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"Madness", One retro PC to rule them all :)

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Reply 20 of 89, by brostenen

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Try creating a bootmenu, with ems and no ems.
Then hunt down patches for all the games that you can find.

Don't eat stuff off a 15 year old never cleaned cpu cooler.
Those cakes make you sick....

My blog: http://to9xct.blogspot.dk
My YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/brostenen

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Reply 21 of 89, by agent_x007

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Kamerat wrote:

Try using EMM386 or JEMMEX. Using another DOS extender (like DOS/32A) might also help.

agent_x007 wrote:

Monkey Island = Math error (Integer Divide error [dividing by 0] ?),

I think this is a speed related issue, have you patched the game?

EMM386 without EMS helped 😀
Decent - Works OK (w/sound)
CnC - Needs mouse driver (I don't have USB to PS/2 capable one... yet).
Warcraft - Crashes on Blizzard logo 😒
Lotus III - Overflow Error (Soft crash).

Monkey Island : I tried 1,2GHz - it still gets the same error (and same goes for Lotus III).

Where can I get patch for Monkey Island ?

Last edited by agent_x007 on 2017-10-19, 18:31. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 22 of 89, by Kamerat

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agent_x007 wrote:
EMM386 without EMS helped :) Decent - Works OK (w/sound) CnC - Needs mouse driver (I don't have USB to PS/2 capable one... yet). […]
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EMM386 without EMS helped 😀
Decent - Works OK (w/sound)
CnC - Needs mouse driver (I don't have USB to PS/2 capable one... yet).
Warcraft - Crashes on Blizzard logo 😒
Lotus III - Overflow Error (Soft crash).

Monkey Island : I tried 1,2GHz - it still gets the same error (and same goes for Lotus III).

I think the motherboard should be able to emulate PS/2 thru USB if configured correctly in BIOS.
I think it's still too fast. Try using SetMul to disable L1 cache or Throttle.

DOS Sound Blaster compatibility: PCI sound cards vs. PCI chipsets
YouTube channel

Reply 23 of 89, by agent_x007

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Yup, L1D did it 😀
But there are few problems :
I can't use SetMul along with EMM386 without EMS (it hangs when reading clock speed) 😒
Monkey Island works (with bugged sound, but at least I see what I do).
But Lotus III does not (I get either insufficient memory [with SetMUL, no EMM386] or overflow errors[no SetMUL with EMM386]).

MB is capable of doing Legacy USB support - Yes.
It can do EHCI handoff as well, however, my current maus doesn't support legacy PS/2 mode.
Basicly : Even when using USB to PS/2 adapter, it will not get detected.

PS. What's interesting : Slowing down from 4,3GHz to 1,2GHz, makes sound in Monkey island even worse. SetMUL L1D is enough (in my case) to bypass Devide error.
Also, patch for sound issue didn't helped me 🙁 (I blame Vortex 2 emulation)

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Reply 24 of 89, by agent_x007

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Small update : Got myself a proper mouse 😁

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and CnC now works like a charm with sound (CuteMouse and EMM386 are loaded) 😀

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For future reference :
If you plan to use USB mouse for DOS, always check if the one you want to buy was ever sold with USB to PS/2 adapter.
If it was - you are fine, if not - it probably will NOT get detected by CTMouse, and it probably will NOT work with USB to PS/2 passive adapter.

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Reply 25 of 89, by sprcorreia

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agent_x007 wrote:

Small update : Got myself a proper mouse 😁

PS2 mice are getting scarce. Recently I bought 5 to have around. 2 of them are Microsoft USB/PS2 and the other 3 are native PS2 from Genius.

Reply 26 of 89, by agent_x007

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Yeah that's why I bought two Logitech RX250s (they were listed as "refurbished/used").
Luckily for me, there are plenty of those mice around in my country.

Earlier this year, I bought 5 (five) USB to PS/2 adapters, because I thought they were faulty...
Now I know they all work, and it's my modern mouse (California Access CA-1201 LOMA) that simply isn't capable of using them correctly.
Stuff you learn when building non-standard retro PCs...

Last edited by agent_x007 on 2017-10-21, 20:22. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 27 of 89, by sprcorreia

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agent_x007 wrote:

Yeah that's why I bought two Logitech RX250s (they were listed as "refurbished/used").
Luckily for me, there are plenty of those mice around in my country.

