Please help with an aspect ratio problem

[PoulpSquad]

Greetings,

This is my first post, so I'll start by thanking all and everyone involved in this fantastic project, and then I'll submit a problem I have to your sagacity.

I'm trying to use a pixel-perfect configuration, with these settings:

[sdl]
fullscreen=true
fullresolution=desktop
output=texturepp
texture_renderer=auto

[dosbox]
machine=vesa_nolfb

[render]
aspect=false
scaler=none
glshader=none

My PC specs are as follows:

Windows 10 x64
Intel i7-7700K @ 4.2 GHz
32 GB of RAM
nVIDIA GTX 1070

All resolutions I've tried so far are displayed correctly, except 640x200.

I'll attach a picture of a "disc" I drew in Deluxe Paint II. I put disc in quotes for obvious reasons...

I'll also attach a screenshot of the exact same disc. As you can see, the screenshot has the correct aspect ratio!

I checked the aspect ratio settings in nVIDIA's control panel, and they are all disabled.

This is driving me nuts! Any ideas on what is going on?

Thank you for your time reading this.

[GranMinigun]

I think that you might want to set aspect setting to true first.

[PoulpSquad]

Thank you for your quick reply!

with aspect=true, the disc is:

stretched vertically in fullscreen
ok in windowed mode
ok on a screenshot

I checked again windowed mode with aspect=false, and it's also stretched (albeit horizontally, like in the previous pics I posted).

Doesn't aspect=true render the point of pixel-perfect outputs moot?

Also, why would 640x200 be the only resolution affected? All others work fine (I don't know about Tandy/Amstrad/Hercules as I didn't check those).

[kcgen]

Thanks for all the tests and report @PoulpSquad.
When you have a chance to try a test build, I've pushed a potential fix here:
https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging/actions/runs/1274368023

[PoulpSquad]

Please ignore my previous statement.

I inadvertently left an option to force aspect correction in Deluxe Paint II, so the screenshot I attached a moment ago was incorrect.

Leaving that option to its default value (disabled) now displays a perfectly round disc!

I can't thank you enough... you fixed this issue I was having for at least 3 years in a couple of minutes!

[kcgen]

Glad it's working again for you, @PoulpSquad.
Indeed, I'm seeing a good circle here too, with:

[sdl]
output=texturepp

[render]
aspect=true
scaler=none
glshader=none

[autoexec]
imgmount a disk1.img -t floppy
a:
dp

[PoulpSquad]

Yes! Even without aspect=true!

Outstanding work... all I could ever get as an answer was "working here" or "it's not a game" ^^

I noticed something weird with the fullresolution=desktop and fullscreen=true statements.

if I set fullresolution=desktop together with fullscreen=true, I have to click somewhere on screen to be able to start using DOSBox. Otherwise my inputs are ignored.

If I set fullresolution=3440x1440 and fullscreen=true, the mouse is captured automatically and I can start typing right away.

[GranMinigun]

For the time being, you can try to set capture_mouse = onstart middlegame (or middlerelease, up to your preference). Ctrl+F10 captures and releases the cursor. And thanks for the report.

[kcgen]

f I set fullresolution=desktop together with fullscreen=true, I have to click somewhere on screen to be able to start using DOSBox. Otherwise my inputs are ignored.

Thanks for these very helpful details, and especially contrasting to also what works.

Here's a new build (https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging/actions/runs/1275380593) that, when desktop is set as the resolution, will query the screen's resolution from SDL2 just as if you manually entered a WxH dimension.

[PoulpSquad]

Thank you for your input GrandMinigun,

Setting capture_mouse=onstart is curiously without effect on my computer with fullresolution=desktop and fullscreen=true.

Specifying a resolution makes it work correctly. Anyway it is not very important and the workarounds are rather easy.

[PoulpSquad]

Hello kcgen, Thank you for your fixes, you people are exactly what DOSBox needs! Your fix works like a charm, DOSBox accepts my inputs without having to click on screen. I think I am now ready to ditch DOSBox-ECE and DOSBox CVN for DOSBox-Staging, as it has now become the obvious superior option in almost every possible aspects. One last thing, if I may. I noticed that every dev build I am trying has joystick support disabled (or I am too dumb to make it work). Is that by design? Is there any way to enable it, as I'd love to be using these dev builds until the official stable build is released? Thank you for your awesome work and thorough help.

