Setting up new dosemu 1.3.3

DISCUSSION Larry Alkoff 6 participants 13 messages Apr 10, 2006 – Apr 12, 2006

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Larry Alkoff

author

2006-04-10 17:05 UTC #0 lore raw

I used to run dosemu-1.2.2 and was able to get a very nice dosemu window under KDE with a large 12x21 font in an 80x25 window.

Most of my dos programs require 80x25 and my tired old eyes really need a large font.

How can I get the large font with dosemu-1.3.3?

Background:

To run dosemu-1.2.2 I had a KDE icon with the command line:
kstart /usr/X11R6/bin/xterm -geometry 80x25 -font 12x24 -e godos -x

The xterm produced had a nice large font and 80x25 screen
with white background and,
godos is a script that runs dosemu after a two second delay
to give a large font white letter on black screen exactly the same size and location as the xterm (convers it up).

When the same setup runs now, it produces the large xterm, but when dosemu runs it creates a separate small white letter on black window. The window is 80x25 but the fonts are too small to comfortably read.

How can I increase the larger fonts?

Larry

Signature · 2 lines

Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
Using Thunderbird on Slackware Linux

Claudia Neumann

2006-04-10 20:25 UTC #1 lore raw

Am Montag, 10. April 2006 19:05 schrieben Sie:

Quoted 19 lines

I used to run dosemu-1.2.2 and was able to get a very nice dosemu window under KDE with a large 12x21 font in an 80x25 window.
Most of my dos programs require 80x25 and my tired old eyes really need a large font.
How can I get the large font with dosemu-1.3.3?
Background:
To run dosemu-1.2.2 I had a KDE icon with the command line:
kstart /usr/X11R6/bin/xterm -geometry 80x25 -font 12x24 -e godos -x
The xterm produced had a nice large font and 80x25 screen with white background and,
godos is a script that runs dosemu after a two second delay to give a large font white letter on black screen exactly the same size and location as the xterm (convers it up).

Quoted 5 lines

When the same setup runs now, it produces the large xterm, but when dosemu runs it creates a separate small white letter on black window. The window is 80x25 but the fonts are too small to comfortably read.
How can I increase the larger fonts?

http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-msdos&m=114374588406598&w=2

Claudia

Larry Alkoff

author

2006-04-10 21:15 UTC #2 lore raw

Quoted 24 lines · Claudia Neumann

Am Montag, 10. April 2006 19:05 schrieben Sie:
Quoted 23 lines
I used to run dosemu-1.2.2 and was able to get a very nice dosemu window under KDE with a large 12x21 font in an 80x25 window.
Most of my dos programs require 80x25 and my tired old eyes really need a large font.
How can I get the large font with dosemu-1.3.3?
Background:
To run dosemu-1.2.2 I had a KDE icon with the command line:
kstart /usr/X11R6/bin/xterm -geometry 80x25 -font 12x24 -e godos -x
The xterm produced had a nice large font and 80x25 screen with white background and,
godos is a script that runs dosemu after a two second delay to give a large font white letter on black screen exactly the same size and location as the xterm (convers it up).
When the same setup runs now, it produces the large xterm, but when dosemu runs it creates a separate small white letter on black window. The window is 80x25 but the fonts are too small to comfortably read.

Quoted 6 lines

Quoted 1 line
How can I increase the larger fonts?
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-msdos&m=114374588406598&w=2
Claudia

Thank you very very much Claudia. I copied your web page into my dosemu.nfo file.

After experimenting with the fonts installed by dosemu, I simply entered the 12x24 font I liked from with 1.2.2 from /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc (not in /usr/local/share/dosemu/Xfonts) and it worked perfectly!
This makes my life a lot easier.

Finally I'm going to be able to use my old favorite dos programs (WS SuperCalc and Q&A) without eyestrain.

Do you have any advice for changing the white letters on black to something nicer like black letters on light background?

Larry

Signature · 2 lines

Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
Using Thunderbird on Slackware Linux

Bart Oldeman

2006-04-11 09:11 UTC #3 lore raw

Quoted 9 lines · Larry Alkoff

Thank you very very much Claudia. I copied your web page into my dosemu.nfo file.
After experimenting with the fonts installed by dosemu, I simply entered the 12x24 font I liked from with 1.2.2 from /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc (not in /usr/local/share/dosemu/Xfonts) and it worked perfectly!
This makes my life a lot easier.
Finally I'm going to be able to use my old favorite dos programs (WS SuperCalc and Q&A) without eyestrain.
Do you have any advice for changing the white letters on black to something nicer like black letters on light background?

