Bochs User Manual | ||
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Bochs uses a configuration file called bochsrc to know where to look for disk images, how the Bochs emulation layer should work, etc. When you first start up Bochs, it looks around for its configuration file (see the Section called Search order for the configuration file in the Chapter called Using Bochs), and parses it. Here are a few lines from a sample file:
ata0-master: type=disk, path="30M.sample", cylinders=615, heads=6, spt=17 boot: disk |
property
=value
pairs, separated by
commas. For very simple options, sometimes just a single value is needed.
The source and binary distributions come with a sample
bochsrc, so you can just copy the sample file and edit the
settings you need to change.The syntax used for bochsrc can also be used as command line arguments for Bochs. If you have any spaces in your command line arguments, they should be enclosed in single quotes, for example:
bochs 'boot:floppy' 'floppya: 1_44=a.img, status=inserted' |
You can use environment variables with the dollar sign prefix in the bochsrc file, for example:
floppya: 1_44="$IMAGES/bootdisk.img", status=inserted boot: floppy |
You can use the #include statement in the bochsrc to read the configuration from other files. Now it is possible to put platform or installation defaults in a global config file (e.g. location of rom images). Put this on top of your config file if the global configuration is stored in /etc:
#include /etc/bochsrc |
Bochs now treats unknown options as device plugin names. It tries to load this plugin and if successful it tries to call the parser function for this configuration line which is located in the plugin. This mechanism is implemented for the Bochs network, sound and USB devices. If there is a typo in an option name or an obsolete option is used, Bochs will panic and exit with a plugin load failure error message. In that case the failing line in your bochsrc file must be reviewed and fixed.
The section below lists all the supported bochsrc options.
Example:
plugin_ctrl: unmapped=0, e1000=1 # unload 'unmapped' and load 'e1000' |
These plugins will be loaded by default (if present): 'biosdev', 'extfpuirq', 'gameport', 'iodebug','parallel', 'serial', 'speaker' and 'unmapped'.
These plugins are also supported, but they are usually loaded directly with their bochsrc option: 'e1000', 'es1370', 'ne2k', 'pcidev', 'pcipnic', 'sb16', 'usb_ehci', 'usb_ohci', 'usb_uhci', 'usb_xhci' and 'voodoo'.
The configuration interface is a series of menus or dialog boxes that allows you to edit all the settings that control Bochs' behavior. Depending on the platform there are up to 3 choices of configuration interface: a text mode version called "textconfig" and two graphical versions called "win32config" and "wx". The text mode version uses stdin/stdout and is always compiled in, unless Bochs is compiled for wx only. The choice "win32config" is only available on win32 and it is the default there. The choice "wx" is only available when Bochs is compiled with wxWidgets support, see the Section called Compiling with the wxWidgets interface in the Chapter called Installation. If you do not write a config_interface line, Bochs will choose a default for you (usually textconfig).
![]() | wxWidgets provides both a configuration interface and a display library. So if you use the "wx" configuration interface, you must also use the "wx" display library, see display_library option. |
Examples:
config_interface: textconfig config_interface: win32config config_interface: wx |
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 option lets you choose which one you want to run with.
If you do not use a display_library line, Bochs will choose a default for
you.
![]() | wxWidgets provides both a configuration interface and a display library. So if you use the "wx" display library, you must also use the "wx" configuration interface, see config_interface option. |
Examples:
display_library: x display_library: sdl |
"gui_debug" - use GTK debugger gui (sdl, x) / Win32 debugger gui (sdl, sdl2, win32) "hideIPS" - disable IPS output in status bar (rfb, sdl, sdl2, vncsrv, win32, wx, x) "nokeyrepeat" - turn off host keyboard repeat (sdl, sdl2, win32, x) "timeout" - time (in seconds) to wait for client (rfb, vncsrv) |
display_library: sdl, options="fullscreen" # startup in fullscreen mode display_library: sdl2, options="fullscreen" # startup in fullscreen mode |
Table 2. display_library values
Option | Description |
---|---|
x | use X windows interface, cross platform |
win32 | use native win32 libraries |
carbon | use Carbon library (for MacOS X) |
macintosh | use MacOS pre-10 |
amigaos | use native AmigaOS libraries |
sdl | use SDL 1.2.x library, cross platform, details in the Section called Compiling with the SDL interface in the Chapter called Installation |
sdl2 | use SDL 2.x library, cross platform, details in the Section called Compiling with the SDL version 2 interface in the Chapter called Installation |
svga | use SVGALIB library for Linux, allows graphics without X windows |
term | text only, uses curses/ncurses library, cross platform |
rfb | provides an interface to AT&T's VNC viewer, cross platform, details in the Section called Compiling with the RFB interface in the Chapter called Installation |
vncsrv | use LibVNCServer for extended RFB(VNC) support, details in the Section called Compiling with the VNCSRV interface in the Chapter called Installation |
wx | use wxWidgets library, cross platform, details in the Section called Compiling with the wxWidgets interface in the Chapter called Installation |
nogui | no display at all |
Example:
cpu: count=2, ips=10000000 |
model
Selects CPU configuration to emulate from pre-defined list of all supported configurations. When this option is used and the value is different from 'bx_generic', the parameters of the CPUID option have no effect anymore. See the the Section called Pre-defined CPU models in the Chapter called Using Bochs for supported values.
