this MacOSX Pictorial guide and include it on the Guides forum. If only I were competent, I'd do it myself. The pictures help GREATLY with comprehension of unfamiliar terms.

As far as I can tell in my ignorance, this pictorial is lacking only four things:

1. Information on how to deal with the preferences folder. Rhoenie has been trying to explain this to me and others. He even made a screencast, which unfortunately, I'm unable to view (here): http://www.spam-filter.de/~rhoenie/DOSBox_Screencast.mov
(Has DrFred's problem been resolved? Help installing DOSbox 0.70 on Mac OS X Is it a bug?)

2. A little more explanation on what .conf files are and what they do.

3. The actual installation of a standard game you know should work, such as this one:
Generic "DOS-Game" for testing...
That way, it will be easier to troubleshoot if something goes wrong, and it will give the newbie confidence when things go right.

4. A brief explanation of Frontends.

Thank you again for your time and attention.

The Mac OSX version: Re: 60 seconds guide to getting your game to run in DOSBox

Comments are welcome.

Thanks again for the reply Rhoenie.

Of course it doesn't matter where you put your stuff.

I don't know what a "trailing path delimitor" is, but I think I get your drift. I asked you a bad question, tantamount to asking how my computer works. For simplicity's sake, I feel safest using the guide as my standard for where to put things.

If I understand correctly, the DOSBox Preferences goes here (see screenshot)?

Pisomojado wrote:

(Has DrFred's problem been resolved? Help installing DOSbox 0.70 on Mac OS X Is it a bug?)

I don't know. One would guess so, and that he is simply too lazy to report back on his success. But it would be nice to get it confirmed.

Pisomojado wrote:

2. A little more explanation on what .conf files are and what they do.

In general? You Mac-people seems to call them preferences files, right? Programs/applications needs a place to store their settings. That is what preferences files are for. DOSBox is like any other application in that respect. The preference file is where you tell DOSBox how it should behave - how the emulated DOS-PC should look like.

Pisomojado wrote:

3. The actual installation of a standard game you know should work, such as this one:
Generic "DOS-Game" for testing...

The problem with this is the word "standard". Is it standard for a game to come as a Zip-file, or on a CD? The difference is in how you prepare for the installation of the game. With a real CD you do the mount D "/Volume/name-of-CD" -t cdrom -ioctl thing.
With a Zip-file, you need to first unzip the file(s) into a folder and then do a mount D "/path/to/the/unzipped/folder" -t cdrom.
After that it is the same: Go to D:, and type INSTALL.
(You should try it 😀 )

If you have more than 60 seconds to spare, you can create a DOSBox preferences (configuration) file with instruction for DOSBox […]
Show full quote

If you have more than 60 seconds to spare, you can create a DOSBox preferences (configuration) file with instruction for DOSBox to automagically mount the emulated C and D drives every time you start DOSBox:

1. Launch DOSBox.

2. Create the preferences file:

Z:>Z:\>config -writeconf "/Users/your-login-name/Library/Preferences/DOSBox Preferences"

3. Exit DOSBox.

4. Launch TextEdit, open "/Users/your-login-name/Library/Preferences/DOSBox Preferences" and add the mount commands to the section named autoexec (at the bottom of the file):

Should this DOSBox Preferences file overwrite the DOSBox Preferences file which comes packaged with DOSBox?

Is this an updated version of the ".config files" referenced in part 3 of the MAC OSX Pictorial guide?

With a real CD you do the mount D "/Volume/name-of-CD" -t cdrom -ioctl thing.
With a Zip-file, you need to first unzip the file(s) into a folder and then do a mount D "/path/to/the/unzipped/folder" -t cdrom.
After that it is the same: Go to D:, and type INSTALL.

AH-HAH! So one can treat any folder as though it's a cd drive, and mount it as a D drive? In other words, you always need a C drive and a D drive? This may answer the problem I've been having...

Go to D:, and type INSTALL.

And then go back to C, type dir, and try to run any .exe or .bat files you see, right?

(Has DrFred's problem been resolved? Help installing DOSbox 0.70 on Mac OS X Is it a bug?)

I don't know. One would guess so, and that he is simply too lazy to report back on his success. But it would be nice to get it confirmed.