Just to elaborate: the default for DOSEMU changed to use its own X window by default, where it used to be inside the xterm. If you want the terminal behaviour you need to use the -t option as in "dosemu -t".

As far black on white: you can set $_term_color=(off) in combination with dosemu -t, which removes *all* colors; without the -t option the only way is to configure the DOS app itself to display black on white if it can be configured that way. You can also look for DOS palette change utilities, or set MENUCOLOR=0,15 (or 0,7) in config.sys but then it all depends on what the DOS app does with it.

Bart

Mike McCarty

2006-04-11 17:20 UTC #4 lore raw

In reply to Larry Alkoff

Quoted 41 lines · Larry Alkoff

Quoted 25 lines · Claudia Neumann
Am Montag, 10. April 2006 19:05 schrieben Sie:
Quoted 23 lines
I used to run dosemu-1.2.2 and was able to get a very nice dosemu window under KDE with a large 12x21 font in an 80x25 window.
Most of my dos programs require 80x25 and my tired old eyes really need a large font.
How can I get the large font with dosemu-1.3.3?
Background:
To run dosemu-1.2.2 I had a KDE icon with the command line:
kstart /usr/X11R6/bin/xterm -geometry 80x25 -font 12x24 -e godos -x
The xterm produced had a nice large font and 80x25 screen with white background and,
godos is a script that runs dosemu after a two second delay to give a large font white letter on black screen exactly the same size and location as the xterm (convers it up).
When the same setup runs now, it produces the large xterm, but when dosemu runs it creates a separate small white letter on black window. The window is 80x25 but the fonts are too small to comfortably read.
Quoted 6 lines
Quoted 1 line
How can I increase the larger fonts?
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-msdos&m=114374588406598&w=2
Claudia
Thank you very very much Claudia. I copied your web page into my dosemu.nfo file.
After experimenting with the fonts installed by dosemu, I simply entered the 12x24 font I liked from with 1.2.2 from /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc (not in /usr/local/share/dosemu/Xfonts) and it worked perfectly!
This makes my life a lot easier.

Quoted 6 lines

Finally I'm going to be able to use my old favorite dos programs (WS SuperCalc and Q&A) without eyestrain.
Do you have any advice for changing the white letters on black to something nicer like black letters on light background?
Larry

I have the same problem, along with the lower contrast.

Here's what I do, using the GNOME descktop manager:

(1) Start a text window
(2) $ xterm -pc -fg white -bg black -geometry 80x25
(3) When the window opens, in the text area...

	CTRL-RightMouseButton->Font->HUGE

You may prefer to switch the bg/fg colors, but anyway this gives a nice large font with intense contrasty colors.

HTH

Mike

Signature · 5 lines

p="p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}";main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}
This message made from 100% recycled bits.
You have found the bank of Larn.
I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.
I speak only for myself, and I am unanimous in that!

Larry Alkoff

author

2006-04-11 22:12 UTC #5 lore raw

Quoted 56 lines · Mike McCarty

Quoted 41 lines · Larry Alkoff
Quoted 25 lines · Claudia Neumann
Am Montag, 10. April 2006 19:05 schrieben Sie:
Quoted 23 lines
I used to run dosemu-1.2.2 and was able to get a very nice dosemu window under KDE with a large 12x21 font in an 80x25 window.
Most of my dos programs require 80x25 and my tired old eyes really need a large font.
How can I get the large font with dosemu-1.3.3?
Background:
To run dosemu-1.2.2 I had a KDE icon with the command line:
kstart /usr/X11R6/bin/xterm -geometry 80x25 -font 12x24 -e godos -x
The xterm produced had a nice large font and 80x25 screen with white background and,
godos is a script that runs dosemu after a two second delay to give a large font white letter on black screen exactly the same size and location as the xterm (convers it up).
When the same setup runs now, it produces the large xterm, but when dosemu runs it creates a separate small white letter on black window. The window is 80x25 but the fonts are too small to comfortably read.
Quoted 6 lines
Quoted 1 line
How can I increase the larger fonts?
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-msdos&m=114374588406598&w=2
Claudia
Thank you very very much Claudia. I copied your web page into my dosemu.nfo file.
After experimenting with the fonts installed by dosemu, I simply entered the 12x24 font I liked from with 1.2.2 from /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc (not in /usr/local/share/dosemu/Xfonts) and it worked perfectly!
This makes my life a lot easier.
Quoted 6 lines
Finally I'm going to be able to use my old favorite dos programs (WS SuperCalc and Q&A) without eyestrain.
Do you have any advice for changing the white letters on black to something nicer like black letters on light background?
Larry
I have the same problem, along with the lower contrast.
Here's what I do, using the GNOME descktop manager:
(1) Start a text window
(2) $ xterm -pc -fg white -bg black -geometry 80x25
(3) When the window opens, in the text area...

