I want to debug an old DOS app that runs in protected mode.

I've tried several combinations without luck so far:

VMWare Workstation 6 will not recognize the emulated soundcard (no matter how many different soundblaster drivers I've tried - at least 4. And I do need the card to be Soundblaster). Sound is critical to the app to be debugged.

In Virtual PC 2007 the app will run too fast but I can live with that. The problem is that Softice 4.05 acts weird.

In both cases I've installed Win98SE to the virtual machines.

So what I'm looking for is a proven combination of VMWare or Virtual PC, Softice and Windows 98 with sound, for working on a DOS app. If anyone has done it, and has tested it with actual DOS debugging, I'd appreciate version numbers of the VM and softice. I read various older threads but found no details.

The more modern the VM the least likely to work with the Sound card.
suggest: Install a native (Non virtual machine based) win98SE in a small partition along with Sice (Any new version will do VS 3.2 can trace old DOS files without a problem.
using a VM, / weird RING 0 tracing /sound card drivers /plus Sice sounds like a recipe for disaster to me

This is what I do now, but having a working virtual machine will be a huge advantage since the project is long and there's only one PC here, which I would like to use for other things at the same time.

Virtual PC's Soundblaster emulation is perfect, and I suppose I will finally manage to make it work in VMWare too. The problem is Softice, I don't know which version works with which VM. I will also try Watcom Debugger which I think has more chances to work with a VM, but I'd really love to work with Softice.

I don't know if you'll get Sice working well with Win98 under VMWare. It *does* run but there is a display problem and you can't Ctrl-D into Sice to see what you're doing.

Well, actually when you Ctrl-D you *are* in Sice and can use keyboard commands, but the command screen doesn't show. You only see the (locked) desktop. If you Ctrl-D again you're back in Windows.

You can tell Sice is running OK because you can issue keyboard commands and view their output (including disassembly listings) in the history log file. The only problem is there is no normal Sice screen to work with.

I've never tried the 16bit/Dos version of Sice under VMWare, so maybe it might work where the full Softice 4.05 won't.

I can only tell you that Driverstudio 3.2 works OK in my VMware with win98SE installed. I did have to use such contraption once. I can upload the VM for you if you wish. If you read the manuals you will see the that it installs the "right" softice for win98 systems when it detects them. I would not know what to say with your particular sound card/compatibility/necessity.
I am also not sure that SoftIce will EVER work with virtual PC. . . Any one here has tried??

I have managed to make the soundcard work in 98SE but now I have to tweak it so that the DOS app sees it. Although I have read somewhere that VMWare doesn't support sound for DOS apps. If I can make the DOS app see it, then I'll try with Driverstudio 3.2. If I can't make it work then I guess your VM would be valuable. But for now the problem is the app to see the soundcard (when ran through Win98 it doesn't recognize the soundblaster legacy configuration settings). Has anybody managed to hear sound from a DOS app in VMWare ?



The behaviour of 4.05 you describe in VMWare is very similar to what I encountered in Virtual PC. Then I tried Softice 2.62 for DOS which seems to have no problems when the VM was in full screen, but I still had lockups and strange things happening.

http://www.woodmann.com/forum/showpost.php?p=63592&postcount=8

That gives you a sample of how good my personal RAM works these days.

I have not spend much time playing with virtual PC, with or without Sice, that is why it is not drilled into my mind. . .

Thanks for the tip blabberer! I removed the VM Additions and 4.05 works just fine now! The only problem is that the mouse (PS/2 option) has an erratic behaviour and I have to disable it. Have you done anything special to make it work ? Mine is connected to a USB port (there's no PS/2) but it shouldn't matter as far as the VM is concerned.

Watcom Debugger also works in VPC but -like all DOS apps in VPC- the screen has black bars on the top and bottom when in fullscreen, and the image is so compressed that makes it difficult to work on it for extended periods.

I'll also keep trying with VMWare to see what suits me better.

I did try, but my AMD64 dual core, the Virtual PC and 3.2 SoftIce do not mix well, BSOD, X2. I am so NOT going to try to figure what the fuck the problem is with this hardware software combo. . .

Believe it or not, the most solid option turned out to be the Watcom Debugger under DOSBox.

Keep us posted to what you find. . .

Cool, thanks for reporting back your findings.

We always like to hear what actually worked.

Regards,