From 3e2ba6a557221150f9c5188108019f5551a0f4dd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Peter Veenstra Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:20:27 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Some grammar improvements suggested by AJ Imported-from: https://svn.code.sf.net/p/dosbox/code-0/dosbox/trunk@2383 --- README | 257 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------------- 1 file changed, 129 insertions(+), 128 deletions(-) diff --git a/README b/README index 666ae326..f01fc933 100644 --- a/README +++ b/README @@ -5,15 +5,15 @@ DOSBox v0.63 NOTE: ===== -While we hope that, one day, DOSBox will run virtually all programs -ever made for the PC...we are not there yet. At present, DOSBox run on a high- +While we are hoping that one day, DOSBox will run all programs +ever made for the PC,we are not there yet. At present, DOSBox run on a high- end machine will roughly be the equivalent of a 486 PC. The 0.60 release has added support for "protected mode" allowing for more complex and -recent programs, but note that this support is early in development and -nowhere near as complete as the support for 386 real-mode games (or -earlier). Also note that "protected mode" games need substantially more -resources and may require a much faster processor for you to run it properly -in DOSBox. +recent programs, but note that this support is still in an early in stage of +development and unlike the support the 386 real-mode games (or earlier) hasn't +been completed yet. Also note that "protected mode" games need substantially +more resources and may require a much faster processor for you to run them +properly in DOSBox. @@ -66,16 +66,16 @@ Q: Great README, but I still don't get it. Q: I've got a Z instead of a C at the prompt. A: You have to make your directories available as drives in DOSBox by using - the "mount" command. For example, in Windows "mount C D:\" would give - you a C in DOSBox which points at your Windows D:\ drive. - In Linux, "mount c /home/username" would give you a C in DOSBox - which points at /home/username in Linux. + the "mount" command. For example, in Windows "mount C D:\" will give + you a C in DOSBox which points to your Windows D:\ drive. + In Linux, "mount c /home/username" will give you a C in DOSBox + which points to /home/username in Linux. Q: My CD-ROM doesn't work. -A: To mount your cdrom in DOSBox you have to specify some additional options - when mounting the cdrom. - To enable the most basic cdrom support: +A: To mount your CD-ROM in DOSBox you have to specify some additional options + when mounting the CD-ROM. + To enable the most basic CD-ROM support: - mount d f:\ -t cdrom To enable low-level SDL-support: - mount d f:\ -t cdrom -usecd 0 @@ -84,23 +84,23 @@ A: To mount your cdrom in DOSBox you have to specify some additional options To enable low-level aspi-support (win98 with aspi-layer installed): - mount d f:\ -t cdrom -usecd 0 -apsi - In the commands: - d driveletter you in DOSBox + In the commands: - d driveletter you will get in DOSBox - f:\ location of cdrom on your PC. - - 0 The number of the cdrom drive, reported by mount -cd + - 0 The number of the CD-ROM drive, reported by mount -cd See also the question: The game/application can't find its CD-ROM. Q: The mouse doesn't work. -A: Normally DOSBox detects the mouse being used by a game. If you click on - the screen then it should get locked (confined to the DOSBox window) - and work. Sometimes the DOSBox mouse detection doesn't work with certain - games. You might have to force to lock the mouse then with ctrl-F10. +A: Usually, DOSBox detects when a game uses mouse control. When you click on + the screen it should get locked (confined to the DOSBox window) and work. + With certain games, the DOSBox mouse detection doesn't work. In that case + you will have to lock the mouse manually by pressing CTRL-F10. Q: The sound stutters. A: You're using too much cpu power to keep DOSBox running at the current speed. - You can either lower the cycles or skip frames or get a faster machine. - You can also increase the prebuffer in the configfile + You can lower the cycles, skip frames or get a faster machine. + You can also increase the prebuffer in the configfile. Q: I can't type \ or : in DOSBox. @@ -109,15 +109,16 @@ A: This is a known problem. It only occurs if your keyboard layout isn't US. 1. Switch your keyboard layout. 