VOGONS


First post, by nuschii

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Greetings, Vogons. Forum's noob here. ๐Ÿ˜€

I recently got my hands on a terrific Toshiba T4900CT notebook (Pentium 75). The device is equipped with a "Windows Sound System" sound card, which consists of Analog Devices AD1848 codec chip with Yamaha OPL3 (YMF262-M) FM synthesis sound chip, Wikipedia says.

The OPL3 works like a charm, only problem is: Using DOS, it always plays on full volume. The notebook doesn't have a hardware volume control. However, volume can be controlled via hotkey (Fn+F4) in four steps: Off - Low - Medium - High. For OPL3 FM synthesis, this translates to: Off - Extremely Loud - Extremely Loud - Extremely Loud. ๐Ÿ˜• Using the built-in mini speaker to listen to OPL3 music isn't a very good idea: Total overdrive as soon as a little bass kicks in. ๐Ÿ˜ข Also, plugged in head phones will always play on full volume.

I already learned that there is a Sound Blaster compatibility driver for DOS, called WSSXLAT.EXE, which does work, but it doesn't seem to provide an option for setting FM synthesis volume, just "wave" and "linein":
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/110385/en-us

Interestingly, synthesis volume can be controlled using the mixer application in Windows 3.11 (see screenshot), and this does in fact control the volume of MIDI files played by Windows Media Player. The downside of it: As soon as Windows 3.11 sound drivers are loaded, OPL3 synthesis doesn't work anymore for DOS applications.

Anyone has experience with this kind of sound card? I can't imaginge that there isn't any possibility to set FM synthesis volume in DOS...

Best regards,
nuschii

Reply 1 of 1, by nuschii

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Update: Found these bad news on Microsoft's Website:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/89873/en-us

There is no software volume control for MS-DOS programs using Adlib compatibility; you may have to turn down your stereo or headphones when running a game. Windows cannot adjust the volume because the game takes over control of the Yamaha OPL3 chip, which prevents the Windows driver from adjusting the volume control.

Seems to me, there really is no way of turning down the OPL3's volume by software means. ๐Ÿ˜ข
Apparently, the Windows mixer doesn't control the output of OPL3 itself but rather the volume of the MIDI sequencer controlling the OPL3.