Running Emu71 on Android

[Didier Lachieze]

Late July there was a discussion about go71b, a 71b emulator for Android. It's pretty good but has some limitations so I've looked for a way to run JFG's excellent Emu71 on Android.
I've been able to run it on my 8" tablet, the display is a bit small but I think it should be fine on a 10“ tablet.

To achieve this there are some prerequisites :

1. a DOS emulator
2. a standard keyboard
3. a file manager
4. and (optionally) a text editor
   

DOS emulator : there are several on the play store, I'm using aFreeBox, this is a free port of DOSBox on Android.


Standard keyboard : to use Emu71 it's better to have a PC keyboard, the standard Android keyboard is incomplete and doesn't support the function keys. You may use a USB or a Bluetooth keyboard but I've not tested it. It's simpler to use a dedicated Android keyboard, there is one appropriate for Emu71, it's the Hacker's keyboard. Be sure to follow the installation instructions to activate it on Android.

File manager : You'll need a file manager application to copy the different files for Emu71 in the DOS emulator directory. I'm using File Commander because it's preinstalled on my tablet, but there are plenty on the PlayStore.

Text editor : You'll need to edit at least the emu71.ini config file, you may do it under DOS but I find it easier to do it with an App, I'm using Ted (I removed QuickEdit which requires net access permissions).

Once every app is installed launch aFreeBox, by default it should map C: to your download directory. Press the keyboard icon on the top of the screen and select the Hacker's keyboard to replace the Android keyboard.
Create a "DOS" directory in your download directory, download Emu71 package, unzip it to the DOS directory and configure it as you need.
Now from aFreeBox go to the DOS directory, you should be able to run Emu71.

Here is a screenshot of JFG's pirate rom running on Emu71 on my Sony 8" tablet:


Note: there is a bug in the Hacker's keyboard preventing to use the shift key with the function keys, but there is a workaround: instead of using the shift key on the keyboard, press the small lightning and select Shift before pressing the Fn key.