By the way, the last two posts are by DrFred, in which he apologetically explains that he still has a problem with the preferences files. Since I've had many questions about preferences files as well, I thought his issue might be pertinent to our discussion.

Pisomojado wrote:

Should this DOSBox Preferences file overwrite the DOSBox Preferences file which comes packaged with DOSBox?

Ehh - "comes packaged with". Now we are entering uncharted territory. It might come packaged with the version of DOSBox that rhoenie is distributing. But there is no guarantee that the next guy that creates a Mac OSX version of DOSBox will put a Preferences file in his package.

I hope that the file that the config -writeconf command creates is identical to the one that rhonie has packaged with his port of DOSBox. But I can not be sure. So why not rename rhonie's file to "Original DOSBox Preferences", create the new one, and compare them? I assume you can open 2 TextEdit's, and view the files side-by-side?

Pisomojado wrote:

Is this an updated version of the ".config files" referenced in part 3 of the MAC OSX Pictorial guide?

You tell me after you have compared them 😀

Pisomojado wrote:

Go to D:, and type INSTALL.

And then go back to C, type dir, and try to run any .exe or .bat files you see, right?

Yes. But the dir is not strictly necessary - it is only to show you a (directory) listing. If you know the name of the file, you don't need the dir. And you can use your Finder (is it still called that?) to have a look in your ~/Documents/DOSBox stuff/MyGame folder instead of doing it from the DOSBox prompt.

Pisomojado wrote:

(Has DrFred's problem been resolved? Help installing DOSbox 0.70 on Mac OS X Is it a bug?)

I don't know. One would guess so, and that he is simply too lazy to report back on his success. But it would be nice to get it confirmed.

By the way, the last two posts are by DrFred, in which he apologetically explains that he still has a problem with the preferences files. Since I've had many questions about preferences files as well, I thought his issue might be pertinent to our discussion.

Agreed. Which i why I look forward to see if you can get DOSBox to use your personalized Preferences file.

Ehh - "comes packaged with". Now we are entering uncharted territory. It might come packaged with the version of DOSBox that rhoenie is distributing. But there is no guarantee that the next guy that creates a Mac OSX version of DOSBox will put a Preferences file in his package.

On the official website here
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/dosbox/DOS … mg.zip?download
Mac users are instructed to download a disk image. One of the folders inside is labeled Preferences. Inside are two folders labeled INTeL and PowerPC. Each contains an item called DOSBox Preferences. Please see my attached screenshot for clarification.

As to what to do with this, I have four sets of instructions to work with:

First, Rhoenie's:

3) The DOSBox software reads its preferences from a text file (just like any other Mac software does it aswell). This textfile is placed inside your Preferences folder on your Mac (where all other programs store their settings aswell - its like the registry on Windows computers if that explains things to you).

4) Unlike other Mac software DOSBox doesn't create a preferences file on its own: you have to do that! The reason is simple: there is no proper way inside the DOSbox application to set up all the different things and save them. Inside the disk image DOSBox is shipping in there are two example preferences files. One for PowerPC users and one for INTeL users. You said you have a G5 so the PowerPC preferences file is the one for you. Copy it into the Preferences/ folder of your harddisk.

Second, the instructions in the second readme contained in the disk image package, which says:

============= CONFIG FILES: ============= […]
Show full quote

=============
CONFIG FILES:
=============

In this directory you will find example configurations for typical OSX machines tailored down to give the best performance on a given system. The PowerPC config was tested with a PowerBook G4 1.25Ghz and the INTeL one on a Core2Duo iMac 2.16Ghz.

You have to copy the config file into ~/Library/Preferences/ (that's the preferences folder in your user directory).

Take these config files as a good starting point to tweak your own setup to the max.

In retrospect, that's the same thing Rhoenie was trying to tell me, but the first time I read it, I didn't get it and quickly forgot it. I found it strange and frightening.

