sorry there is no plan to create such a cable adapter atm... but it seems all that is needed is some re-wiring to get this going: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/how-t … rboard.3688669/

Windows9x driver released for the OrpheusII family of boards , this one is based on the latest Crystal PV-2860 one

as always it is recommended to use a clean win9x installation so previous driver remnants do not exist
once the system asks for a driver just point it to the directory you have extracted the ZIP file and everything will install
the main thing basically is that we finally get separate CSFM and OPL3 devices (keep in mind that the win9x stand-alone OPL2/3 driver is hardlocked to port $388 which is not an issue unless there exist more soundcards in the host system that have OPL devices in which case the OrpheusII OPL3 will move to $394 and you have to manually decide which OPLx device you want to have at $388. Onboard CSFM and YMF289 happily co-exist without issues)

as always people that have the LT boards can download the driver here: http://pcmidi.eu/orpheus2LT.html

note:
people with a black edition LT board will get an email with an updated firmware for the board - it is needed for proper win9x driver operation

I got the new drivers setup. Great to have OPL3 in windows now 😀 That part is working great. But I now have issues with the MPU401 PCMIDI out. In Windows when I try to play a midi files and send it to my SC-55 it actually is locking up my computer and I sometimes have to do a hard reboot. It seems to send midi to the sc-55 fine from dos in windows which is strange. But a windows midi player has issues. Also I noticed the MPU401 device is missing in the system settings as you can see in the screen shot.. not sure if that's normal. Maybe I'm missing something here..

Maybe need to reinstall the pcmidi drivers again?

Hello!
You need to install PCMIDI manually. Go to add/remove hardware. Choose it manually. Music Quest then MPU401 compatible. You may need to change Adress and IRQ manually again.

Marmes wrote on 2023-01-29, 22:22:

Hello!
You need to install PCMIDI manually. Go to add/remove hardware. Choose it manually. Music Quest then MPU401 compatible. You may need to change Adress and IRQ manually again.

Yep that was it, had to re-add it 😀 Works like a charm now and OPL3 goodness in Windows 98!!! Love this card!!! Still needs another card to play more modern Windows based games though, the Audigy 2ZS works perfect for that.. Glad both cards co-exist so well, its the ultimate setup now!!!

Ohh man, this is sick! I was watching a few reviews on the Orpheus I and thought would it be possible to have a GUS on the same board and then I came across this thread, I'm definitely going for a Orpheus II.

Looking on the ic's on the board, this card might be faster than the host computer that it will be installed in!

So I have noticed one small issue. When my system boots to Windows 98SE, it also calls Orphus.bat during the boot process. However it seems like something is slightly off with the sound card. The volume is louder then expected and the PCMIDI out sounds off as well, even though its played on my SC-55, it sounds lower quality, doesn't matter if its a media player in windows playing the midi or a game in a DOS window. If I run orpheus.bat again, everything is fixed, the volume is reduced to a normal level (I have everything set to 7 in the ini file which is the max in SB mode) and the audio quality when playing back music is also fixed. I didn't have this issue before, it seemed to always initialize properly before.

KuroHouou wrote on 2023-01-30, 03:28:

So I have noticed one small issue. When my system boots to Windows 98SE, it also calls Orphus.bat during the boot process. [...]

if you are booting into 98SE you don't need any DOS drivers loading for Orpheus , remove that line that calls orphinit as it could interfere with the windows driver
Also make sure Audigy is not trying to use some resource that CS4237 tries to use (IIRC audigy still contains "sb emulation" functionality in it's driver?)
midi playback issues are also a sign of some resource conflict (port 330 in case pcmidi is jumpered to defaults)
I would suggest making sure in device manager that no two devices try to use the same resources.

if we are talking into pure DOS environment then there is no changes there, just make sure ORPHEUS.INI has usable settings and that's it

keropi wrote on 2023-01-30, 06:58:

if you are booting into 98SE you don't need any DOS drivers loading for Orpheus , remove that line that calls orphinit as it could interfere with the windows driver

I have to agree with this; ORPHINIT is an integrated configuration/mixer set-up tool specifically intended to be DOS-only. Except in certain rare situations, you should not be running it from within Windows or as part of Win9x start-up. Depending on the particular configuration, there is a chance that it will pull the rug out from under the Windows device management sub-system.

