DOS Emulation Under Linux

With just a little work, it's possible to get your Linux system to run DOS applications with very little trouble.

Whether you need to run some legacy corporate application, or just want to play some of those old classic DOS games, it's easy to get going.

I've done this on a Slackware 9.1 Linux system with a 2.4.22 kernel, running KDE 3.1.4. The process should be very similar for most reasonably recent Linux distros.

I've done this page just to offer a simple, easy guide, but if you need more info/help regarding DOSEMU I'd suggest reading the offical DOSEMU How-To.

Start by obtaining DOSEMU from the DOSEMU download page. I'm using version 1.1.99.1, built from source. Download the source tarball to somewhere on your hard drive. I personally use /usr/src/ to compile everything, but it's down to personal preference.

You'll need to become root before you can perform the installation (you'll need to be root to copy files to /usr/src/ anyway if you've chosen to do so). To become root you should be able to simply enter su at the console then enter your root password when prompted.

Change to the directory containing the dosemu-1.1.99.1.tgz file (if you got a different version, the filename will be slightly different). Type the following commands, changing the version number if required:

tar xzvf dosemu-1.1.99.1.tgz
cd dosemu-1.1.99.1/
make

At this point, you need to obtain the version of FreeDOS used by DOSEMU. Snag the binary version from the DOSEMU download page - it'll be named something like dosemu-freedos-b9-bin.tgz. Save it into the directory you've decompressed DOSEMU into.

Now execute the following commands:

mv dosemu-freedos-b9-bin.tgz dosemu-freedos-bin.tgz
make install

You no longer need to be root, so type exit to go back to your own shell.

You can now type xdosemu to start DOSEMU in a new X window. Before it can start for the first time, it'll ask you a few simple questions. Press enter to accept the defaults to each question.

If all went well, you should now have a DOS window in front of you! You can now go and get some of the classic DOS games and install them as you would normally on a DOS system. When you download them, save the files to ~/dosemu/freedos/ which will appear as drive C: in your DOS box.

There's some classic DOS games out there, you'll find a great collection of shareware and freeware games at DOSGames.com, but below are a few of my favourites.

Most DOS games you download will come as a ZIP file. You can either decompress these using gzip (or KDE's Ark or your ZIP tool of choice) or you can download PKUNZIP and install it on your emulated DOS system.

Doom

An absolute classic. Ask anyone to remember the classic first-person shoot-em-up that really made the genre popular, and this'll be the one that comes to mind.

Doom is still a joy to play, and runs perfectly well under DOSEMU. To save time and effort, you can download the shareware version of Doom from my site:

Download Doom shareware (2.4Mb)

Quake

The successor to Doom, introducing true 3D gameplay with the ability to look and aim up and down as well as side-to-side. Improved graphics and better AI for the monsters made this a fair improvement on Doom, although for me it just doesn't have the classic feel of Doom.

Quake will require a reasonable machine to play on. I'm on a 1.4Ghz Athlon XP box, and it runs fine. You can download it direct from my site:

Download Quake shareware (8.7Mb)

Wolfenstein 3D

This came before Doom, Quake and all the other popular first-person shooters. This game, from way back in 1992, seems rather primitive now from today's graphics and sounds, but the playability is still there!

Time to kick some Nazi ass! If you want help, there's some usefulcheats too.

Download Wolfenstein 3D shareware (712Kb)

Scorched Earth

A classic multi-player turns-based tank combat game. The graphics are mostly rather primitive, but this game is incredibly addictive, with real tactics and judgement required. Winning rounds earns you money with which you can buy more weapons etc. You can play against other players, computer opponents at different skill levels, or a mix of both.

This game was responsible for many, many hours of lost time at school in Sixth Form - even our IT administrator would play it with us!

Download Scorched Earth shareware (691Kb)