count
Set the number of processors:cores per processor:threads per core when Bochs is compiled for SMP emulation. Bochs currently supports up to 14 threads (legacy APIC) or 254 threads (xAPIC or higher) running simultaniosly. If Bochs is compiled without SMP support, it won't accept values different from 1. For more information on SMP see the Section called Simulating a Symmetric Multiprocessor (SMP) Machine in the Chapter called Tips and Techniques.
quantum
Maximum amount of instructions allowed to execute by processor before returning control to another cpu. This option exists only in Bochs binary compiled with SMP support.
reset_on_triple_fault
Reset the CPU when triple fault occur (highly recommended) rather than PANIC. Remember that if you are trying to continue after triple fault the simulation will be completely bogus !
cpuid_limit_winnt
Determine whether to limit maximum CPUID function to 2. This mode is required to workaround WinNT installation and boot issues.
mwait_is_nop
When this option is enabled MWAIT will not put the CPU into a sleep state.
This option exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-monitor-mwait
.
msrs
Define path to user CPU Model Specific Registers (MSRs) specification. See example in msrs.def.
ignore_bad_msrs
Ignore MSR references that Bochs does not understand; print a warning message instead of generating #GP exception. This option is enabled by default but will not be avaiable if configurable MSRs are enabled.
Emulated Instructions Per Second. This is the number of IPS that Bochs is
capable of running on your machine. You can recompile Bochs with
--enable-show-ips
option enabled, to find your workstation's capability.
Measured IPS value will then be logged into your log file
or in the status bar (if supported by the gui).
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. The table below lists some typical IPS settings for different machines[1].
Table 3. Example IPS Settings
Bochs | Speed | Machine/Compiler | Typical IPS |
---|---|---|---|
2.4.6 | 3.4Ghz | Intel Core i7 2600 with Win7x64/g++ 4.5.2 | 85 to 95 MIPS |
2.3.7 | 3.2Ghz | Intel Core 2 Q9770 with WinXP/g++ 3.4 | 50 to 55 MIPS |
2.3.7 | 2.6Ghz | Intel Core 2 Duo with WinXP/g++ 3.4 | 38 to 43 MIPS |
2.2.6 | 2.6Ghz | Intel Core 2 Duo with WinXP/g++ 3.4 | 21 to 25 MIPS |
2.2.6 | 2.1Ghz | Athlon XP with Linux 2.6/g++ 3.4 | 12 to 15 MIPS |
Example:
cpuid: level=6, mmx=1, sep=1, sse=sse4_2, apic=xapic, aes=1, movbe=1, xsave=1 |
level
Set emulated CPU level information returned by CPUID. Default value is determined by configure option --enable-cpu-level. Currently supported values are 5 (for Pentium and similar processors) and 6 (for P6 and later processors).
family
Set family information returned by CPUID. Default family value determined by configure option --enable-cpu-level.
model
Set model information returned by CPUID. Default model value is 3.
stepping
Set stepping information returned by CPUID. Default stepping value is 3.
vendor_string
Set the CPUID vendor string returned by CPUID(0x0). This should be a twelve-character ASCII string.
brand_string
Set the CPUID brand string returned by CPUID(0x80000002 .. 0x80000004]). This should be at most a forty-eight-character ASCII string.
mmx
Select MMX instruction set support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 5.
apic
Select APIC configuration (LEGACY/XAPIC/XAPIC_EXT/X2APIC). This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 5.
sep
Select SYSENTER/SYSEXIT instruction set support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
simd
Select SIMD instructions support. Any of NONE/SSE/SSE2/SSE3/SSSE3/SSE4_1/SSE4_2/AVX/AVX2/AVX512 could be selected. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6. The AVX choises exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-avx option.
sse4a
Select AMD SSE4A instructions support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
misaligned_sse
Select AMD Misaligned SSE mode support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
aes
Select AES instruction set support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
sha
Select SHA instruction set support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
movbe
Select MOVBE Intel(R) Atom instruction support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
adx
Select ADCX/ADOX instructions support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
xsave
Select XSAVE extensions support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
xsaveopt
Select XSAVEOPT instruction support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
avx_f16c
Select AVX float16 convert instructions support.