I got mine brand new but I had to go around a bit and visit a few places to get them.

Reply 28 of 89, by agent_x007

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MIDI sound upgrade 😀
"Stock" :

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Upgraded :
A)

AV2 + X2.jpg
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B)

X2 + AV2.jpg
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Question : Is there a difference between A and B ?
Because I'm not 100% sure which is better (compatibility wise) ?

Thank you Serge (aka. dreamblaster) for super fast delivery.

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Reply 29 of 89, by gdjacobs

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agent_x007 wrote:

Question : Is there a difference between A and B ?
Because I'm not 100% sure which is better (compatibility wise) ?

Some daughter cards require the -12V and/or 12V supplied by the wavetable header. The Chill n Phil adapter only provides 5V (which is fine for Serge's stuff). The other rails could potentially be created but would require alteration of the adapter.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 30 of 89, by agent_x007

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OK, good to know.
Is there a setup difference between then (like SoftMPU required for MPU-401 adapter but not for Waveblaster header) or are both equall from game/program point of view ?
EDIT : Nevermind.

For MPU-401/Waveblaster to work I only had to modify AU30DOS.ini file with "0" to "1" switch in MPU-401 config line 😀 (X2 was detected automaticly upon restart).
However, Secret of the Monkey Island game needs a MTADL.exe "patch" for X2 to work on Waveblaster header with all sounds playing.
Using MPU-401 adapter only "r" switch with "monkey.exe" was required.
Patch in question can be found here : LINK
Roland disk for DOS based game : LINK.
For future reference : All game disk files are required for sound to work properly.

Interesting...

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Reply 31 of 89, by gdjacobs

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Note that Monkey Island, as with many early LucasArts games, are composed for the Roland MT32. Some daughtercards or GM modules include an MT-32 emulation mode. Although they can be approximated fairly well by wavetable samples when they use the default config (as was common with LucasArts), any wavetable emulation is still only an approximation of a true LA synthesis device. For more fidelity, you should use a real MT-32, MT-100, CM-32L, CM500, or Munt.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 32 of 89, by agent_x007

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Indeed, BTW I used GUD 1.0 wavetable and yes software emulation is NOT compatible with everything (still, software can only get better with time 😀).
However I think it's best I can do with limited space I got (really, no place to put a proper MIDI device in my room).
Also, isn't SoftMPU required for those to work on my Vortex 2 ?

I realised I didn't test SetMul L1D option in Speedsys 4.78 😀

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Reply 33 of 89, by vvbee

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agent_x007 wrote:

Small update : Got myself a proper mouse 😁

Proper mouse.jpg

and CnC now works like a charm with sound (CuteMouse and EMM386 are loaded) 😀

The rx 250 are pretty decent, a while ago I bought 4 of them for 3 euros a piece from some german office sale to go with the 5th one I already had. Good thing too cause their price new had just gone from 10 e to 20 e. The downside to the 250 is you can't access the bottom screws without removing some feet.

Reply 34 of 89, by agent_x007

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Update :
Now I get why Aureal Vortex 2 SB16 emulation music quality may be considered "subpar" 😁
Day of the Tentacle ("Intro", YT video) :
Aureal Vortex 2 (SB16 emulation) vs. DreamBlaster X2 (General MIDI + GUD 1.0).
AV2 : LINK
DB X2 : LINK

For anyone interested in how sound was recorded :
I connected Aureal Vortex 2 output to my ASUS Essence ST input and recorded at 192kHz @ 24-bit in Audacity. Then I exported that as FLAC (highest quality), and use resulting file as video sound track for 1920:1080 MP4 video with 48kHz and 192kbit/s end sound quality.
Sound track wasn't modified in any way in Audacity (normalised/amplified, etc.) or in end video edit program.
X2 music playback may be a bit louder because of additional mixer settings (DOS) and GUD settings themselves ("stock").

Last edited by agent_x007 on 2017-11-02, 07:39. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 35 of 89, by j^aws

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IIRC, this boards chipset is X58?

To get Win98 working with this board, what is required - a BIOS that is modded to work with it? What about the rest of the boards onboard hardware - they are not used if Win98 drivers aren't available?