2. Use / instead. 3. Add the commands you want to execute to the "configfile". - 4. Start the keymapper (CTRL-F1 or add -startmapper switch to dosbox) - 5. for \ try the keys around "enter". For ":" try shift and the keys between - "enter" and "l" (US keyboard layout). - 6. Use keyb.com from FreeDOS (http://projects.freedos.net/keyb/). + 4. Start the keymapper (CTRL-F1 or add -startmapper switch to DOSBox). + 5. Use ALT-58 for : and ALT-92 for \. + 6. for \ try the keys around "enter". For ":" try shift and the keys + between "enter" and "l" (US keyboard layout). + 7. Use keyb.com from FreeDOS (http://projects.freedos.net/keyb/). Q: The game/application can't find its CD-ROM. A: Be sure to mount the CD-ROM with -t cdrom switch. Also try adding the - correct label (-label LABEL). To enable more low-level CD-ROM support add + correct label (-label LABEL). To enable more low-level CD-ROM support, add the following switch to mount: -usecd #, where # is the number of your CD-ROM drive reported by mount -cd. If you run Win32 you can specify -ioctl or -aspi. Look at the description elsewhere in this document for their @@ -145,26 +146,26 @@ A: DOSBox emulates several legacy sound devices: this with the Adlib emulation may result in conflicts. - Tandy 3 voice The emulation of this sound hardware is complete with the exception of - the noise channel, which is not very well documented and as such is only - a best guess as to the sound's accuracy. + the noise channel. The noise channel is not very well documented and as + such is only a best guess as to the sound's accuracy. - Adlib Borrowed from MAME, this emulation is almost perfect and includes the Adlib's ability to almost play digitized sound. - - SoundBlaster 16/ SoundBlaster Pro I & II /Sound Blaster I & II - Coupled with the Adlib, by default DOSBox provides Soundblaster 16 - level 16-bit stereo sound. You can select a different SoundBlaster - version in the configfile of DOSBox (See Internal Commands: CONFIG). + - SoundBlaster 16/ SoundBlaster Pro I & II /SoundBlaster I & II + By default DOSBox provides Soundblaster 16 level 16-bit stereo sound. + You can select a different SoundBlaster version in the configfile of + DOSBox (See Internal Commands: CONFIG). - Disney Soundsource Using the printer port, this sound device outputs digital sound only. - Gravis Ultrasound The emulation of this hardware is nearly complete, though the MIDI - capabilities have been left out since an MPU-401 has been + capabilities have been left out, since an MPU-401 has been emulated in other code. - MPU-401 A MIDI passthrough interface is also emulated. This method of sound output will only work when used with a General Midi or MT-32 device. -Q: DOSBox crashes on startup and I'm running arts +Q: DOSBox crashes on startup and I'm running arts. A: This isn't really a DOSBox problem, but the solution is to set the environment variable SDL_AUDIODRIVER to alsa or oss. @@ -189,7 +190,7 @@ http://dosbox.sourceforge.net An overview of the commandline options you can give to DOSBox. Windows Users must open cmd.exe or command.com or edit the shortcut to -dosbox.exe for this. +DOSBox.exe for this. The options are valid for all operating systems unless noted in the option description: @@ -205,32 +206,32 @@ dosbox -version as the C: drive and execute "name". -exit - dosbox will close itself when the DOS application "name" ends. + DOSBox will close itself when the DOS application "name" ends. -c command Runs the specified command before running "name". Multiple commands - can be specified. Each command should start with -c though. + can be specified. Each command should start with "-c", though. A command can be: an Internal Program, a DOS command or an executable on a mounted drive. -fullscreen - Starts dosbox in fullscreen mode. + Starts DOSBox in fullscreen mode. -conf configfile - Start dosbox with the options specified in "configfile". + Start DOSBox with the options specified in "configfile". See Chapter 9 for more details. -lang languagefile - Start dosbox using the language specified in "languagefile". + Start DOSBox using the language specified in "languagefile". -noconsole (Windows Only) - Start dosbox without showing the console window. Output will + Start DOSBox without showing the console window. Output will