How to run old Windows games with Bochs on a modern PC

2026-09-05T07:25:58.254000Z

I’ve been experimenting with Bochs and I’m interested in using it for older Windows games and software. One thing I like about emulation is being able to recreate an older environment instead of trying to make every legacy application work directly on a modern operating system.

For anyone who has experience with Bochs, how to run old Windows games with Bochs on a modern PC reliably? Are there particular CPU, VGA, memory, or BIOS settings that you normally recommend for better compatibility?

I’m especially interested in games that have unusual graphics or sound requirements. It would be useful to hear which older games people have successfully tested with Bochs and what configuration worked for them.

BIOS files and emulator compatibility

2026-08-21T12:34:42.485000Z

Everybody is in github, this forum is obsolete

BIOS files and emulator compatibility

2026-08-21T12:13:26.353000Z

Hi everyone,

I've been reading about how BIOS firmware interacts with emulators, and one thing that seems easy to overlook is that a BIOS image is not always interchangeable between different systems. The emulator has to reproduce enough of the expected hardware environment for the firmware to initialize correctly.

This also comes up when comparing different console emulators, where BIOS versions and regions can affect compatibility and startup behavior. I found [this BIOS and emulation resource] useful as a general reference for understanding the relationship between BIOS files and emulation.

For people experimenting with Bochs, I'm curious whether there are particular BIOS images or configurations that have worked reliably with current versions.

Using actual BIOS bin in Bochs?

2026-08-21T12:07:14.140000Z

Interesting discussion, especially the later point about BIOS compatibility depending on the hardware Bochs is emulating. It’s a good reminder that a BIOS image isn’t just generic boot code — it can expect particular chipsets, peripherals, memory layouts, and firmware behavior.

For anyone researching BIOS images and how they relate to emulation, I’ve also been collecting some background material .

The site focuses mainly on PlayStation BIOS and emulation rather than Bochs, so it’s more of a general reference for the BIOS/emulation side of the topic.

unable to connect to RFB by vnc

2025-11-07T17:28:04.988000Z

The limitations of the RFB gui are documented. It doesn't support connections wit > 8 bpp color depth, but your VNC viewer requests 24 bpp. Please set up your VNC viewer to use the formats RGB332 or BGR233. If you need support for > 8 bpp, or you'd like to use Bochs in a web browser you should try with the 'vncsrv' gui that requires the libvncserver library.
You should visit the Bochs page on GitHub to follow the development.

unable to build in mac for RFB

2025-11-05T15:19:39.032000Z

Hi
Latest mac os with homebrew

This works : ./configure --enable-debugger --enable-x86-64 --enable-all-optimizations --with-x11
This can't. : ./configure --enable-debugger --enable-x86-64 --enable-all-optimizations --with-rfb

g++ -o bochs -fpascal-strings -fno-common -Wno-four-char-constants -Wno-unknown-pragmas -Dmacintosh -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -D_LARGE_FILES -DBX_SHARE_PATH=\"/usr/local/share/bochs\" logio.o main.o config.o pc_system.o osdep.o plugin.o crc.o bxthread.o -framework IOKit -framework CoreFoundation -Wl,-bind_at_load  -L/usr/local/opt/bison/lib iodev/libiodev.a iodev/display/libdisplay.a iodev/hdimage/libhdimage.a bx_debug/libdebug.a cpu/libcpu.a cpu/cpudb/libcpudb.a memory/libmemory.a gui/libgui.a cpu/fpu/libfpu.a
ld: warning: -bind_at_load is deprecated on macOS
ld: multiple errors: archive member '/' not a mach-o file in 'bx_debug/libdebug.a'; archive member '/' not a mach-o file in 'iodev/libiodev.a'; archive member '/' not a mach-o file in 'iodev/display/libdisplay.a'; archive member '/' not a mach-o file in 'iodev/hdimage/libhdimage.a'; archive member '/' not a mach-o file in 'cpu/cpudb/libcpudb.a'; archive member '/' not a mach-o file in 'memory/libmemory.a'; archive member '/' not a mach-o file in 'gui/libgui.a'; archive member '/' not a mach-o file in 'cpu/fpu/libfpu.a'; archive member '/' not a mach-o file in 'cpu/libcpu.a'
clang++: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
make: *** [Makefile:181: bochs] Error 1

pls help
thanks

Bochs crashing without loading the virtual machine

2025-01-14T19:42:03.072000Z

Hello everyone.
I'm having issues with Bochs on Android, here are some screenshot to show my configuration:

The problem is Bochs halts on launching the VM, I can't neither see the boot screen.

Please, help.
Regards, have a nice day.

Bochs SMEP and SMAP suport doesn't show up in CPUID

2024-12-23T04:49:15.880000Z

You are using obsolete CPU model, on current git master bx_generic CPUID doesn't exists anymore as well as SMAP/SMEP optons in bochsrc. If you use other model which support SMAP (for example haswell) it will be present in CPUID.

You are also using obsolete way to communicate. Bochs moved to github and best way to ask questions is to use github as well.

Thanks,
Stanislav

Bochs crashes on startup in android +

2024-11-10T06:09:48.402000Z

Thank you so much for letting me know.
I was also wondering if I could even ask this question here after I sent it but then it was too late. Now I think I got a another idea I'm gonna use so I'm good for now
Have a nice day!

Bochs crashes on startup in android +

2024-11-10T05:04:33.634000Z

It is very simple - we have no clue who build this Bochs on the video, I don't know know to build Bochs for Android, we cannot run it here because we have no source code.
We don't support Bochs for Android at all and you will have no response unless original author of Bochs for Android will reply you.
We still want to have Android support in-house (and will officiall y support it) but nobody ever supplied pull request or patch to us.

Thanks
Stanislav

Recent posts to Discussion

How to run old Windows games with Bochs on a modern PC

BIOS files and emulator compatibility

BIOS files and emulator compatibility

Using actual BIOS bin in Bochs?

unable to connect to RFB by vnc

unable to build in mac for RFB

Bochs crashing without loading the virtual machine

Bochs SMEP and SMAP suport doesn't show up in CPUID

Bochs crashes on startup in android +

Bochs crashes on startup in android +