Geos and Dosbian

Lieber Besucher, herzlich willkommen bei: GEOS-InfoBase-Forum. Falls dies Ihr erster Besuch auf dieser Seite ist, lesen Sie sich bitte die Hilfe durch. Dort wird Ihnen die Bedienung dieser Seite näher erläutert. Darüber hinaus sollten Sie sich registrieren, um alle Funktionen dieser Seite nutzen zu können. Benutzen Sie das Registrierungsformular, um sich zu registrieren oder informieren Sie sich ausführlich über den Registrierungsvorgang. Falls Sie sich bereits zu einem früheren Zeitpunkt registriert haben, können Sie sich hier anmelden.

hanslse

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 200

Beruf: Daten-Koordinator

Montag, 1. Juni 2020, 11:08

Sorry, I have not had the time for testing this weekend, as I planned and hoped for. Time optimist? Hopefully I will have time this week. I am also waiting for an 8 inch 4:3 monitor. The menu system looks very cool you are working on!

Hans

Zum Seitenanfang

hanslse

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 200

Beruf: Daten-Koordinator

Dienstag, 2. Juni 2020, 22:33

Zitat von »t.hass«

I build a quick n' dirty deb package that will install a custom dosbox binary in /usr/local/bin. It will also read/write it's configuration to $HOME/.dosbox/dosbox-0.74.conf so it will not interfere with the existing version. By default [sdl]->usescancodes=true is set. I wold like to know, if this works for the Swedish keybord in GEOS. For German it works expect of AltGr, so you have to press Ctrl+Alt+<key>. If you disable "usescancodes" you can also try to modify the german keyboard mapping file in /usr/local/share/doc/dosbox/mapper-0.74-2.map. It has to be placed in ~/.dosbox/mapper-0.74.map

You can pick up the file here

Thomas

Cycles need to be set 'max' to make GEOS fly, but don't expect any significant performance improvements over DOSBIAN version...

I think I misunderstood you, I installed your version in the ordinary raspian distribution, and it did not work, there were missing libraries. Afterwards it struck me that I should install it on a Dosbian distribution?

Hans

Zum Seitenanfang

t.hass

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 227

Mittwoch, 3. Juni 2020, 22:32

Hi Hans,

yes I'm still working on DOSBIAN. So the package is linked against libraries found on this system. A simple check lists the followings dependencies:

Quellcode

pi@dosbian:~ $ ldd /usr/local/bin/dosbox | awk '{print $3}' | xargs -n1 dpkg -S | awk -F\: '{print $1}' | sort -u
[color=#ff0000]libasound2[/color]
libasyncns0
libatomic1
libbsd0
libc6
libcaca0
libcap2
libdbus-1-3
libffi6
libflac8
libgcc1
libgcrypt20
libgpg-error0
libice6
liblz4-1
liblzma5
libmikmod3
libncursesw6
libogg0
libopenal1
[color=#ff0000]libpcap0.8[/color]
libpng16-16
libpulse0
libraspberrypi0
l[color=#ff0000]ibsdl1.2debian[/color]
libsdl2-2.0-0
[color=#ff0000]libsdl-net1.2[/color]
[color=#ff0000]libsdl-sound1.2[/color]
libslang2
libsm6
libsndfile1
libsndio7.0
libspeex1
libstdc++6
libsystemd0
libtinfo6
libuuid1
libvorbis0a
libvorbisenc2
libvorbisfile3
libwayland-client0
libwayland-cursor0
libwayland-egl1
libwrap0
libx11-6
libx11-xcb1
libxau6
libxcb1
libxcursor1
libxdmcp6
libxext6
libxfixes3
libxi6
libxinerama1
libxkbcommon0
libxrandr2
libxrender1
libxss1
libxtst6
libxxf86vm1
raspi-copies-and-fills
[color=#ff0000]zlib1g[/color]

I ordered a new micro-sd card to start with Raspbian mini, but it hasn't arrived so far. On a minimal system I would install the highlighted packages + the dev versions and then try to build dosbox with minimum dependencies.

Thomas

Zum Seitenanfang

hanslse

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 200

Beruf: Daten-Koordinator

Donnerstag, 4. Juni 2020, 22:09

Just one reflection: There is one advantage to just add NE2000 support to the "standard" DOSBox 074-2 for the Raspian. In a DOSBox window it is possible to utilize wide screen 16:9, like for example, I have a Raspberry Pi 3 B with the official 7 inch screen. To make Ensemble work in wide screen, I use the 800x600 driver and by using Monitoreinstellung from Jörg Polzfuss I set the screen to 797x452, and make Ensemble wide screen. In Dosbian it is always 4:3, and if I have a wide screen, I can't use the whole screen.

