dr.zeissler wrote on 2020-01-17, 07:35:

I put a S2-Midi Module on my SC1630 Soundcard and configured that MPU uses the SB-IRQ's. This works for "overkill" and sounds p […]
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I put a S2-Midi Module on my SC1630 Soundcard and configured that MPU uses the SB-IRQ's.
This works for "overkill" and sounds pretty nice on my 286/8! I can't see a slowdown compared
to no music at all.
I will take that thing out and use a midi-breakout-cable in order to use my SC55 and MT32.
Though I have no slot free and I am not able to use softmpu (386+ ems), but I will have a look
what MT32/SC55 games will work without intelligent mode.
We will see.

Greetings
Doc

Are there even any games that run comfortably on a 286 and use General MIDI?

OVERKILL 😀

dr.zeissler wrote on 2020-01-17, 08:41:

OVERKILL 😀

I guess with something like the Dreamblaster S2 or X2 using the Dream soundbank you can set it to MT-32 mode and run MT-32 games that use the standard sample set (like Monkey Island, Larry 2, Space Quest 3 - I can't think of any others off the top of my mind).

Is there a list, what games do make use of the standard set and do not require intelligent mode.

dr.zeissler wrote on 2020-01-17, 09:27:

Is there a list, what games do make use of the standard set and do not require intelligent mode.

I believe there is another thread in the forum currently with someone else asking this question. If there is a list, I do not know..

I used my Turtle Beach Maui on my 286-16mhz in the early 90s without any noticed slowdowns. It sounded good for the games that could support it but most didn't back then. However I can say that Dune II actually ran very well on that 286 as did both Wing Commander 1 and 2. Although with WC2 I had to literally dump everything off the HDD in order to play it as I only had a small 20Mb MFM HDD in that 286.

Later when I got my 486 I had an SB-16 (1st gen) paired with my SCB-55 and that worked great for a majority of the games! I'd imagine that it still would have been usable for Sierra games that supported both MT-32 and Gen Midi by then in the early 90s on my older 286 as well.

If you have a 12MHz AT you're doing great, especially if it's 0WS.
I think a 12MHz 286 with EGA hardware and an MT-32 would be pretty badass.

appiah4 wrote on 2020-01-17, 11:28:

dr.zeissler wrote on 2020-01-17, 09:27:

Is there a list, what games do make use of the standard set and do not require intelligent mode.

I believe there is another thread in the forum currently with someone else asking this question. If there is a list, I do not know..

List of Real Mode games that utilize MT-32/GM (for AWE emulation)

I only have 286/8 no upgrade possible. first testing-sessions done...mixed experiences. (Dreamblaster S2 internal, SC55/MT-32 external)
Now I am checking if I can set the Dreamblaster S2 to mt32 compatible mode. Autoexec.bat "SET MIDI=SYNTH:2 MAP:E MODE:2"

dr.zeissler wrote on 2020-01-17, 17:04:

I only have 286/8 no upgrade possible. first testing-sessions done...mixed experiences. (Dreamblaster S2 internal, SC55/MT-32 external)
Now I am checking if I can set the Dreamblaster S2 to mt32 compatible mode. Autoexec.bat "SET MIDI=SYNTH:2 MAP:E MODE:2"

That is not how it is done.

How is it done?

I think there is no Mt-32 compatible mode for the S2.

The S2P can be set via softmpu:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
USING SOFTMPU: DREAMBLASTER S2P MODE
You can download the special softmpu DOS TSR version compiled executable and sources from
https://github.com/pdewacht/softmpu
Run SoftMPU specifying the parallel interface to be used and the base port address of the MPU-401 interface, e.g.
SOFTMPU.EXE /MPU:330 /OUTPUT:LPT1
To enable MT-32 compatibility, add the /MT32 switch to the command line, e.g.
SOFTMPU.EXE /MPU:330 /OUTPUT:LPT1 /MT32
A Sound Blaster base port address and IRQ can optionally be specified if MPU-401 interrupts are required.
We are also working on a patching utility, and had success patching doom for S2P compatibility, so far.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But no softmpu on 286/8 🙁