Beautiful board layout, by the way! To be expected from y'all, of course, but I just wanted to say so clearly. 😀

- Alex

I have received my Orpheus 2 and am currently trying to get it running on Win98. After that, DOS is up next. I've already got the SB Pro part and the GUS working with Duke3D - the sound is great! What I haven't been able to get working is MIDI through the connected Wavetable Board (Dreamblaster X16GS). There's simply no sound coming through. Do you have any tips for me? Here's some information:

Crystal
IRQ = 05
DMA1 = 00
DMA2 = 01

Crystal MPU-401
IRQ = 09
0300 – 0301

GUS
IRQ = 7
DMA1 = 7
DMA2 = 7

All jumpers are in their default positions. Attached are a few screenshots.

I had to force Windows 98SE to use the correct resources for both the Crystal and Interwave parts of the card since the PnP BIOS in my machine had done some weird resource allocations. Be sure to use the Orpheus branded Crystal drivers from the website, the ones that come with Windows don't seem to work right. In the BIOS, make sure whatever IRQ the PC-MIDI MPU-401 is jumpered for is set to "Legacy ISA".

I believe I have configured everything correctly:

PCMIDI
IRQ 3
Port: 330
- The jumper on the Orpheus for the IRQ is now set to 3 (instead of 2, which was the default).
- According to the jumper setting, PCMIDI controls the Wavetable Board.

CS4237 MPU
IRQ 9
Port: 300

Consequently, I have 2 MPU-401 devices in Device Manager, all without conflicts.

I can also select both of them as output devices under MIDI (although I can't differentiate between them there).
When I play a MIDI file with both devices, there is no sound, but the progress bar is moving.

The other MIDI devices are functioning (Crystal FM Synthesis, OPL3, GUS Midi Synth).
In my opinion, the mixer settings are correct.

NJRoadfan wrote on 2023-09-10, 00:41:

I had to force Windows 98SE to use the correct resources for both the Crystal and Interwave parts of the card since the PnP BIOS in my machine had done some weird resource allocations. Be sure to use the Orpheus branded Crystal drivers from the website, the ones that come with Windows don't seem to work right. In the BIOS, make sure whatever IRQ the PC-MIDI MPU-401 is jumpered for is set to "Legacy ISA".

glad to see the issues are resolved
and yes, the crystal drivers that windows have embedded are too old to be of use
some times it helps to do a bios configuration reset or even re-install 9x depending on the card used before... these are unavoidable issues with these early PnP OS and drivers..

Vagabund2k wrote on 2023-09-10, 09:17:

[...] I can also select both of them as output devices under MIDI (although I can't differentiate between them there). When I p […]
Show full quote

[...]
I can also select both of them as output devices under MIDI (although I can't differentiate between them there).
When I play a MIDI file with both devices, there is no sound, but the progress bar is moving.
[...]

do you actually have a wavetable board connected or some other external synth? it's these that will produce the sound, PCMIDI and CRYSTAL MPU are only the interface to the synth - they cannot create sound on their own
also what Crystal drivers are you using? the stock windows ones? Orpheus2 drivers are customized to show the Orpheus name in the devices as seen on the shot in the homepage

keropi wrote on 2023-09-10, 13:10:

Vagabund2k wrote on 2023-09-10, 09:17:

[...] I can also select both of them as output devices under MIDI (although I can't differentiate between them there). When I p […]
Show full quote

[...]
I can also select both of them as output devices under MIDI (although I can't differentiate between them there).
When I play a MIDI file with both devices, there is no sound, but the progress bar is moving.
[...]

do you actually have a wavetable board connected or some other external synth? it's these that will produce the sound, PCMIDI and CRYSTAL MPU are only the interface to the synth - they cannot create sound on their own

Yes, i have a Dreamblaster x16gs connected (Juppered to Soundbank 1).

also what Crystal drivers are you using? the stock windows ones? Orpheus2 drivers are customized to show the Orpheus name in the devices as seen on the shot in the homepage

You were right, I thought I was using the Orpheus drivers, but it turned out to be the Windows drivers. I have now switched to the Orpheus drivers, but
unfortunately the issue remains the same. No sound through MIDI Wavetable.

