I'm Bringing It Up Again...

[chris_r]

An x86 cpu is a lot more complex than a mips cpu

 

[Rayek]

Interesting. Interesting that a CPU designed to run games made in the early nineties is more complex than that of one that processes 3D images in more complex games.

Once again, I can't stress enough that I know just as much about coding/processors/emulation as a chimpanzee knows telemarketing.

Edit: Well, hats off to the dev that pulls this one off. I'll be looking forward to it, but not soon. I won't be expecting it like I was.

 

[iignotus]

Interesting. Interesting that a CPU designed to run games made in the early nineties is more complex than that of one that processes 3D images in more complex games.

​

x86 wasn't/isn't made just for games. It's a really lackluster, convoluted architecture that got popular since it was cheap and fault-tolerable. There was also no semblance of a standardised gaming architecture for DOS, so even when you have a fast x86 instruction emulator/translator, emulating DOS properly is going to slow you down to less than a crawl.

 

[Robster]

The arrival of *any* port on GP2X is essentially a random event. It has almost nothing to do with how "hard" the task is, and much more to do with some developer deciding that he/she is in the mood to port the software. None of the developers I have talked to are interested in porting DOSbox. Well, I guess I would be semi-interested, but there are much more pressing issues

The only positive way to make progress towards getting DOSbox on GP2X, is to start doing it yourself. And if you don't have the skills, or the inclination, or the time to be doing it yourself, then the harsh reality is that you must simply sit idly by, waiting patiently to see whether someone else does it for you.

FWIW, from a 2-minute mental calculation (which could well be absolutely worthless), I'd say that DOSbox on GP2X would run Commander Keen - type games perfectly well.

As for Craig's comment, well you may not see it but the leap of logic from "there is no Wolfenstein source available" (which is false, as we have seen) to "someone must be emulating the DOS .exe" is, frankly, a bit ridiculous. People don't randomly send out flames around here, if the person making the comment had done a bit of research themselves, then the comment would never have been made

 

[Rayek]

The arrival of *any* port on GP2X is essentially a random event. It has almost nothing to do with how "hard" the task is, and much more to do with some developer deciding that he/she is in the mood to port the software. None of the developers I have talked to are interested in porting DOSbox. Well, I guess I would be semi-interested, but there are much more pressing issues

The only positive way to make progress towards getting DOSbox on GP2X, is to start doing it yourself. And if you don't have the skills, or the inclination, or the time to be doing it yourself, then the harsh reality is that you must simply sit idly by, waiting patiently to see whether someone else does it for you.

FWIW, from a 2-minute mental calculation (which could well be absolutely worthless), I'd say that DOSbox on GP2X would run Commander Keen - type games perfectly well.

As for Craig's comment, well you may not see it but the leap of logic from "there is no Wolfenstein source available" (which is false, as we have seen) to "someone must be emulating the DOS .exe" is, frankly, a bit ridiculous. People don't randomly send out flames around here, if the person making the comment had done a bit of research themselves, then the comment would never have been made

Okay, then simply direct me to whatever pages I 'should've' seen whilst surfing the nearly limitless information on the internet. Really, I was posting this to GAIN information, is that so horrible to beleive? So what you're saying is, in order to ask questions here, you must already know the answer.

This board is completely useless if it doesn't help people to understand how/why the GP2X works the way it does.

Wouldn't it be simpler and cause less problems if people just answered whatever level of "stupid" questions instead of starting this type of bullshit? I know I'm not the only one here who has done nothing but mispost some information and had to don some flame retardant clothing to keep posting.

The only positive way to make progress towards getting DOSbox on GP2X, is to start doing it yourself. And if you don't have the skills, or the inclination, or the time to be doing it yourself, then the harsh reality is that you must simply sit idly by, waiting patiently to see whether someone else does it for you.

Understood; how was I doing anything differently?

 

[drocon]

what would be cool though - a 8086/8088/z80 emulator, or perhaps specifically one that could take in ti-calc roms and emulate ti-72/82/83/+/se. hehe. or maybe m68k for a ti-89

 

[Robster]

Okay, then simply direct me to whatever pages I 'should've' seen whilst surfing the nearly limitless information on the internet. Really, I was posting this to GAIN information, is that so horrible to beleive? So what you're saying is, in order to ask questions here, you must already know the answer.

You're wilfully misrepresenting what I was saying. I was commenting on your "Wolfenstein source" comment. Go to www.google.com, enter "Wolfenstein source", and I believe that you will see what I mean.

