AWE64 Gold to MT-32 PI - Is this possible? \ VOGONS

AWE64 Gold to MT-32 PI - Is this possible?

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First post, by wargrip

Posted on 2023-08-23, 14:04

wargrip Offline

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Hi!

Apologies if this has already been asked - found some very old posts but they refer to parts that are no longer available or to slightly different equipment so thought I would get a fresh take.

Here is the situation... I have an AWE64 Gold which has the standard Midi/Joystick DB15 combo port. I also have a MT-32 PI which I originally bought for my MiSTeR but am no longer using it - it only has USB-in since this is how it was designed to connect to the MiSTeR originally.

I am looking to now use the MT-32 (USB INPUT) with the AWE64 Gold for old DOS games where appropriate but am struggling to find the chain of connectors and cables that go between these two devices. I can get hold of a Roland Um-One MK2 which has USB on one side and 2 x Midi on the other - my understanding is that this would be the part that plugs into the MT-32 USB port - leaving two midi connectors on the other side (am I correct that I need a cable like this?)

That leaves me with the gameport on the AWE64 card and the two midi cables on the Um-One MK2. My assumption is that I then need something like the DB15 to gameport adapter from Serdashop but unfortunately this does not provide a breakout for a joystick so I can't play games like Wing Commander (which requires the use of the joystick port for both midi and as a gameport simultaneously).

After all that, I guess my question is am I on the right track and is this the simplest way to get the AWE and the Mt32-Pi to work together or is there a neat trick I'm missing - and is there an alternative to the serdashop option where I could use my joystick and midi at the same time? I think my dream device would be one of those gravis gameport midi breakout boxes which I would be willing to pay a lot for but they seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

Sorry if these are some dumb questions - still learning a lot as I go! Thank you!

-grip

Reply 1 of 7, by Hezus

Posted on 2023-08-23, 15:27

Hezus Offline

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You're correct that such a Gravis breakout box is the best solution to your problem. I still see them pop up on market sites sometimes. Connected to a Roland Um-one and it should work fine with your MT32 Pi.

I dont think the breakout box is anything fancy, though. I bet you could make your own splitter cable if you dig up the cable pin outs.

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Reply 2 of 7, by danieljm

Posted on 2023-08-23, 19:33

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So, I went through something similar. I thought I needed something like the Roland Um-One MK2, but it's not actually necessary if you're willing to fiddle with splicing a cable together.

The MT-32Pi hat for Mister uses a USB connector that isn't wired up like a standard USB port. Instead it's wired up for direct access to things like the MIDI-in and out as well as other stuff like I2S. If you look at some pinouts you can chop the end off a USB cable and wire on a 5-pin DIN connector to the other end. Then you can just plug this cable directly from the MIDI-out connecter you attach to your sound card, right into that special USB port on the MT-32Pi. Personally I didn't attach the 5V line because I didn't want to try powering the Pi through the sound card in case it was too much power draw, so I just used the regular power connector on the Pi.

Not sure if you'll find that useful, but it makes for a simpler solution and might save you a bit of money. And if you want to go that route but you need more help figuring out how to wire it up, I'll try to shake the cob webs out of my head and figure it out again. 😀

Reply 3 of 7, by wargrip

Posted on 2023-08-23, 22:45

wargrip Offline

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danieljm wrote on 2023-08-23, 19:33:

So, I went through something similar. I thought I needed something like the Roland Um-One MK2, but it's not actually necessary if you're willing to fiddle with splicing a cable together.

The MT-32Pi hat for Mister uses a USB connector that isn't wired up like a standard USB port. Instead it's wired up for direct access to things like the MIDI-in and out as well as other stuff like I2S. If you look at some pinouts you can chop the end off a USB cable and wire on a 5-pin DIN connector to the other end. Then you can just plug this cable directly from the MIDI-out connecter you attach to your sound card, right into that special USB port on the MT-32Pi. Personally I didn't attach the 5V line because I didn't want to try powering the Pi through the sound card in case it was too much power draw, so I just used the regular power connector on the Pi.

Not sure if you'll find that useful, but it makes for a simpler solution and might save you a bit of money. And if you want to go that route but you need more help figuring out how to wire it up, I'll try to shake the cob webs out of my head and figure it out again. 😀

This is amazing information, thank you! I had a feeling the USB on the Mister side wasn't strictly USB but could find zero information on it! I am going to have a go creating a cable and see how it goes - thanks again - this was super helpful!!

Reply 4 of 7, by deepthaw

Posted on 2023-09-06, 20:04

deepthaw Offline

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If you’re comfortable soldering I think I have enough spare components and a pcb for a HAT with a traditional DIN MIDI jack to go on the mt32-pi. I had to order a minimum number on most of the stuff to make one and have them laying around extra.

Reply 5 of 7, by Pickle

Posted on 2023-09-11, 13:35

Pickle Offline

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Serda shop has an adapter from joystick to din connectors edit: sorry didn’t see the joystick comment. I use one those cables that splits off both.
Also another option I’ve used is serial port with softmpu. especially if you’re going to use the Munt emulation and need intelligent mode. It does require adding a max232 and db9 on the pi

Reply 6 of 7, by wargrip

Posted on 2023-09-11, 19:43

wargrip Offline

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Sorry to slightly necro this post - but as a courtesy to others that might visit here. I did indeed get this working by using a Roland MK2 cable to a MT32-PI (Mister version). I have however now abandoned this because the sound output from the Pi is truly awful (the Mister version is meant to connect via the user port to the Mister which bypasses the horrible PWM output - but in my case, I am routing the output from the Pi into the Line In of the AWE64 so I can get a mixed output and... it's just truly terrible - crackles and hisses and very low volume causing me to need to crank it up which only makes it worse).

My next step is to get a "proper" MIDI hat that has a decent DAC for output - hopefully one with a rotary encoder for volume and RCA outputs.

tldr; it works, but it's really not ideal for gaming because of needing to use the PWM output of the Pi.

Reply 7 of 7, by Pickle

Posted on 2023-09-11, 20:21

Pickle Offline

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Yeah you also need an external i2c audio dac on the pi. Mt32pi has a wiki page for this and its not expensive to get

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