VOGONS


First post, by tpowell.ca

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Hi guys,
I was wondering about this error which I had often with my AWE64, and haven't seen with my AWE32.
In both instances I was using softMPU with the delaysysex option.

Is this an issue with hardware MPU solutions as well on fast machines?
(eg: Roland MPU-401 or MusicQuest cards)
Or only with soundcards that only support UARTS mode?

thanks

  • Merlin: MS-4144, AMD5x86-160 32MB, 16GB CF, ZIP100, Orpheus, GUS, S3 VirgeGX 2MB
    Tesla: GA-6BXC, VIA C3 Ezra-T, 256MB, 120GB SATA, YMF744, GUSpnp, Quadro2
    Newton: K6XV3+/66, AMD K6-III+500, 256MB, 32GB SSD, AWE32, Voodoo3

Reply 1 of 3, by bjwil1991

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In my experience, there are certain games that are speed sensitive for the Roland MT-32 and GM modules as well. Certain sound cards do that as well. What I suggest is to get an MPU-401 card in place of the sound card for the Roland MT-32 and the GM modules. My Sound Blaster 16 WaveEffects CT4170 (similar to the AWE64) does this as well. My ESS Maestro-2 ES1968S sound card never did that. I also suggest using an older machine, such as a 386 SX-33 or DX-40 or a 486 DX2-66 or higher and cache control programs for MS-DOS to slow down the system for speed sensitive games that require at most a 386.

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Reply 2 of 3, by tpowell.ca

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bjwil1991 wrote:

In my experience, there are certain games that are speed sensitive for the Roland MT-32 and GM modules as well. Certain sound cards do that as well. What I suggest is to get an MPU-401 card in place of the sound card for the Roland MT-32 and the GM modules. My Sound Blaster 16 WaveEffects CT4170 (similar to the AWE64) does this as well. My ESS Maestro-2 ES1968S sound card never did that. I also suggest using an older machine, such as a 386 SX-33 or DX-40 or a 486 DX2-66 or higher and cache control programs for MS-DOS to slow down the system for speed sensitive games that require at most a 386.

Thanks, but that was exactly my point. Do hardware MPU cards negate the need for speed tuning when using a rev0 MT-32 for example?
As in; could I still get Checksum errors with a real Roland MPU-401 card and an old MT-32 on a fast machine (eg: fast SS7 or PIII)?

Cheers

  • Merlin: MS-4144, AMD5x86-160 32MB, 16GB CF, ZIP100, Orpheus, GUS, S3 VirgeGX 2MB
    Tesla: GA-6BXC, VIA C3 Ezra-T, 256MB, 120GB SATA, YMF744, GUSpnp, Quadro2
    Newton: K6XV3+/66, AMD K6-III+500, 256MB, 32GB SSD, AWE32, Voodoo3

Reply 3 of 3, by jesolo

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Yes, you could, depending on the game.
Most MT-32 based games were written before a 486 and (later on) a Pentium existed and are therefore speed sensitive.

Some MT-32 games requires an intelligent mode MPU-401 MIDI interface but, this can be largely overcome via SoftMPU.

I think your error message is a speed related issue.