Bochs/bochs/doc/man/bochsrc.5

.\Document Author:  Timothy R. Butler   -   tbutler@uninetsolutions.com
.TH bochsrc 5 "08 Dec 2002" "bochsrc" "The Bochs Project"
.\"SKIP_SECTION"
.SH NAME
bochsrc \- Configuration file for Bochs.
.\"SKIP_SECTION"
.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
Bochsrc   is  the   configuration   file  that specifies
where  Bochs should look for disk images,  how the Bochs
emulation layer  should  work,  etc.   The  syntax  used
for bochsrc  can also be used as command line  arguments
for Bochs. The .bochsrc  file should be placed either in
the current  directory  before running  Bochs or in your
home directory.
.\".\"DONT_SPLIT"
.SH OPTIONS

.TP
.I "#include"
This option includes another configuration file. It is
possible to put installation defaults in a global config
file (e.g. location of rom images).

Example:
  #include /etc/bochsrc

.TP
.I "config_interface:"
The configuration interface is a series of menus or dialog boxes that
allows you to change all the settings that control Bochs's behavior.
There are two choices of configuration interface: a text mode version
called "textconfig" and a graphical version called "wx".  The text
mode version uses stdin/stdout and is always compiled in.  The graphical
version is only available when you use "--with-wx" on the configure 
command.  If you do not write a config_interface line, Bochs will 
choose a default for you.

.B NOTE:
if you use the "wx" configuration interface, you must also use
the "wx" display library.

Example:
  config_interface: textconfig

.TP
.I "display_library:"
The display library is the code that displays the Bochs VGA screen.  Bochs 
has a selection of about 10 different display library implementations for 
different platforms.  If you run configure with multiple --with-* options, 
the display_library command lets you choose which one you want to run with.
If you do not write a display_library line, Bochs will choose a default for
you.

The choices are: 
  x           X windows interface, cross platform
  win32       native win32 libraries
  carbon      Carbon library (for MacOS X)
  beos        native BeOS libraries
  macintosh   MacOS pre-10
  amigaos     native AmigaOS libraries
  sdl         SDL library, cross platform
  term        text only, uses curses/ncurses library, cross platform
  rfb         provides an interface to AT&T's VNC viewer, cross platform
  wx          wxWindows library, cross platform
  nogui       no display at all

.B NOTE:
if you use the "wx" configuration interface, you must also use
the "wx" display library.

Example:
  display_library: x

.TP
.I "romimage:"
You need to load  a ROM BIOS into  F0000-FFFFF.
The  BIOS  controls  what  the PC does when it
first  powers  on.  Normally,  you  can use  a
precompiled BIOS in the
.B bios/
directory, named
BIOS-bochs-latest.

Example:
  romimage: file=bios/BIOS-bochs-latest

.TP
.I "megs:"
Set this to the default number of Megabytes of
memory you want to emulate.  You may also pass
the
.B 'megs:N'
option to bochs.  The  default
is 32MB, since  most OS's won't need more than
that.

Example:
  megs: 32

.TP
.I "optromimage1: \fP, \fIoptromimage2: \fP, \fIoptromimage3: \fPor \fIoptromimage4:"
You may now load up to 4 optional ROM images. Be sure to use a
read-only area, typically between C8000 and EFFFF. These optional
ROM images should not overwrite the rombios (located at
F0000-FFFFF) and the videobios (located at C0000-C7FFF).
Those ROM images will be initialized by the bios if they contain
the right signature (0x55AA).
It can also be a convenient way to upload some arbitary code/data
in the simulation, that can be retrieved by the boot loader

Example:
  optromimage1: file=optionalrom.bin, address=0xd0000

.TP
.I "vgaromimage:"
You  also  need to load a VGA  ROM  BIOS  into
C0000.

Examples:
  vgaromimage: bios/VGABIOS-elpin-2.40
  vgaromimage: bios/VGABIOS-lgpl-latest

.TP
.I "floppya: \fPor \fIfloppyb:"

Point  this to  the pathname of a floppy image
file or  device.  Floppya is the  first drive,
and  floppyb is the  second drive.  If  you're
booting from a floppy, floppya should point to
a bootable disk.