be redirected to stdout.txt and stderr.txt -machine machinetype - Setup dosbox to emulate a specific type of machine. Valid choices are: - hercules, cga, tandy, vga (default). The machinetype has influence on - both the videocard and the available soundcards. + Setup DOSBox to emulate a specific type of machine. Valid choices are: + hercules, cga, tandy, vga (default). The machinetype affects both the + videocard and the available soundcards. -startmapper Enter the keymapper directly on startup. Useful for people with @@ -239,18 +240,18 @@ dosbox -version -version output version information and exit. Useful for frontends. -Note: If a name/command/configfile/languagefile contains a space in it, put +Note: If a name/command/configfile/languagefile contains a space, put the whole name/command/configfile/languagefile between quotes ("command or file name"). For example: dosbox c:\atlantis\atlantis.exe -c "MOUNT D C:\SAVES" - This would mount c:\atlantis as c:\ and run atlantis.exe. + This mounts c:\atlantis as c:\ and run atlantis.exe. Before it does that it would first mount C:\SAVES as the D drive. -In Windows you can also drag directories/files onto the dosbox executable. - +In Windows, you can also drag directories/files onto the DOSBox executable. + ===================== @@ -285,7 +286,7 @@ MOUNT -u "Emulated Drive letter" -freesize size_in_mb Sets the amount of free space available on a drive in MB's. This - is a more simple version of -size. + is a simpler version of -size. -label drivelabel Sets the name of the drive to "drivelabel". Needed on some @@ -295,7 +296,7 @@ MOUNT -u "Emulated Drive letter" For win32: label is extracted from "Real Drive". For Linux: label is set to NO_LABEL. - If you do specify a label this label will be kept as long as the drive + If you do specify a label, this label will be kept as long as the drive is mounted. It will not be updated !! -aspi @@ -325,11 +326,11 @@ MOUNT -u "Emulated Drive letter" programs that demand specific drive letters. For example: Touche: Adventures of The Fifth Musketeer must be run on your C: - drive. Using DOSBox and its mount command, you can trick into thinking it - is on C drive while placing it where you want it. For example, if the game - were in D:\TOUCHE, you can use the command MOUNT C D:\ would allow you to - run Touche from the D drive. - + drive. Using DOSBox and its mount command, you can trick the game into + believing it is on the C drive, while you can still place it where you + want it. For example, if the game is in D:\TOUCHE, the command MOUNT C D:\ + will allow you to run Touche from the D drive. + General MOUNT Examples: 1. To mount c:\DirX as a floppy : @@ -351,11 +352,11 @@ MEM CONFIG [-writeconf] [-writelang] localfile Write the current configuration or language settings to file. - "localfile" is located on the local drive. Not a mounted drive in DOSBox. + "localfile" is located on the local drive, not a mounted drive in DOSBox. - The configuration file controls various settings of DOSBox: The amount + The configuration file controls various settings of DOSBox: the amount of emulated memory, the emulated soundcards and many more things. It - allows acces to AUTOEXEC.BAT as well. + allows access to AUTOEXEC.BAT as well. See section 9 (The Config File) for more information. The language file controls all visible ouput of the internal commands @@ -364,8 +365,8 @@ CONFIG [-writeconf] [-writelang] localfile Example: To create a configfile in your current directory: config -writeconf dosbox.conf - - + + LOADFIX [-size] [program] [program-parameters] LOADFIX -f Program to reduce the amount of memory available. Useful for old programs @@ -395,9 +396,9 @@ RESCAN MIXER Makes DOSBox display its current volume settings. - You can change this way: + Here's how you can change them: - mixer channel left:right [/NOSHOW] + mixer channel left:right [/NOSHOW] [/LISTMIDI] channel Can be one of the following: MASTER, DISNEY, SPKR, GUS, SB, FM. @@ -416,7 +417,7 @@ MIXER 'config=id' to the [midi] section in the configuration file, where 'id' is the number for the device as listed by LISTMIDI. - + IMGMOUNT A utility to mount disk images and CD-ROM images in DOSBox. @@ -424,9 +425,9 @@ IMGMOUNT -size [sectorsbytesize, sectorsperhead, heads, cylinders] imagefile - location of the image files to mount in DOSBox. The location is