Status bar
The status bar located at the bottom of the 86Box window provides icons related to devices attached to the emulated machine. Move your mouse cursor over an icon to see what device it represents. Most icons can be clicked on to access options related to their respective devices, which are listed below, and image files can be dropped on the icons for removable media devices such as floppy and CD-ROM drives. Additionally, a green indicator light will appear on an icon when its device is in use, unless Update status bar icons is disabled.
Cassette deck
A cassette tape icon will appear if IBM cassette emulation is enabled.
New image: create a new cassette tape image file.
Existing image: insert a cassette tape image file into the deck. Dragging and dropping an image file on the icon will also load it.
Existing image (Write-protected): insert a cassette tape image file into the deck as a read-only tape.
Record: start recording data to the cassette tape. Not available if the tape is read-only.
Play: start playing the cassette tape.
Rewind to the beginning: rewind the cassette tape to its beginning.
Fast forward to the end: fast forward the cassette tape to its end.
Eject: remove the currently-inserted cassette tape from the deck.
PCjr cartridges
Two cartridge icons will appear if the IBM PCjr is being emulated. Each icon corresponds to a cartridge slot on the PCjr’s front panel.
Image: insert a cartridge image file into this slot. Inserting a cartridge will reset the PCjr. Dragging and dropping an image file on the icon will also load it.
Eject: remove the currently-inserted cartridge from this slot.
Floppy drives
A 3.5” or 5.25” floppy icon will appear for each configured floppy drive.
New image: create a new disk image file. Opens the New Image window, which lets you select the image size and where to save the file.
Existing image: insert a disk image file into this drive. Dragging and dropping an image file on the icon will also load it.
Existing image (Write-protected): insert a disk image file into this drive as a read-only disk.
A history of the last few images that were loaded into this drive. Click on an entry to load it back.
Export to 86F: convert the currently-inserted disk image file to 86Box’s 86F surface image format. You will be asked where to save the converted file.
Eject: remove the currently-inserted disk from this drive.
CD-ROM drives
A CD icon will appear for each configured CD-ROM drive.
Mute: mute any CD audio played through this drive’s analog output. CD audio is unmuted by default on the first configured CD-ROM drive.
Image: insert a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM disc image file into this drive. Dragging and dropping an image file on the icon will also load it.
Folder: insert a virtual CD-ROM or DVD-ROM with the contents of a host folder into this drive. Dragging and dropping a folder on the icon will also load it.
A history of the last few images or folders that were loaded into this drive. Click on an entry to load it back.
Eject: remove any disc inserted into this drive.
ZIP and MO drives
A ZIP or MO icon will appear for each configured additional removable storage drive.
New image: create a new disk image file. Opens the New Image window, which lets you select the image size and where to save the file.
Existing image: insert a disk image file into this drive. Dragging and dropping an image file on the icon will also load it.
Existing image (Write-protected): insert a disk image file into this drive as a read-only disk.
Eject: remove the currently-inserted disk from this drive.
Reload previous image: reinsert the last disk image file selected through the Existing image options.
Hard disks
A hard disk icon will appear for each configured hard disk bus. For example, if you have both IDE and SCSI hard disks configured, two hard disk icons will appear: one representing all IDE disks, and another one representing all SCSI disks. No options are available.
Network
A network icon will appear for each configured network card.
Connected: connect this card to its network. Network cards with link state detection support will report a disconnected cable if this option is unchecked.
Sound
This icon is always present. Double-clicking it opens a sound gain control, which allows you to increase the loudness of all audio produced by the emulated machine’s PC speaker, sound cards and other sound hardware.
Note
The gain control does not apply to MIDI music sent to a software synthesizer through the System MIDI device, as these synthesizers are external to 86Box.
Additional information area
This area, located to the right of the icons described above, contains additional information which may be provided by components such as the ISABugger and POST card.
Monitor sleep mode
The Monitor in sleep mode message will be displayed if the emulated monitor has been put into DPMS sleep mode by the operating system. Pressing a key or moving the mouse is often enough to wake the monitor up.
ISABugger
The ISABugger’s hexadecimal displays and LED banks are displayed here. See ISABugger for more information.
POST card
The leftmost hexadecimal value is the most recent POST code reported, while the rightmost value is the second most recent code, like on a real dual-display POST card. A value of --
indicates that no POST code has been reported yet.
Note
The additional information area can only be used by one component at a time. If both the ISABugger and the POST card are enabled simultaneously, the POST card takes over whenever a POST code is reported, and the ISABugger takes over whenever one of its registers is written to. The Monitor in sleep mode message is high-priority and will override all other components.