DOSBox Staging and Windows

Sep 25

7 min read

This guide covers the steps to obtain, install, config and run Windows 3.x in DOSBox Staging.

A number of games, in later editions, included not only the game but reference or multimedia material which was accessible as a Windows app only, running under 16-bit WIndows.

Examples include the Gold editions of Fleet Defender or 1942 Pacific AIr War.

Rather than cover the same steps multiple times, this article covers the common process to setup 16-bit Windows under DOSBox Staging.

It will also cover post-setup management, keeping a clean copy of the DOSBox hard disk folder and config which can reused multiple times for games supplied with suitable Windows apps.

For the remainder of the guide 16-bit versions of Windows (Windows 3.x or Windows for Workgroups) will be referred to as Win3.x.

Preparation

This section covers game management (or in this case WIndows management) to help keep files organised and obtaining Win3.x.

Game management

It is recommended to use a game management strategy or similar strategy you may have developed. The recommended game management folders for this process are:

fdd - for floppy images.
hdd - the folder use as the emulated DOSBox hard disk where WIndows 3.x will be installed.

conf - to store DOSBox configuration files.
win - to store any Windows install images and drivers (optional).

These management folders can be found in the following 'game' folder (as an example):

D:\Games\DOS\Windows 3x

Retail media

The retail media is distributed as floppy disk image files. Ensure the disk images are in a format supported by DOSBox Staging (.ima or .img).

Obtaining 16-bit Windows

This requires a 16-bit Windows version which includes Windows 3.1, WIndows 3.11 or Windows for Workgroups 3.11. None of these products are available for purchase, but can be obtained from WinWorld.

The recommended version is Windows for Workgroups 3.11 OEM. This is distributed as a zip archive containing multiple floppy disk images. It is recommended to keep a copy in the win management folder.

DOSBox

This guide assumes the latest version of DOSBox Staging v.0.83.0, is installed, working and has been run at least once.

Installing Windows

To install Windows for Workgroups in DOSBox Staging, there are some excellent Windows 3.1x installation instructions to be found on the DOSBox Staging wiki. Credit and thanks go to MasterO2 for these excellent instructions.

Rather than repeating the already clear and precise instructions, this part of the guide will cover some additional notes to be used in conjunction with these instructions.

Note: The instructions use a smaller/simpler DOSBox Staging config to install Windows and then builds on this simple config to add sound/MIDI etc. It's recommended to use this simple Windows install config and then switch to the fInal DOSBox config, after Windows is installed.

Note: The zip file containing the Windows disk images was saved in the win folder for safekeeping. The disk image contents of this zip file (eg. disk1.img, disk2.img, etc...) were extracted and stored in the fdd folder.

Note: The instruction's DOSBox config file was supplemented with mount and imgmount commands below. As there are multiple disk images in the fdd folder, the wildcard *.img was used, as a convenience, to mount them all. The first disk image will be accessible from the A: drive. Ctrl+F4 switches to the next disk image. If accessing the last disk image, Ctrl+F4 will return to the first disk image.

[autoexec]
mount a "D:\Games\Dos\Windows 3x\fdd\*.img" -t floppy
mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Windows 3x\hdd"

Note: The instructions refer to creating DRIVERS and INSTALL folders in a win31 folder. Instead the win31 folder is replaced with our hdd folder. So the DRIVERS and INSTALL folders are created in our hdd folder. So:

In DOSBox Staging we see:

C:\INSTALL
C:\DRIVERS

In Win10/11 we see (as an example):

D:\Games\Dos\Windows 3x\hdd\INSTALL
D:\Games\Dos\Windows 3x\hdd\DRIVERS

Note: The instructions refer to Windows 3.0 installation instructions, to copy the disk image contents to the INSTALL folder (using DOSBox Staging). As all of the disk images are mounted already, the same copy command (below) is used to copy the disk contents to the INSTALL folder (using DOSBox Staging). Then use Ctrl+F4 to access the next disk and use the same copy command again, until the file contents of each disk have been copied.

COPY A:\*.* C:\INSTALL

Note: The recommended display drivers and SoundBlaster 16 drivers were used, following the instructions provided. The zip files containing the drivers were placed in the win folder for safekeeping. The contents of the zip files were stored in an S3 folder (for the display drivers) and an SB16 folder (for the SoundBlaster 16 drivers), within the DRIVERS folder, so:

In DOSBox Staging we see:

C:\DRIVERS\S3
C:\DRIVERS\SB16

In Win10/11 we see (as an example):

D:\Games\Dos\Windows 3x\hdd\DRIVERS\S3
D:\Games\Dos\Windows 3x\hdd\DRIVERS\SB16

Note: The recommended resolution to use for the display driver is 640x480. This may seem low but may be optimum for multimedia apps as it allows the DOSBox window to be filled (if DOSBox is run in a window) or fullscreen (if run in fullscreen). At higher resolutions multimedia apps may run in a 'Windows 3.x' window. At very high resolutions (e.g. 1600x1200) it becomes a very small window making it harder to navigate or read text. However this is really down to a personal preference.