Hans

Zum Seitenanfang

t.hass

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 227

Freitag, 5. Juni 2020, 00:06

Zitat von »hanslse«

I set the screen to 797x452

This sounds like you are using GEOS in "Window Mode" under X11. The key feature of DOSBIAN is that DOSBox runs without the X-Window system on the kernel frame buffer. Could you please confirm, that 0.74-2 also scales to 16:9 in this configuration too.

Thomas

Zum Seitenanfang

t.hass

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 227

Samstag, 6. Juni 2020, 18:53

Hi,

today I connected to RasPi to a FullHD television screen. Then I tried DOSBox-0.74-2 in conjunction with various setting like FB vieo modes, overscan and GEOS settings (yScreenSize, yFieldSize) in order to get the 16:9 screen filled with the GEOS desktop. Unfortunately no one worked. Therefore I think you are limited to 4:3 modes. But I found that these settings in /boot/config are usefull under DOSBIAN/PiGEOS:

Quellcode

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
disable_overscan=1

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
framebuffer_width=1024
framebuffer_height=768

The BIOS-splash screen is scaled nicely and without black borders on the TV.

Thomas

Zum Seitenanfang

hanslse

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 200

Beruf: Daten-Koordinator

Samstag, 13. Juni 2020, 13:05

Zitat von »t.hass«

Zitat von »hanslse«

I set the screen to 797x452

This sounds like you are using GEOS in "Window Mode" under X11. The key feature of DOSBIAN is that DOSBox runs without the X-Window system on the kernel frame buffer. Could you please confirm, that 0.74-2 also scales to 16:9 in this configuration too.

Thomas

Hi Thomas,

Sorry for late answer, I have been overwhelmed at work, we are reorganizing at it takes a lot of energy, and when I get home I am exhausted, and have no energy to spend on Geos. Not until now.

Well, the DOSBox version in official distribution of Raspian works only in a wIndow, on the 7 inch official touch screen. If I try to run it in full screen mode, ie, no window, DOSBox crashes. Obviously, it is only working in wide screen mode in a window in X11. I can use Jörgs Monitoreinstellung to adapt Ensemble to the Windows, so it also works in wide screen mode. The resolution on the 7 inch touch screen is 800x480, so an adapted 800x600 resolution with Jörgs app inEnsemble will work

I did a little experiment and used Dosbian in the 7 inch Raspberry Pi. The screen ratio was 4:3, could not adjust it properly, in any way I tried. I could set the screen resolution to 800x600, but the screen was cut at the lower part and Ensemble crashed with KR-09.

I have now bought this screen: https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/hdmi-…en-kit-1024x768 and have done a quick test with Dosbian and Ensemble, which worked/works well. I will post a photo later on today. I have made some photos, but they are dark and not very good. The drawback with this screen is that I have to build a box for it. Any hints?

Hans

Zum Seitenanfang

hanslse

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 200

Beruf: Daten-Koordinator

Sonntag, 14. Juni 2020, 10:36

I have decided to try to make a cardboard prototype, before the final box. Just to figure out possible solutions. I think I have figured how to do it by studying how the 7 inch box is made and other builds too. I will post photos here.

I hope there will be vaccine for the Covid-19 so I can come to the meeting in Syhra in November, there we can have a Raspberry Pi/DOSBox Lab. I think the best option for the moment, to develop Ensemble is to make a DOSBox for Ensemble, working on several platforms. However, that is another discussion.

Hans

Zum Seitenanfang

t.hass

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 227

Freitag, 19. Juni 2020, 13:43

Hi Hans,

Zitat von »hanslse«

The drawback with this screen is that I have to build a box for it. Any hints?

Use Plexiglas and make it look like the while Polycarbonate iMac (1st Gen Intel). Then I will surely buy one

But I fully agree that using a 1024x768 display it the best option. Personally I'm using an Eizo FlexScan L365 at the moment. You can easily mount a Raspi on the back side of the screen.

I made some progress with the Pi/GEOS on the base of Raspbian OS Lite:
- pigeos-setup converts a vanilla Rapbian Lite into something that looks much like DOSBIAN
- pigeos-config allows simple configuration eg. hdd-image handling and menu driven DOSBox configuration
- pigeos-loader launches DOSBox with the selected hdd-image
- DOSBox-pigeos offers: extended German language support, networking and printing

All this is still at an alpha level. All code is available on GitHub: https://github.com/hastho

Do you have any experience how much faster DOSBox is on a Raspi 4 compared with a Raspi 3 (without plus)?