Quoted 8 lines

    CTRL-RightMouseButton->Font->HUGE
You may prefer to switch the bg/fg colors, but anyway this gives a nice large font with intense contrasty colors.
HTH
Mike

Mike are you using dosemu 1.2.2?
The behavior has changed.

I used to use the same method before changing to 1.3.3 with either the HUGE font or selecting a font in .dosemurc.

The latest version 1.3.3 does not take on the geometry and font from the xterm - it sets up it's own window.

The 80x25 seems to be a default - don't know it it can be changed or not but 80x25 works well for me. The font selected in .dosemurc determines the actual window size. I'm currently using the biggest font I can find:
$_X_font = "vga12x30" # The biggest 11" wide x 8.5"high on 19" 1280x1024 screen.

Larry

Signature · 2 lines

Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
Using Thunderbird on Slackware Linux

Karl.

2006-04-12 01:34 UTC #6 lore raw

Quoted 2 lines · Larry Alkoff

The 80x25 seems to be a default - don't know it it can be changed or not but 80x25 works well for me.

You can change it within dosemu using the dos 'mode' command (perhaps add it to your autoexec.bat)

"mode co80,50" gets you colour, 80 columns, 50 rows.

               number of rows can be 25, 28, 43, or 50

"mode /?" gets you help on other options

A lot of software makes assumptions and only uses half the screen, but there's a lot of software which works properly as well. I just don't feel right if my dos box is not 50 rows :-)

Karl.

Larry Alkoff

author

2006-04-12 02:02 UTC #7 lore raw

Quoted 5 lines · Karl.

Quoted 1 line · Larry Alkoff
The 80x25 seems to be a default - don't know it it can be changed or not but 80x25 works well for me.
You can change it within dosemu using the dos 'mode' command (perhaps add it to your autoexec.bat)

Quoted 8 lines

"mode co80,50" gets you colour, 80 columns, 50 rows.
               number of rows can be 25, 28, 43, or 50
"mode /?" gets you help on other options
A lot of software makes assumptions and only uses half the screen, but there's a lot of software which works properly as well. I just don't feel right if my dos box is not 50 rows :-)
Karl.

Thanks for the tip on mode Karl. I had forgotten how handy that was in the good old DOS days.

Do you know any way of changing the really ugly white on black background?

What does 'codepage' mean wrt mode? Are these fonts or characters like Cyrillic?

Larry

Signature · 2 lines

Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
Using Thunderbird on Slackware Linux

Karl.

2006-04-12 02:18 UTC #8 lore raw

Quoted 1 line · Larry Alkoff

Do you know any way of changing the really ugly white on black background?

Try "help nansi" in dosemu. The ansi driver used to be the main way to achieve this in the old days, although I never used it because it was noted for slowing down the computer. I think the nansi driver is a lot faster.

IIRC, the technique was to insert colour-setting escape-codes in the prompt string (a little help here: "prompt /?"). Try a google search.

Quoted 2 lines

What does 'codepage' mean wrt mode? Are these fonts or characters like Cyrillic?

I believe so.

Karl.

jegunn

2006-04-12 02:40 UTC #9 lore raw

In reply to Karl.

Hi, Karl.

I wrote a little dos C program many years ago to set the screen colors. usage is

Usage: ansicolo fg bg i
Colors: blk 0 red 1 grn 2 yell 3 blu 4 mag 5 cya 6 wht 7 i is 0 for normal foreground, 1 for intensified

You need to load ansi.c or vansi.c in your config.sys.