You can set the initial status of the media to
'ejected' or 'inserted'. Usually you will want
to use 'inserted'.

Example:

2.88M 3.5" Floppy:
  floppya: 2_88=path, status=ejected

1.44M 3.5" Floppy:
  floppya: 1_44=path, status=inserted

1.2M  5.25" Floppy:
  floppyb: 1_2=path, status=ejected

720K  3.5" Floppy:
  floppya: 720k=path, status=inserted

360K  5.25" Floppy:
  floppya: 360k=path, status=inserted

.TP
.I "ata0: \fP, \fIata1: \fP, \fIata2: \fPor \fIata3:"

These options enables up to 4 ata channels. For each channel
the two base io addresses and the irq must be specified.
ata0 is enabled by default, with ioaddr1=0x1f0, ioaddr2=0x3f0, irq=14

Examples:
   ata0: enabled=1, ioaddr1=0x1f0, ioaddr2=0x3f0, irq=14
   ata1: enabled=1, ioaddr1=0x170, ioaddr2=0x370, irq=15
   ata2: enabled=1, ioaddr1=0x1e8, ioaddr2=0x3e8, irq=11
   ata3: enabled=1, ioaddr1=0x168, ioaddr2=0x368, irq=9

.TP
.I "ata\fR[\fB0-3\fR]\fI-master: \fPor \fIata\fR[\fB0-3\fR]\fI-slave:"

This defines the type and characteristics of all attached ata devices:
   type=       type of attached device [disk|cdrom] 
   path=       path of the image
   cylinders=  only valid for disks
   heads=      only valid for disks
   spt=        only valid for disks
   status=     only valid for cdroms [inserted|ejected]
   biosdetect= type of biosdetection [none|auto], only for disks on ata0 [cmos]
   translation=type of transation of the bios, only for disks [none|lba|large|rechs|auto]
   model=      string returned by identify device command
   
Point this at a hard disk image file, cdrom iso file,
or a physical cdrom device.  
To create a hard disk image, try running bximage.  
It will help you choose the size and then suggest a line that 
works with it.

In UNIX it is possible to use a raw device as a Bochs hard disk, 
but WE DON'T RECOMMEND IT.

The path, cylinders, heads, and spt are mandatory for type=disk
The path is mandatory for type=cdrom

The disk translation scheme (implemented in legacy int13 bios functions, and used by
older operating systems like MS-DOS), can be defined as:
  - none : no translation, for disks up to 528MB (1032192 sectors)
  - large : a standard bitshift algorithm, for disks up to 4.2GB (8257536 sectors)
  - rechs : a revised bitshift algorithm, using a 15 heads fake physical geometry, for disks up to 7.9GB (15482880 sectors). (don't use this unless you understand what you're doing)
  - lba : a standard lba-assisted algorithm, for disks up to 8.4GB (16450560 sectors)
  - auto : autoselection of best translation scheme. (it should be changed if system does not boot)

Default values are:
   biosdetect=auto, translation=auto, model="Generic 1234"

The biosdetect option has currently no effect on the bios

Examples:
   ata0-master: type=disk, path=10M.sample, cylinders=306, heads=4, spt=17
   ata0-slave:  type=disk, path=20M.sample, cylinders=615, heads=4, spt=17
   ata1-master: type=disk, path=30M.sample, cylinders=615, heads=6, spt=17
   ata1-slave:  type=disk, path=46M.sample, cylinders=940, heads=6, spt=17
   ata2-master: type=disk, path=62M.sample, cylinders=940, heads=8, spt=17
   ata2-slave:  type=disk, path=112M.sample, cylinders=900, heads=15, spt=17
   ata3-master: type=disk, path=483M.sample, cylinders=1024, heads=15, spt=63
   ata3-slave:  type=cdrom, path=iso.sample, status=inserted

.TP
.I "diskc:"
or
.I "diskd:"

The \fBdiskc\fR and \fBdiskd\fR options are deprecated. Use \fBata*\fR
options instead.

