IzarraVM is a Rust emulator for the Izarra 3000, a DOS-era workstation that almost shipped in 1997. It models one fixed machine: custom video and audio around an MS-DOS compatible core, booting Toka-DOS: a real FreeDOS-based system running in virtual-8086 mode under the machine's own memory manager.
The goal is to run early to mid 1990s DOS games as if the Izarra had reached store shelves. A growing set of games already runs, and the throttled CPU modes run at or near real-time on a modern host; the full-speed 586 mode is still being tuned.
Izarra started in Zamudio, Bizkaia, in 1982. Mikel Etxeberria handled the hardware and repairs; Txema Goikoetxea handled customers, parts, and the less glamorous business of getting invoices paid. Their first products were electronic typewriters, backed by the sort of local service that meant a broken machine did not have to be shipped away for weeks. Izarra also made parts for Olivetti, steady work that helped keep the lights on.
By the late 1980s, those same customers were asking about PCs. Izarra moved into custom workstations instead of simply rebadging AT compatibles, keeping familiar DOS software but building its own hardware and operating-system stack around it. That made the machines distinctive -- some Spanish magazines called Izarra "the Basque Amiga" -- but it also made them expensive.
The computer line began with the 286-based Izarra 1000 in 1990, followed by the 386-based 2000 in 1992 and the 486-based 2700 in 1994. Each pushed a little further beyond office work, especially as better graphics, sound, and CD-ROMs made multimedia and home use more practical.
The Izarra 3000 was the big swing: a custom 586-class workstation with its own BIOS, Toka-DOS 3.0, VEGA graphics, and ReSonique 2 sound. Unfortunately, it was ready for a market that had already moved on. Buyers expected Windows 95, which the machine could not run, and MS-DOS compatibility was no longer enough to justify the cost of Izarra's custom approach. The 3000 never reached stores. What survived were photos, manuals, BIOS dumps, unfinished developer notes, and enough affection for the machine to give IzarraVM something worth preserving.
The emulator targets one fixed machine. None of this is user-selectable; it reproduces the Izarra 3000 exactly as it was built.
| Area | Izarra 3000 hardware |
|---|---|
| CPU | GSW-586, a Pentium MMX at 200 MHz on a 66 MHz bus. The BIOS or the bundled GSWMODE tool can throttle it to a 486DX2 at 66 MHz, a 386DX at 22 MHz, or the same 386 ISA at 7.33 MHz without rebooting. |
| Memory | 24 MB SDRAM, with Toka mapping itself out of conventional memory when DOS games need the first 640 KB. |
| Graphics | VEGA chipset: Margo 2D with a 4 MB frame store; Distira 3D with a 2 MB framebuffer and 2 MB per TMU; VESA VBE 2.0, VGA mode 13h, and up to 1024x768 at 32-bit color. |
| Sound | ReSonique 2: Sound Blaster 16 compatible digital audio (PCM and Creative ADPCM), OPL3 FM, pin headers for a wavetable daughterboard, and a rear MPU-401/gameport. |
| Storage | 3.6 GB UDMA2 IDE hard disk on a PIIX4-compatible controller, 12x PIO ATAPI CD-ROM with CD audio, and a 1.44 MB floppy drive. |
| Display | 15-inch CRT, up to 1024x768@75hz. |
| Firmware | 2 MB ROM with the Izarra BIOS, Toka-DOS, and bundled tools. |
| I/O | PS/2 keyboard and mouse, serial, parallel, VGA, line out, line in, and MIDI/game port. |
The emulator boots to a usable DOS with sound, mouse, CD-ROM (ISO, CUE/BIN, or a host folder mounted as a disc), and floppy images. Legacy video personalities (CGA, EGA, VGA, Hercules) are modeled down to the register level, and the display goes through an optional, subtle CRT shader. Plenty of games run; plenty more don't yet. Compatibility work is ongoing.
cargo run -p izarravm -- --headless-config-check
cargo run -p izarravm -- --headless-test-rom
cargo run -p izarravm -- --headless-boot-suite
cargo run -p izarravm -- --config examples/izarravm.tomlFor non-Windows hosts later, replace the c_drive path in
examples/izarravm.toml or pass --c-drive /path/to/dosroot.
By default the C: drive, cmos.bin, and izarravm.conf live under the per-user
~/.izarravm directory, so launching the binary from any folder leaves nothing
behind in the working directory. Pass --portable to keep them in a c_drive
beside the executable instead, for a self-contained install.
For convenience, IzarraVM can route the Izarra 3000's rear MPU-401 connection through Munt. Munt needs one control ROM and its matching PCM ROM:
| Module | Control ROM | PCM ROM |
|---|---|---|
| MT-32, old generation | ctrl_mt32_1_04.rom, ctrl_mt32_1_05.rom, ctrl_mt32_1_06.rom, or ctrl_mt32_1_07.rom |
pcm_mt32.rom |
| MT-32, new generation | ctrl_mt32_2_04.rom, ctrl_mt32_2_06.rom, or ctrl_mt32_2_07.rom |
pcm_mt32.rom |
| CM-32L | ctrl_cm32l_1_00.rom or ctrl_cm32l_1_02.rom |
pcm_cm32l.rom |
| CM-32LN | ctrl_cm32ln_1_00.rom |
pcm_cm32l.rom |
Settings accepts arbitrary control and PCM paths, so the archive filenames can
be selected directly. For automatic discovery, copy and rename an MT-32 pair
to ~/.izarravm/MT32_CONTROL.ROM and ~/.izarravm/MT32_PCM.ROM. Copy and
rename a CM-32L or CM-32LN pair to ~/.izarravm/CM32L_CONTROL.ROM and
~/.izarravm/CM32L_PCM.ROM. Discovery is ASCII case-insensitive and is disabled
under --portable; paths selected in Settings still work. The source names in
the table match the mt32pi directory in the Roland MT-32 ROMs
archive.
Many DOS Glide games already include GLIDE2X.OVL; that game-local copy takes
priority. Otherwise, place a compatible Voodoo Graphics OVL at
~/.izarravm/GLIDE2X.OVL. IzarraVM finds the name without regard to ASCII case
and exposes it through C:\DOS as the global PATH fallback. A
3DBVoodoo2 driver-disc image
is archived for reference. IzarraVM does not bundle a replacement or
diagnostic OVL when neither copy is present.
IzarraVM neither downloads nor redistributes ROMs, Glide drivers, or game data. Archive item metadata is not a license. Use these files only when you have the lawful right to do so.
cargo fmt --check
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings
cargo test --workspace
cargo build --workspaceGNU GPL version 3 only (GPL-3.0-only; see LICENSE).