                                 TOSBOX faq

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
(mostly, but not entirely, about Windows compatibility)
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Q: How can I tell whether something is a bug in TOSBOX?

A:  Any DOS program running within Windows lives in something called a
"virtual machine." This means that a DOS box is actually an emulator,
emulating DOS under Windows.  When the DOS program itself happens to be an
emulator (which in this case converts it to a TOS box, you see), this means
you are running an emulator within an emulator, though the outer one
doesn't need to emulate an entirely different CPU and can therefore run at
pretty close to full speed.  Neither of these emulations can be expected to
be entirely seamless; but when something doesn't work, it is not a trivial
question to ask where the failure may have been caused.  Here is a fairly
straightforward method you might use to track down a bug:

1.  To make sure the problem is not in the ST domain, boot into a clean
virtual ST with no desk accessories or AUTO programs.  If the problem goes
away, it was a conflict between your ST programs.  If it persists, go to
step 2.

2.  Disable TOSBOX features: sound, parallel port, serial port, custom
video (use mode 0), VT52 emulation, blitter emulation, etc.  If the problem
persists, go to step 3.  If it goes away, start adding features one by one
until you see it reappear; and then you might want to report your findings,
because it's possible that I didn't know about the incompatibility, and
might be able to fix it.

3.  If you're curious and stubborn enough, shut down Windows and run TOSBOX
from MS-DOS mode.  (You may find that you have to install a separate mouse
driver -- see below.)  If the problem goes away, what you have found is
evidence of the incompleteness of Windows' emulation of DOS.  However, that
doesn't necessarily mean nothing can be done about it.  Please notify me,
in case I didn't know about it before; sometimes workarounds can be
implemented.

4.  If you still have not been able to make your problem go away, then by
this time you can be much more confident that it is a bona fide TOSBOX
bug.  Again, maybe nobody else has reported it yet, so please contact me.
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Q: Why do my video refresh rates vary from Windows'?
Q: Why does 1024x768 [look wrong / fail to appear] on my monitor, while it
works okay in Windows?
Q: ( ... etc.)?

A:  TOSBOX merely requests a VESA mode of a given resolution and color
depth, and the operating system supplies it.  The refresh rates (and,
ultimately, the existence and functionality of those modes) are system
configuration issues; this is the way VESA works.

If you seldom run DOS, you may have never had reason to look into your
system's VESA configuraton.  A plain-vanilla VESA driver usually provides
only the most commonly used graphic modes, and at refresh rates that almost
all hardware can tolerate, which means much more flicker than necessary.
Any particular video card should come with a floppy or CD with a driver
(and/or small suite of utilities) that informs the operating system of the
capabilities of the card, and lets you specify refresh rates.  Of course
this is how things are done in the Windows world too.  So look through the
disks that came with your PC, or with your video card.  Even if you didn't
install your card, your vendor doesn't expect you to be running DOS
programs and so is unlikely to have bothered setting up the VESA driver.

If you can't find a suitable driver among the various CDs and floppies that
came with your hardware, you can usually find something to download free
from the card manufacturer's website.  Failing that, a "universal" display
driver that is supposed to work well with DOS-based applications under W95
is available from SciTech.  It costs more than twice what TOSBOX itself
does, but they do let you download and try before you buy.

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Q: Can I run TOSBOX in a window under Windows 95/98/NT?

A: Starting with version 1.08 this is possible on some systems, with
certain restrictions.  The Windows driver for your video card may or may
not allow graphic DOS applications to run windowed; I find that I can do it
with one (Cirrus) and not another (Trident). The mouse response is
sluggish, making it suitable really only for text-oriented ST programs, but
it's okay otherwise.  As I'm typing this into Netscape Composer, Tosbox is
in a separate window running the Everest text editor.

  1. Remove or disable any mouse accelerator on the emulated ST.
  2. Add the line "mouse type 3" to your init file.
  3. Use a standard ST video mode (0, 1, or 2).
  4. After starting TOSBOX, press Alt-Enter.
  5. In ST high there will be black borders at the top and bottom of the
     window which can be elimitated if necessary by resizing the window and
     maniuplating sliders.  In ST low or medium you may have to change
     preferences in the ST desktop to get the desired resolution, but there
     are no borders.
  6. (optional) To enable pasting of text from Windows applications, under
     "properties...misc" for the TOSBOX window, deselect "fast pasting".
  7. (optional, not recommended) To get rid of the duplicate mouse pointer,
     under "properties...misc" for the TOSBOX window, you can select
     "exclusive mode". If you do this, you'll need to use one of the
     Windows keyboard shortcuts to switch to another application, just as
     if TOSBOX were running in a full screen.