This option exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-avx
option.
avx_fma
Select AVX fused multiply add (FMA) instructions support.
This option exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-avx
option.
bmi
Select BMI1/BMI2 instructions support.
This option exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-avx
option.
fma4
Select AMD four operand FMA instructions support.
This option exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-avx
option.
xop
Select AMD XOP instructions support.
This option exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-avx
option.
tbm
Select AMD TBM instructions support.
This option exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-avx
option.
x86_64
Enable x86-64 and long mode support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with x86-64 support.
1g_pages
Enable 1G page size support in long mode. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with x86-64 support.
pcid
Enable Process-Context Identifiers (PCID) support in long mode. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with x86-64 support.
smep
Enable Supervisor Mode Execution Protection (SMEP) support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
smap
Enable Supervisor Mode Access Prevention (SMAP) support. This option exists only if Bochs compiled with BX_CPU_LEVEL >= 6.
mwait
Select MONITOR/MWAIT instructions support.
This option exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-monitor-mwait
.
vmx
Select VMX extensions emulation support.
This option exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-vmx
option.
svm
Select AMD SVM (Secure Virtual Machine) extensions emulation support.
This option exists only if Bochs compiled with --enable-svm
option.
Examples:
memory: guest=512, host=256 |
guest
Set amount of guest physical memory to emulate. The default is 32MB, the maximum amount limited only by physical address space limitations.
host
Set amount of host memory you want to allocate for guest RAM emulation. It is possible to allocate less memory than you want to emulate in guest system. This will fake guest to see the non-existing memory. Once guest system touches new memory block it will be dynamically taken from the memory pool. You will be warned (by FATAL PANIC) in case guest already used all allocated host memory and wants more.
![]() | Due to limitations in the host OS, Bochs fails to allocate more than 1024MB on most 32-bit systems.
In order to overcome this problem configure and build Bochs with |
Examples:
megs: 32 megs: 128 |
Examples:
romimage: file=bios/BIOS-bochs-latest, options=fastboot romimage: file=$BXSHARE/BIOS-bochs-legacy romimage: file=mybios.bin, address=0xfff80000 |
Examples:
vgaromimage: file=bios/VGABIOS-elpin-2.40 vgaromimage: file=$BXSHARE/VGABIOS-lgpl-latest vgaromimage: file=$BXSHARE/VGABIOS-lgpl-latest-cirrus |
A VGA BIOS from Elpin Systems, Inc. as well as a free LGPL'd VGA BIOS are provided in the source and binary distributions.
![]() | Please check with the vga option to decide what VGA BIOS to use. |
Example:
optromimage1: file=optionalrom.bin, address=0xd0000 |
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 arbitrary code/data in the simulation, that can be retrieved by the boot loader
Examples:
vga: extension=cirrus, update_freq=10, realtime=1 vga: extension=vbe |
The 'extension' option can be used to specify the VGA display extension. With the value 'none' you can use standard VGA with no extension. Other supported values are 'vbe' for Bochs VBE (needs VGABIOS-lgpl-latest as VGA BIOS, see vgaromimage option), 'cirrus' for Cirrus SVGA support (needs VGABIOS-lgpl-latest-cirrus as VGA BIOS) and 'voodoo' for Voodoo Graphics support (needs external VGA BIOS / see the Section called Notes about Voodoo Graphics usage in the Chapter called Tips and Techniques for more information).
The VGA update frequency specifies the number of display updates per second. This parameter can be changed at runtime. The default value is 5.
The 'realtime' option specifies the operation mode of the VGA update timer. If set to 1, the VGA timer is based on realtime, otherwise it is based on the ips setting. If the host is slow (low ips, update_freq) and the guest uses HLT appropriately, setting this to 0 and "clock: sync=none" may improve the responsiveness of the guest GUI when the guest is otherwise idle. The default value is 1.
Example:
voodoo: enabled=1, model=voodoo1 |
Examples:
keyboard: type=mf, serial_delay=200, paste_delay=100000 keyboard: keymap=gui/keymaps/x11-pc-de.map keyboard: user_shortcut=ctrl-alt-del |
type
Type of keyboard return by a "identify keyboard" command to the keyboard controller. It must be one of "xt", "at" or "mf". Defaults to "mf". It should be ok for almost everybody. A known exception is french macs, that do have a "at"-like keyboard.
serial_delay
Approximate time in microseconds that it takes one character to be transferred from the keyboard to controller over the serial path.