I think I have an MSI X58 board somewhere - any Win98 BIOS updates for this board? I might mess around with it at some point.

Reply 36 of 89, by agent_x007

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Yes, Rampage II Extreme uses X58 chipset 😀
No BIOS mods or BIOS hacks needed (I'm using latest official release).
However, my board has few legacy options build-in (which can be seen on my first video, @6:40).
Don't know how crucial they are for Win98 to work, but other boards may not have them.

From hardware point of view, you need a PS/2 keyboard (just in case USB one doesn't work in installer), a floppy drive (I used GOTEK emulator), and 512MB RAM stick(s). Last one isn't needed if you know how to hack Win98 installer (LINK, I suggest you modify installer for himemx only 😉).
I didn't checked if 1GB of RAM works for installation on X58 platform.
Keep in mind that 2GB of memory (or more), will make Win98 unstable on this platform, without RAM patch from r_lowe (at least, that's my experience with GeForce GPUs with 512MB of VRAM and moded drivers, I didn't tested how 256MB VRAM GF cards react with no RAM patch).

Also, before doing X58 I ran a simple Win98 install test with EP45-UD3P board (with hacked installer), and it worked fine.

I am using Marvell controller in IDE mode for Windows HDD and USB ports in 1.x mode (usb legacy is enabled).
Didn't tested what Intel ICH10R SATA contoller does in Win98 (it's disabled in BIOS), and same goes to other devices/functions that are not needed.
You can see at the end of my video how many devices are simply disabled (or not working), in '98s device manager.
PS. I also switched off connected PCI-e devices by disabling PCI to PCI-e bridges as well (hardcore version of resource conflict management 😀).

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Reply 37 of 89, by agent_x007

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Update : LINK

Current configuration :
CPU : Core i7 980X (w/BOX cooling)
MB : Rampage II Extreme (BIOS 2101)
RAM : Corsair 3x4GB (12GB total)
GPU1 : GeForce 7800 GTX (Reference)
GPU2 : GeForce GTX 780 Ti (Reference)
SC1 : Aureal Vortex 2 + DreamBlaster X2
SC2 : Auzen X-Fi Forte
HDD0 : Transcend Industrial Ultra 1GB (Compact Flash) [DOS 6.22]
HDD1 : WD Raptor 74GB [Win 98 SE]
HDD2 : Kingston SM2280S3G2 120GB (M.2 AHCI/SATA) [Windows 2000 SP4 + Windows XP SP3]
HDD3 : Samsung SM961 256GB (NVMe) [Windows 7 x64 SP1 + Windows Server 2016]
"Pendrive" (card reader + microSD) : Sandisk 8GB [Clover]
PSU : OCZ ZS-750W
Floppy : GOTEK USB Floppy Emulator

Last edited by agent_x007 on 2017-11-11, 10:02. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 38 of 89, by j^aws

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agent_x007 wrote:

Last one isn't needed if you know how to hack Win98 installer (LINK, I suggest you modify installer for himemx only).

I must've missed that thread; thanks for the link. There is discussion that Win98 works with AM3+ Socket, too. Very interesting.

BTW, do you have any Yamaha PCI cards to try in DOS, e.g YMF7X4? I have heard they work with X58/ ICH10 chipsets using DSDMA TSR.

Reply 39 of 89, by agent_x007

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j^aws wrote:

BTW, do you have any Yamaha PCI cards to try in DOS, e.g YMF7X4? I have heard they work with X58/ ICH10 chipsets using DSDMA TSR.

Yes, I do 😀
I tested my YMF 724E-V (PCI).

It does work (both OPL and SB emulation).
Without TSR loaded, only Music works (and IRQs keep reseting after "/s" command alone) 😒
With EMM386/DSDMA.EXE (and previous setting loaded from DS.ini), sound effects work as well.
If you have LOADTSR.BAT file it makes things easier.
However, if you try to run setupds after those are loaded... it will hard crash DOS (at least in my case).
So, a one way deal, but if it works I'm fine with that.
I used 3.16 DOS driver (FYI).

Here's how E1M1 sounds on this OPL3 with sound effects : LINK

Enjoy.

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