Turn your old PC into a DOS gaming machine using DOSBox-X and Linux

Almost any post 2005 PC can be resurrected and turned into a powerful DOS gaming machine. In this tutorial I'll show you the most reliable way of building a fully working, retro gaming PC with full sound, graphics, web, mouse and USB support.
Links:
DOSBox-X - dosbox-x.com/
Lubuntu - lubuntu.me/
Terminal run command for DOSBox-X
flatpak run com.dosbox_x.DOSBox-X
Don't forget to visit the main project page on BytesNBits.co.uk
bytesnbits.co.uk/old-pc-dos-g...
0:00 Introduction
4:38 Install Lubuntu
9:14 Install DOSBox-X
12:13 Set up DOSBox-X
16:23 Attach hard drive
21:30 Running games from the hard drive
22:39 Attaching CD and floppy images
25:18 Setting DOSBox-X to start at boot up
28:48 Conclusion

[@deborahberi3249]

REALLY Practical Video! I didn't want the hassle of other options so I shelved the idea of running DOS or DOS Games but I have several donor Computers I could use and will now do so! Thanks....-Mark.

[@BytesNBits]

Great. Have fun with DOS gaming!

[@umutkayacan7659]

A high quality video as always

[@BytesNBits]

Thanks.

[@TSteffi]

DosBox-X is really great.
I use that on my old Samsung Netbook, that was really sluggish winth Windows7, even Starter Edition.
So I installed a SSD with WinXP and a small Puppy Linux as dual boot.
On XP i have DOSbox-X and it runs everything flawlessly. And it runs most Win98/XP games nicely, even most 3D ones on the GMA3150 iGPU.

[@BytesNBits]

Sounds like a great little set-up

[@filevans]

*an* SSD, not "a"

[@pedrof324]

Some time ago, I tried to configure a non-gui Linux version (it was Debian, I think) to do the same thing, but without showing up any sign of the base OS. The most difficult part (at least for me) was to configure the window manager to enable mouse support and the sound drivers. I've got a pretty decent result, booting quickly and directly into dosbox.
But there are some Linux Distros with specifically this task in mind, like dbd ("dosbox Distro") and Dosbuntu.

[@BytesNBits]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to have a look at those distros.

[@mohammedthaier1718]

Cool

[@andresbravo2003]

You have the same HP Compaq Computer as mine but a different processor.

[@MotownBatman]

I Love Lubuntu!
Im a Linux Mint person, but for those Older machines, even back to P4
Lubuntu is King
On a lot of Emulations systems like BATOCERA: DosBox-PURE seems to work with Everything

[@BytesNBits]

Great. Thanks for the tip.

[@tubeDude48]

At 21:09 I would also add cls to clear the commands...

[@BytesNBits]

Thanks for the tip. That makes it look nice and neat!!

[@androxilogin]

Does DosBox-Pure work with this method? I use it to boot a Windows 98 image and run my old software through. Makes for a pretty authentic experience.

[@BytesNBits]

Yes. This will work with any emulator, even non DOS ones so you can turn your PC into an Amiga if you want.

[@OCTAGRAM]

I would try QEMU-KVM. And maybe videocard passthrough. Soundcard is better in emulation, and video is better passed through, even in DOS.
> any post 2005 PC can be resurrected
My problem with that era is extreme noise level. I've obtained Celeron M fanless PC capable of running Windows XP, to run VDMSound. VDMSound approach is faster than DOSBox emulated CPU

[@BytesNBits]

Sounds like a good solution. I've not tried VDMSound.

[@gerardzi7930]

No just use game but use old compiler or Cad tools , i like old system.

[@maxmuster7003]

Is there a problem in DosBox-X with the echo off command in batch files?

[@BytesNBits]

The echo off command should work fine as should adding the @ to a line.

[@maxmuster7003]

@@BytesNBits Thx. I have an other youtuber that have problems with the echo off command in my batch files for Pixel Art animation Starter Kit in DosBox-X, but not with the official DosBox version. I never used DosBox-X and my PC is broken. Now i am on an Android tablet with a DosBox app installed and i want to figure it out what the problem is with the echo off command. Is there a configuration in DosBox-X to dissable the echo off command, or what is the reason that the other youtuber have this specific problem with my batch files?

[@filevans]

good guide
does this method get more intensive games running faster rather than just using normal dosbox on windows?

[@BytesNBits]

DosBox-X is based on DosBox. Its main advantage is to make the set up a lot easier.

[@filevans]

@@BytesNBits i didn't ask that, I just asked if running it by linux speeds up the games at all, dosbox-x is also on windows

[@BytesNBits]

@@filevans In general Linux will run faster, especially using these light distros. Windows has a large overhead in processing power just to run Windows.

[@filevans]

@@BytesNBits be interesting to see some benchmarks or comparisons for some of the mid '90s more taxing games, first person shoot 'em ups etc. as some of them are very sluggish through dosbox on windows PCs from 2006-2013 +/-

[@LindenAshbyMK]

DOSBox-X is great, but it runs very poorly on older hardware, example: Dell inspiron N5030... Much better option for Linux is stock DOSBox i386 from the official repo, and for Windows it is better to use DOSBox ECE (from the performance perspective). ECE and X forks have 3dfx support built in, btw.

[@BytesNBits]

Thanks for the tips. I hadn't come across the other versions.

[@davidpalmer5967]

Same as using Dosbox Pure thru Retroarch can be used on Linux

[@BytesNBits]

Thanks. There are a number of ways to get dos set up.

[@lord_vek]

I made an old computer into a DOSBOX machine with Lubuntu, following your previous video. Thank you! I made a video with the whole thing: ruclips.net/video/N7au-rxXRlM/видео.html
May I ask you, what game is that on the titles?

[@BytesNBits]

That's really cool. I like the front end for DOSBox. I haven't tried anything out yet. That looks like a good next video idea - thanks.
The game is Xenon2 Megablast - a great shoot-em-up.

[@lord_vek]

@@BytesNBits Not Xenon 2. The other one.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

The MS-DOS version of Xenon 2 Megablast is not bad but the Commodore Amiga version is definitely the better of the two (not the case for all games that were on both platforms but that is one of them).
Good to see you got DOSBox running on Lubuntu, FS-UAE and its launcher is worth installing for Amiga emulation too - it should be in the Lubuntu repository.

[@lord_vek]

@@terrydaktyllus1320 Thanks for the info.

[@BytesNBits]

@@lord_vek The main title game is one of my tutorial courses - Space Commander - basically a rip off of the BBC Micro game Starship Command. Have a look at ruclips.net/p/PLvOT6zBnJyYH8vKAg_B5-DpWnJjgTo3fJ

[@manuell3505]

I can play Doom deathmatch against myself with 2 dosbox instances on the emulated serial link.

[@BytesNBits]

That's great.