---
layout: post
title: "86Box v4.2"
description: "Release for July 2024."
authors: ["richardg867"]
image: "/assets/images/v4.2/hero.png"
---

{% include imageheading.html url="/assets/images/v4.2/hero.png" separator=" " %}

This is the July 2024 update to 86Box, bringing new features in the multimedia front, new machines and many bugfixes.

The work-in-progress build currently available to our [**Patreon supporters**](https://www.patreon.com/86box) will be updated soon. We have a **new Patreon preview** in our roadmap for the coming months, replacing the Local Switch which will receive a public release, so stay tuned.

### 32-bit deprecation notice

v4.2 is the final release of 86Box for which **32-bit builds** will be provided, for 32-bit x86 on Windows and Linux as well as ARM32 on Linux. By removing these legacy options, we can better focus on maintaining the dynamic recompiler and other architecture-specific portions of our code for the architectures that matter, which are currently **x64 and ARM64**.

We believe that any host hardware old enough to be incapable of running 64-bit operating systems will not provide a satisfactory emulation experience. Should you have such hardware, the ability to [**compile 86Box from source**](https://86box.readthedocs.io/en/latest/dev/buildguide.html) for unsupported architectures is not going anywhere, but we cannot guarantee that the dynamic recompiler will remain functional on them.

---

## Main features

### Sound: ESS, PAS, SB PCI

Many have requested that we emulate sound cards from **ESS**; more specifically, their ISA Sound Blaster compatible chips that were very popular throughout the 1990s. This release brings two ESS cards, the **AudioDrive ES688** and **ES1688**. The ES1688 in particular features **ESFM**, a set of proprietary extensions adding more capabilities to the Yamaha OPL3 synthesizer, supported by some games and for Windows MIDI playback. ESFM emulation uses the [**ESFMu library**](https://github.com/Kagamiin/ESFMu) developed by [Kagamiin](https://github.com/Kagamiin), who also did the initial work for adding ESS cards on our end; many retro community members have also contributed to the ESFM reverse engineering effort.

The [**Media Vision Pro AudioSpectrum**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Vision_Pro_AudioSpectrum) family now joins 86Box as well, with the **Plus**, **16** and **16D**. These cards were praised at the time for their high audio quality (not that it matters in an emulated environment), and while they were mostly Sound Blaster compatible, many games and operating systems had **native drivers** to take full advantage of them. The Plus and 16's integrated **SCSI controller** is also emulated, taking the first available channel after any integrated SCSI controller that the selected machine might have, but before any configured SCSI cards.

The **Ensoniq AudioPCI** emulation was also expanded with Sound Blaster PCI cards based on the **ES1373** and **CT5880** chips. These were far more common than the previous ES1371 chip, which is better known through VMware's emulation than real cards. The newer chips are functionally equivalent and allow you to use later Creative drivers for Windows without running into [issues stemming from an incompatibility with the ES1371](https://messaroundery.net/2023/09/19/ensoniq-es1371-driver-bug "Ensoniq AudioPCI ES1371 and the driver bug nobody found"); though be careful with older ES1371-specific drivers, which may recognize the ES1373 but end up in crashes and other misbehavior.

**Small but important note:** similarly to the [AWE64 in v4.1.1]({% post_url 2024-03-20-86box-v4-1-1 %}#rom-set-update), users of the **Sound Blaster 16 PnP** and **Crystal CS4236B** should update the ROM set, as accurate Plug and Play ROMs were located. If this update is not present, these cards will **disappear from emulated machines** and the sound card selector until the ROM set is updated.

### Modem

A **serial modem** is now available as a network card option. This standard Hayes-compliant modem has three modes of operation: **dial-up access through SLIP** by dialing number `0.0.0.0`, a **Telnet client** by dialing the address (or `address:port`) of a Telnet server, and a **dial-in server** for receiving calls from Telnet clients or even another 86Box instance. Additionally, a **phonebook** feature allows for loading a text file with a list of numbers and their respective dialing targets.

As with any hardware of this era, there are many potential gotchas to account for when configuring the modem, all described in the [documentation](https://86box.readthedocs.io/en/v4.2/hardware/network.html#modem).