[kcgen]

Glad you're enjoying your DOS games :-)

Upstream DOSBox (SVN), ECE, and all the other forks are great and help us collectively progress, in our own way, while the GPL lets us share code and fixes. Long live DOSBox 👍 !

One last thing, if I may. I noticed that every dev build I am trying has joystick support disabled

Darn - it /should/ work -- if you .

Try setting:

[joystick]
joysticktype = auto

Your console log should then report detecting it. Look for the MAPPER: ... line, like:

2021-09-26 08:45:38.918 | MAPPER: Initialized HORI POKKEN CONTROLLER with 4 axes, 13 buttons, and 1 hat(s)

Do you see something like that?

Also, if you have bindings being read from a file, maybe try moving/deleting it for now, just so you're using a clean-slate. It should then report:

2021-09-26 08:45:38.919 | MAPPER: Loaded default key bindings

Try running the four utilities here, once the above two are confirmed:

joyutils.zip

Also, there's a similar ticket here that might help: dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging#1274

[PoulpSquad]

Do you see something like that? Yes, it is showing on the console as "Controller (Xbox One for Windows) with 8 axes, 11 buttons, and 1 hat(s)" , but I can't use it in *any* games. I'm starting DOSBox without any mapper file. Controller is a model 1697, connected through an USB cable. It works great in regular versions of DOSBox-Staging (eg. 77.1). I tried running GRAVUTIL.EXE, and joystick 1 is having a fit jumping all over the place, and won't react to any input, including buttons. Joystick is stuck in the upper-left corner in JOYCHECK.EXE, and it won't register any inputs either. I tried making a batch file and disabling any and all USB inputs with devcon.exe, except mouse and Xbox controller before running DOSBox, with no changes. It looks like this, for reference if somebody has problems with multiple input devices: @echo OFF CLS REM Disable Ultimate 2600-daptor "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" remove "USB\VID_0001&PID_D4E2&REV_0021&MI_00" "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" remove "USB\VID_0001&PID_D4E2&REV_0021&MI_01" "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" remove "USB\VID_0001&PID_D4E2&REV_0021&MI_02" "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" remove "USB\VID_0001&PID_D4E2&REV_0021" REM Disable Mayflash Wiimote PC Adapter "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" remove "USB\VID_057E&PID_0306&REV_0100&MI_00" "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" remove "USB\VID_057E&PID_0306&REV_0100&MI_01" "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" remove "USB\VID_057E&PID_0306&REV_0100&MI_02" "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" remove "USB\VID_057E&PID_0306&REV_0100&MI_03" "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" remove "USB\VID_057E&PID_0306&REV_0100" REM Disable N64 Controller Adapter for PC USB "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" remove "USB\VID_0E8F&PID_3013&REV_0111" START "DOSBox" /D"C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox" /WAIT "C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox\DOSBox.exe" "C:\Windows\System32\devcon.exe" rescan I just checked with an old gamepad I have laying around, a GameStop Advanced Pad, model PC 1000GS. It is detected by DOSBox-Staging as a "Generic USB Joystick with 5 axes, 12 buttons, and 1 hat(s)". JOYCHECK detects movements in a tiny square area on the upper-left corner, but everything works fine in games. Awesome program to test joysticks by the way, thanks for the tip! PS: I forgot the check the other programs. Same result in all of them, Xbox controller is unresponsive... Just tried with a Xbox 360 wired controller. It works! Detected as: Xbox 360 Controller with 6 axes, 11 buttons, and 1 hat(s). I also tried a second Xbox One model 1697, just in case my controller is defective. Same result as with the first one, not working at all. The only difference I can see is that the more recent Xbox controllers have 2 more axis than the Xbox 360 controllers... Tried another Xbox One controller, this time model 1708, connected through an USB cable. Same result as with the others Xbox One controllers, unresponsive. On a side note, I noticed something strange with DOSBox-Staging 0.77.1 and Xbox controllers. On regular builds of DOSBox with a Xbox One controller, the game Gods (Bitmap Brothers 1992) doesn't register inputs. The joystick/gamepad goes down and buttons don't work. The game Battlehawks 1942 (LucasArts 1988) on the other hand, works great. With a Xbox 360 controller, the reverse happens. Gods works great, but 1942 is stuck going down. Buttons work.