This board is completely useless if it doesn't help people to understand how/why the GP2X works the way it does.

Wouldn't it be simpler and cause less problems if people just answered whatever level of "stupid" questions instead of starting this type of bullshit? I know I'm not the only one here who has done nothing but mispost some information and had to don some flame retardant clothing to keep posting.

This board would be a lot more useful to people like you, if you would learn to use the search function before posting. It might be simpler and cause less problems if people just answered all the "stupid" questions, but humans don't work like that. Every single person here has the ability to respond to your post in whatever way they feel. Craig chose a dismissive response. I chose to give just the hard facts. You can complain as much as you like about the nature of the replies here, but it won't change anything. I have personally answered questions just like yours in the past, however on this occasion I chose not to. C'est la vie.

Now, if you had searched this board before you asked the question, you would have found lots of information about DOSbox, the Wolfenstein port, how ports get done, etc etc etc. And you wouldn't have had to don flame-retardent clothing at all!

Understood; how was I doing anything differently?

​

Err... by saying "I noticed that the GP2X W.I.P. page no longer shows dosbox as something being worked on... Why is this so difficult?... Why why why?" etc. In this text-only medium, where we can't tell whether you are being funny, or serious, or demanding, or just lazy, we just have to guess. My guess was, you were being lazy and demanding. Perhaps I was wrong. FYI, I am being quite tongue in cheek about all this, I have a half-smile as I type

 

[Rayek]

Well, I guess I would be semi-interested, but there are much more pressing issues

So when these more 'pressing issues' (I couldn't think of anything more pressing than playing KEEN on a GP2X [/joking]) are worked out, you'd be interested? I have nothing but respect for anyone attempting this. You would get a generous donation from me if you succeed, or even try.

 

[Rayek]

Okay, then simply direct me to whatever pages I 'should've' seen whilst surfing the nearly limitless information on the internet. Really, I was posting this to GAIN information, is that so horrible to beleive? So what you're saying is, in order to ask questions here, you must already know the answer.

You're wilfully misrepresenting what I was saying. I was commenting on your "Wolfenstein source" comment. Go to www.google.com, enter "Wolfenstein source", and I believe that you will see what I mean.

This board is completely useless if it doesn't help people to understand how/why the GP2X works the way it does.

Wouldn't it be simpler and cause less problems if people just answered whatever level of "stupid" questions instead of starting this type of bullshit? I know I'm not the only one here who has done nothing but mispost some information and had to don some flame retardant clothing to keep posting.

This board would be a lot more useful to people like you, if you would learn to use the search function before posting. It might be simpler and cause less problems if people just answered all the "stupid" questions, but humans don't work like that. Every single person here has the ability to respond to your post in whatever way they feel. Craig chose a dismissive response. I chose to give just the hard facts. You can complain as much as you like about the nature of the replies here, but it won't change anything. I have personally answered questions just like yours in the past, however on this occasion I chose not to. C'est la vie.

Now, if you had searched this board before you asked the question, you would have found lots of information about DOSbox, the Wolfenstein port, how ports get done, etc etc etc. And you wouldn't have had to don flame-retardent clothing at all!

Understood; how was I doing anything differently?

​

Err... by saying "I noticed that the GP2X W.I.P. page no longer shows dosbox as something being worked on... Why is this so difficult?... Why why why?" etc. In this text-only medium, where we can't tell whether you are being funny, or serious, or demanding, or just lazy, we just have to guess. My guess was, you were being lazy and demanding. Perhaps I was wrong. FYI, I am being quite tongue in cheek about all this, I have a half-smile as I type

​

Understood. Fully. It pisses me off when people ask questions that have been answered a million times. But for how long I have been here, however many topics I've posted about DOSbox, I've not had any useful information given to me. Hence, my making assumptions. It's inexcuseable, I know. (And I'm being genuine, not sarcastic in this remark, I agree wholeheartedly that the internet leaves no room for tone at all except this )

And my first post was all in fun. Maliciousness is not a part of my nature

But I do NOT enjoy, at all being told I'm stupid by people who obviously know more than I do. That's great that people use the internet to vent their frustration of life, but the useage of a informative forum to do so is not constructive or inducive to the environment at all. It discourages people from posting. Maybe people could open a 'Livejournal' account and gripe there instead of bringing their woes of being the only 1337 person in the world here where questions/assumptions are purely innocent. Regardless, even though I found your comments to be brash (again, noting the tone-deaf nature of the internet) they were certainly more helpful than craig's comment, and I thank you for clearing up some of my misconceptions.