---

## Changelog

### Emulator

* Added prompt when starting the machine from a new location (similar to VMware) for regenerating MAC addresses
* Added build number and host CPU string information to the configuration file to aid troubleshooting

### User interface

* Added approximate **year indicators** to the list of machine types
* Added interlocks to **Voodoo cards** and **storage device channels** to reduce configuration mistakes
* Added performance impact warning to the **Softfloat FPU** option
* Added new icons to the **CD-ROM menu**
* Added translation: <span class="emoji">🇻🇳</span> **Vietnamese** by [Barnacl437](https://github.com/Barnacl437)
* Fixed menus not updating after **ejecting a CD-ROM**
* Updated translations: **Chinese (Simplified)**, **Chinese (Taiwan)**

### Machines

* Re-added **Compaq Deskpro 386** machine
* Added **Pravetz 16S / CPU12 Plus** Bulgarian XT clone
* Added **Senor Science Co. SCAT-286-003** and **Wells American A\*Star** 286 machines
* Added **Acer 100T** 386SX machine
* Added **DataExpert 386WB** and **Tandy 4000** 386DX machines
* Added **Genoa Unknown 486** and **Alaris COUGAR 486BL** 486 machines
* Added **IBM PC 140 (type 6260)** Socket 7 machine
* Added missing I/O chip to the **Arche AMA-932J**
* Added on-board S3 ViRGE/DX video and Crystal CS4236B sound to the **Intel AP440FX**
* Added on-board Chips & Technologies B69000 video to the **ADLink NuPRO-592**
* Added more CPU speeds to the **Tandy 1000 HX**
* Fixed **Pravetz 16 / IMKO-4**, **AMI Super Voyager PCI**, **Packard Bell PB450** and **Dell Dimension XPS Pxxx** machines not being selectable on Linux and other case-sensitive systems
* Fixed **DEC Venturis 4xx** and **Rise R534F** hanging during POST
* Fixed **Micronics M4Li** rebooting during POST
* Fixed **HP Vectra VL 5 Series 4** not booting
* Fixed **Packard Bell PB450** password jumper error
* Fixed **FIC PT-2000** hanging after reboot
* Fixed floppy drives not working on **IBM PS/1** machines
* Fixed MFM/RLL hard disks not working on the **Arche AMA-2010**
* Fixed emulator crash while booting the **Compaq Presario 2240**
* Fixed emulator crash with more than 16 MB RAM on the **Amstrad MegaPC**
* Fixed keyboard not working with some operating systems on the **ASUS P/I-P5MP3**
* Fixed hard disk controller error on the **Siemens Nixdorf D824**
* Fixed BIOS settings not saving on the **Radisys EPC-2102**
* Fixed incorrect on-board video detection on the **IBM PC 330**
* Fixed AGP slot incorrectly available (and broken) on the **NEC Mate NX MA30D/23D**
* Fixed Windows hanging during startup on the **FIC VA-502**
* Fixed **IBM PCjr** display glitches in 2-bit mode or with overscan enabled
* Fixed **Acer 100T**, **Commodore SL386SX-25**, **HP Vectra 486VL** and **Tyan Trinity 371** on-board device detection issues
* Fixed **AMI Apollo** not starting up with the minimum 8 MB RAM
* Fixed **Olystar LIL1429** filed on the wrong category (now Socket 2)
* Fixed **Acer V10** and **SiS VL-BUS 471 REV. A1** filed on the wrong category (now Socket 3)
* Fixed **Acer M3A**, **Dell Hannibal+** and **ECS P5VX-B** filed on the wrong category (now Socket 7 Dual Voltage)
* Renamed **DTK 386SX clone** to **DTK PM-1630C**
* Renamed **AMA-932J** to **Arche AMA-932J**
* Changed maximum RAM on the **IBM XT Model 286 and AT** to reflect the base boards' 640 and 512 KB limits respectively (use ISA memory expansion cards to go beyond that)
* Changed **DataExpert SX495** CPU selection to reflect compatible models
* Changed **Olivetti M240** BIOS revision to a newer one

