VOGONS


First post, by wishbringer

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Hello, new to the forum in need of help.

Setup:
AWE32
MUSIC QUEST MXX-32M MPU
MT-32 original.
midi din cables.

I have no interest in a dosbox / emulation setup.

I am a total noob to this. Always wanted to hear Roland as a kid in games and now the reality is near!. I have 4 ports on the mpu-ipc and I have my mpu-401 cable for the sound card. I don't even know if I have everything hooked up properly.

Sounds are messed up. The mt-32 is not receiving the sierra sounds / patch before startup.. no sound programming.

What is the correct way to hook up the cords and what else could I be missing?
thank you for your time.

Chad.
920-883-8905

Reply 1 of 17, by Mau1wurf1977

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Any chance you can take some pictures of everything?

The way to hook it up is:

MIDI-OUT from the Music Quest goes into MIDI-IN from the MT-32.

And that's it.

You could have a resource conflict with the AWE32, so make sure you resolve that. Try the Music Quest on it's own if you can.

Here are 3 options to hook up a MT-32:

Option 1: Soundcard with a MPU401 port + joystick port to midi cable + MT32.

Main benefit: Many soundcards have this port
Main drawback: Doesn't support the "intelligent mode", so some games won't work (though many will). "Hanging note" bug on many Sound Blaster cards.

dsc01717cp.jpg

Option 2: A Roland MPU401 or compatible (mine is a clone) card + midi cable + MT-32

Main benefit: Supports "intelligent mode", so every game should work.
Main downside: Harder to find / expensive

dsc01721r.jpg

Option 3 (For DOSBox): A machine that runs DOSBox + USB midi interface + MT-32

Main benefit: Really really cheap (Like 5 bucks shipped) and easy to obtain (ebay).

dsc01722nj.jpg

Reply 3 of 17, by Mau1wurf1977

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Yea, pullout all cables.

Only 1 cable you need:

Music Quest MIDI - OUT > MT-32 MIDI - IN.

No other cables!

And don't init AWE32 just yet, cos you might have conflict with the MIDI port.

Reply 4 of 17, by wishbringer

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If I do that, then it goes silent.. getting music now only with both hooked up with the wrong insturments.. i never get the mt-32 sound profile uploaded before the games starts.

Ill pull the awe32 now and do what you suggested.

Reply 5 of 17, by wishbringer

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Pulling the sound card doesnt make sense.. Unless if I am missing something.

I did pull the awe32 out though as you suggested and it results in total lose of the option to even pick roland mt-32 in the sierra setup.. I thought before hand all 3 parts work together.. the sound card, mpu-ipc and the mt-32.

Last edited by wishbringer on 2011-05-02, 06:02. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 6 of 17, by Mau1wurf1977

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wishbringer wrote:

I did pull it though as you suggested and it results in total lose of the option to even pick roland mt-32 in the sierra setup

Then the Music Quest isn't working, or isn't MPU401 compatible...

Leave the AWE out and focus on getting the Music Quest going.

EDIT:

If there are jumpers / switches, make sure its set to IRQ 2 or 9 and Address 330.

Reply 8 of 17, by Mau1wurf1977

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Maybe someone else can tell us if this card is indeed Roland MPU401 compatible.

Is there anything on the box or in the manual that might answer this question?

Because some ISA Midi cards are for Windows and aren't MPU401 compatible anymore.

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Reply 10 of 17, by megatron-uk

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It's strange that it needs a driver/tsr loading - as per that DOS screen. None of the other cards that provide an MPU401 device require one - they just get an interrupt and a IO port.

Can you try it without the driver/tsr loaded?

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Reply 11 of 17, by collector

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:
Yea, pullout all cables. […]
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Yea, pullout all cables.

Only 1 cable you need:

Music Quest MIDI - OUT > MT-32 MIDI - IN.

No other cables!

Well, you need the audio out from the MT-32 to audio in of an amplifier or the sound card.

Reply 12 of 17, by Mau1wurf1977

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collector wrote:

Well, you need the audio out from the MT-32 to audio in of an amplifier or the sound card.

You are of course correct!

Reply 13 of 17, by wishbringer

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IT WORKS PERFECT!..

Thanks everyone.. When I went to change the address to 330 yesterday I changed the wrong jumpers.. so its working with my sound card pulled with the irq 2/9 setting and 330 address on the music quest!. now to just work out the sound card conflict and im good..

I was getting a exe checksum error.. bumped the cpu down from a 486dx100 to a 486sx33 and the file loaded after that!.

Reply 14 of 17, by Mau1wurf1977

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Awesome!

Sometimes a good nights sleep is all it takes 🤣

Basically what you want to do next is either disable, or configure the MPU401 of the AWE32 to something other than 330. 300 for example.

On the AWE64 you can use CTCU to reconfigure resources and even disable the MPU401 port. This might be similar with your model, or it might not. There might be jumpers as well.

Basically it differs from card to card, but there is always a way 🤣

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Reply 15 of 17, by wishbringer

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Cool cool.. yup I was totaly exhausted.. got it first thing in the morning though. pretty sure though last night it wouldnt work stand alone (awe32 removed) at address 260.. not sure why it needs to be 330.. THANKS!

Reply 16 of 17, by Mau1wurf1977

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Address 330 is the default. Pretty much all games look at that address.

Some games allow you to specify an address, such as 300 or 260 in your case, but not all games have this option.

330 "just works" and with every game...

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