VOGONS


First post, by Gixxxer

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I was wondering if someone could clarify something for me and also open to suggestions. I so have been looking into dreamblaster for some time now because i can’t get my hands on an midi setup easily. If my understanding is correct, using dreamblaster takes up the game port because it uses the gameport for mpu-401 correct? So that means you cannot use the dreamblaster and a game port at the same time correct? If this is the case can i just buy a gameport card or another cheap sound card with gameport so i can have both midi and a gamepad simultaneously?

Reply 1 of 4, by Jo22

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The MIDI port and the game port are two sepparate devices.
It's just that the Sound Blaster card used some unused pins of the DB-15 connector that was used by the IBM Game Control Adapter card.
And since Sound Blaster became so popular, almost all sound card makers continued to support this choice.
A normal game card has no MIDI pins, thus can't work with any of the usual MIDI devices.
https://mysite.du.edu/~etuttle/electron/elect57.htm

Edit: In other words, the gameport on a sound card can communicate with MIDI and a joystick the same time.
It just needs a splitter cable (MIDI/Joystick), in a similar fashion as it is required for a two player scenario (two joysticks on one DB-15).
Speaking under correction, I believe the easist would be to make your own 1:1 extender cable, with three wires (MIDI RX, MIDI TX, GND)
going to a separate connector (DIN directly or DB15) for MIDI.

Edit: You can also disable the game port on sound cards, independendly of the MIDI port (MPU-401).
Doing so would cause no conflict with a dedicated game card.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

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Reply 3 of 4, by Jo22

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Oh, you're using an internal MIDI device ? In that case, you can just simply attach a joystick to the game port of the same card no problem.
The wave blaster header is not connected to the game portion of the external DB15 port (namely the X/Y axises, buttons 1-4).

Rather, the waveblaster header is wired in parallel to the same MPU-401 logic as the MIDI portion of the game port does.
It just is using a different signal on the electirical level (it uses 5v TTL instead of a current loop).

In practice, some people even use both the same time. Internal waveblaster card and external MIDI module.
Haven't done that myself yet, so I'm speaking under correction again. 😅

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//