### Hardware

* **Core**
  * Added Softfloat support to the **8087 FPU**
  * Upgraded **Softfloat FPU** to Release 3e
  * Fixed hard reset crash on **SiS Socket 7** machines
  * Fixed emulator crash with **RapidCAD** CPUs on ARM hosts
  * Fixed issues with Lotus 1-2-3 and other applications due to missing **FBLD** FPU instruction
  * Fixed incorrect **LOCK** instruction behavior on 286 CPUs
  * Fixed CPU inaccuracies breaking **Microsoft OS/2 2.0 betas**
  * Fixed **OPTi chipset** detection by some tools
* **Display**
  * Added **ATI VGA Wonder 18800** ISA video card
  * Added **Bochs SVGA** PCI video card
  * Added **Diamond Stealth64 Video VRAM** (S3 Vision968) VLB and PCI video card
  * Removed **Matrox Productiva G100** video card due to numerous issues
  * Fixed **VideoMagic Tseng ET4000** cards not being selectable on Linux and other case-sensitive systems
  * Fixed emulator crash triggered by mouse movement on the **Voodoo Banshee/3**
  * Fixed random emulator crashes with **Matrox cards**
  * Fixed hard reset crashes with **S3 cards** and the **Voodoo Banshee/3**
  * Fixed Windows 3.x hanging and resolution switching issues with **Matrox cards**
  * Fixed transparency rendering issues with **Matrox cards**
  * Fixed overscan with **Voodoo and Voodoo 2** cards
  * Fixed some **XGA**, **ATI Mach8**, **Mach32** and **Mach64** rendering glitches on Windows
  * Fixed some resolution-specific rendering issues with **S3 Vision** cards on Windows
  * Fixed some 3D-related issues with **S3 ViRGE** cards
  * Fixed **Chips & Technologies B69000** not working with some Windows drivers
  * Fixed **ATI Mach32** and **Mach64** not working with OpenStep drivers
  * Changed memory size selection on **Tseng ET3000**, **ET4000**, **3dfx Velocity 100** and **Voodoo3 1000** cards to address inaccuracies
* **Input**
  * Added **3M MicroTouch** serial touchscreen
  * Fixed **Microsoft SideWinder Pad** detection issues on some setups
  * Fixed emulator crash when pressing **multimedia keys** on Windows hosts
* **Sound**
  * Added **ESS AudioDrive ES688** and **ES1688** ISA sound cards
  * Added **Pro Audio Spectrum Plus**, **16** and **16D** ISA sound cards
  * Added **Sound Blaster PCI ES1373** and **CT5880** PCI sound cards
  * Improved **Sound Blaster AWE** EMU8000 synth sound quality
  * Fixed **Roland MT-32 (New)** MIDI emulation not being selectable
  * Fixed **Sound Blaster Classic** and **Pro** detection by some DOS games
  * Fixed **Sound Blaster 16** 8-bit DMA compatibility mode
  * Fixed **C-Media CMI8338** and **CMI8738** hanging during initialization with some DOS drivers
  * Fixed **Ensoniq AudioPCI** not outputting audio after resuming from sleep mode
  * Fixed **Sound Blaster 16 PnP** and **Crystal CS4236B** configuration data not matching real cards
* **Network**
  * Added SLIP and Telnet **serial modem emulation** as a network card option
  * Added partial **MAC address editing** through the **Configure** window
  * Fixed detection of the **DEC DE-500A** card by some operating systems
  * Fixed emulator crash during Windows installation with **NE2000-based cards**
  * Fixed loss of **multicast packets** (used by AppleTalk and other protocols) in PCap mode
  * Fixed PCap mode not detecting **Npcap** without WinPcap compatibility mode on Windows hosts
  * Fixed **VDE** permission issue when running the switch as an unprivileged user
* **Ports**
  * Fixed **ESC/P printer** cutting a line of text near the bottom of a page
* **Storage**
  * Added **CD-ROM passthrough** for real and virtual drives on Windows hosts
  * Added **Trantor T228** MCA SCSI card
  * Added **PCjs** floppy image support for the current v2 format (replacing the previous v1)
  * Added **Teledisk 1.x compressed** floppy image support
  * Added support for tracks with compressed/encapsulated audio or big endian data on **cue CD images**
  * Added writable configuration support to the **Monster FDC** card
  * Added **3.5" 2.88M dual RPM** floppy drive option
  * Increased SCSI bus speed on **NCR 53C860** and **53C875** cards
  * Fixed emulator crash when loading **ZIP disk images**
  * Fixed emulator crash when accessing **DVD images** with some applications
  * Fixed **CD folder mounting** misbehaving on Windows hosts if a file larger than 2 GB is present
  * Fixed **dynamic VHD images** growing uncontrollably during a low level format
  * Fixed read errors with some **HxC MFM** floppy images
  * Fixed IDE hard disk detection errors on **OpenStep**
  * Fixed CD-ROM read errors with **Mode 2 ISO images**
  * Fixed **ALi IDE driver** for Windows 95 on later chipsets
  * Fixed I/O timeout issues with some **Trantor T130B** drivers
  * Fixed small inaccuracy with **CD-ROM sector headers**
* **Other**
  * Added **BocaRAM/XT** and **Lo-tech EMS Board** ISA memory expansion cards
  * Added **IBM XT and AT Memory Expansion Option** ISA memory expansion cards
  * Added [**Novell NetWare 2.x Key Card**](https://www.os2museum.com/wp/unlocking-netware-2-0a/) device
  * Increased maximum supported memory size to 3 MB on the **Everex EV-159** ISA memory expansion card
  * Fixed page frame address selection on the **Everex EV-159** ISA memory expansion card
  * Fixed default configurations for some **ISA memory expansion cards**