on a + Location of the image files to mount in DOSBox. The location is on a mounted drive inside DOSBox. CD-ROM images can be mounted - directly as well. They don't need to be a mounted drive. + directly as well. They don't have to be on a mounted drive. -t The following are valid image types: @@ -440,16 +441,16 @@ IMGMOUNT -fs The following are valid file system formats: iso: Specifies the ISO 9660 CD-ROM format. - fat: Specifies the image uses the FAT file system. DOSBox will attempt + fat: Specifies that the image uses the FAT file system. DOSBox will attempt to mount this image as a drive in DOSBox and make the files available from inside DOSBox. none: DOSBox will make no attempt to read the file system on the disk. - This is useful if one needs to format it or one wants to boot - off of the disk using the BOOT command. When using the "none" - filesystem, one must specify the drive number (2 or 3, + This is useful if you need to format it or if you want to boot + the disk using the BOOT command. When using the "none" + filesystem, you must specify the drive number (2 or 3, where 2 = master, 3 = slave) rather than a drive letter. For example, to mount a 70MB image as the slave drive device, - one would type: + you would type: "imgmount 3 d:\test.img -size 512,63,16,142 -fs none" (without the quotes) Compare this with a mount to read the drive in DOSBox, which would read as: @@ -476,13 +477,13 @@ BOOT diskimgN.img This can be any number of floppy disk images one wants mounted after DOSBox boots the specified drive letter. - To swap between images, one hits CTRL+F4 to swap out the current disk - and swap in the next disk in the list. Once the last disk in the list is - swapped out, the list loops back to the beginning. + To swap between images, hit CTRL+F4 to change from the current disk + and to the next disk in the list. The list will loop back from the last + disk image to the beginning. [-l driveletter] - This parameter allows one to specify the drive to boot from. - The default is the A drive, the floppy drive. One can also boot off of + This parameter allows you to specify the drive to boot from. + The default is the A drive, the floppy drive. You can also boot a hard drive image mounted as master by specifying "-l C" without the quotes, or the drive as slave by specifying "-l D" @@ -493,14 +494,14 @@ IPX All of the IPX networking is managed through the internal DOSBox program IPXNET. For help on the IPX networking from inside DOSBox, type - "IPXNET HELP" (without quotes) and the program will list out the commands + "IPXNET HELP" (without quotes) and the program will list the commands and relevant documentation. With regard to actually setting up a network, one system needs to be - the server. To set this up, in a DOSBox session, one should type - "IPXNET STARTSERVER" (without the quotes). The server DOSBox session will - automatically add itself to the virtual IPX network. In turn, for every - other computer that should be part of the virtual IPX network, + the server. To set this up, type "IPXNET STARTSERVER" (without the quotes) + in a DOSBox session. The server DOSBox session will + automatically add itself to the virtual IPX network. For every + additional computer that should be part of the virtual IPX network, you'll need to type "IPXNET CONNECT ". For example, if your server is at bob.dosbox.com, you would type "IPXNET CONNECT bob.dosbox.com" on every non-server system. @@ -509,18 +510,18 @@ IPX IPXNET CONNECT - IPXNET CONNECT opens a connection to an IPX tunneling server + IPXNET CONNECT opens a connection to an IPX tunnelling server running on another DOSBox session. The "address" parameter specifies - the IP address or host name of the server computer. One can also - specify the UDP port to use. By default IPXNET uses port 213, the - assigned IANA port for IPX tunneling, for its connection. + the IP address or host name of the server computer. You can also + specify the UDP port to use. By default IPXNET uses port 213 - the + assigned IANA port for IPX tunnelling - for its connection. The syntax for IPXNET CONNECT is: IPXNET CONNECT address IPXNET DISCONNECT - IPXNET DISCONNECT closes the connection to the IPX tunneling server. + IPXNET DISCONNECT closes the connection to the IPX tunnelling server. The syntax for IPXNET DISCONNECT is: IPXNET DISCONNECT @@ -530,34 +531,34 @@ IPX IPXNET STARTSERVER starts and IPX tunneling server on this DOSBox session. By default, the server will accept connections on UDP port 213, though this can be changed. Once the server is started, DOSBox - will automatically start a client connection to the IPX tunneling server. + will automatically start a client connection to the IPX tunnelling server. - The syntax for IPXNET STARTSERVER is: - IPXNET STARTSERVER + The syntax for IPXNET STARTSERVER is: + IPXNET STARTSERVER - IPXNET STOPSERVER + IPXNET STOPSERVER - IPXNET STOPSERVER stops the IPX tunneling server running on this DOSBox + IPXNET STOPSERVER stops the IPX tunnelling server running on this DOSBox session. Care should be taken to ensure that all other connections have - terminated as well since stopping the server may cause lockups on other - machines still using the IPX tunneling server. + terminated as well, since stopping the server may cause lockups on other + machines that are still using the IPX tunnelling server. The syntax for IPXNET STOPSERVER is: IPXNET STOPSERVER - IPXNET PING + IPXNET PING - IPXNET PING broadcasts a ping request through the IPX tunneled network. + IPXNET PING broadcasts a ping request through the IPX tunnelled network. In response, all other connected computers will respond to the ping and report the time it took to receive and send the ping message. The syntax for IPXNET PING is: - IPXNET PING + IPXNET PING - IPXNET STATUS + IPXNET STATUS - IPXNET STATUS reports the current state of this DOSBox's sessions - IPX tunneling network. For a list of the computers connected to the + IPXNET STATUS reports the current state of this DOSBox session's + IPX tunnelling network. For a list of all computers connected to the network use the IPXNET PING command. The syntax for IPXNET STATUS is: @@ -572,9 +573,9 @@ For more information use the /? command line switch with the programs. 5. Special Keys: ================ -ALT-ENTER Go full screen and back. +ALT-ENTER Switch to full screen and back. CTRL-F1 Start the keymapper. -CTRL-F4 Swap mounted disk-image. Update directory cache for all drives! +CTRL-F4 Change between mounted disk-images. Update directory cache for all drives! CTRL-F5 Save a screenshot.(png) CTRL-F6 Start/Stop recording sound output to a wave file. CTRL-ALT-F7 Start/Stop recording of OPL commands. @@ -590,13 +591,13 @@ These are the default keybindings. They can be changed in the keymapper. Saved/recorded files can be found in current_directory/capture (can be changed in the configfile). -The directory has to exist prior to starting DOSBox else nothing +The directory has to exist prior to starting DOSBox, otherwise nothing gets saved/recorded ! NOTE: Once you increase your DOSBox cycles beyond your computer's maximum capacity, it will produce the same effect as slowing down the emulation. -This maximum will vary from computer to computer, there is no standard. +This maximum will vary from computer to computer; there is no standard. @@ -608,9 +609,9 @@ When you start the keymapper (either with CTRL-F1 or -startmapper as a commandline argument to the DOSBox executable) you are presented with a virtual keyboard. -This virtual keyboard corresponds with the keys DOSBox will report to its +This virtual keyboard corresponds to the keys DOSBox will report to its applications. If you click on a key with your mouse, you can see in the -lowerleft corner which key on your keyboard corresponds with it. +lower left corner which key on your keyboard corresponds to it. Event: EVENT BIND: BIND @@ -630,35 +631,35 @@ mod1,2,3 BIND. mod1 = CTRL and mod2 = ALT. These are generally only used when you want to change the special keys of DOSBox. Add - Add a new BIND to this EVENT. Basicly add a key from your keyboard which + Add a new BIND to this EVENT. Basically add a key from your keyboard which will produce the key EVENT in DOSBox. Del - Delete the BIND to this EVENT. If an EVENT has no BINDS than it's not + Delete the BIND to this EVENT. If an EVENT has no BINDS, then it's not possible to type this key in DOSBox. Next - Cycle through the list of keys(BINDS) which map to this EVENT. + Go through the list of keys(BINDS) which map to this EVENT. Example: Q1. You want to have the X on your keyboard to type a Z in DOSBox. - A. With your mouse click on the Z on the keyboard mapper. Click "Add". + A. Click