VOGONS


HardMPU, anyone?

Topic actions

Reply 400 of 608, by escarioth

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

got the card 😀
works great but i do have something i'm a bit wondering what to do.

I disabled my SB16 330 port.
when i try games most of them works using port 330 on roland MT-32.
but if i try Hardmpu.com it says : Timed out waiting for ACK

and i cant really do anything with hardmpu.com.
every option says that.

could it be my SB16 (ct2950) card still making some kind of conflict ?

even if they're old....those old dos games are still the best!!!

Reply 401 of 608, by aquishix

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
escarioth wrote:
got the card :) works great but i do have something i'm a bit wondering what to do. […]
Show full quote

got the card 😀
works great but i do have something i'm a bit wondering what to do.

I disabled my SB16 330 port.
when i try games most of them works using port 330 on roland MT-32.
but if i try Hardmpu.com it says : Timed out waiting for ACK

and i cant really do anything with hardmpu.com.
every option says that.

could it be my SB16 (ct2950) card still making some kind of conflict ?

Yes. Set your CT2950 to use 300 or 360 instead of disabling it, just to be on the safe side.

Reply 402 of 608, by escarioth

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

hmm, i used diagnose and i can only set it to 330.
i tryed 300 but it wont agree to it. thats why i used -dmpu
to try disabling it.

i removed every lines from my start up about the sound blaster.
still same problem. unless you can tell me if this is a jumper problem...but this card is PnP
( i still see some jumpers...so ill try figuring something out about them tomorrow)

I tryed games with my previous Softmpu configuration and most of them are working.
and i can hear the MT-32 using hardmpu. wich is still great news.
it works in win95 too.

but trying to run the config file hardmpu.com just wont do 😖
i always have the same timed out message.
does it have something to do with jumpers on the card itself ? just noticed some with the name port (0/1/2/3)

even if they're old....those old dos games are still the best!!!

Reply 403 of 608, by aquishix

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
escarioth wrote:
hmm, i used diagnose and i can only set it to 330. i tryed 300 but it wont agree to it. thats why i used -dmpu to try disabling […]
Show full quote

hmm, i used diagnose and i can only set it to 330.
i tryed 300 but it wont agree to it. thats why i used -dmpu
to try disabling it.

i removed every lines from my start up about the sound blaster.
still same problem. unless you can tell me if this is a jumper problem...but this card is PnP
( i still see some jumpers...so ill try figuring something out about them tomorrow)

I tryed games with my previous Softmpu configuration and most of them are working.
and i can hear the MT-32 using hardmpu. wich is still great news.
it works in win95 too.

but trying to run the config file hardmpu.com just wont do 😖
i always have the same timed out message.
does it have something to do with jumpers on the card itself ? just noticed some with the name port (0/1/2/3)

DIAGNOSE.EXE is a very limited tool. I looked up the CT2950 and it is a true PnP card...so you have to use CTCU.EXE to configure the resources and CTCM.EXE to initialize the card and actually set them. Ignore DIAGNOSE.EXE.

CTCU.EXE is a little annoying to use because the user interface is slightly counter-intuitive, but I am able to set mine to use 300 instead of 330 with it. I have a CT2940 which is, as you might imagine from the model #, an extremely similar card.

Reply 405 of 608, by aquishix

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
escarioth wrote:

ok thanks for the info 😀
ill be trying this later tomorrow

No problem.

You didn't tell us what kind of system you're using it on. If your system itself supports PnP, you can merely set your BLASTER environment variable to the appropriate string and then run "DIAGNOSE.EXE /s" to configure the resources and initialize the card simultaneously. Using CTCU.EXE/CTCM.EXE is only necessary on non-PnP systems.

Reply 407 of 608, by escarioth

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

ok had some problems with CTFU.exe running.
thanks to someone here who made a version for windows...else i guess i would still be working on this.

yep, it was definetly the 330 conflict.
now everything seems to work.

i never got to make XCOM : TFTD roland work with a SB16.
now it works perfectly 😁

same thing with Princess maker 2.

i recommand that card highly 😀

and a big thanks to you aquishix for the help

even if they're old....those old dos games are still the best!!!

Reply 408 of 608, by cricket

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Hi,

Ab0tj was so kind to send me some HardMPU boards.
Happily, I assembled the first one.
Unfortunately, the board doesn't work. 😢

I have a PC with a MIF-IPC and orignal Roland MPU-401 + MT-32 running and everything works in this combination.
I replaced the MIF-IPC / MPU-401 with the HardMPU (same port and IRQ).
HARDMPU.COM detects the card and can display / change settings.
Sim City 2000 installer also detects the midi interface.
However, when I play midi through Windows or Monkey Island 2, there is no sign that any signal reaches the MT-32.
With Larry 3 and other Sierra games I get an error about initializing.

Thats how my card looks like:

hardmpu_front.jpg
Filename
hardmpu_front.jpg
File size
1.89 MiB
Views
2076 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

-

hardmpu_rear.jpg
Filename
hardmpu_rear.jpg
File size
1.83 MiB
Views
2076 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

The cable I got does have a different color scheme.
So maybe I am confused with the pinout.

Here my understanding how it should be:

Pinout.png
Filename
Pinout.png
File size
83.48 KiB
Views
2076 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Any help is highly appreciated! 😀

Reply 409 of 608, by ab0tj

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

The pinout looks fine as far as I can tell. What did you program in the fuse bits on the Atmega? Default fuses will work enough for the board to communicate with the computer, but causes the wrong baud rate on the MIDI interface. I use:
lfuse=0xD7
hfuse=0x91
efuse=0xFD

Reply 411 of 608, by cricket

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

As soon as it's done correctly, it works!

Thanks so much!!!

If somebody else uses MiniPro too, here are the settings:

ATMEGA_fuse_bits.png
Filename
ATMEGA_fuse_bits.png
File size
528.02 KiB
Views
2066 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Reply 414 of 608, by aquishix

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
cricket wrote:

So, I tried several different DB9-Brackets with the card - none fit so far. 😢
Any hint where to find a bracket that fits?

If I were you, I would seriously consider getting a Dremel tool and a blank bracket and cutting the hole yourself. It would probably save time unless ab0tj tells you a specific model of card to look for from which to harvest a bracket.

I've struggled with this with the MIF-IPC-B and I managed to find two brackets that were acceptable...by scouring *hundreds* of eBay postings for parallel port cards and inferring lengths from measurements on my side with images of the cards. Even then, pliers got involved and it has not been pretty.

Reply 415 of 608, by ab0tj

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
cricket wrote:

So, I tried several different DB9-Brackets with the card - none fit so far. 😢
Any hint where to find a bracket that fits?

Not sure on what your best supplier would be, but I use these: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/534-9200-1

On the MIF-IPC-B: I found an ISA SCSI card cheap on ebay that fits almost perfectly. I'll see if I can dig that posting up, its been a while...

Reply 416 of 608, by cricket

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

Thank you so much for your help.
There was someone from GB who sold the Keystone brackets on eBay.

Actually, I got a Dremel for Christmas.
However, I prefer not to mess around with metal works. 😉

Regarding the MIF-IPC-B, the bracket is probably the most expensive part and it is a shame to strip it from original IBM hardware.
However, the bracket of the IBM async port adapter will also fit.
Somehow this cards are a waste of free slot space anyways.

Reply 419 of 608, by jsp

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I just bought a SC-55 from ebay, and was planning to use it from the game port of my current sound card. After reading a while, I'm not sure whether the problem with intelligent mode and game ports is only an issue with the MT-32 or I would also need to make use of a mpu-401 clone, such as hardmpu. Do you guys know?