 

[Chip]

If you want to learn a bit about how emulators work (and why your suppositions were so flame-worthy) you should check out this site: http://atarihq.com/danb/emulation.shtml
It has several articles discussing the subject, as well as how-tos for coding an emulator.

The articles are very long and extremely complex. That's because emulators ARE very complex. Browsing through the articles will help you appreciate the work that goes into making an emulator for the GP2X or any system.

 

[nubie]

But for how long I have been here, however many topics I've posted about DOSbox, I've not had any useful information given to me. Hence, my making assumptions. It's inexcuseable, I know. (And I'm being genuine, not sarcastic in this remark, I agree wholeheartedly that the internet leaves no room for tone at all except this )

​

I like your style .

Personally when I want to learn about something, I try it .

That is why I installed DosBox on my computer (1.5Ghz Athlon, nForce Mobo, gForce 5200, XP SP2)

I found that it can't even emulate well enough to play what an old 486/pentium of 100mhz could.

I think these people who were dismissive to you have tried this, got these results, and thus think it is a little presumptous of you to expect anyone to be coding seriously for this.

Do the math: 1,500mhz != 100mhz
200mhz != 13mhz

I pulled that completely out of nowhere because an Athlon XP Barton is MUCH MUCH MUCH more powerful per mhz than an ARM9 or Two.

Besides that I think popular opinion has it that x86 CPU's suck, so a developer would have to be prepared for a lot of crap and not much glory if he made this.

I'm not saying no one will, but I wouldn't be waiting for it with baited breath if I were you. There are many much cooler things to do with this hardware at the moment. I think in a bit, once the main systems are emulated well(SNES, DrMD) and the hardware/firmware/HH mode are well understood, somebody might take on the challenge of a simple DosBox emulator. But the problem isn't dos, it's the way games run on the x86(barrel o' worms) processors and trying to run that on an ARM embedded processor, not easy to do.

 

[gaterooze]

I think someone's nostalgia is clouding his judgement... Boot up DOSbox on your PC and actually play Commander Keen for a while...

 

[nubie]

I think someone's nostalgia is clouding his judgement... Boot up DOSbox on your PC and actually play Commander Keen for a while...

​

Whose nostalgia?? h34r:

I guess I should try commander keen

 

[Rayek]

Totally with you nubie... Before posting this, I tried DOSbox for the demo of Quake, which wasn't win32 build, it had to be run under DOS. And as Quake didn't launch, I tried with DOSbox. It worked to the extent that it loaded the menus, but in-game, it was terrible. Tried the same with Descent, another game I'm happy someone's porting, and it yeilded the same results. But for games like Keen, my fake-DOS-style 'command prompt' plays the games flawlessly. I never took into account that we'd be talking about emulating processors. I just thought that linux wouldn't understand how to porocess dos' .exe files and execute them properly, hence, the flaming .

As for the flaming, anyone who has been around long enough knows that I've been a part of every topic that has to do with DOSbox AND Wolfenstein (that's been brought up since I joined a few months ago), and I haven't heard any of this before. I guess what flaming brings is knowledge! And while craig's post is INCREDIBLY helpful, posts like nubies would cut this conversation short because I get the info I need, and shut the hell up.

Because I'm guessing that's what everyone's dying to hear me do.

 

[jochang]

I was working on this before my gp2x bricked...
If you can help me testing I may still give it a try.

 

[Rayek]

Oh, how I would jump at the opportunity! I don't have my GP2X in yet, I'm getting the "official release". I would definitely help you in any way I could!

 

[mattyrb]

I've just looked at the source for DOSbox........all i can say is its not exactly a small task....

 

[Rayek]

If anyone needs any help from someone who apparently has no knowledge on how emulators work and has no experience in C, C+, Java, or any programming language, just PM me. I'd be happy to help in any way I can!

 

[Jarska333]

I've just looked at the source for DOSbox........all i can say is its not exactly a small task....

​

Heh, someone should then do it from scratch, eh?

 

[mattyrb]

I've just looked at the source for DOSbox........all i can say is its not exactly a small task....

​

Heh, someone should then do it from scratch, eh?

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You amuse me no end yeah gimmie a couple of hours no problem lol