[kcgen]

@PoulpSquad - I've pushed a small change here: https://github.com/dosbox-staging/dosbox-staging/actions/runs/1276070000 , if you can try it. I unfortunately can't reproduce this though; my Logitech F310 works on Linux and Windows (I guess similar to the Xbox 360 wired controller).

Regarding the Xbox One controller working on 0.77.1 (but not on the latest): before I start digging deeper, would you be able to try taking all the DLL's from the 0.77.1 package and use them with the above dosbox.exe? SDL itself has evolved between 0.77.1 and the latest master - so it's possible we might see some difference. Worth a shot, anyway.

[PoulpSquad]

Will do. I'll edit this post once I've checked that, thanks for looking into it.

Ran a couple of tests with 0.77.1, 078-alpha-513, 0.78-alpha-513 with 0.77.1 dlls, vanilla DOSBox 0.74-3 and DOSBox ECE 4465.

I physically removed all USB devices, keeping only the game controller, a mouse and wi-fi adapter plugged-in.

Controller was plugged in an USB 2.0 port on the motherboard, eg. not plugged to an USB hub or port on the front of the case or extender.

A new config was generated for every version of DOsBox, with the line mount c e:\dosbox\c -t dir added in the [autoexec] section.

I ran dosbox.exe directly from C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox, without any scripts.

Here is what I found out:

dosbox 0.74-3

Xbox One controller in JOYCHECK.EXE: working fine.
Xbox 360 controller in JOYCHECK.EXE: working fine.

Gods+Xbox One: working fine.
Gods+Xbox 360: working fine.

Battlehawks 1942+Xbox One: random vertical movements, buttons are working fine.
Battlehawks+Xbox 360: stuck going up, buttons are working fine

dosbox ECE r4465

Xbox One controller in JOYCHECK.EXE: working fine.
Xbox 360 controller in JOYCHECK.EXE: working fine.

Gods+Xbox One: working fine.
Gods+Xbox 360: working fine.

Battlehawks 1942+Xbox One: stuck going down, buttons unresponsive.
Battlehawks+Xbox 360: random vertical movements, buttons are working fine.

dosbox-staging-windows-x86-v0.77.1

Xbox One controller in JOYCHECK.EXE: working fine.
Xbox 360 controller in JOYCHECK.EXE: working fine.

Gods+Xbox One: stuck pointing down, buttons unresponsive.
Gods+Xbox 360: stuck pointing down, buttons unresponsive.

Battlehawks 1942+Xbox One: random vertical movements, buttons are working fine.
Battlehawks+Xbox 360: random vertical movements, buttons are working fine.

dosbox-staging-windows-x86-v0.78.0-alpha-513-gec53

Xbox One controller in JOYCHECK.EXE: unresponsive
Xbox 360 controller in JOYCHECK.EXE: working fine.

Gods+Xbox One: unresponsive
Gods+Xbox 360: working fine.

Battlehawks 1942+Xbox One: unresponsive
Battlehawks+Xbox 360: stuck going down, buttons are working fine.

dosbox-staging-windows-x86-v0.78.0-alpha-513-gec53 + 0.77.1 dlls

Xbox One controller in JOYCHECK.EXE: working fine.
Xbox One controller in JOYCHECK.EXE: working fine.

Gods+Xbox One: stuck going down, buttons unresponsive.
Gods+Xbox 360: stuck going down, buttons unresponsive.

Battlehawks 1942+Xbox One: stuck going up, buttons are working fine
Battlehawks+Xbox 360: stuck going up, buttons are working fine

I can't make much sense of these results, as they are different than what I observed earlier in my previous posts.

Please let me know if there is anything you need me to check, I'd be glad to help.

Update:

I somehow managed to fix most of the issues I was experiencing.

Tinkering with the mapper, I realized axes 3/4 were mapped to the right analogic stick, so I tried removing these mappings and instead map the digital gamepad. This did fix Battlehawks 1942, with the condition that the calibration be done with the digital gamepad instead of the analogic stick. Gods works fine also.

I added the digital gamepad to the mappings of the left analogic stick, so that the gamepad works in games like Doom.
So far things seem to hold up.

Stuff like Mortal Kombat Trilogy is as broken as ever, and I couldn't make Xbox One controllers work with any game or utility so far.

Awesome 48 hours, thanks to your invaluable help 2 of my biggest issues with DOSBox are now solved!

I'll attach my mapper file.

mapper.map.txt

[kcgen]

Archived discussion to https://github.com/dosbox-staging/archived-discussions-for-dosbox-staging