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.
keymap
This enables a remap of a physical localized keyboard to a virtualized us keyboard, as the PC architecture expects.
Keyboard mapping is available for the display libraries x, sdl (Linux port) and wx (GTK port). For SDL you have to use keymaps designed for SDL, the wxWidgets GUI uses the keymaps for X11.
user_shortcut
This defines the keyboard shortcut to be sent when you press the "user" button in the headerbar. The shortcut string is a combination of maximum 3 key names (listed below) separated with a '-' character.
Valid key names:
"alt", "bksl", "bksp", "ctrl", "del", "down", "end", "enter", "esc", "f1", ... "f12", "home", "ins", "left", "menu", "minus", "pgdwn", "pgup", "plus", "power", "print", "right", "scrlck", "shift", "space", "tab", "up" and "win".
Examples:
mouse: enabled=1 mouse: type=imps2, enabled=1 mouse: type=serial, enabled=1 mouse: enabled=0, toggle=ctrl+f10 |
type
With the mouse type option you can select the type of mouse to emulate. The default value is 'ps2'. The other choices are 'imps2' (wheel mouse on PS/2), 'serial', 'serial_wheel', 'serial_msys' (one com port requires setting 'mode=mouse', see com option) 'inport' and 'bus' (if present). To connect a mouse to a USB port, see the usb_uhci, 'usb_ohci', 'usb_ehci' or 'usb_xhci' options (requires PCI and USB support).
enabled
The Bochs gui creates mouse "events" unless the 'enabled' option is set to 0. The hardware emulation itself is not disabled by this. Unless you have a particular reason for enabling the mouse by default, it is recommended that you leave it off. You can also toggle the mouse usage at runtime (see headerbar and the 'toggle' option below).
toggle
The default method to toggle the mouse capture at runtime is to press the CTRL key and the middle mouse button ('ctrl+mbutton'). This option allows to change the method to 'ctrl+f10' (like DOSBox) or 'ctrl+alt' (like QEMU) or 'f12'.
Examples:
pci: enabled=1, chipset=i440fx # default if compiled with PCI support pci: enabled=1, chipset=i440fx, slot1=pcivga, slot2=ne2k pci: enabled=1, chipset=i440bx, slot5=voodoo, slot1=e1000 |
This defines the parameters of the clock inside Bochs:
sync
This defines the method how to synchronize the Bochs internal time with realtime. With the value 'none' the Bochs time relies on the IPS value and no host time synchronization is used. The 'slowdown' method sacrifices performance to preserve reproducibility while allowing host time correlation. The 'realtime' method sacrifices reproducibility to preserve performance and host-time correlation. It is possible to enable both synchronization methods.
rtc_sync
If this option is enabled together with the realtime synchronization, the RTC runs at realtime speed. This feature is disabled by default.
time0
Specifies the start (boot) time of the virtual machine. Use a time value as returned by the time(2) system call or a string as returned by the ctime(3) system call. If no time0 value is set or if time0 equal to 1 (special case) or if time0 equal 'local', the simulation will be started at the current local host time. If time0 equal to 2 (special case) or if time0 equal 'utc', the simulation will be started at the current utc time.
Syntax: clock: sync=[none|slowdown|realtime|both], time0=[timeValue|local|utc] Examples: clock: sync=none, time0=local # Now (localtime) clock: sync=slowdown, time0=315529200 # Tue Jan 1 00:00:00 1980 clock: sync=none, time0="Mon Jan 1 00:00:00 1990" # 631148400 clock: sync=realtime, time0=938581955 # Wed Sep 29 07:12:35 1999 clock: sync=realtime, time0="Sat Jan 1 00:00:00 2000" # 946681200 clock: sync=none, time0=1 # Now (localtime) clock: sync=none, time0=utc # Now (utc/gmt) Default value are sync=none, rtc_sync=0, time0=local |
Example:
cmosimage: file=cmos.img, rtc_init=time0 |
Example:
private_colormap: enabled=1 |
enabled=1
turns on this feature and 0 turns it off.Examples:
2.88M 3.5" media: floppya: 2_88=a:, status=inserted 1.44M 3.5" media (write protected): floppya: 1_44=floppya.img, status=inserted, write_protected=1 1.2M 5.25" media: floppyb: 1_2=/dev/fd0, status=inserted 720K 3.5" media: floppya: 720k=/usr/local/bochs/images/win95.img, status=inserted auto-detect floppy media type: floppya: image=floppy.img, status=inserted use directory as VFAT media: floppya: 1_44=vvfat:path, status=inserted 1.44M 3.5" floppy drive, no media: floppya: type=1_44 |
Following floppy media types are supported: 2_88, 1_44, 1_2, 720k, 360k, 320k, 180k, 160k, as well as "image" to let Bochs auto-detect the type of floppy media (does only work with images, not with raw floppy drives). In that case the size must match one of the supported types.
