TASEmulators / TASEmulators/BizHawk

DOSBox-X Core leaks memory on big games

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Core: DOSBox-X Repro: Affects 2.11.1 dev
Dominant language
C#
Stars
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Forks
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PR merge metrics
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Description

Every time you reload a DOSBox-X game, some of its memory ends up leaked -- especially on those big 2GB hdd games.

Reproduce:

1- Pick a big (2GB) .hdd image to open with DOSBox-X
2- Open it
3- Close the ROM
4- Repeat 2 and 3 many times

A 2GB leak will remain no matter how many times you close it. I suspect the HDD file remains loaded in some kind of file cache.

Image

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Research direction

Start by reproducing the leak with a large 2GB .hdd image, repeatedly opening and closing it as described, then inspect memory usage to confirm whether the image remains retained. The issue names no source file or test, so locating the DOSBox-X core path and adding a regression check would be part of the investigation. Done means repeated reloads no longer leave the reported memory allocated.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
csharp
Domain
performance
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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