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Q: Why is there a delay when I use the printer under Windows?

A: Windows spools DOS-based printer output in such a way that it waits up
to nearly a minute after your Atari program stops sending data before it
begins feeding it to the printer.  The updated documentation lists three
solutions; the only one that doesn't involve altering your Windows setup is
to change a line in your TOSBOX initialization file from this:

    use lpt1

to this:

    use prn 1000

... where the numeric parameter specifies idle timeout in 200hz ticks. Here
1000 corresponds to five seconds.
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Q: What can I do if TOSBOX refuses to run under Windows NT?

A: Compatibility varies from one NT system to another.  It is not known for
sure what factors matter (hardware, NT version or service pack version).
However, if you are having problems, don't give up right away.  Edit your
TB.INI file to temporarily disable the sound, the parallel port and the com
port.  After you have verified that TOSBOX runs, you can try re-enabling
features one by one to see what is conflicting with your particular
system.  Also you might want to use 061011 for your break key combination
(left shift+ctrl+'Q').

At the moment, the one NT machine I have access to won't even let me
install the DJGPP compiler, so there seems not to be a lot of hope of
isolating the mystery factor, at least not anytime soon.
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Q: What do I need the CWSDPMI.EXE file for?

A: You only need it when running under plain MS-DOS.  Most modern PC
operating systems including Windows and OS/2 provide a DPMI environment for
memory management.  When in plain MS-DOS, just make sure it can be found in
the current search path (type PATH from the command prompt for a list of
suitable locations, or just leave it in the same directory with TB.EXE).
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Q: How can I get the keyboard to work better? Several characters seem to be
assigned to the wrong keys.

A: First, make sure the nationality (language setup) of your TOS image file
matches that of your PC.  If problems remain, try adding this line to your
init file:

  auto ascii 20 7f
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Q: Why can't I read my ST-formatted floppies?

A: Actually, now you can.  As of version 1.07, TOSBOX contains a utility
for copying the contents of an ST-formatted floppy disk into a read-only
virtual drive.  From there the files can be recopied anywhere on your
system, say onto your hard drive, or onto a newly formatted floppy.  The
feature is not seamlessly integrated into normal emulation, but it is
effective and reasonably simple once you figure out how to use it.  That is
to say, it's easier to use than to explain.  Please consult the updated
documentation.
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Q: Why can't I format floppies from the desktop?
Q: Why does my ST boot disk not boot?

A: Except with regard to the new feature described above, TOSBOX only knows
how to deal with MS-DOS files and directories, and does not understand what
a disk sector is. While this is a fundamental limitation of its design, it
also has some very important benefits.  It makes possible TOSBOX's unique
ability to support multiple mounted directories, and its reliable access to
CD-ROM and high density floppies.  It also serves as an important safety
feature, providing a logical firewall that prevents the emulated machine
from tampering with its host machine's hard drive boot sector and other
vulnerable spots.
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Q: Why won't the mouse pointer move when I run TOSBOX from the DOS prompt?
I know my mouse works because I use it all the time in Windows.

A: There are at least two possible reasons.

 1. The "use com" line in the initialization file refers to the same port
your serial mouse is using.  Delete that line, comment it out, or change
the port number.

 2. Your mouse driver may be inactive outside Windows.  To find out, from
the DOS command prompt type EDIT and then try moving the mouse around.  If
you don't see a rectangular text-mode cursor acting like a mouse pointer,
then you don't have a mouse driver working under DOS.

Look for a file named MOUSE.COM or MOUSE.SYS.  It is likely to be in your
\WINDOWS directory, or maybe \DOS or \MOUSE. If you don't find it in one of
those places, try typing the following from the DOS command prompt:

  C:
  CD \
  DIR MOUSE*.* /S | MORE

If that doesn't find it, try ?MOUSE*.* or ??MOUSE*.* instead.  For
instance, a Mouse Systems driver might be named MSMOUSE.COM or CTMOUSE.COM.

Once you have found a driver, add a reference to it in your CONFIG.SYS or
AUTOEXEC.BAT file (not both).

To use a driver whose filename ends with .SYS, add a line like this to your
CONFIG.SYS file:

  DEVICE=C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.SYS

To use a driver whose filename ends with .COM, add a line like this to your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

  C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.COM

Reboot your PC, and your mouse should work with or without Windows.

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