Even in less severe cases, the Crystal software is just sloppy enough that you might end up with a mixer configuration that introduces potentially unpleasant amounts of noise. If Crystal had refined the hardware/firmware and drivers a little more, this wouldn't matter, but I guess they decided that it was good enough.

Before anyone suggests it, the situation is exactly the same with UNISOUND; it's not for Windows use.

So I got around to testing the advice of not doing orphinit.bat at start for when booting into Windows. But now I have a new issue (but of course). I have my Midi sound from my SC-55 routing back into the Line-In of the Orpheus II, but it seems like when I run a DOS game in Windows it doesn't utilize the line-in and no music passes through, digital sound works fine though. Also midi music does pass through properly in windows.. So I guess the windows bit works but the DOS in Windows bit doesn't now 🙁 It seems very strange the line-in works fine in windows but not in DOS mode in Windows but I am guessing DOS Mode in Windows must have a separate config for sound.. is there anyway to initialize the orpheus ii in just DOS mode in Windows?

Also to note, if I route the Midi audio from my sc-55 to the line-in on the Audigy 2ZS in Windows the midi audio comes through ok.. so its nothing to do with the midi output. Its just the line-in on the Orpheus II doesn't seem to initialize properly in DOS in Windows. Again, playing a midi when the line-in on the Orpheus II works fine in a windows media player.. its only the DOS in Windows Mode that doesn't work.

Update 1: Just decided to go back to running Orphinit when loading windows in the autoexec.bat file. At least when doing this the line-in works on the Orheus II in DOS in Windows mode games and I think overall I am not having any other issues right now. Will update if I run into any other issues.

Hi.

Is the PCB design of the ORPHEUS 2LT final?

I have noticed the board is a bit longer than the 16 bits ISA connector unlike the MK8330 and the Orpheus I.
That is a problem for those who would like to use this card in an Amiga, where ISA slots are inline with ZORRO slots separeted by less than 1 cm.
Perhaps it could have been shorter like its cousin the MK8330 and its elder sister the Orpheus I.

It is now possible to order an OrpheusII board, I have made a WIP page for it in the usual place: http://pcmidi.eu/orpheus2.html

Page has all basic info in it but not all drivers are uploaded yet - missing are mainly the stock GUS PnP ones so it's not something that can't be found easily... in the next days all will be added gradually.
If someone has some sort of "driver pack" for the GUS PnP and thinks it would be useful to add just say so.
Thanks!!!

@Xanxi:
atm LT board's design is finalized, maybe there is room to make it shorter but the main issue are the full-size wt board supports. Not sure if there is place to move them on the LT board

keropi wrote on 2023-02-05, 17:24:

https://i.imgur.com/3jDZ34u.jpg […]
Show full quote

It is now possible to order an OrpheusII board, I have made a WIP page for it in the usual place: http://pcmidi.eu/orpheus2.html

Page has all basic info in it but not all drivers are uploaded yet - missing are mainly the stock GUS PnP ones so it's not something that can't be found easily... in the next days all will be added gradually.
If someone has some sort of "driver pack" for the GUS PnP and thinks it would be useful to add just say so.
Thanks!!!

@Xanxi:
atm LT board's design is finalized, maybe there is room to make it shorter but the main issue are the full-size wt board supports. Not sure if there is place to move them on the LT board

Exciting! I just put my pre-order in 😁

How large is this compared to the original GUS Classic? I found that board to be slightly too long for the case I wanted to install it in.

keropi wrote on 2023-02-05, 17:24:

It is now possible to order an OrpheusII board, I have made a WIP page for it in the usual place: http://pcmidi.eu/orpheus2.html

Preordered, the OrpheusII is coming! Thank you!

Kahenraz wrote on 2023-02-05, 17:30:

How large is this compared to the original GUS Classic? I found that board to be slightly too long for the case I wanted to install it in.

size has not changed since the prototype , so it's more or less +5-6mm longer than a 3.73 classic , you can see a pic of them in the 1st post of the thread

thanks all for the warm orpheusII welcome!!! I start adding the requests on the list as they come 😀

Does the GUS feature require a motherboard with working DMA? For example, newer industrial motherboards will still work with Yamaha OPL, but not digital sound. I'm curious how this card might function in that environment.

I highly doubt that the Interwave will work correctly without working DMA , it's more advanced that the original GF1 chip and a look on PicoGUS thread reveals that DMA is a huge deal to GUS...

Amazing stuff, let's go! 😁

Wonderfull. can't wait for it 😁