I tried to attach the executable, but the list will not accept it. If you want it, it is on our ftp site:

ftp://astro.princeton.edu/jeg/ansicolo/ansicolo.exe

--jim gunn

****************************************************************************

If you have a c compiler, the (almost trivial) source is

#include <stdio.h>

main(argc,argv)
int argc;
char **argv;

{
    if(argc < 3){
        printf("\nUsage: ansicolor fg bg i");
        printf("\nColors: blk 0 red 1 grn 2 yell 3 blu 4 mag 5 cya 6 wht 7");
        printf("\ni is 0 for normal foreground, 1 for intensified");
        printf("\n");
    }else{
        printf("\033[0;3%s;4%sm",argv[1],argv[2]);
        if(argc == 4 && *argv[3] == '1') printf("\033[1m");
        printf("\033[2J");
    }
}

***************************************************************************

Quoted 22 lines · Karl.

Quoted 2 lines · Larry Alkoff
The 80x25 seems to be a default - don't know it it can be changed or not but 80x25 works well for me.
You can change it within dosemu using the dos 'mode' command (perhaps add it to your autoexec.bat)
"mode co80,50" gets you colour, 80 columns, 50 rows.
               number of rows can be 25, 28, 43, or 50
"mode /?" gets you help on other options
A lot of software makes assumptions and only uses half the screen, but there's a lot of software which works properly as well. I just don't feel right if my dos box is not 50 rows :-)
Karl.
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To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-msdos" in the body of a message to [email protected]
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html

Larry Alkoff

author

2006-04-12 05:08 UTC #10 lore raw

Quoted 28 lines · jegunn

Hi, Karl.
I wrote a little dos C program many years ago to set the screen colors. usage is
Usage: ansicolo fg bg i
Colors: blk 0 red 1 grn 2 yell 3 blu 4 mag 5 cya 6 wht 7 i is 0 for normal foreground, 1 for intensified
You need to load ansi.c or vansi.c in your config.sys.
I tried to attach the executable, but the list will not accept it. If you want it, it is on our ftp site:
ftp://astro.princeton.edu/jeg/ansicolo/ansicolo.exe
--jim gunn
****************************************************************************
If you have a c compiler, the (almost trivial) source is
#include <stdio.h>
main(argc,argv)
int argc;
char **argv;

Quoted 12 lines

{
    if(argc < 3){
        printf("\nUsage: ansicolor fg bg i");
        printf("\nColors: blk 0 red 1 grn 2 yell 3 blu 4 mag 5 cya 6 wht 7");
        printf("\ni is 0 for normal foreground, 1 for intensified");
        printf("\n");
    }else{
        printf("\033[0;3%s;4%sm",argv[1],argv[2]);
        if(argc == 4 && *argv[3] == '1') printf("\033[1m");
        printf("\033[2J");
    }
}

Hello jim.

I compiled your script but forgot how to convert a.out to a .exe file. Not even sure gcc can do that. It's been a long time since I used C in dos.

Also are you sure to use ansi.c and not ansi.sys in config.sys?

I solved the screen color problem in a different way by using 4dos which is a commmand.com replacement/enhancement I've used for 20 years. It just recently became free of charge but I've paid them a lot over the years - very much worth it.

4dos can have aliases so I put the following alias in the alias file:
setcolor=color black on white (Black is fg and white is bg)

and the following line in autoexec.bat:
prompt=%@exec[@setcolor]$P$G ( note backticks)

This gives me an easy to read black letters on grey screen in a KDE konsole. Since it's refreshed every time time a prompt appears the screen comes back to the proper color after an application executes. Another good color choice is bright white on blue.

Hope this helps. It's sure better for me ;-)

Larry

Signature · 2 lines

Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
Using Thunderbird on Slackware Linux

Mike McCarty

2006-04-12 07:12 UTC #11 lore raw

In reply to Larry Alkoff

Quoted 15 lines · Larry Alkoff

Quoted 13 lines · Mike McCarty
I have the same problem, along with the lower contrast.
Here's what I do, using the GNOME descktop manager:
(1) Start a text window
(2) $ xterm -pc -fg white -bg black -geometry 80x25
(3) When the window opens, in the text area...
    CTRL-RightMouseButton->Font->HUGE
You may prefer to switch the bg/fg colors, but anyway this gives a nice large font with intense contrasty colors.