Thomas

Zum Seitenanfang

hanslse

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 200

Beruf: Daten-Koordinator

Samstag, 20. Juni 2020, 16:20

Zitat von »t.hass«

Hi Hans,

Zitat von »hanslse«

The drawback with this screen is that I have to build a box for it. Any hints?

Use Plexiglas and make it look like the while Polycarbonate iMac (1st Gen Intel). Then I will surely buy one But I fully agree that using a 1024x768 display it the best option. Personally I'm using an Eizo FlexScan L365 at the moment. You can easily mount a Raspi on the back side of the screen.

I made some progress with the Pi/GEOS on the base of Raspbian OS Lite:
- pigeos-setup converts a vanilla Rapbian Lite into something that looks much like DOSBIAN
- pigeos-config allows simple configuration eg. hdd-image handling and menu driven DOSBox configuration
- pigeos-loader launches DOSBox with the selected hdd-image
- DOSBox-pigeos offers: extended German language support, networking and printing

All this is still at an alpha level. All code is available on GitHub: https://github.com/hastho

Do you have any experience how much faster DOSBox is on a Raspi 4 compared with a Raspi 3 (without plus)?

Thomas

To make a short answer to your questionat the end of your posting, the answer is no, I have not compared them.. I think the 3B+ gives enough performance. I think the RPi 4 will give even better performance, and I think the difference will be visible. There are one thing with the RPi4 I don't like, and that was the initial instruction to use a fan. I might be conservative, but I think fans only messes things up. The cooling of all semiconductors shold be mechanical. Since there boxes with mechanical cooling turning up from different providers, the fan problem is gone. If I would buy a new RPi today, it will probably be a 4 with 2 GB, or 4GB, depending on my wallet.

I have ran in to a problem with my cardboard prototype. I have made a front and a frame, and I need to make a back, but the I will need to make something to house the driver board, and I have noticed the the driver board, and the RaspBerry Pi have corresponding mouning holes, which is good.
One thing which have come clear is that I should have a clear front in plexi glass or acrylic, to protect the screen, and the a colored plexi glass as a a frame and back.
There is another problem how to get it, and I would also have to get to know someone to cut it with laser. I can saw it myself, but I dont think the result will be that good.

Hans

Zum Seitenanfang

t.hass

Fortgeschrittener

Beiträge: 227

Dienstag, 28. Juli 2020, 01:05

Hallo

der der Raspi 3 nur geliehen war und ich die Lust an Pi/GEOS noch nicht verloren habe, habe ich mir jetzt einen Pi4 mit 4 GB RAM zugelegt. Bei Gehäuse habe ich mich diesmal für das Argon One entschieden. Wie schon beim FLIC hat auch hier der SOC direkten Kontakt mit dem Aluminiumteil des Gehäuses und wird darüber passiv gekühlt. Darüberhinaus sind aber die Anschlüsse mit Hilfe einer kleinen Zusatzplatine alle rückseitig ausgeführt:DSC01912,medium.1595574740.jpg

Damit hat man keinen Kabel-Kraken mehr auf dem Schreibtisch, sondern einen echten Micro-Desktop, der mit einem physischen Ein-/Ausschalter komplettiert wird:DSC01914,medium.1595574747.jpg

Pi/GEOS lief ohne weitere Anpassungen auf dem Pi4 - allerdings VIEL SCHNELLER! Von der reinen CPU-Emulation betrachtet und mit Dhrystone 16bit für DOS gemessen, liegt ein Pi4 etwas auf dem Level eine 486DX4-100 und mit moderater Übertaktung auf dem eines Am5x86-133. Der emulierte RAM und Bildspeicher ist allerdings schneller und in einigen Spielebenchmarks bewegen sich die Leistungswerte auf denen einen Pentium 100 bis Pentium MMX 166. Das aktuelle Speed unter GEOS liefert Ergebnisse zwischen 1066 und 1400 Punkten. Ich konnte problemlos anspruchsvolle Dokumente mit Rastergrafiken bearbeiten und Gonzo hatte mit dem Bildordner (GIFs längste Kante max 1280) keine Probleme. In der kleinen Benchmarkserie, sieht man, daß der Pi4 bis 2,1 GHz linear skaliert:

Bei aktuell 1,8 GHz bei 1,25 Vsoc und Raumtemperaturen bis 24°C muss auch der kleine Lüfter nie eingreifen. Bei höherem Takt und sommerlichen Temperaturen springt er deutlich hörbar an. Dies könnte man aber ggf. auch noch unterbinden, denn bei 55°C ist der SOC noch weit von seinem Limits bei ~85°C entfernt. Mal gucken, was im winterlich Syhra dann so geht...