I own an MU90R, great synth, beats the crap out of anything Roland ever made back then anyway.

I can't answer your USB question, but I do have both bibles that came with the thing and Yamaha include a diagram for the serial port for which I also seem to think I have a drive. I could look for the manual and try to scan the pinout if you feel like making your own cable and trying the Yamaha drivers. This will not work for DOS games though and I am unclear how it might affect Windows applications that aren't for music production.

Really your best option is to find a real MIDI cable which connects to the game port. I need some too and last i looked they were expensive and of lower quality than my old ones. Hong Kong seems to have a stock of them now though, but I can't guarantee their reliability or if they even employ the opto-couplers they are meant to have - see eBay - found by typing "PC MIDI Cable 15" into the search, set to Worldwide for better results. I don't know where you are, but you might have better luck than me, the UK seems pretty techno-phobic versus the USA and most of Asia

Quick thought: Check the MIDI tab in the Multimedia applet in the Control Panel. It might actually show up there (The USB MIDI adapter thing) but I have no idea how well it will work if it does.

Also, Yamaha have the manual online, go to Page 44 (As the browser sees it, not as marked in the manual) for pinouts; http://download.yamaha.com/api/asset/file/?la … m&asset_id=2559

USB MIDI interfaces are supposed to follow a standard, so drivers should be somewhat interchangeable (just like flash drivers).
You could try getting the driver for Yamaha's USB MIDI interfaces and installing them manually (or adding it to an INF file) to see if it works. No guarantees.

zackoftrades333 wrote:

Is it even possible? […]
Show full quote

Is it even possible?

I know it's only officially supported by XP onwards, but is there some sort of driver I could download, or a KernelEX but for drivers instead of programs.

Reason why I'm asking is I bought an MU90R on eBay the other year, and the only cables it came with were mentioned cable and a power cord. No Yamaha serial2midi, or joystick cord or anything of the sort.

When I try installing it, it shows up as a USB Audio Device, but no MIDI or anything and the driver says it isn't running.

Using what I already have would be most preferable instead of having to buy that obscure Yamaha cord it's supposed to come with when it's new, or buying another sound card with midi ports and midi cords.

You might want to check if it works in XP. Some of the really cheap adapters are sold without being fully populated.
http://www.arvydas.co.uk/2013/07/cheap-usb-mi … ay-be-required/

why not just buy a parallel or serial driven midi device for windows 98..
heres some of my notes on the subjects:

parallel: http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?board=85.0
usb: http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?board=133.0

i havent really added much re: usb tho because i prefer to use serial/parallel interfaces on windows 98

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Midiman-Portman-PC- … q4AAOSwXshWsqAT

something like this would work great in 98 or an opcode translator PC
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New-Sealed-Op … VkAAOSwYIhWhtXz

this 1x1 midiman usb should have windows 98 drivers:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Midiman-midi-interf … uwAAOSwgQ9VkRNC

this one would work aswell;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Centronics-Portman- … BAAAOSwu4BVjLWs

For the Midisport 1x1, user guide says 98 SE to XP. System requirements say XP to 10. Add them together, everyone gets supported!

Sadly, import charges and shipping make this not worth it. I can get a Roland USB to MIDI adapter for 39 CAD plus tax locally.

Surely you or a close friend has a serial cable lying around somewhere you can use the Yamaha driver with. I don't know if a null modem cable is what you want or a straight through cable. My memory is fuzzy. I think null modem. I have actually used the CBX driver to connect two computers via midi this way. Google the Yamaha CBX driver and see if it's still posted somewhere.