Quoted 7 lines

Quoted 3 lines
HTH
Mike
Mike are you using dosemu 1.2.2?

1.3.2.0

Quoted 3 lines

The behavior has changed.
I used to use the same method before changing to 1.3.3 with either the HUGE font or selecting a font in .dosemurc.

Yes, I select the HUGE font.

Quoted 1 line

The latest version 1.3.3 does not take on the geometry and font from the xterm - it sets up it's own window.

Hmm. Are you using dosemu or are you using xdosemu? I don't use xdosemu, since its behavior is as you describe. But if I start an xterm -pc -geometry 80x25 & and then set the font to HUGE before starting dosemu, it works for me.

Quoted 1 line

The 80x25 seems to be a default - don't know it it can be changed or not but 80x25 works well for me. The font selected in .dosemurc determines the actual window size.

I don't have a .dosemurc anywhere in my $HOME tree.

Quoted 2 lines

I'm currently using the biggest font I can find:
$_X_font = "vga12x30" # The biggest 11" wide x 8.5"high on 19" 1280x1024 screen.

Well, if it works for you, then I guess you are ok. But I find that starting my own xterm, setting font size, and then using dosemu works for me. I don't use xdosemu for the reasons you give.

Mike

Signature · 5 lines

p="p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}";main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}
This message made from 100% recycled bits.
You have found the bank of Larn.
I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.
I speak only for myself, and I am unanimous in that!

Larry Alkoff

author

2006-04-12 14:24 UTC #12 lore raw

Quoted 30 lines · Mike McCarty

Quoted 15 lines · Larry Alkoff
Quoted 13 lines · Mike McCarty
I have the same problem, along with the lower contrast.
Here's what I do, using the GNOME descktop manager:
(1) Start a text window
(2) $ xterm -pc -fg white -bg black -geometry 80x25
(3) When the window opens, in the text area...
    CTRL-RightMouseButton->Font->HUGE
You may prefer to switch the bg/fg colors, but anyway this gives a nice large font with intense contrasty colors.
Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 3 lines
HTH
Mike
Mike are you using dosemu 1.2.2?
1.3.2.0
Quoted 3 lines
The behavior has changed.
I used to use the same method before changing to 1.3.3 with either the HUGE font or selecting a font in .dosemurc.

Quoted 8 lines

Yes, I select the HUGE font.
Quoted 1 line
The latest version 1.3.3 does not take on the geometry and font from the xterm - it sets up it's own window.
Hmm. Are you using dosemu or are you using xdosemu? I don't use xdosemu, since its behavior is as you describe. But if I start an xterm -pc -geometry 80x25 & and then set the font to HUGE before starting dosemu, it works for me.

I've just tried both dosemu and xdosemu. Actually xdosemu is a soft link to dosemu.

From an xterm you can start dosemu which appears in a window that covers up your original xterm. You can see this by moving the dosemu window out of the way. Unless there was a change between 1.3.2 and 1.3.3 which causes the action to be different.

Quoted 3 lines

Quoted 1 line
The 80x25 seems to be a default - don't know it it can be changed or not but 80x25 works well for me. The font selected in .dosemurc determines the actual window size.
I don't have a .dosemurc anywhere in my $HOME tree.

For some strange reason, dosemu does not put install a ~/.dosemu by default. I got mine by cp /etc/dosemu/dosemu.conf ~/.dosemurc.
It's supposed to be the same file unless user customizes it as I did.
Having ~/.dosemurc allows you to customize dosemu on a user basis
instead of just a universal /etc/dosemu/dosemu.conf which I have kept pristine.

My customizations are to add to ~/dosemurc:

## Printer settings
$_printer = "Deskjet500"

## Setting specific to the X Window System (xdosemu, dosemu -X)
$_X_font = "vga12x30" # The biggest 11" wide x 8.5"high

Quoted 7 lines

Quoted 3 lines
I'm currently using the biggest font I can find:
$_X_font = "vga12x30" # The biggest 11" wide x 8.5"high on 19" 1280x1024 screen.
Well, if it works for you, then I guess you are ok. But I find that starting my own xterm, setting font size, and then using dosemu works for me. I don't use xdosemu for the reasons you give.

Just be aware that might not work when you upgrade dosemu.

Quoted 2 lines

Mike

Signature · 2 lines

Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
Using Thunderbird on Slackware Linux