You can set the initial status of the media to ejected
or inserted
. Usually you will want to use
inserted
.
The parameter 'type' can be used to enable the floppy drive without media and status specified. Usually the drive type is set up based on the media type.
The optional parameter 'write_protected' can be used to control the media write protect switch. By default it is turned off.
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=0x3e0, irq=11 ata3: enabled=1, ioaddr1=0x168, ioaddr2=0x360, irq=9 |
Examples:
ata0-master: type=disk, path=10M.img, mode=flat, cylinders=306, heads=4, spt=17, translation=none ata1-master: type=disk, path=2GB.cow, mode=vmware3, cylinders=5242, heads=16, spt=50, translation=echs ata1-slave: type=disk, path=3GB.img, mode=sparse, cylinders=6541, heads=16, spt=63, translation=auto ata2-master: type=disk, path=7GB.img, mode=undoable, cylinders=14563, heads=16, spt=63, translation=lba ata2-slave: type=cdrom, path=iso.sample, status=inserted |
This defines the type and characteristics of all attached ata devices:
Table 4. ata devices configuration options
Option | Comments | Possible values |
---|---|---|
type | type of attached device | [disk | cdrom] |
path | path of the image | |
mode | image type, only valid for disks | [flat | concat | external | dll | sparse | vmware3 | vmware4 | undoable | growing | volatile | vpc | vbox | vvfat ] |
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 | [auto | cmos | none] |
translation | type of translation done by the BIOS (legacy int13), only for disks | [none | lba | large | rechs | auto] |
model | string returned by identify device ATA command | |
journal | optional filename of the redolog for undoable, volatile and vvfat disks |
You have to tell the type of the attached device. For Bochs 2.0 or later, it can be disk or cdrom.
You have to point the "path" at a hard disk image file, cdrom iso file, or physical cdrom device. To create a hard disk image, try running bximage (see the Section called How to make a simple disk image in the Chapter called Tips and Techniques). 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 for safety reasons. In Windows, there is no easy way.
Disk geometry autodetection works with images created by bximage if CHS is set to 0/0/0 (cylinders are calculated using heads=16 and spt=63). For other hard disk images and modes the cylinders, heads, and spt are mandatory. In all cases the disk size reported from the image must be exactly C*H*S*512. Flat hard disk images from other projects might store additional information at the end of the file that makes this check fail. Only in this case it is safe to select "continue" when Bochs panics.
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)
The mode option defines how the disk image is handled. Disks can be defined as:
flat : one file flat layout
concat : multiple files layout
external : developer's specific, through a C++ class
dll : developer's specific, through a DLL
sparse : stackable, commitable, rollbackable
vmware3 : vmware version 3 disk support
vmware4 : vmware version 4 disk support (aka VMDK)
undoable : read-only base file with commitable redolog
growing : growing file
volatile : read-only base file with volatile redolog
vpc: fixed / dynamic size VirtualPC image
vbox: fixed / dynamic size Oracle(tm) VM VirtualBox image (VDI version 1.1)
vvfat: local directory appears as VFAT disk (with volatile redolog / optional commit)
Default values are:
mode=flat, biosdetect=auto, translation=auto, model="Generic 1234" |
The biosdetect option has currently no effect on the BIOS.
![]() | Make sure the proper ata option is enabled when using a device on that ata channel. |
Examples:
boot: floppy boot: cdrom, disk boot: network, disk boot: cdrom, floppy, disk |
Example:
floppy_bootsig_check: disabled=1 |
Examples:
log: bochsout.txt log: - log: /dev/tty (Unix only) log: /dev/null (Unix only) log: nul (win32 only) |
Examples:
logprefix: %t-%e-@%i-%d logprefix: %i%e%d |
%t : 11 decimal digits timer tick %i : 8 hexadecimal digits of current cpu eip (ignored in SMP configuration) %e : 1 character event type ('i'nfo, 'd'ebug, 'p'anic, 'e'rror) %d : 5 characters string of the device, between brackets |
Default is %t%e%d
Examples:
debug: action=ignore, pci=report info: action=report error: action=report panic: action=ask |
The debug, info, error, and panic lines in the bochsrc control what Bochs will do when it encounters each type of event. The allowed actions are: fatal (terminate bochs), ask (ask the user what to do), warn (show dialog with message and continue), report (print information to the console or log file), or ignore (do nothing). The recommended settings are listed in the sample above.