Point  this at the disk image you want to  use
as for a hard disk. If you  use bximage(1)  to
create   the  image,  it  will  give  you  the
required  cyl,  head, and spt information.
diskc is the first hard drive, and diskd is the
second hard drive.

.B NOTE:
You cannot use both diskd and cdromd together.

Example:
  diskc: file=10M.i, cyl=306, heads=4, spt=17
  diskc: file=112M.i, cyl=900, heads=15, spt=17
  diskd: file=483.i, cyl=1024, heads=15, spt=63

.TP
.I "com1:"
This defines a serial (COM) port. You can specify a device to use as com1.
This can be a real serial line, or a pty.  To use a pty (under X/Unix),
create two windows (xterms, usually).  One of them will run bochs, and the
other will act as com1. Find out the tty the com1 window using the `tty'
command, and use that as the `dev' parameter.  Then do `sleep 1000000' in
the com1 window to keep the shell from messing with things, and run bochs in
the other window.  Serial I/O to com1 (port 0x3f8) will all go to the other
window.

Examples:
  com1: enabled=1, dev=/dev/ttyp7
  com1: enabled=0

.TP
.I "parport1:"
This defines a parallel (printer) port. When turned on and an output file is
defined the emulated printer port sends characters printed by the guest
OS into the output file. On some platforms a device filename can be used to
send the data to the real parallel port (e.g. "/dev/lp0" on Linux).

Examples:
  parport1: enabled=1, file=parport.out
  parport1: enabled=1, file="/dev/lp0"
  parport1: enabled=0

.TP
.I "cdromd:"

The \fBcdromd\fR option is deprecated. Use \fBata*\fR options instead.

Point this to a pathname of a raw CD-ROM device.
There is no cdromc option, only cdromd.

.B NOTE:
You cannot use both diskd and cdromd together.


Example:
  cdromd: dev=/dev/cdrom, status=inserted
  cdromd: dev=/dev/cdrom, status=ejected

.TP
.I "newharddrivesupport:"
This  setting enables  support for large  hard
disks,  better  CD  recognition,  and  various
other  useful  functions.  You  can set it  to
"enabled=1" (on)  or "enabled=0" (off).  It is
recommended  that  this  setting  is  left  on
unless you are having trouble with it.

Example:
  newharddrivesupport: enabled=1

.TP
.I "boot:"
This defines  your boot drive. You can  either
boot from 'floppy', 'disk' or 'cdrom'.
(legacy 'a' and 'c' are also supported)

Example:
  boot: disk

.TP
.I "floppy_bootsig_check:"
This disables the 0xaa55 signature check on boot floppies
The check is enabled by default.

Example:
  floppy_bootsig_check: disabled=1

.TP
.I "log:"
Give the path of the log file you'd like Bochs
debug and misc. verbage to be written to.   If
you really don't want it, make it /dev/null.

Example:
  log: bochs.out
  log: /dev/tty               (unix only)
  log: /dev/null              (unix only)

.TP
.I "logprefix:"
This handles the format of the string prepended to each log line :
You may use those special tokens :
  %t : 11 decimal digits timer tick
  %i : 8 hexadecimal digits of cpu0 current eip
  %e : 1 character event type ('i'nfo, 'd'ebug, 'p'anic, 'e'rror)
  %d : 5 characters string of the device, between brackets
 
Default : %t%e%d

Examples:
  logprefix: %t-%e-@%i-%d
  logprefix: %i%e%d

.TP
.I "panic:"
If Bochs reaches  a condition  where it cannot
emulate correctly, it does a panic.  This  can
be a configuration problem  (like a misspelled
bochsrc line) or an emulation problem (like an
unsupported video mode). The  "panic"  setting
in  bochsrc  tells  Bochs  how to respond to a
panic.  You  can  set this to fatal (terminate
the session),  report   (print information  to
the console), or ignore (do nothing).