On the other hand, I have your instructions, which are the official installation guide:

If you have more than 60 seconds to spare, you can create a DOSBox preferences (configuration) file with instruction for DOSBox […]
Show full quote

If you have more than 60 seconds to spare, you can create a DOSBox preferences (configuration) file with instruction for DOSBox to automagically mount the emulated C and D drives every time you start DOSBox:

1. Launch DOSBox.

2. Create the preferences file:

Z:>Z:\>config -writeconf "/Users/your-login-name/Library/Preferences/DOSBox Preferences"

3. Exit DOSBox.

4. Launch TextEdit, open "/Users/your-login-name/Library/Preferences/DOSBox Preferences" and add the mount commands to the section named autoexec (at the bottom of the file):

Code:
[autoexec]
mount C "/Users/your-login-name/Documents/DOSBox stuff/MyGame"
mount D "/Volumes/name-of-your-CD" -t cdrom -ioctl
C:

And, lastly, the instructions located in the MAC OSX Pictorial guide:

Part 3: Using .conf Files In order to save time lets create a DosBox.conf file that will automatically mount your C: drive when […]
Show full quote

Part 3: Using .conf Files
In order to save time lets create a DosBox.conf file that will automatically mount your C: drive when you start DosBox.
Switch to your DosBox window and type
Code:
config -writeconf DosBox.conf

exactly as is, no substituting this time.

Go back to your DOSBox folder and look for the new file DosBox.conf and double click on it. If asked to choose an application to open the file, choose TextEdit.

Once the file is open scroll down to the very end of the file where you'll see
Code:
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

and add
Code:
mount c /Users/matthewguiddy/dos/
c:

substituting matthewguiddy with your user name.
Save the file and restart DosBox.
If you did everything right your C: drive should be mounted and ready to go.

If you want to have extra .conf files (for different games, to emulate different types of machines, etc) simply ctrl-click on DosBox.conf and choose Duplicate.
Rename the new file.
Open the new file and make any changes.
In order to run DosBox with the new config you must start it from the terminal.
To start the terminal open the Utilities folder inside your Applications folder and scroll down until you see Terminal.

Double click the icon to start the terminal.
Now you have two options. You can type
Code:
cd /Applications/DOSBox/
/Applications/DOSBox/DosBox.app/Contents/MacOS/DosBox -conf bak.conf

Code:
/Applications/DOSBox/DosBox.app/Contents/MacOS/DosBox -conf /Applicactions/DOSBox/bak.conf

(The above should be on one line and only have one space between ".../DosBox" and "-conf")

changing bak.conf to whatever you named your .conf file.
If all went well DosBox should open using the config from your secondary .conf file.

When you run DosBox this way DosBox gets attatched to the terminal, meaning you cannot close the terminal window without closing DosBox.

I tried to do as you requested, obeying your instructions with the goal of creating a new DOSBox Preferences file to compare to the one which came packaged in the disk image. Unfortunately, I made some mistake. I repeatedly got this error: "Illegal command: Z:\-writeconf."

What are your thoughts?

I also just tried using the method of placing the included DOSBox Preferences file in the proper place.

The good news is that, using the technique of fooling the computer into thinking a folder was a cd drive, I successfully installed and played the free pacman game! So thanks for that! I really think that vital piece of information should be in the guide!

Unfortunately, when I quit DOSBox and restarted it, it forgot where my C drive is. This means my preferences aren't working, right?

did you add the mount command to the preferences file ?

Pisomojado wrote:

On the official website here
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/dosbox/DOS … mg.zip?download
Mac users are instructed to download a disk image.

Ah 🙁 My fault. I wasn't aware that the Mac OSX version is listed among the official downloads. I thought it was something that rhonie had put up on a private web-site somewhere.

Pisomojado wrote:

Inside are two folders labeled INTeL and PowerPC. Each contains an item called DOSBox Preferences.

I have to ask rhonie why 2 preferences files are needed... It seems unnecessary to me.

Pisomojado wrote:

As to what to do with this, I have four sets of instructions to work with: […]
Show full quote

As to what to do with this, I have four sets of instructions to work with:

First, Rhoenie's:
<snip>
4) Unlike other Mac software DOSBox doesn't create a preferences file on its own: you have to do that! The reason is simple: there is no proper way inside the DOSbox application to set up all the different things and save them.

Well..... That is technically not true. There is no fancy graphical interface for setting and changing preferences, but there certainly is commands to set things up they way you want them (config -set name-of-config-section settings-name=settings-value) ), and a command to save them (config -writeconf "/path/to/preferences/file"). Incidentially, this is what front-ends are for: Provides a graphical interface - a front-end - for editing that pesky preferences file.

