Any way of opening dvd images?

[reignerdeustcher]

I want to install the dvd version of wing commander IV in my dosbox pure windows 98 installation but it says ''unable to open cd-rom image'' both files are like 3.83 gb, it can be done?

[schellingb]

DOSBox doesn't support DVDs, only CDs

[leilei-]

also doesn't the wc4 dvd version require specific mpeg decoder hardware?

[michael-leroy]

Assuming windows (and you dont need special mpeg2 hardware like @leilei- describes) perhaps this would work for you.

• Create a windows 98se VM (Virtualbox perhaps?) with a virtual hard drive in .vhd format.
• Install the game (Full install possible?). This method wont really work if you need the DVD in while playing the game...
• Apply a no-cd patch to the game if it requires it.
• Close VM and mount the .vhd as a hard drive (you can do this in the "computer management" app. Google how to do this). This will let you see the VM's hard drive image as a local drive.
• Copy the game out of the image onto your local system and zip it.
• Unmount/eject the .vhd mounted image.
• Start up dosbox-pure and have the .zip mounted as your D: drive via "load content" in retroarch.
• Attempt to start the game.

I use this method to get games on real hardware that does not have a functional CD-rom drive. Usually works well for most games.

[alexb3d]

Some time ago I tested DVDs, with random results.

Many images cannot be loaded at startup. "Unable to open CD-ROM image".
The MDF image does not even warn that the disc does not load, some of them can be opened if the format is changed to ISO.
If the image loads, it is always displayed with a maximum of 1.99Gb.
DVD protection can be very severe (cdloader, etc), it is possible that the image loads but does not allow to install.
Dual Layer DVD..., nop

The images that I have been able to load successfully are CUE+BIN, ISO format and always smaller than 1.9Gb.

Edit: I forgot to mention, the images have to be decompressed, in zip they don't load.

A curious case, DVD video load in full. Like Interactive DVD Game (i-DVD) games, but, it is not possible to reproduce them with the current hardware.

Personally I don't recommend using DVDs with the current hardware, but if for some reason you need to load one, you can extract the image content, compress it and load the zip in Pure, all the content appears in D: even if it is double layer.