First post, by keropi
- Rank
- l33t++
Hiya!
I received a fully boxed Music Quest PC MIDI Card mpu , and I decided to make this thread with as much info as possible about it.
Before anything else I will answer the most important question:
Is this card 100% Roland compatible with intelligent mode?
With rom version 010: 100% YES.
Gateway, Laser Squad, Wing Commander - all work great without any special configuration.
With rom version 004: 99% YES.
Wing Commander crashes near the intro fireworks. For me sometimes before the Origin FX logo, sometimes when the fireworks should start. 😵 Gateway and Laser Squad work fine.
First of all, here is a picture of the card (notice the firmware version, it's v.004) , silkscreened on the pcb is the model of the card: IH9MQ9
Also the DB9 breakout is a cable based one, not a solid block with the ports.
... and here is a picture of the retail box, notice that this is just called the "PC MIDI CARD"
Inside you can find the registration card, an online registration guide, a stapled manual and a driver diskette:
I . Hardware Setup
So how do you setup the card? It's easy, there is only 1 jumper block on the card, here are the configuration options it offers:
Basically, to be Roland compatible you need to jumper "P" and "2" so the card uses port #330 and IRQ 2.
II . Software Setup
The driver disk doesn't really offer a driver as it's not needed for DOS operation. It does offer though a diagnostics program, the metronome setup, a reset program and a PS/2 speed fix among the other things, here is the description of what is included:
This diskette contains several useful programs: […]
This diskette contains several useful programs:
INSTALL
Installs and sets up your Music Quest MIDI interface, and
all of the utilities and diagnostic programs.MQDIAG
Support program for all Music Quest interfaces. Allows you
to set up any programmable features (such as the PC MIDI
Card's programmable metronome) and verify general operation.MQSETUP
Used to initilize the programmable features of your MIDI
interface. This program is particulary valuable for use in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, where it can be used to set up the
metronome every time you re-boot your PC.MBATCH
A MIDI batch file utility program. This program provides an
analogous function to the DOS batch file feature. You can
use MBATCH to do many things, including upload and download
system exclusive data.THRUOFF
Turns off the MIDI-thru function of your interface.
Normally, anything arriving at MIDI-in is passed "thru" to
MIDI-out, thus creating an echo effect.MQRESET
Resets your MIDI interface to its nominal, power-on state.
This includes turning the MIDI-thru function on.UPDTPC2
Some versions of Personal Composer System/2 exhibit timing
dependencies on fast PCs, particularly 80386 based machines.
This program removes the timing dependencies.
Download links:
driver disk files - https://www.mediafire.com/?bsng0fb62xv41hv
driver disk image - https://www.mediafire.com/?f0phtt44ft1pdin
You can find the above also attached to this thread , it's an archive containing an image of the driver disk and "just the files" in case you don't want to mess with writing disks.
Remember that the installation program works only if the files are on the A: drive, so either swap drive letters or subst.
III . Manual
Do you need more info? Just grab a .PDF I made of the manual 😊 , the original was just a bunch of stapled b/w pages btw...
Download link: https://www.mediafire.com/?535496top1xzww5 (also mirrored in the thread)
IV . Technical Info
a. Breakout cable schematic:
(rev.2 fixed some stupid mirroring issues 🤣 )
At the moment I don't have anything else to add to the thread, if you know something else to try and verify compatibility please post.
I hope this helps and clears any kind of confusion. 😊