You've got a MPU-401AT right? I'll stick it on the compatibility list if so?

yep, tested with the 401AT + CT2230

would a midi quest mpu be of interest to test as well?

Yes, certainly... I'm 99% certain it will work 😎

...and as expected it does 😊

Cool. Is that the MQX-32?

BTW I couldn't hear a difference in Gods between the buffer overflow and non-overflow cases. I only played for a few minutes though.

nope, it's the "Music Quest PC MIDI CARD" , the small 8bit one with the model of: IH9MQ9 , like this one:

IIRC in my case some custom sample was sounding wrong... but it was discovered that Gods was not made for the MT-32 , it needs a CM-32L/LAPC-I type device, it does make a huge difference in custom samples...

Can I ask will this work in Win98 SE either in Windows mode or DOS mode? Or is it strictly DOS 6.22 only?

Edit: Sorry I just read SoftMPU build for Windows support?. ignore my stupid question.

Hi, SoftMPU will work fine under Win98 DOS mode.

bjt wrote:

Hi, SoftMPU will work fine under Win98 DOS mode.

Good to know many thanks, I have to say this software is a total god send to me, working great for all the games I have tested so far, only issue I have is with one game (The Humans) you have to enable EMM386 for this game or you get the not enough Memory error, but when I run softmpu there is not enough memory left to run the actual game! I guess it's just a matter of assigning more memory using EMM386.

Edit: Actually after re reading the notes I'd guess that loading softmpu into high memory with LH will fix that problem?

Yes, you can load SoftMPU high. Does The Humans require intelligent mode MPU?

One really neat, lesser-known feature of Yamaha's XG-based MU modules is that they can be configured to act as 1-IN/1-OUT serial-attached MIDI interfaces, completely independent of the internal tone generator part(s). At present, this requires the use of Yamaha's Windows-based serial multiport driver.

I'd like to suggest adapting this functionality to SoftMPU's serial feature-set.

When set to multiport mode, Yamaha's driver first sends an undocumented, two-byte MIDI message, consisting of an F5 status byte and a "port" data byte. This same message is then inserted again into the MIDI stream after every 101 complete MIDI messages, as a "refresher" of sorts.

Implementing a switch to specify the serial port, and then having SoftMPU prepend the requisite MIDI message, seems like it ought to be do-able. The "refresher" portion of the Yamaha driver might be tough to implement though, as a complete MIDI message parser would likely be required. I'm going to suggest that it's probably not necessary in a DOS-based environment anyhow.

The MIDI port message correlates to the port names specified by Yamaha's CBX-MIDI driver as follows:

YAMAHA CBX A Driver - F5 01
YAMAHA CBX B Driver - F5 02
YAMAHA CBX C Driver - F5 03
YAMAHA CBX D Driver - F5 04
YAMAHA CBX E Driver - F5 05

By default, when the HOST SELECT switch of an MU module is set to something other than "MIDI," the input received for the "A" parts is also sent to the MIDI OUT, corresponding to the "PORT 1" setting. By changing the port number for the MIDI OUT to something that doesn't correspond to an internal part, we then get the aforementioned port independence. This "MULTI PORT NUMBER for MIDI OUT" parameter can be set either via SysEx, or by the front-panel controls. Given that the MU10 doesn't have front-panel controls, I'd like to suggest the use of the relevant SysEx string.

The SysEx for setting the "MULTI PORT NUMBER for MIDI OUT" is as follows:

PORT 1 - F0 43 10 49 00 00 09 00 F7
PORT 2 - F0 43 10 49 00 00 09 01 F7
PORT 3 - F0 43 10 49 00 00 09 02 F7
PORT 4 - F0 43 10 49 00 00 09 03 F7
PORT 5 - F0 43 10 49 00 00 09 04 F7
PORT 6 - F0 43 10 49 00 00 09 05 F7
PORT 7 - F0 43 10 49 00 00 09 06 F7
PORT 8 - F0 43 10 49 00 00 09 07 F7

(A port selection in the 5 - 8 range will be free of internal part correspondence in all known MU units.)

Querying the current setting and restoring it afterward might be a good idea as well (F0 43 30 49 00 00 09 F7).

It's also worth mentioning that some of Roland's serial-enabled devices respond to the same, "F5," MIDI port message. The MIDI OUT isn't independently addressable through the Roland serial connections though, as it is in the Yamaha units.

Sounds cool. Does the MU relay serial in to MIDI out by default, or only when specific ports are selected?

bjt wrote:

Sounds cool. Does the MU relay serial in to MIDI out by default, or only when specific ports are selected?

Port 1 is assumed if a MIDI port message isn't specified, so the default MIDI OUT behavior (in a serially-connected configuration) is essentially that of MIDI THRU - the same MIDI data played by the MU tone generator will be received/played by a connected device.

I see. So by default it's possible to connect (say) a MT-32 to the MU's MIDI out and drive it via the PC's serial port. Is this also possible with the Roland modules? I only have a SC-55ST (no MIDI out) so I can't test it.

Just trying to understand the additional value (in a gaming context) of specifying one of the other ports. Is it just so that the MU tone generator doesn't play?

bjt wrote:

I see. So by default it's possible to connect (say) a MT-32 to the MU's MIDI out and drive it via the PC's serial port.

Yes, exactly.

Is this also possible with the Roland modules? I only have a SC-55ST (no MIDI out) so I can't test it.

It is, but again, the MIDI OUT can't be independently addressed in the serial-attached Roland scenario, so the functionality is the same as the "MIDI THRU" behavior described for the default Yamaha configuration.

Just trying to understand the additional value (in a gaming context) of specifying one of the other ports. Is it just so that the MU tone generator doesn't play?

In a gaming context, and continuing your MT-32 example, the value is in not having to either mute the volume of the MU, or its parts, when MIDI playback through just the MT-32 is desired.

Who really cares, right? 😀

Cool, thanks for explaining it 😎

Will SoftMPU work with EMM286? Would be cool for 286 systems to be able to do intelligent MPU-401...

Don't think it's possible. V86 mode (needed for real-mode port trapping) was introduced with the 386.

bjt wrote:

Don't think it's possible. V86 mode (needed for real-mode port trapping) was introduced with the 386.

Ah ok, so SoftMPU is dependant on Virtual x86 mode. Either i wasn't aware or i forgot about it.

Thanks bjt!

Hi again bjt!!

One question:

I took a look into the source code in the MIDI.C file and i'm wondering if you could add a new switch for better compatibility for the Yamaha FB-01. The only thing the switch needs to do is to chande the constant SYSEX_SIZE to something like 8192. From what i could understand from this thread: IBM Music Feature Card/Yamaha FB-01 such value should give SoftMPU better compatibility for the FB-01. Maybe just throw an if else type condition to define the SISEX_SYZE.

I would try this myself but i would have to download the proper compilers to build SoftMPU. Let me know if it's a viable option to include such an option for a new SoftMPU version, or maybe you can give me some proper links to download all necessary stuff to compile, and i'll change the source code myself.