Monday, August 21, 2017

Run old DOS games in GNU/Linux with DosBox

We can run old DOS games and utilities with 'DosBox'

DosBox


You can install it on Ubuntu or Debian from Linux console with the command:
sudo apt-get install dosbox
Make a folder like $HOME/dosutils, and copy all the DOS software, each program in a separate folder.

To run DosBox just type 'dosbox' and  type this command in DOS console to mount C:
mount c /home/yourusername/dosutils

We can automatize the booting of software with $HOME/.dosbox/dosbox-x.xx.conf config file.

This file have several sections and parts, there are the most interesting ones:
  • fullscreen : DosBOX may boot in fullscreen changing this. You can toogle between window and fullscreen pressing Alt + Enter keys
  • [autoexec] : all the lines you put down of this section with run after DosBOX boot, for example:
mount c /home/yourusername/dosutils
c:
If you see that your game runs more slowly than usual yo can increase the speed with CTRL + F12 keys.

There is a lot of DOS games and general software in public domain, free software, etc... for example Champ Games.


Artículo original en castellano

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Use multiple virtual desktops in Ubuntu 16.04 with compiz

If you use Ubuntu 16.04 with compiz (gnome-flashback), you will see that you can not use virtual desktops because when you click on it with the right button in the virtual desktop selector to increase the number always returns to have only one again.
To fix it install Compiz Config Setup Manager (ccsm) y vdesk
sudo apt-get install ccsm vdesk
  • Then we run ccsm and select these options:
General ► General options ► Size of the Desktop
(you must press the right arrow to access to this option)
  • Now we can increase the horizontal size.

Artículo original en castellano

Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Install CPCtelera in Ubuntu

CPCtelera is a low-level C library that makes things much easier for who want to program software for Amstrad CPC. You can add various elements and compile the result directly into a DSK or CDT file, disk and tape CPC images respectively ready to run in a Emulator or burn in a physical medium to execute in a real Amstrad CPC.
CPCtelera

 Install it on Ubuntu 14.04 64 bits

  • Go to $HOME folder and download the latest version of CPCTelera source code, just type:
git clone https://github.com/lronaldo/cpctelera
  • Install all the libraries you need install it:
sudo apt-get install build-essential bison flex libboost1.55-dev libfreeimage-dev wget unzip wine
  • Start the instalation:
cd cpctelera
./setup.sh
If you need any other library the instalation tell you in the process.

Use

Read the CPCtelera Reference Manual there are also a lot of videos in youtube but most of them are on Spanish.
Artículo original en castellano