Make Boxer 64-bit compatible for macOS 10.14 #76
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The issue isnt that it doesnt compile. Its that the dynamic core doesnt run near as efficently as it does on 32bit. Especially for more demanding games |
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Still hoping someone can help me in compiling @MaddTheSane's 64 bit build: As I had trouble with it, I have been spending time extensively testing out 64 bit DOSBox SVN and the results are a lot better than I would have first thought. It works well enough that it appears the end of 32 bit will not entirely end my DOS gaming in macOS. |
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If you get frustrated waiting for Boxer to ever be updated, Dominus at VOGONS is now providing his DOSBox SVN pre-compiled for both 32 and 64 bit. https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=59656&p=665727#p665727 |
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I'm working on a 64-bit build right now, based on @MaddTheSane's https://github.com/MaddTheSane/Boxer/tree/updateDosBox branch. There are a bunch of crashers and UI bugs to resolve before I'll be able to make a beta release off of it however. @MaddTheSane's branch should compile right off the bat in Xcode 9.3; if you're getting missing header warnings then it's likely an issue with your build environment. Cleaning your build folder and/or checking out a fresh version of the branch into a new directory may cure those. |
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It is great to hear from you Alun and it is such good news that you are finding some time to look into updating Boxer. I should have had more faith that the cavalry would arrive! :) |
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Wow, after many years DOSBox 0.74-2 was just released (!!!) with 0.75 finally entering regression testing. From the release notes, there may be some changes that benefit Boxer. |
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To all coders working on this: Thank you very much. Your hard work is very much appreciated. Personally I lack the skills to contribute, but I hope that with DOSBOX 0.74-2 and its 64Bit support something can be done in time before macOS drops support for 32Bit applications. |
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I seems joysticks are an issue. I don't have any to test and verify, though: @alunbestor Even then, I think it'd make sense to merge the functional 64bit branch into |
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Looks like Boxer is dead for 10.15 :( really hoping for an update. Love this app! |
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Struggling :( |
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I'm sure work will eventually continue on Boxer for 64-bit support, if someone has the skills and is willing. Until then, you could use DosBox directly and a different GUI. @shakalaca Download Steam fresh from the site (steampowered.com) and you should get the 64-bit version installed. |
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The 64bit changes appear to be functional, but the code isn't released as an update, yet. |
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Welp - Seems like this AWESOME fellow named YOZY decided to make it work (or compiled the 64-bit branch?) on 64-bit - I tested and verified it's working in Catalina Forum I found it from: File Link: Would be great to see this officially updated for Catalina |
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Boxer is good |
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Yes, just here to say thank you to the original author of Boxer, YOZY, and everyone here, for keeping Boxer around. |
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Does anyone know what repository/fork YOZY is using? |
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Seems to be this, but I can't be certain: |
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@MaddTheSane, isn't your fork significantly ahead of the 64-bit master in terms of patches and improvements over the last 18 months? I have been building off your MaddsV2 branch - is that the best one to use? I have been tempted to go back to using vanilla DOSBox, but if your branch or the master is integrated with DOSBox 74-3 and can be updated as DOSBox progresses then I would much rather stay with Boxer. |
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Yes, my fork uses a slightly newer version of DOSBox, but Boxer hasn't been updated to use the newer features. |
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@almeath Would you be willing to release what you have today as an official update? |
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I do not actually alter any of the code from @MaddTheSane's release. However, I understand that some people have trouble getting Boxer to build using Xcode. It is not exactly straight forward, so I do not mind linking to a pre-built copy of the maddsV2 fork (hopefully @MaddTheSane does not mind). I will periodically update the build in this link as the code gets updated: http://userweb.eftel.com/~almeath/mac/boxer/ Note that this is not the 64-bit 'Master' branch - this is the fork referenced above, which provides certain patches and improvements that are not currently in the master. Also note, I build for personal use using my Apple ID, so I am not sure if this will cause problems for those running Mojave and Catalina, due to all of the notarization/code signing/quarantine flag stuff that Apple has forced upon us. What I have done is build the Boxer app, Bundler and Standalone, using my Apple ID in Xcode. Then I manually codesign them, again using my personal Apple ID. Lastly, I manually remove any quarantine flags using "xattr -cr", as I notice that sometimes when I move apps to other Macs it falsely tells me they are damaged and should be moved to the trash. Why does Apple make things so hard these days.. Anyway, if I am breaching any terms by offering these builds someone tell me and I will remove them if necessary. Secondly, I would be interested in knowing if these actually run on Mojave and Catalina systems without causing any errors or security warnings etc. |
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I have no issue with anyone using my fork. |
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Here is the install experience downloading The server it's on is pretty slow:
The .zip file automatically extracts to this folder:
I think I only care about
If I right-click it and select Open, I get a similar error but with an
Once I click that I get the Accessibility Permissions dialog:
After I grant that permission, Boxer runs great:
You can Notarize the app from inside Xcode: Organizer -> Archives -> Distribute App -> Developer ID -> Upload: |
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BTW, if you want to notarize using the command line, there's instructions for that here — you can even notarize older already-released builds (although not sure that'll do much good since they're all 32-bit). |
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Thanks for testing. That seems to be the standard process for a non-notarized app in Catalina. Once you go through those initial steps it should not have to be repeated for future launches. Going forward, there could be problems in 2020 when Apple enforces notarization, so I will look into that. However, at the moment it costs $99/year to be an Apple Developer, so it is prohibitive for a hobbyist like myself. I will also look into a faster server, thanks for pointing that out. |