It is also possible to specify the 'action' to do for each Bochs facility separately (e.g. crash on panics from everything except the cdrom, and only report those). See the log function module table for valid module names.
![]() | The safest action for panics is "fatal" or "ask". If you are getting lots of panics and get tired of telling it to continue each time, 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 after a panic occurs. Please report panic messages to the bochs-developers mailing list unless it is just a configuration problem like "could not find hard drive image." |
Examples:
debugger_log: debugger.out debugger_log: /dev/null (Unix only) debugger_log: - |
Examples:
com1: enabled=1, mode=null com1: enabled=1, mode=mouse com1: enabled=1, mode=term, dev=/dev/ttyp9 com2: enabled=1, mode=file, dev=serial.out com3: enabled=1, mode=raw, dev=com1 com3: enabled=1, mode=socket-client, dev=localhost:8888 com3: enabled=1, mode=socket-server, dev=localhost:8888 com4: enabled=1, mode=pipe-client, dev=\\.\pipe\mypipe com4: enabled=1, mode=pipe-server, dev=\\.\pipe\mypipe |
When using the mode 'term', 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 of 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.
When using socket* and pipe* (win32 only) modes Bochs becomes either socket/named pipe client or server. In client mode it connects to an already running server (if connection fails Bochs treats com port as not connected). In server mode it opens socket/named pipe and waits until a client application connects to it before starting simulation. This mode is useful for remote debugging (e.g. with gdb's "target remote host:port" command or windbg's command line option -k com:pipe,port=\\.\pipe\pipename). Socket modes use simple TCP communication, pipe modes use duplex byte mode pipes.
Other serial modes are 'null' (no input/output), 'file' (output to a file specified as the 'dev' parameter and changeable at runtime), 'raw' (use the real serial port - partly implemented on win32), 'mouse' (standard serial mouse - requires mouse option setting 'type=serial', 'type=serial_wheel' or 'type=serial_msys').
Examples:
parport1: enabled=1, file="parport.out" parport2: enabled=1, file="/dev/lp0" parport1: enabled=0 |
Example for one driver (uses platform-default):
sound: driver=default, waveout=/dev/dsp |
sound: waveoutdrv=sdl, waveindrv=alsa, midioutdrv=dummy |
waveoutdrv
: This defines the driver to be used for the
waveout feature. Possible values are 'file' (all wave data sent to file),
'dummy' (no output) and the platform-dependant drivers 'alsa', 'oss', 'osx',
'sdl' and 'win'.
waveout
:
This defines the device to be used for wave output (if necessary) or the
output file for the 'file' driver.
waveindrv
:
This defines the driver to be used for the wavein feature.
Possible values are 'dummy' (recording silence) and platform-dependent
drivers 'alsa', 'oss', 'sdl' and 'win'.
wavein
:
This defines the device to be used for wave input (if necessary).
midioutdrv
:
This defines the driver to be used for the MIDI output feature.
Possible values are 'file' (all MIDI data sent to file), 'dummy' (no
output) and platform-dependent drivers 'alsa', 'oss', 'osx' and 'win'.
midiout
:
This defines the device to be used for MIDI output (if necessary).
driver
:
This defines the driver to be used for all sound features with one
property. Possible values are 'default' (platform default) and all
other choices described above. Overriding one or more settings with
the specific driver parameter is possible.
Example:
speaker: enabled=1, mode=sound |
Example:
sb16: midimode=2, midifile=output.mid, wavemode=3, wavefile=output.wav loglevel=2, log=sb16.log, dmatimer=600000 |
![]() | The example is wrapped onto several lines for formatting reasons, but it should all be on one line in the actual bochsrc file. |
enabled
:
This optional property controls the presence of the SB16 emulation.
The emulation is turned on unless this property is used and set to 0.
midimode
:
This parameter specifies what to do with the MIDI output.
0 = no output 1 = output to device specified with the sound option (system dependent) 2 = MIDI or raw data output to file (depends on file name extension) 3 = dual output (mode 1 and 2 at the same time) |
midifile
:
This is the file where the midi output is stored (midimode 2 or 3).
wavemode
:
This parameter specifies what to do with the PCM output.