The safest setting is action=fatal. If you are
getting  panics,  you  can  try  action=report
instead.  If you allow Bochs to continue after
a panic, don't be surprised if you get strange
behavior or crashes if a panic occurs.  Please
report  panic  messages  unless  it is just  a
configuration  problem  like  "could  not find
hard drive image."

Example:
  panic: action=fatal


.TP
.I "error:"
Bochs produces an error message when it  finds
a condition that really shouldn't happen,  but
doesn't endanger the simulation. An example of
an error  might be  if the  emulated  software
produces an illegal disk command.

The "error" setting tells Bochs how to respond
to an error condition.   You can set  this  to
fatal  (terminate the session),  report (print
information to the  console),  or  ignore  (do
nothing).

Example:
  error: action=report

.TP
.I "info:"
This setting tells Bochs what to  do  when  an
event  occurs   that  generates  informational
messages.  You can  set this  to  fatal  (that
would not be very smart though), report (print
information to the  console),  or  ignore  (do
nothing).   For  general  usage,  the "report"
option is probably a good choice.

Example:
  info: action=report

.TP
.I "debug:"
This  setting  tells  Bochs what  to  do  with
messages intended to assist in debugging.  You
can set  this  to  fatal  (but you shouldn't),
report (print information to the  console), or
ignore (do nothing). You should generally  set
this  to  ignore,  unless  you are  trying  to
diagnose a particular problem.

.B NOTE: 
When  action=report,   Bochs   may  spit  out
thousands of debug messages per second, which
can impact performance and fill up your disk.

Example:
  debug: action=ignore

.TP
.I "debugger_log:"
Give the path of the log file you'd like Bochs to log debugger output.
If you really don't want it, make it '/dev/null', or '-'.

Example:
  log: debugger.out
  log: /dev/null              (unix only)
  log: -

.TP
.I "sb16:"
This  defines the SB16 sound emulation. It can
have several of the  following properties. All
properties are in this format:
  sb16: property=value


.B PROPERTIES FOR sb16:

midi:

The  filename is where the midi data is  sent.
This can  be  a device  or just a file if  you
want to record the midi data.

midimode:

 0 = No data should be output.
 1 = output to device (system dependent - midi
 denotes the device driver).
 2 = SMF file output, including headers.
 3 = Output  the midi  data stream to the file
 (no  midi headers  and  no delta  times, just
 command and data bytes).

wave:

This  is the device/file where wave  output is
stored.

wavemode:

 0 = no data
 1 = output to device (system dependent - wave
 denotes the device driver).
 2 = VOC file output, including headers.
 3 = Output the raw wave stream to the file.

log:

The file to write the sb16 emulator messages to.

loglevel:

 0 = No log.
 1 = Only midi program and bank changes.
 2 = Severe errors.
 3 = All errors.
 4 = All errors plus all port accesses.
 5 = All  errors and port  accesses plus a lot
 of extra information.

dmatimer:

Microseconds per second for a DMA cycle.  Make
it smaller to fix non-continous sound.  750000
is  usually  a  good  value.    This  needs  a
reasonably  correct   setting  for  IPS   (see
below).


Example:
  sb16: midimode=1, midi=/dev/midi00,
  wavemode=1, wave=/dev/dsp, loglevel=2,
  log=sb16.log, dmatimer=600000

.B NOTE:
The  example is  wrapped onto three  lines for
formatting  reasons, but  it should all be  on
one line in the actual bochsrc file.

.TP
.I "vga_update_interval:"
Video memory is scanned for updates and screen
updated  every so many virtual  seconds.   The
default  is  300000,   about  3Hz.    This  is
generally plenty.  Keep in mind that you  must
tweak  the 'ips:' directive to be as close  to
the number of emulated instructions-per-second
your  workstation  can  do,  for  this  to  be
accurate.

Example:
  vga_update_interval: 250000


.TP
.I "keyboard_serial_delay:"
Approximate time in microseconds that it takes
one  character  to   be  transfered  from  the
keyboard to controller over the serial path.

