XGS-DOS



La version française de ce document est disponible ici.
 What is XGS-DOS ?
This is an Apple IIGS emulator, orginally written by Joshua M. Thompson for XWindow, and has now been ported to DOS.

Important notes
This is the first beta release of XGS-DOS 0.48. All functions of XGS are fully implemented. But, if there are missing things or nasty bugs, please email me! My address is at the end of this file.

But keep in mind that I will take into consideration only problems RELATED to the DOS version of XGS (i.e. screen, keyboard, mouse and joystick). Otherwise, you should e-mail the XGS mailing list for XGS general problems. Also, don't forget that I will not have enough time to respond to every email. I have my job if I want to earn money ;-) I'm working on XGS-DOS during my hobby hours, and therefore XGS-DOS is NOT affilated with my firm.

The sound is NOT implemented in this version, for a very good reason. I have a sound card, but it is completely useless for me- I'm deaf, but I really love a wonderful computer, the Apple IIGS. That's why I've built the DOS version of XGS.

Under real DOS and Win95, sometimes XGS-DOS refuses to start, showing a bunch of numbers and an FPU trap. Try to relauch it until it works ! I don't understand why it crashes like this and I've never succeeded to localize what is causing the problems under DOS and Win95, whereas XGS-DOS works without problem under OS/2 Warp 4.0...

Since XGS-DOS works very well under OS/2 Warp 4.0, it should work under Linux DOSEMU too, although I haven't tested it out.

I haven't tested XGS-DOS under WinNT, but it's DOS emulation doesn't manage SVGA modes very well. The screen will probably be a nice garbage !

There is a speed regression into the 0.48 version, because of the 5,25" IWM new code.

Legal stuff: you know that this is a beta release, and everything which is implied by this, etc, etc, etc, and etc .... ;-)


System requirements
  • A Pentium-90 or higher
  • DOS 5.0 or higher, Win95, OS/2 Warp 3.0 or higher
  • 8MB RAM minimum for DOS, 16MB minimum for Win95 and Warp
  • A copy of the ROMs from a ROM01 or 03 Apple IIGS


    How to install XGS-DOS

    ** IMPORTANT **

    Follow these steps carefully, or XGS-DOS is likely to not execute!

    First of all, choose a home directory for the executable and support files (why not the same directory as XGS-Win32 ?).

    Next, either add this line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT, or make an XGS.BAT file that will set the following environment variable: where x: is the drive that the home directory is on, and xgs_home_directory is the path.

    Next, use WinZip, PKUNZIP (with the -d option) or Info-Zip into the home directory, to extract the XGS-DOS files into their correct directories. The directory structure in your home directory should be as follows: If you have ROM0n (n = 1 or 3), please make a copy of your XGS.ROM to XGS0n.ROM, and place it in your home directory. Example :
    You can place both XGS01.ROM and XGS03.ROM in the directory- XGS-DOS will let you choose which machine to emulate on start-up. I like very much the "Sales Demo" made by Apple Computer in 1986 to promote the Apple IIGS, but it doesn't work at all with ROM03 but only with ROM01! That's why I've placed an option in order to switch easily between ROM01 and ROM03 for my test purposes.

    Also, do the same thing for your XGS.RAM. If it is BRAM from a ROM 01 machine, make it XGS01.RAM, XGS03.RAM if it's from a ROM03. Note that the BRAM isn't the same for ROM01 and ROM03!

    I will use the important note from Joshua M. Thompson :

    *** I CANNOT (AND WILL NOT) GIVE YOU A COPY OF THE IIGS ROM!! ***
    *** SO DON'T SEND ME MAIL AND ASK ME ABOUT IT. IT WON'T HELP. ***
    It is clear for you?

    Don't delete your original copies of XGS.ROM and XGS.RAM (assuming you have used the Win32 port of XGS), otherwise the Win32 version will not work ! You've been warned !

    Also, your graphics card must be VESA 2.0 compliant. If it doesn't support VBE 2.0, the SciTech Display Doctor from SciTech Software (www.scitechsoft.com) will let most video cards use VBE 2.0 modes. Also, don't forget to install a mouse driver before lauching XGS-DOS. Otherwise, XGS-DOS won't continue.

    In case of any problems, please take a look at the BOOTLOG.TXT file created in your home directory!


    Notes about keyboard, mouse and joystick
    For the moment, only the Swiss French and US keyboard are implemented. You can handle the keyboard *exactly* like a true IIGS keyboard.

    The mouse is always activated under XGS-DOS and can't be deactivated, unlike the X11 and Win32 versions.

    The joystick is implemented in XGS-DOS. The joystick needs to be plugged into your computer before running XGS-DOS. You must calibrate the joystick before you can use it by pressing F5 and following the on-screen instructions. After activating the joystick, the Alt keys are disabled in order to avoid conflicts with joystick buttons. To renable Alt keys, press F5 again and the joystick will be disabled.

    For the moment, the joystick emulation works perfectly only under the MegaII. It doesn't work as it should under GS/OS. Please take note that this isn't a specific XGS-DOS problem!


    Speed and 640x400 screen
    Under the 640x400 screen, the speed is shown on the bottom-left of the screen. Under the MegaII screen modes it shouldn't be a problem. But it can be annonying under the SHGR mode, because the speed status can cover up a small portion of the screen.

    To hide the speed status, press F11. To reenable it, press F11 again. Please notice that the speed ratio will be frozen under the MegaII modes. That is normal, because it will be never erased... so it's useless to deactivate the speed status under the MegaII modes ;-)... The same thing applies for 640x480 and 800x600 screen resolutions.


    Extra goodies
    F12 : saves the current screen to a PCX file named XGS_nnnn.PCX


    Legal stuff
    Apple, IIGS, Apple IIGS, and GS/OS are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved.


    Other links
    The Official XGS Home Page, by Joshua M. Thompson
    The XGS-Mac Homepage


    Contributors
    Special thanks to these people who have helped me in this port :
    I would like to thank the main author of XGS, Joshua M. Thompson. With XGS, it is now possible to run an virtual Apple IIGS in a heterogen environment. Thus, the Apple IIGS spirit can be kept forever !

    Conclusion
    I just hope that XGS-DOS will work on your computer. If that isn't the case, please re-read this document if you've read it diagonally ;-) and take a look at your BOOTLOG.TXT!


    Gilles Tschopp, Valais/Wallis, Switzerland
    Email : gilles.tschopp@icare.ch
    Version 1.1. Revision date : 25.3.1997