DOSEMU explained

Author:	DOSEMU Team
Released:	^[1]
Latest Release Version:	1.4.0
Discontinued:	yes
Operating System:	Linux
Genre:	Compatibility layer
License:	GPL

dosemu2
Latest Preview Version:	2.0pre9

DOSEMU, stylized as dosemu, is a compatibility layer software package that enables DOS operating systems (e.g., MS-DOS, DR-DOS, FreeDOS) and application software to run atop Linux on x86-based PCs (IBM PC compatible computers).

Features

It uses a combination of hardware-assisted virtualization features and high-level emulation. It can thus achieve nearly native speed for 8086-compatible DOS operating systems and applications on x86 compatible processors, and for DOS Protected Mode Interface (DPMI) applications on x86 compatible processors as well as on x86-64 processors. DOSEMU includes an 8086 processor emulator for use with real-mode applications in x86-64 long mode.

DOSEMU is only available for x86 and x86-64 Linux systems (Linux 3.15 x86-64 systems cannot enter DPMI by default. This is fixed in 3.16).^[2]

DOSEMU is an option for people who need or want to continue to use legacy DOS software; in some cases virtualisation is good enough to drive external hardware such as device programmers connected to the parallel port. According to its manual, "dosemu" is a user-level program which uses certain special features of the Linux kernel and the 80386 processor to run DOS in a DOS box. The DOS box, relying on a combination of hardware and software, has these abilities:

• Virtualize all input-output and processor control instructions
• Supports the word size and addressing modes of the iAPX86 processor family's "real mode", while still running within the full protected mode environment
• Trap all DOS and BIOS system calls and emulate such calls as needed for proper operation and good performance
• Simulate a hardware environment over which DOS programs are accustomed to having control.
• Provide DOS services through native Linux services; for example, dosemu can provide a virtual hard disk drive which is actually a Linux directory hierarchy.^[3]
• API-level support for Packet driver,^[4] IPX, Berkeley sockets (dosnet).^{[5] [6]}

See also

• Comparison of platform virtualization software
• Virtual DOS machine
• DOSBox
• Wine
• FreeDOS

External links

• • dosemu2

Notes and References

1. Web site: DOSEMU for Linux / History / Browse Commits.
2. Web site:
   1. 751632 dosemu: DPMI fails to initialize on x86_64 with linux 3.15
   . 140715 bugs.debian.org
3. Web site: The dosemu HOWTO. https://archive.today/20121225104014/http://dosemu.sourceforge.net/docs/HOWTO/. dead. 2012-12-25. 090430 dosemu.sourceforge.net
4. Web site: dosemu v1.3.5 source. 090430 prdownloads.sourceforge.net src/dosext/net/net/pktnew.c
5. Web site: dosemu v1.4.0 source . 2007-05-05 . 2016-04-06 . src/dosext/net/net/ipx.c src/dosext/net/v-net/dosnet.c
6. Web site: The DOSEMU team is proud to announce DOSEMU 1.4.0 . 2007-05-05 . 2016-04-06 . NetWare and other network connectivity via built-in IPX and pktdrvr support /../ the dosemu-freedos binary package starts a DOS-"C:\>"-Drive 'out-of-the-box' in a normal user's $HOME directory and runs without any further configuration (no root rights needed) . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20160315163935/http://dosemu.org/stable/announce . March 15, 2016.