Example:
  keyboard_serial_delay: 200

.TP
.I "keyboard_paste_delay:"
Approximate time in microseconds between attempts to paste
characters to the keyboard controller. This leaves time for the
guest os to deal with the flow of characters.  The ideal setting
depends on how your operating system processes characters.  The
default of 100000 usec (.1 seconds) was chosen because it works 
consistently in Windows.

If your OS is losing characters during a paste, increase the paste
delay until it stops losing characters.

Example:
  keyboard_paste_delay: 100000

.TP
.I "floppy_command_delay:"
Time in microseconds to wait before completing
some  floppy  commands  such  as read,  write,
seek,  etc.,   which  normally  have  a  delay
associated.  This was  previous  hardwired  to
50,000.

Example:
  floppy_command_delay: 50000

.TP
.I "ips:"
Emulated Instructions Per Second.  This is the
number of IPS that bochs is capable of running
on your  machine.  You  can  recompile  Bochs,
using  instructions  included in  config.h (in
the source code),  to find  your workstation's
capability.

IPS is used to calibrate  many  time-dependent
events   within   the  bochs  simulation.  For
example, changing IPS affects the frequency of
VGA updates, the duration of time before a key
starts to autorepeat,  and the measurement  of
BogoMips and other benchmarks.

Example Specifications[1]
   Machine                           Mips
 ---------------------------------------------------
 650Mhz Athlon K-7 with Linux 2.4.x    2 to 2.5
 400Mhz Pentium II with Linux 2.0.x    1 to 1.8
 166Mhz 64bit Sparc with Solaris 2.x       0.75
 200Mhz Pentium with Linux 2.x              0.5

 [1]  Mips  are  dependant on  OS and compiler
configuration  in addition  to processor clock
speed.

Example:
  ips: 1000000

.TP
.I "pit:"
The PIT is the programmable interval timer.  It has an option that tries to
keep the PIT in sync with real time.  This feature is still experimental,
but it may be useful if you want to prevent Bochs from running too fast, for
example a DOS video game.  Be aware that with the realtime pit option, your
simulation will not be repeatable; this can a problem if you are debugging.

Example:
  pit: realtime=1

.TP
.I "mouse:"
This option prevents Bochs from creating mouse
"events"  unless  a  mouse  is  enabled.  The
hardware emulation  itself is not disabled  by
this. You  can  turn the mouse on  by  setting
enabled to  1,  or  turn  it  off  by  setting
enabled to 0. Unless  you  have  a  particular
reason  for enabling  the  mouse  by  default,
it is recommended that you leave it off.

Example:
  mouse: enabled=1
  mouse: enabled=0

.TP
.I "private_colormap:"
Requests that the GUI create and use it's  own
non-shared colormap.  This  colormap  will  be
used when in the bochs window. If not enabled,
a shared  colormap  scheme  may be used.  Once
again, enabled=1  turns on this feature  and 0
turns it off.

Example:
  private_colormap: enabled=1

.TP
.I "i440fxsupport:"
Enables limited i440fx PCI chipset support.

Example:
  i440fxsupport: enabled=1

.TP
.I "time0:"
Specifies the start (boot) time of the virtual machine. Use a
time value as returned by the time(2) system call. Time
equal to 1 is a special case which starts the virtual machine at the
current time of the simulator host.

Example:
  time0: 938581955

.TP
.I "ne2k:"
Defines the characteristics of an attached ne2000 isa card :
   ioaddr=IOADDR,
   irq=IRQ, 
   mac=MACADDR, 
   ethmod=MODULE, 
   ethdev=DEVICE, 
   script=SCRIPT

.B PROPERTIES FOR sb16:

ioaddr, irq:
You probably won't need to change ioaddr and irq, unless there are IRQ conflicts.

mac:
The MAC address MUST NOT match the address of any machine on the net.
Also, the first byte must be an even number (bit 0 set means a multicast
address), and you cannot use ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff because that's the broadcast
address.  For the ethertap module, you must use fe:fd:00:00:00:01.  There may
be other restrictions too.  To be safe, just use the b0:c4... address.