0 = no output 1 = output to device specified with the sound option (system dependent) 2 = VOC, WAV or raw data output to file (depends on file name extension) 3 = dual output (mode 1 and 2 at the same time) |
wavefile
:
This is the file where the wave output is stored (wavemode 2 or 3).
log
: The file to write the sb16 emulator messages to.
loglevel
:
0 = No log. 1 = Resource changes, 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-continuous sound. 750000 is usually a good value. This needs a reasonably
correct setting for the ips parameter of the
cpu option. It is possible to adjust the
dmatimer value at runtime.
Examples:
es1370: enabled=1, wavemode=1 # use 'sound' parameters es1370: enabled=1, wavemode=2, wavefile=output.voc # send output to file |
The ne2k line configures an emulated NE2000-compatible Ethernet adapter, which allows the guest machine to communicate on the network. To disable the NE2000 just comment out the ne2k line.
Examples:
ne2k: ioaddr=0x300, irq=9, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:00, ethmod=fbsd, ethdev=xl0 ne2k: ioaddr=0x300, irq=9, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:00, ethmod=fbsd, ethdev=en0 #macosx ne2k: ioaddr=0x300, irq=9, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:00, ethmod=linux, ethdev=eth0 ne2k: ioaddr=0x300, irq=9, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:01, ethmod=win32, ethdev=MYCARD ne2k: ioaddr=0x300, irq=9, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:01, ethmod=vde, ethdev="/tmp/vde.ctl" ne2k: ioaddr=0x300, irq=9, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:01, ethmod=vnet, ethdev="c:/temp" ne2k: ioaddr=0x300, irq=9, mac=fe:fd:00:00:00:01, ethmod=tap, ethdev=tap0 ne2k: ioaddr=0x300, irq=9, mac=fe:fd:00:00:00:01, ethmod=tuntap, ethdev=/dev/net/tun0, script=./tunconfig ne2k: mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:01, ethmod=socket, ethdev=40000 # use localhost ne2k: mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:01, ethmod=socket, ethdev=mymachine:40000 ne2k: mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:01, ethmod=slirp, script=slirp.conf, bootrom=ne2k_pci.rom IOADDR, IRQ: You probably won't need to change ioaddr and irq, unless there are IRQ conflicts. These parameters are ignored if the NE2000 is assigned to a PCI slot. 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 physical ethernet interface. You can also specify a network simulator or a module with no input/output ("null"). See the table below for currently supported values. 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 optional, 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. BOOTROM: The bootrom value is optional, and is the name of the ROM image to load. Note that this feature is only implemented for the PCI version of the NE2000. |
The following table shows the available ethernet modules with description, whether the "ethdev" and "script" parameters are used or not and the Bochs version where this module was added.
Table 5. Ethernet modules
Module | Description | ethdev | script | Bochs version |
---|---|---|---|---|
fbsd | FreeBSD / OpenBSD packetmover. | Yes | No | 1.0 |
linux | Linux packetmover - 'root' privileges required, no connection to the host machine. | Yes | No | 1.3 |
null | Null packetmover. All packets are discarded, but logged to a few files. | No | No | 1.0 |
tap | TAP packetmover. | Yes | Yes | 1.4 |
tuntap | TUN/TAP packetmover - see Configuring and using a tuntap network interface. | Yes | Yes | 2.0 |
vde | Virtual Distributed Ethernet packetmover. | Yes | Yes | 2.2 |
vnet | ARP, ping (ICMP-echo), DHCP and read/write TFTP simulation. The virtual host uses 192.168.10.1. DHCP assigns 192.168.10.2 to the guest. The TFTP server uses the 'ethdev' value for the root directory and doesn't overwrite files. | Yes, for TFTP | Yes, for log file name | 2.2 |
slirp | Built-in Slirp support with DHCP / TFTP servers. Adds user mode networking to Bochs - see Using the 'slirp' networking module. The 'script' parameter can be used to set up an alternative IP configuration or additional features. The TFTP server uses the 'ethdev' value for the root directory and doesn't overwrite files. | Yes, for TFTP | Yes, for Slirp config | 2.6.5 |
socket | Connect up to 6 Bochs instances on the same or other machine with external program 'bxhub' (simulating an ethernet hub). It provides the same services as the 'vnet' module and assigns IP addresses like 'slirp' (10.0.2.x) (see Using the 'socket' networking module). | Yes, for base UDP port and (optional) the host to connect | No | 2.6.9 |
win32 | Win32 packetmover - WinPCap driver required. | Yes | No | 1.3 |
Example:
pcipnic: enabled=1, mac=b0:c4:20:00:00:00, ethmod=vnet |
--enable-pnic
configure option. It accepts the same syntax (for mac,
ethmod, ethdev, script, bootrom) and supports the same networking modules as the
NE2000 adapter.Example:
e1000: enabled=1, mac=52:54:00:12:34:56, ethmod=slirp, script=slirp.conf |
--enable-e1000
configure option. It accepts the same syntax
(for mac, ethmod, ethdev, script, bootrom) and supports the same networking modules
as the NE2000 adapter.Examples:
usb_uhci: enabled=1, port1=mouse, port2=disk:usbstick.img usb_uhci: enabled=1, port1=hub:7, port2=disk:growing:usbdisk.img usb_uhci: enabled=1, port2=disk:undoable:usbdisk.img, options2=journal:redo.log usb_uhci: enabled=1, port2=disk:usbdisk2.img, options2=sect_size:1024 usb_uhci: enabled=1, port2=disk:vvfat:vvfat, options2="debug,speed:full" usb_uhci: enabled=1, port1=printer:printdata.bin, port2=cdrom:image.iso usb_uhci: enabled=1, port2=floppy:vvfat:diskette, options2="model:teac" |
With the portX option you can connect devices to the hub (currently supported: 'mouse', 'tablet', 'keypad', 'disk', 'cdrom', 'floppy, ''hub' and 'printer').