Note: It is highly recommended to set up MIDI within Win3.x as multimedia apps may use MIDI music.

Note: It is recommended (optional, but not mandatory) to set up CD Audio in Win3.x. Although often not required, having this enabled for a reusable Win3.x build may be useful in the future.

Note: The printing and networking sections of the guide can be ignored as those features aren't required in Win3.x for gaming uses.

Final DOSBox config

The final DOSBox Staging config to use once Win3x is successfully installed, is a combination of the earlier DOSBox Staging configs used in the DOSBox Staging wiki.

# This is the configuration file for Windows 3.x.

[dosbox]
vmemsize = 4

[cpu]
cputype = pentium
cpu_cycles = 40000
cycleup = 500
cycledown = 500

[mouse]
builtin_dos_mouse_driver_options = immediate

[autoexec]
@echo off

# Unmount any existing c: drive
mount -u c

# C: drive with Windows 3.x
mount c "D:\Games\Dos\Windows 3x\hdd"

set path=%path%;c:\windows;
c:
# win
# exit

The following zip file contains this example DOSBox Staging config. It should be changed to match your hardware and personal preferences.

Sound

The above DOSBox config is using the default Sound Blaster settings to provide sound. These settings are compatible with the Win3.x install once Sound Blaster drivers are installed, covered earlier.

However MIDI sound is not configured and there are a number of options to choose from including Roland sound (using an MT32 or Sound Canvas), Fluidsynth (with soundfont support) or an external MIDI component (like VirtualMIDISynth or MIDIMapper).

Before choosing a MIDI sound option the DOSBox mixer can be configured to provide subtle chorus and reverb with:

[mixer]
reverb = small
chorus = light

It is recommended to consult the DOSBox Staging wiki MIDI page before making a choice.

Roland sound

Earlier DOSBox Staging versions included support for an emulated MT32 device. The current version also emulates the Roland Sound Canvas. Settings are described below:

MT32

MT32 support requires MT32 and/or CM32L ROMs to be obtained. The following settings enable MT32, e.g.

[mt32]
model = auto
romdir = "X:\path to\MT32 ROMs folder"

[midi]
mididevice = mt32

Sound Canvas

Sound Canvas support requires Sound Canvas ROMs to be obtained. The following settings enable Sound Canvas support, e.g.

[soundcanvas]
soundcanvas_model = auto
soundcanvas_rom_dir = "X:\path to\Sound Canvas ROMs folder"

[midi]
mididevice = soundcanvas

Fluidsynth

Fluidsynth is a high quality software MIDI synth supporting soundfonts. The following settings enable Fluidsynth support, using the Shan SGM Pro 14 soundfont as an example:

[fluidsynth]
soundfont = "Shan SGM Pro 14.SF2"
soundfont_dir = "X:\path to\Soundfonts folder"

[midi]
mididevice = fluidsynth

External MIDI

DOSBox Staging also supports routing MIDI music to an external MIDI synth, running in Win10/11. This has been discussed in DOSBox Staging and VirtualMIDISynth and VirtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper.

DOSBox Staging can send MIDI music directly to an external MIDI synth in Win10/11, or it can send MIDI music to the Coolsoft MIDIMapper (if installed), which can then send it to a selected MIDI synth.

To use an external MIDI synth:

Make a note of the device index in the Win32 section, when the following command is run from within DOSBox:

Z:\> mixer /listmidi

Apply the following settings:

[midi]
mididevice = port
midiconfig = <device index from mixer /listmidi>

Note: The earlier win32 setting has been renamed to port. The mixer /listmidi command still uses the earlier win32 name.

Management

The result should be a working version of Windows 3.x running in DOSBox with working MIDI sound. It may have taken a lot of time and work to get to this point, so to save repeating the process in the future, the following is highly recommended.

Maintaining a clean build

In order to maintain this clean build it is recommended never to use it directly. Instead a copy should always be used.

If the build is not immediately required or to prevent accidental usage the build should be zipped up and stored safely for later usage. The following folder should be zipped up to preserve the entire build, e.g.

D:\Games\DOS\Windows 3x

Reuse

When using the Win3.x build for a game with a Windows app:

Unzip the hdd folder and DOSBox conf file (Win3.x.conf) from the zip file into a new set of game management folders.
Alternatively copy the hdd folder and conf file (Win3.x.conf) from the clean build into a new set of game management folders.

This should result in (as an example):

D:\Games\DOS\new DOS game\hdd (containing Win3.x)
D:\Games\DOS\new DOS game\conf\Win3.x.conf (DOSBox config to run Win3.x)

The new DOS game would be installed (using DOSBox) into the hdd folder and a separate DOSBox config created to run the DOS game.

The Win3.x.conf would be used by DOSBox to run Win3.x in the hdd folder which would allow the installation and running of any Win3.x apps.

Finally...

Credit and thanks goes to:

John Novak and the DOSBox development team.
MasterO2 for the excellent Windows installation guide.
WinWorld for hosting the Windows 3.x installation media.
The CoolSoft development teams for VIrtualMIDISynth and MIDIMapper.