86Box v3.2

This is the February 2022 update to 86Box, and it’s one we know many of you have been looking forward to, as it finally brings in Linux support, after many requests over the course of many years. As always, you can download 86Box v3.2 from GitHub.

Now with Linux

This Linux version was made possible by the massive work put in by contributors like jgilje, Cacodemon345, ts-korhonen and dob205, who developed the cross-platform Qt user interface or otherwise helped with freeing our code from the shackles of Win32. This new interface should look and feel almost exactly like the old Windows one. A macOS version is also in the works, also powered by the new interface and supporting both Intel and Apple Silicon, though it wasn’t ready in time for this release.

Linux builds are distributed as AppImage binaries for maximum compatibility. We’ve tested these on distributions as old as Ubuntu 16.04 and as new as Manjaro 21.2.2, but if you run into issues on your specific distro, please let us know. Binaries for x86_64, ARM32 and ARM64 architectures are available; 32-bit x86 is currently not available due to a packaging issue. Of course, building 86Box from source and running it with system libraries is still an option, and there’s a community-maintained Arch Linux AUR package which does just that.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: On Linux, you should place the roms/ directory (containing the ROM set) in the same directory as the .AppImage file (example). A global ROM path and a manager interface will be added in a future release. For now, you can manage emulated machines through one of the following methods:

• Keeping multiple copies (or symlinks) of the 86Box .AppImage and the roms/ directory.
• Running the 86Box .AppImage with the -P /path/to/machine/directory switch, which does not require copying roms/ over to the emulated machine’s directory.
• Running the 86Box .AppImage from a different working directory, which also does not require copying roms/ over.

IMPORTANT UPDATE #2: Still on Linux, 86Box v3.2.1 (link above, changelog below) should fix the issue with mouse capture dropping the emulation speed down to 0%.

The Windows version will remain on the existing Win32 user interface for now, as jriwanek has stepped up to maintain it, at least while we work on some Windows-specific odds and ends of the Qt interface. All UI points in the changelog below apply to both interfaces.

Changelog for v3.2

Emulator

• Improved performance when using video filters
• Fixed mouse lag and multi-monitor cursor behavior on the OpenGL 3.0 renderer in full screen mode

User interface

• Added a toolbar with quick commands as well as emulation status
• Added translations: 🇵🇱 Polish by Fanta-Shokata, 🇺🇦 Ukrainian by Олександр#9368 and Danik2343
• Added API for graceful shutdown without confirmation (WM_SHUTDOWN/0x8893 with WPARAM=1)
• Changed file selection windows to pause emulation while they’re open
• Changed title bar to only contain the emulated machine name and 86Box version (emulation speed and mouse status are now on the toolbar)
• Changed size of the Settings window to accomodate translations
• Changed full screen mode to exit when switching windows
• Fixed settings-only (-S) mode always starting in English instead of the selected language
• Fixed status bar disappearing when exiting full screen mode
• Fixed text cut-off on some device-specific settings windows
• Fixed incorrect amount of sectors per cluster on new 160K and 180K floppy images created through the New Image window
• Updated translations: Chinese (Simplified), Croatian, French, German, Hungarian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian

Machines

• Fixed secondary IDE channel not working properly on the ASUS P/I-P65UP5
• Fixed hard disk boot with multiple disks on the Commodore SL386SX-25
• Changed IBM PC (1982) minimum RAM amount from 256 KB to 64 KB, allowing you to experience the RAM counting bugs in that specific BIOS revision
• Fixed missing BIOS logo on the Packard Bell PB520R
• Fixed interrupt controller power-on state on the Xi8088

Hardware

• Core
  • Added expanded memory emulation to the VLSI SCAMP chipset
  • Fixed buffer overflow on the OPTi 495 chipset
  • Fixed oversight on Intel Flash data loading and saving
• Display
  • Added SPEA Mercury Lite (86C928 PCI) and STB Velocity 3D (ViRGE/VX) S3 video cards
  • Fixed bugs with specific ATI Mach64, S3 Vision, Trio64V+, Trio64V2 and ViRGE drivers
  • Fixed issues with specific resolutions on some S3 Vision968 cards
  • Fixed graphical glitches with a specific Trident TGUI 9660XGi/9680XGi driver
  • Fixed migration of the old S3 ViRGE/DX (VBE 2.0) (now ViRGE/GX (385)) from v3.0 pre-release and older configurations
  • Fixed hard reset crash on the Image Manager 1024
  • Fixed ISA ATI Mach64GX incorrectly identifying to software as VLB
  • Fixed Image Manager 1024 incorrectly flagged as 8-bit ISA
• Input
  • Fixed migration of joysticks from v3.0 and older configurations
• Sound
  • Added Sound Blaster AWE64 (OEM) and AWE64 Value variants
  • Added MIDI input support to the AdLib Gold and Ensoniq AudioPCI
  • Added MT-32 LCD message display to the status bar (currently for Linux hosts only)
  • Added more I/O port options to the Sound Blaster 1.0 and 1.5
  • Added IRQ 2 option to the Sound Blaster MCV
  • Added DMA 0 option to the Sound Blaster Pro
  • Added more memory size options to the Sound Blaster 32 PnP and AWE64 Gold
  • Fixed saving of the System MIDI input device name
  • Fixed loss of SysEx messages and buffer overflow on MIDI input
  • Fixed CD audio volume control on the AdLib Gold
  • Fixed control chip identification on the AdLib Gold
  • Fixed default EEPROM data on the AdLib Gold
  • Attempted fix for the loud noise on machine startup or hard reset
• Ports
  • Added 4th parallel port (not widely supported)
• Storage
  • Added BusLogic BT-545C (ISA) and BT-445C (VLB) SCSI cards
  • Added more BIOS address options to the Adaptec AHA-154x SCSI cards
  • Fixed hard disk detection on Windows CE
  • Fixed OAKCDROM.SYS driver hanging on ATAPI CD-ROM drives
  • Fixed identification of the MATSHITA MO drive
• Other
  • Added AST SixPakPlus ISA memory expansion and RTC card (currently as separate devices in their respective categories)
  • Fixed ISA memory expansion detection on the IBM PC, XT and clones
  • Fixed ISA RTC cards crashing on machines with integrated RTC

Changelog for v3.2.1

User interface

• Fixed mouse capture dropping emulation speed down to 0% on Linux
• Fixed crash on exit on Linux
• Fixed Media menu not showing up with some IDE controllers on Linux

Machines

• Fixed Shuttle HOT-433A crashing on startup with Flash data from v3.0 pre-release setups