Lab & Legacy · 1 Aug 2020 · Rob Nidschelm

LeMenu 3.1 on DOSBox: Installation and Configuration Guide

LeMenu 3.1 is a text-mode menu builder and directory manager from Bartel Software, preserved as a 1988 release for IBM PC-compatible systems running MS-DOS. It replaces repeated drive changes and command typing with configurable keyboard-driven menus, making it a practical front end for DOS games, utilities and applications in DOSBox.

What LeMenu does

LeMenu can organise programs and batch files into menus and submenus. It supports as many as four menu levels and 26 entries per menu, one for each letter from A to Z. It also includes directory-management functions, basic activity logging, configurable colours and a custom title.

Its ability to launch batch files is especially useful in an emulator. Each menu item can prepare a program’s working directory, run the application and perform any cleanup required afterwards. This lets a large DOS software collection behave more like a managed library than a collection of folders.

Video: LeMenu 3.1 starting in DOSBox

This short demonstration shows the installed LeMenu 3.1 interface starting in DOSBox ECE. The same LeMenu files and DOS commands work with other DOSBox builds that support the standard MOUNT and IMGMOUNT commands.

Download LeMenu 3.1 or 3.0

• LeMenu 3.1: download the preserved LeMenu 3.1 package from the Internet Archive. This release is supplied as a ZIP file containing the program files, INSTALL.EXE, COMMAND.COM and the documentation.
• LeMenu 3.0: download the preserved LeMenu 3.0 disk from the Internet Archive. This release is supplied as a 360 KB floppy image.

The files are hosted by the Internet Archive for software preservation and historical research. Check the applicable software rights and local rules before using archived software.

What you need

• A working DOSBox installation.
• A writable host folder that DOSBox can mount as drive C.
• The extracted LeMenu 3.1 package or the LeMenu 3.0 floppy image.
• Optional MS-DOS installation media only if you want the installer to add DOS components that DOSBox does not provide itself.

The examples below use C:DOSBoxLeMenu on a Windows host. On macOS or Linux, replace that path with an absolute path on your own system. Keep the quotation marks when a path contains spaces.

Install LeMenu 3.1 using a mounted folder

The LeMenu 3.1 archive contains ordinary files rather than a floppy-image file. The most reliable method is to extract the ZIP into a host folder and mount that folder as DOSBox drive A.

1. Prepare the folders

Create these two folders on the host:

C:DOSBoxLeMenudrive-c
C:DOSBoxLeMenuinstaller-3.1

Extract every file from the LeMenu 3.1 ZIP into installer-3.1. Leave the filenames unchanged.

2. Mount the working drive and installer

Start DOSBox and enter:

mount c "C:DOSBoxLeMenudrive-c"
mount a "C:DOSBoxLeMenuinstaller-3.1" -t floppy
c:
copy z:command.com c:a:
install

The first command gives LeMenu a writable destination. The second presents the extracted installation files as a floppy drive. Copying DOSBox’s built-in COMMAND.COM to drive C prevents the installer from failing when it checks the destination system.

3. Complete the installer

1. Continue from the opening screen.
2. Press C if you want to change the colours. Use F1 to save changes, or continue with the defaults.
3. Enter the title that should appear on the main menu.
4. Set both the installation drive and boot drive to C.
5. Leave optional fields unchanged unless you know that your DOS setup needs them.
6. Press F1 to save the settings and begin copying files.

If the installer offers optional DOS components, continue without them unless you have suitable DOS media and specifically need those utilities. DOSBox already supplies the commands required for launching and managing most games and applications.

4. Start LeMenu

c:
cd lemenu
le menu

The last command runs LE.COM and opens the menu database named MENU.

Install LeMenu 3.0 from its floppy image

The LeMenu 3.0 archive contains a 360 KB .ima floppy image. Its original filename is long, so renaming a local copy to lemenu30.ima makes the DOSBox command easier to read.

mount c "C:DOSBoxLeMenudrive-c"
imgmount a "C:DOSBoxLeMenulemenu30.ima" -t floppy
c:
copy z:command.com c:a:
install

DOSBox automatically recognises common floppy geometries, including 360 KB images. Complete the installer as described for version 3.1 and select drive C for both the installation and boot drive.

Start LeMenu automatically

After confirming that LeMenu starts correctly, add the following lines to the [autoexec] section at the bottom of the DOSBox configuration file:

[autoexec]
mount c "C:DOSBoxLeMenudrive-c"
c:
cd lemenu
le menu

If the configuration already contains an [autoexec] heading, add only the commands beneath that existing heading. DOSBox can use different configuration files for different software collections, which is useful if LeMenu should start only in one environment.

An existing FAT hard-disk image can be used instead of a host folder, but image-backed drives require the correct filesystem and geometry. The directory-backed method above is simpler to maintain, inspect and back up.

Add games and applications

LeMenu can launch executable files directly, but batch files provide more control. A batch file can change to the correct directory, set environment variables, run the program and return to the LeMenu directory afterwards.

@echo off
c:
cd gameskeen
keen4e.exe
cd lemenu

Save the batch file on the mounted C drive and configure a LeMenu item to run it. Keeping one short batch file per game or application makes the menu easier to move between DOSBox installations.

Troubleshooting

• DOSBox cannot change to LEMENU: the folder does not exist until installation completes. Remove any automatic CD LEMENU command while installing, or ignore the message during the first run.
• The installer cannot find COMMAND.COM: copy Z:COMMAND.COM to the root of the destination drive before starting INSTALL.
• The installer cannot write files: confirm that drive C points to a writable host folder and is not mounted read-only.
• The 3.0 disk image does not mount: keep the -t floppy option, quote the complete host path and rename the local file if its original filename causes typing problems.
• Files changed outside DOSBox do not appear: press Ctrl+F4 to refresh mounted media.
• An application’s cursor has the wrong shape: the LeMenu 3.1 README recommends running LECURSOR.COM from a batch-type menu option immediately before starting that application.

References

• Internet Archive: LeMenu 3.1
• Internet Archive: LeMenu 3.0, 360 KB floppy image
• DOSBox documentation: MOUNT
• DOSBox documentation: IMGMOUNT
• DOSBox documentation: dosbox.conf

LeMenu remains useful because it applies a simple idea well: organise DOS software once, then launch it through a consistent menu. In DOSBox, that makes a legacy software collection easier to browse without hiding how the underlying directories and batch files work.