Wavetable, Interwave and OPL3 outputs are all tied together and controllable via the Synth slider

Can you post a photo showing the orpheus2 jumpers and the x16 ones?
It must be something there as there is no other explanation of no sound

keropi wrote on 2023-09-10, 16:37:

Wavetable, Interwave and OPL3 outputs are all tied together and controllable via the Synth slider

Can you post a photo showing the orpheus2 jumpers and the x16 ones?
It must be something there as there is no other explanation of no sound

Sure, the photos are attached.
It's also possible that the Dreamblaster is having an issue.
I haven't tested it on another card yet. I'll have to check if I have another sound card with a Wavetable header lying around.

Run mqdiag in dos what result you have?

Marmes wrote on 2023-09-10, 17:18:

Run mqdiag in dos what result you have?

Attached is the screen from MQDiag. Everything seems to be as it should be. Interestingly, when I accessed the Metronome in MQDiag, I heard a "beat."

So it works as the beat is midi playing
Can you try some dos game like doom, do you get music?

Yippee! I tested Duke3D in DOS, and it works with General Midi. So, it's a Windows problem. In Windows, I tried playing MIDI files with the Media Player and the MIDI / Sound Canvas mode in Duke3D, and neither of them works. But even if I can't get that to work, it's not a big problem because the card will be used in DOS mode 95% of the time. Thanks guys!

Hello,
Just installed my new Orpheus II LT (green PCB) on a fresh install of Win98 SE. Everything is great, but windows won’t detect the OPL3 device (OrpheusII OPL3(YMF289). I’m using the current drivers from the website (http://pcmidi.eu/files/orpheus2LT/Orpheus2-win9x-PV2860.zip). Everything is happy in DOS though.

I’ve removed/added the hardware, fresh installed Win98, search for new hardware, manually added. No other devices in the machine other than a Voodoo3.

I wanted to have my WP32 McCake on the wavetable header @ address 330 via PCMIDI, and my SC-55 on the external midi port via the Crystal MPU-401 at address 300, so I followed the guide at Guide for Orpheus ISA Card with optional PCMIDI, X2GS and MT32-Pi simultaneously on DOS and WIN98SE.. Including using the Flash utility to set the Crystal MPU-401 to address 300.

Windows successfully configured the PCMIDI and Crystal MPU-401 at the correct IO addresses, and everything works as expected. Although $388 is apparently being used by Orpheus II System CODEC. I am beginning to wonder if the Flash utility was not meant for the Orpheus II and I inadvertently downgraded the card.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

System: Gigabyte GA-6BXC, VIA C3 Ezra-T 1GHz, 256 MB PC-133, Kingston 120GB SSD, Orpheus II LT, WP32 McCake, Roland SC-55, Voodoo3 2000, Win98SE.

Vagabund2k wrote on 2023-09-10, 20:13:

Yippee! I tested Duke3D in DOS, and it works with General Midi. So, it's a Windows problem. In Windows, I tried playing MIDI files with the Media Player and the MIDI / Sound Canvas mode in Duke3D, and neither of them works. But even if I can't get that to work, it's not a big problem because the card will be used in DOS mode 95% of the time. Thanks guys!

weird, maybe a previous soundcard driver messed things up
I am attaching an older version of TOM'S MIDI PLAYER - this old version is what I use for midi playback under 9x (and the new versions available in the player's homepage work fine with modern windows)
maybe this will help 😀

Oddball wrote on 2023-09-10, 20:15:

[...]
Including using the Flash utility to set the Crystal MPU-401 to address 300.
[...]

this is the issue right there
the Orpheus I flashing utility is not suitable to use on OrpheusII boards , you have effectively disabled YMF289 in the card's firmware and that is why windows do not pick it up.
I will send you instructions via PM and add a warning on the flash tool download.

keropi wrote on 2023-09-10, 21:09:

this is the issue right there the Orpheus I flashing utility is not suitable to use on OrpheusII boards , you have effectively d […]
Show full quote

Oddball wrote on 2023-09-10, 20:15:

[...]
Including using the Flash utility to set the Crystal MPU-401 to address 300.
[...]

this is the issue right there
the Orpheus I flashing utility is not suitable to use on OrpheusII boards , you have effectively disabled YMF289 in the card's firmware and that is why windows do not pick it up.
I will send you instructions via PM and add a warning on the flash tool download.

Thank you! Everything is working great now.

Oddball wrote on 2023-09-11, 04:05:

Thank you! Everything is working great now.

Excellent! Enjoy! 😀

Another satisfied customer 😎

pc-sound-legacy just posted a video on yt with some classic DOS gaming tunes performed by the YMF262 version of OrpheusII , have a listen to the smooth FM beeps and bops 🤣
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6AghVw83qY