Pisomojado wrote:

On the other hand, I have your instructions, which are the official installation guide:

😅 Official, and official.... Someone noticed that I was pretty active on the forum, and seemed to know what I was talking about, so I was asked if I was interested in help moderating the forum here. I guess that makes the stuff I write somewhat official, but I am only human (more on that later).

Pisomojado wrote:

2. Create the preferences file:

Z:>Z:\>config -writeconf "/Users/your-login-name/Library/Preferences/DOSBox Preferences"

<big snip>
I tried to do as you requested, obeying your instructions with the goal of creating a new DOSBox Preferences file to compare to the one which came packaged in the disk image. Unfortunately, I made some mistake. I repeatedly got this error: "Illegal command: Z:\-writeconf."

As I said - I am only human. There is an error in the guide. Leave out the double Z:\>. That is the prompt that DOSBox writes. The command should read:

config -writeconf "/Users/your-login-name/Library/Preferences/DOSBox Preferences"

Pisomojado - didn't it strike you a bit odd with the double Z:\> stuff? I am not blaming you for trying to follow the guide to the letter, but don't be afraid to use your critical sense too. Also, there should be a Read-Me file included with your DOSBox-image, with documentation and examples for all the internal DOSBox commands, including config.

Pisomojado wrote:

And, lastly, the instructions located in the MAC OSX Pictorial guide:

Part 3: Using .conf Files In order to save time lets create a DosBox.conf file that will automatically mount your C: drive when […]
Show full quote

Part 3: Using .conf Files
In order to save time lets create a DosBox.conf file that will automatically mount your C: drive when you start DosBox.
Switch to your DosBox window and type
Code:
config -writeconf DosBox.conf

exactly as is, no substituting this time.

Go back to your DOSBox folder and look for the new file DosBox.conf <snip>

/Applications/DOSBox/DosBox.app/Contents/MacOS/DosBox -conf /Applicactions/DOSBox/bak.conf

You have run into one of the blessings - and curses - of Open Source Software: We love flexibility, we love freedom to put our files wherever we want, name them any way we want, and we accept that it makes it impossible to give short, definitive answers.

As rhonie pointed out earlier when you asked where to put your DOSBox stuff - in the Documents or the Applications folder - he answer was: It is all up to you. It depends on how you feel it should be.

The guy who wrote the pictorial seems to prefer to put the preferences file in /Applicactions/DOSBox/ - that's all. rhonie thinks they should go in ~/Library/Preferences. I would put it inside the DOS\MyGame folder, so I could have a preferences file for each of my games - each file with its own commands to automatically mount drives, and execute the game.

We each have our preferences(!) as to where we think files should go - and it makes the guides differ. For now, I recommend that you go with rhonie's approach: One "DOSBox Preferences" file in the ~/Library/Preferences folder. Later, when you get more experience with operating DOSBox, you can try other tactics - including using a front-end to manage multiple preferences / configs / profiles files for you HUGE collection of DOS-games.

Pisomojado wrote:

I tried to do as you requested, obeying your instructions with the goal of creating a new DOSBox Preferences file to compare to the one which came packaged in the disk image. Unfortunately, I made some mistake. I repeatedly got this error: "Illegal command: Z:\-writeconf."

What are your thoughts?

Drop the Z:\> and try again.

That sounds very confusong to me. Is their a dosbox on mac for dummies.

Yes, download DosBox for Mac, execute it and there ya go! 😀

Pisomojado wrote:

Inside are two folders labeled INTeL and PowerPC. Each contains an item called DOSBox Preferences.

I have to ask rhonie why 2 preferences files are needed... It seems unnecessary to me.

The reason why there are two files is simple: the INTeL-based Macs can do core=dynamic while all the others can not. I tried the software on various PowerPC based Macs and even with the most recent quad G5 PowerMac the result is poor compared to a small Mac Mini with INTeL CPU and core=dynamic enabled. It is a very powerfull setup option! Too bad that it isn't available on other CPU architectures than x86.

Keeping this in mind you have to lower certain options in the preferences file to make the PowerPC DOSBox expirience similar to the one on INTeL-based Macs. And thats what I did and why there are two different files bundled with the DOSBox distribution for OSX.

OK, maybe all the confusing wouldn't exist if there was only one file or no file at all like in the 0.65 release - but I thought it would be better the other way round.