ethmod:
The ethmod value defines which low level OS specific module to be used
to access pysical ethernet interface. Current implemented values include
 - fbsd : ethernet on freebsd and openbsd
 - linux : ethernet on linux
 - win32 : ethernet on win32
 - tap : ethernet through a linux tap interface
 - tuntap : ethernet through a linux tuntap interface

ethdev:
The ethdev value is the name of the network interface on your host
platform.  On UNIX machines, you can get the name by running ifconfig.  On
Windows machines, you must run niclist to get the name of the ethdev.
Niclist source code is in misc/niclist.c and it is included in Windows
binary releases.

script:
The script value is optionnal, and is the name of a script that
is executed after bochs initialize the network interface. You can use
this script to configure this network interface, or enable masquerading.
This is mainly useful for the tun/tap devices that only exist during
Bochs execution. The network interface name is supplied to the script
as first parameter

Examples:
  ne2k: ioaddr=0x280, irq=9, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:00, ethmod=fbsd, ethdev=xlo
  ne2k: ioaddr=0x280, irq=9, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:00, ethmod=linux, ethdev=eth0
  ne2k: ioaddr=0x280, irq=9, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:01, ethmod=win32, ethdev=MYCARD
  ne2k: ioaddr=0x280, irq=9, mac=fe:fd:00:00:00:01, ethmod=tap, ethdev=tap0
  ne2k: ioaddr=0x280, irq=9, mac=fe:fd:00:00:00:01, ethmod=tuntap, ethdev=tun0, script=./tunconfig

.TP
.I "keyboard_mapping:"
This enables a remap of a physical localized keyboard to a
virtualized us keyboard, as the PC architecture expects.
If enabled, the keymap file must be specified.

 Examples:
   keyboard_mapping: enabled=1, map=gui/keymaps/x11-pc-de.map

.TP
.I "keyboard_type:"
Type of emulated keyboard sent back  to the OS
to a "keyboard identify"  command.  It must be 
one of "xt", "at" or "mf". 

Example:
  keyboard_type: mf

.TP
.I "user_shortcut:"
This defines the keyboard shortcut to be sent when you press the "user"
button in the headerbar. The shortcut string can be a combination of
these key names: "alt", "ctrl", "del", "esc", "f1", "f4", "tab", "win".
Up to 3 keys can be pressed at a time.

Example:
  user_shortcut: keys=ctrlaltdel

.\"SKIP_SECTION"
.SH LICENSE
This program  is distributed  under the terms of the  GNU
Lesser General Public License as published  by  the  Free
Software  Foundation.  See  the  COPYING file located  in
/usr/local/share/doc/bochs/ for details on the license and
the lack of warrantee.
.\"SKIP_SECTION"
.SH AVAILABILITY
The latest version of this program can be found at:
  http://bochs.sourceforge.net/getcurrent.html
.\"SKIP_SECTION"
.SH SEE ALSO
bochs(1), bochs-dlx(1), bximage(1)
.PP
.nf
The Bochs IA-32 Emulator site on the World Wide Web:
        http://bochs.sourceforge.net

Online Bochs Documentation
	http://bochs.sourceforge.net/doc/docbook
.fi
.\"SKIP_SECTION"
.SH AUTHORS
The   Bochs  emulator  was   created   by  Kevin   Lawton
(kevin@mandrakesoft.com),  and  is  currently  maintained
by the  members of  the  Bochs x86 Emulator Project.  You
can see a current roster of members at:
  http://bochs.sourceforge.net/getinvolved.html
.\"SKIP_SECTION"
.SH BUGS
Please  report all  bugs to the bug tracker  on  our  web
site. Just go to http://bochs.sourceforge.net, and click
"Bug Reports" on the sidebar under "Feedback".
.PP
Provide a detailed description of the bug, the version of
the program you are running, the operating system you are
running the program on  and  the  operating   system  you
are running in the emulator.