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Thanks very much for providing prebuilt binaries! As far as faster servers go, perhaps just use GitHub Releases, or put the zip in GDrive or Dropbox, etc? On a very different note, is there any actual progress on moving Boxer to 64bit? |
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@almeath I’d be happy to notarize it with my company’s Apple ID if that would be helpful. |
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Good stuff @MaddTheSane ! Thanks for the heads-up. |
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Sorry i have to ask but i have no idea what i shall do with the git repository. I check it out and now i have MaddTheSane's branch on my system. How can i start/build/compile boxer? Yeah i built some C projects in the past but i am not used to "mac" projects. |
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If you have Xcode installed, you should be able to double-click Boxer.xcodeproj and open it in Xcode. Assuming you got all the git subprojects, it should build without any issue. |
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IMHO It might be nice to have builds on this site, not everyone that wants to use Boxer happens to be a developer. I am not sure how that would work here, but I noticed other projects have a release tab even for pre-release "beta" quality software. |
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@MaddTheSane for automatic builds - feel free to copy / lookup examples how to accomplish automatic builds on CI using GitHub Actions from dosbox-staging; our macOS jobs are here. I feel this might be good starting point or initial reference for creating Boxer CI. Also, I feel like maybe this topic should be redirected to an issue in your repo? |
Agreed. I'm setting up some CI stuff on my fork at https://github.com/MaddTheSane/Boxer |
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CI progress: I have a valid CI set-up. Bad news is, the build server fails in a compiler error. I just pushed a change that should hopefully work around the failure. |
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So for us end-users out there, which version of Boxer should we be using on Catalina currently? |
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@stuartcarnie when you say you hackfixed the dynrec core for Apple's SI, can you point me at the code? I think I tried it a couple of weeks ago and it only fixed compiling but not actually switching to the dynrec core. |
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This is what he committed before I decided to use dosbox-staging: MaddTheSane/dosbox@794513d |
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Ah right, thanks, then I think that's what I tried. Need to confirm it but if it's the one I tried, then it only fixed compiling the dynrec core but still crashed on switching to it. |
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@MaddTheSane - Do you have a recent compiled "release" that you could share on your github? Last one I see is from on Jul 13, 2012...but it seems you've been hard at working making updates :) - btw - THANK YOU! |
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Hey guys. I am using boxer on catalina and the same build of boxer on the big sur beta 9. I have the same error on both, if i try to install a game i get "session not ready". If i just run the game from the exe and skip the install, then the game runs but i have no sound. Anyone able to help? Sorry i am not a developer, just an end user :( thanks |
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Having only recently moved to Catalina, I have tried to run about 15 DOS games on the "BoxerStuartComplete.zip" binary shared bu @aminta on July 15. In my case, it runs VERY well, much more smoothly & stabily than another version I gave a try earlier. It really makes me praise the open source community for keeping alive those 20-30-ish games even after major changes in hardware and software: so a big THANK YOU ! The only problem I found is on my gamepad (PS4 DualShock) : all the buttons work well, but the analog sticks' inputs seems not to be recognized. Not a huge deal, but some racing games are so much better with analog controls ! I have tried building one with Xcode, but I am no developer and did manage to compile anything... If someone has newer binaries available to test, I am pretty sure that several people following this thread would love to give their feedback ! |
We fixed 10-axis controllers in dosbox-staging 0.76.0-alpha-111-g7494c5a7 and backported fix to 0.75.1 - perhaps Boxer binary you tested does not have those fixes included yet - it should work in newer builds (I don't know what version of dosbox-staging is used by Boxer ATM). |
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Boxer uses a different way of interacting with controllers than DOSBox. Most likely the added support for PS4/XBox One controllers to the GameController framework may have created issues. Adding support for the GameController framework might fix this issue. |
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OK, let me know if I can test anything that could help you to sqash this bug ! |
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I'm getting errors trying to build from master: The following build commands failed: Can this be built for arm64, or should this be switched off somewhere? |
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Are you using my fork? |
Yes, I'm using your fork. |
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the |
Yes, it's the v2 branch. I just did a git clone, and then: |
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I usually use the Xcode app proper to build. |
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@MaddTheSane Thanks! That worked. I am getting an illegal instruction crash in Boxer a few seconds into starting the Commander Keen game though. `Exception Type: EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION (SIGILL) Termination Signal: Illegal instruction: 4 |
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What CPU are you using: Apple Silicon or Intel? |
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This is an Intel Core i7 running Big Sur. |
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same happens here, the dynamic core crashes. |
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I will take a look, once I settle in Tasmania |
and others
A couple of days ago, macOS 10.13.4 was released which starts issuing warnings that apps which don't support 64-bit will be retired with macOS 10.14 (expected in Autumn '18).
This means that Boxer will in its current setup stop working on the latest macOS later this year.
I get it that the main issue is that underlying DosBox is not 64-bit compatible - but at least it has been compiled with 64-bit support a couple of years ago:
https://hexeract.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/building-dosbox-as-x64-binary-for-macos-sierra/
It would be great to keep Boxer running for the macOS community!
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