Mount and Boot command in a dosbox.conf from inside a zip

[Voljega]

Hello

I've been recently adding to my tool ExoConverter the ability to generate a dosbox-pure.zip

All is good for general cases and imgmount as imgmount can use relative path, but the boot and mount commands only work in dosbox with absolute paths, not relative ones

So i've been wondering how to make that work.

For example the game Sidewalk (1987) must have its folder mounted as A:
The generated dosbox-pure zip contains the files at the root of it, without folder

Inside the dosbox.conf the autoexec part in as such

[autoexec]  
imgmount -u a  
mount a "/userdata/roms/dos/BeatEmUp/Sidewalk (1987)" -t floppy  
pause  
a:  
mlo  

However in that case the Sidewalk (1987) folder doesn't exist, only the zip located in /userdata/roms/dos/BeatEmUp/Sidewalk (1987).zip

What mount path must I write in the dosbox.conf to make it work from inside the zip ?
Same question for the boot dosbox command

[schellingb]

Floppy drives just like cd drives are expected to be mounted by image file.

Not yet included in the latest released builds of the core is support for the subst command which was added in cedc535. With it you can run

subst A: C:

To get the A: drive to be a mirror of the C: drive.

The BOOT command should just work with files in the ZIP. If you have "GAME.IMG" in the root of the ZIP file which when loaded becomes C:, you can run BOOT GAME.IMG or BOOT C:\GAME.IMG and it should boot that image.

[Voljega]

Floppy drives just like cd drives are expected to be mounted by image file.

The mount command can be used on a folder though

But yeah I might be able to go around that with subst
If subst can also be used on a folder like
subst A: C:\floppy ?

[schellingb]

I think you're confusing things, the mount command can be used on folders on the host system. You can't mount a ISO file in regular DOSBox and then mount a folder out of it as a floppy disk. It is the same with ZIPs.

But yes, subst can be used like that. Maybe we can modify mount to just do the same if in a mounted ZIP. Generally ZIPs are meant to be used with the start menu which handles mounting of disk/disc images and starting of games. While dosbox.conf works for some things, it isn't officially supported to work well with ZIP files.

[Voljega]

"You can't mount a ISO file in regular DOSBox and then mount a folder out of it as a floppy disk. It is the same with ZIPs."

That's not what I meant, the part mounted as a floppy for instance is a folder in c:

anyway tried SUBST and it doesn't seem to work in lr-dosbox-pure

original conf of the game (The Ancient Art of War (1984).pc folder exists before compression of its content to zip):

[autoexec]
imgmount -u a
mount a "/userdata/roms/dos/Strategy-Management/The Ancient Art of War (1984).pc/Tiberia" -t floppy
pause
c:
echo.
echo This includes the Tiberia Campaign disk.
echo To access these missions, choose data disk and press any key.
echo.
pause
call war

(cropped) content of the zip

The content of the zip is mounted by dosbox as C:
And originally what is needed is mounting the subfolder Tiberia as floppy

tried several combination of subst to replace mount a "/userdata/roms/dos/Strategy-Management/The Ancient Art of War (1984).pc/Tiberia" -t floppy

subst a: c:\Tiberia
subst a: .\Tiberia
subst A: C:

and none of them work, always get this error

[Voljega]

@schellingb sorry to ping and bother you, but do you have any idea if I'm doing something wrong or if this is a bug ?
I'd like to fix that before publishing the next version of my tool

[schellingb]

As mentioned in my first reply:

Not yet included in the latest released builds of the core is support for the subst command which was added in cedc535.

So you probably are using the released build and not a build based on the code on this repository. I'm not yet sure when the next release will be which will include the support for subst. Once released it should work as you tried.

If you want to try it and can't build the core yourself, I recently uploaded a build which has it: dosbox_pure_libretro_win64_dll_git_4c5cb55.zip
This is an in-development build not meant to be released so please don't include it as part of your tool. It probably would make more sense for you to wait with including support in your tool until the updated core is publicly released.

[Voljega]

Yes I will wait :)
Sorry, I had missed that part in your first message

[alexb3d]

must have its folder mounted as A:

This is not a DB-Pure bug. I think I can help you with this but first.

You can mount any zip on any drive by adding the letter before the extension. game.A.zip
Or, Pure started, you can change the drive with the command remount c a
As the documentation says.

The Sidewalk (1987) game, works perfectly in C:

You have to play the game with TATOU.COM, it is the executable. Press once on the right to start it automatically. In the original French version it is called RUN.COM, why they gave that name to the other additions is a mystery.

Once started enter the core options and in performance select 8086/8088, to run at normal speed, you can lower the porcetaje to your liking and save the game options, in manage options.

The Ancient art of War game is a bit more complex.

Many of the early games (that are available) are patched. In an early version of DOSBox it worked, then DB was updated and the patch stopped working. But, the original floppy image does work.

Version 2 is released and I think this one is released too, I don't think there is any problem to share this file ready to use (ADMIN: REMOVED LINK). It has...

The CGA version. Starts in RUN_CGA.BAT (or A:WAR.EXE), you have to have the WAR_DISK disk mounted and change Emulated Performance to 8086/8088.
The EGA version. Starts the RUN_EGA, uses a speed reducer (moslo), you don't have to change anything, .
The campaign. Converted to FD, taken from fan website (ADMIN: REMOVED LINK). Are changed in the RetroArch disk menu, you can also assign keyboard shortcuts to make it more comfortable. I also included an empty disk to save the games.

This game is a marvel, I'm going to collect all the information and campaigns. If you know of any other sites, please share them.

@schellingb two slight doubts.
Is there a way to mount two FD drives?
Can I change the disk from DOS? e.g. in a batch.

And here some bugs...
This game has patch for copy protection and speed correction, from the main compiled ones that you can get out there, this is the situation, this is the situation...

The TGOD floppy CGA image works fine.
You can load and change campaigns from img floppys.
It does not correct the speed. The speed can be set to Pure and is maintained.

The TDC versions...

Ancient Art of War, The [a1] (1984)(Brøderbund Software, Inc.) [Strategy].zip
Does not load campaings games.
If you keep the speed at 8086/8088.

Ancient Art of War, The (1984)(Brøderbund Software, Inc.) [Strategy].zip
Does not load campaings games.
Does not maintain 8086/8088 speed.

Ancient Art of War, The (EGA) (1989)(Brøderbund Software, Inc.) [Strategy].zip (This is the version that includes eXodos)
Does not load campaings games.
Does not maintain 286 speed.

These games can change the speed, once the game is started, but does not keep it when restarted.
edit: it also works if I load the save state.

Bypassing copy protection to read folders may be impossible without a crack.
But could the speed be corrected?
For the CGA version it is 8086/8088.
And the EGA is 286.

[schellingb]

@alexb3d Please don't post piracy. Also please try to keep things on topic. This issue is not about multiple floppy drives. PLEASE try to be more on topic. A lot of your posts are very hard to navigate because they are all over the place and often not on topic. I appreciate when you help others or give advice, but off topic posting in issues is hindering development.

[alexb3d]

Please don't post piracy.

I'm going to think that the translator is broken. I said clearly, both 1 and 2 are released, or at least that's what the game developer said.

PLEASE try to be more on topic.

what a bad habit of mine.

again, sorry for the confusion