If you connect the mouse or tablet to one of the ports, Bochs forwards the mouse movement data to the USB device instead of the selected mouse type. When connecting the keypad to one of the ports, Bochs forwards the input of the numeric keypad to the USB device instead of the PS/2 keyboard.
To connect a 'flat' mode image as a USB hardisk you can use the 'disk' device with the path to the image separated with a colon. To use other disk image modes similar to ATA disks the syntax 'disk:mode:filename' must be used (see above).
To emulate a USB cdrom you can use the 'cdrom' device name and the path to an ISO image or raw device name also separated with a colon. An option to insert/eject media is available in the runtime configuration.
To emulate a USB floppy you can use the 'floppy' device with the path to the image separated with a colon. To use the VVFAT image mode similar to the legacy floppy the syntax 'floppy:vvfat:directory' must be used (see above). An option to insert/eject media is available in the runtime configuration.
The device name 'hub' connects an external hub with max. 8 ports (default: 4) to the root hub. To specify the number of ports you have to add the value separated with a colon. Connecting devices to the external hub ports is only available in the runtime configuration.
The device 'printer' emulates the HP Deskjet 920C printer. The PCL data is sent to a file specified in bochsrc.txt. The current code appends the PCL code to the file if the file already existed. The output file can be changed at runtime.
The optionsX parameter can be used to assign specific options to the device connected to the corresponding USB port. Currently this feature is used to set the speed reported by device ('low', 'full', 'high' or 'super'). The availabe speed choices depend on both HC and device. The option 'debug' turns on debug output for the device at connection time. For the USB 'disk' device the optionsX parameter can be used to specify an alternative redolog file (journal) of some image modes. For 'vvfat' mode USB disks the optionsX parameter can be used to specify the disk size (range 128M ... 128G). If the size is not specified, it defaults to 504M. For the USB 'floppy' device the optionsX parameter can be used to specify an alternative device ID to be reported. Currently only the model "teac" is supported (can fix hw detection in some guest OS). The USB floppy also accepts the parameter "write_protected" with valid values 0 and 1 to select the access mode (default is 0).
![]() | PCI support must be enabled to use USB UHCI. |
Example:
usb_ohci: enabled=1, port1=printer:printdata.bin |
Example:
usb_ehci: enabled=1, port1=tablet, options1="speed:high" |
Example:
usb_xhci: enabled=1, port1="disk:usbdisk.img" |
Example:
pcidev: vendor=0xbabe, device=0x2bad |
vendor
and device
should contain the PCI vendor ID respectively the PCI
device ID of the host PCI device you want to map within Bochs.![]() | The PCI device mapping is still in a very early stage of development and thus it is very experimental. This feature requires Linux as a host operating system. |
Besides the pcidev
config line you will need to load
a pcidev kernel module within your Linux host OS. This kernel module is
located in the bochs/host/linux/pcidev/
directory.
Example:
gdbstub: enabled=1, port=1234, text_base=0, data_base=0, bss_base=0 |
gdbstub: enabled=0 |
Example:
magic_break: enabled=1 |
Example:
debug_symbols: file=mysymbols.sym debug_symbols: file=mysymbols.sym, offset=0x1000 |
Example:
port_e9_hack: enabled=1 |
Example:
user_plugin: name=testdev |
[1] | IPS measurements depend on OS and compiler configuration in addition to host processor clock speed. |
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