on the Z on the keyboard mapper. Click "Add". Now press the X key on your keyboard. -Q2. If you click "Next" a few times you will notice that the Z on your +Q2. If you click "Next" a couple of times, you will notice that the Z on your keyboard also produces an Z in DOSBox. - A. Therefore select the Z again and click "Next" till you have the Z on + A. Therefore select the Z again, and click "Next" until you have the Z on your keyboard. Now click "Del". -Q3. If you try it out in DOSBox you will notice that pressing X makes ZX +Q3. If you try it out in DOSBox, you will notice that pressing X makes ZX appear. A. The X on your keyboard is still mapped to the X as well! Click on - the X in the keyboard mapper and search with "Next" till you find the + the X in the keyboard mapper and search with "Next" until you find the mapped key X. Click "Del". -If you change the default mapping you can save your changes by pressing -"Save". DOSBox will save the mapping to location specified in the configfile -(mapperfile=mapper.txt). At startup DOSBox will load your mapperfile if it's +If you change the default mapping, you can save your changes by pressing +"Save". DOSBox will save the mapping to a location specified in the configfile +(mapperfile=mapper.txt). At startup, DOSBox will load your mapperfile, if it's present in the configfile. @@ -669,8 +670,8 @@ present in the configfile. Fast machine. My guess would be pentium-2 400+ to get decent emulation of games written for an 286 machine. -For protected mode games a 1 Ghz machine is recommended and don't expect -them to run fast though! Be sure to read the next section on how to speed +For protected mode games a 1 Ghz machine is recommended - don't expect +them to run fast, though! Be sure to read the next section on how to speed it up somewhat. @@ -695,14 +696,14 @@ Overclock DOSBox until 100% of your CPU is used (use the utilities above to check) Since VGA emulation is the most demanding part of DOSBox in terms of actual -CPU usage, we'll start here. Increase the number of frames skipped (in +CPU usage, we'll start there. Increase the number of frames skipped (in increments of one) by pressing CRTL+F8. Your CPU usage should decrease. Go back one step and repeat this until the game runs fast enough for you. -Please note that this is a trade off: you lose in fluidity of video what you +Please note that this is a trade-off: you lose in fluidity of video what you gain in speed You can also try to disable the sound through the setup utility of the game -to further reduce load on your CPU. +to reduce load on your CPU further. @@ -716,7 +717,7 @@ programs section of the readme for usage of CONFIG.COM. You can edit the generated configfile to customize DOSBox. The file is divided into several sections (the names have [] around it). -Some sections have options which you can set. +Some sections have options you can set. # and % indicate comment-lines. The generated configfile contains the current settings. You can alter them and start DOSBox with the -conf switch to load the file and use these settings. @@ -732,10 +733,10 @@ current directory for dosbox.conf. Then it will look for ~/.dosboxrc (Linux), ====================== A language file can be generated by CONFIG.COM. -Read it and you will hopefully understand how to change it. -Start DOSBox with the -lang switch to use your new language file -or you can setup the filename in the config file in the [dosbox] section. -There's a language= entry that can be changed with the filename. +Read it, and you will hopefully understand how to change it. +Start DOSBox with the -lang switch to use your new language file. +Alternatively, you can setup the filename in the config file in the [dosbox] +section. There's a language= entry that can be changed with the filename. @@ -752,9 +753,9 @@ Check the INSTALL in the source distribution. 12. Special Thanks: =================== -Vlad R. of the vdmsound project for excellent sound blaster info. +Vlad R. of the VDMSound project for excellent SoundBlaster info. Tatsuyuki Satoh of the Mame Team for making an excellent FM emulator. -The Bochs and DOSemu projects which I used for information. +The Bochs and DOSemu projects, which I used for information. Freedos for ideas in making my shell. Pierre-Yves Gérardy for hosting the old Beta Board. Colin Snover for hosting our forum.