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OPL2LPT

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Reply 180 of 566, by SteveC

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Just run it on the PS/2 P70 and I get:

Parallel port(s) found: 1
LPT1 3BCH standard (output-only)

My old Thinkpad says bi-directional

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Reply 181 of 566, by SteveC

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I wonder if it's some DOS config that's in effect here. If I boot up with no config.sys/autoexec.bat (DOS 6.2 on the HDD or a Windows 98 boot disk) I get no sound at all. The LPTDTECT shows the same. If I boot with config.sys/autoexec.bat (himem, emm386 blah blah) then I get the screeching noise. The Thinkpad works fine with the boot disk with or without config.sys/autoexec.bat

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Reply 182 of 566, by dreamblaster

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Is the opl2lpt quiet, if you press the reset button on the PCB, after booting ?

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Reply 183 of 566, by 640K!enough

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SteveC wrote:

Just run it on the PS/2 P70 and I get:

Parallel port(s) found: 1
LPT1 3BCH standard (output-only)

I'm a little surprised that the first parallel port is configured to use 3BCH; I thought that was only on even older machines. I looked at the source code to the TSR early on, but don't remember if it supports that configuration.

With it being an output-only port, my theories about the problems being related to parallel port mode/type are definitely not relevant.

Reply 185 of 566, by dreamblaster

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I played around with virtualbox, OPL2LPT, and a pci express parallel port card, on my core i7 win 7 64 bit PC.
I documented the steps in attached pdf.
Yeah real warm OPL2 music from the adlib jukebox, can run on the background, while working on my windows PC 😀 😀 😀

Attachments

  • Filename
    VIRTUALBOX_OPL2LPT.pdf
    File size
    335.63 KiB
    Downloads
    136 downloads
    File comment
    Using OPL2LPT with VirtualBox
    File license
    Fair use/fair dealing exception

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Reply 186 of 566, by SteveC

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640K!enough wrote:
SteveC wrote:

Just run it on the PS/2 P70 and I get:

Parallel port(s) found: 1
LPT1 3BCH standard (output-only)

I'm a little surprised that the first parallel port is configured to use 3BCH; I thought that was only on even older machines. I looked at the source code to the TSR early on, but don't remember if it supports that configuration.

With it being an output-only port, my theories about the problems being related to parallel port mode/type are definitely not relevant.

OK I can change the address - PARALLEL_2 = 378H and PARALLEL_3 = 278H
Parallel 2 = silence
Parallel 3 = same noise as before
Disabled = no lpt port detected

Here's a video of the sounds I hear https://photos.app.goo.gl/xSHkW2LyEUzKdZcQ2

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Reply 187 of 566, by QBiN

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Has anyone attempted patching any of the LucasArts games using ADPATCH? I'm wondering, because along with the Sierra/SCI games, many of these games were squarely in the 286 era. The 386 requirement of ADLIPT misses the mark for 286's that would otherwise benefit greatly from the OPL2LPT.

Reply 188 of 566, by matze79

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Hm i will test it on PS/2 Model 40SX 😀 Report back later..

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Reply 191 of 566, by SteveC

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Now that's really bugging me - the model 80 and 70 should be pretty similar

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Reply 192 of 566, by derSammler

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Got the missing IC for my OPL2LPT today, soldered it in and did a quick test with my P133: works great so far. 😀

I encounter one problem however: with the OPL2LPT connected and powered (from USB), I can no longer boot Windows 98 SE. It just completely freezes the system at the boot screen.

Reply 194 of 566, by jaZz_KCS

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We need more ppl making patches for ADPATCH so more games can be run on 386 machines and the like without lagging 4x more than it feels without having to load the TSR and using ADPATCH instead.

God of Thunder and others come to mind that could drastically benefit from having it patched like Keen and Wolf3d in order to achieve more performance.

I sadly cannot code, otherwise I would spent a lot of time making more games compatible with the patch alternative, as it seems to make quite the difference on older systems this was meant for as in around the 386 16-30Mhz area.

Reply 195 of 566, by derSammler

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derSammler wrote:

I encounter one problem however: with the OPL2LPT connected and powered (from USB), I can no longer boot Windows 98 SE. It just completely freezes the system at the boot screen.

Ok, seems like this is unrelated to OPL2LPT. It now happens without it as well. 😲

Reply 196 of 566, by dreamblaster

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Scali wrote:

I just built mine, tested it with my Celeron Northwood laptop with my custom-hacked DOSBox, and it works!

"custom-hacked DOSBox" !! Tell us more 😎

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Reply 197 of 566, by snow9

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Hi everyone, I just made an account here to post about my OPL2LPT which recently came in the mail. I can confirm that it is working on my PCjr, which is awesome because that computer was never intended to have Adlib support or even a parallel port really.

The first game I tried was Fun Seeker's Guide, but that one gave me the following error: "0x89/3 not found." So I tried Colonel's Bequest instead and the Adlib support works beautifully on that game. I'd be playing it right now except that for some reason I can't get the PCjr graphics to load. CGA works fine and even Tandy 1000 loads in a garbled state, but when I select PCjr it just stops loading for some reason. I actually had the same issue when I tried testing Fun Seeker's Guide before patching it. Does anyone know what might be causing this?

Reply 198 of 566, by Great Hierophant

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snow9 wrote:

Hi everyone, I just made an account here to post about my OPL2LPT which recently came in the mail. I can confirm that it is working on my PCjr, which is awesome because that computer was never intended to have Adlib support or even a parallel port really.

The first game I tried was Fun Seeker's Guide, but that one gave me the following error: "0x89/3 not found." So I tried Colonel's Bequest instead and the Adlib support works beautifully on that game. I'd be playing it right now except that for some reason I can't get the PCjr graphics to load. CGA works fine and even Tandy 1000 loads in a garbled state, but when I select PCjr it just stops loading for some reason. I actually had the same issue when I tried testing Fun Seeker's Guide before patching it. Does anyone know what might be causing this?

This may more likely be a PCjr. issue than an OPL2LPT issue. I assume you have expanded your PCjr. to 640KB and loaded a memory manager to tell DOS that the PCjr. has 640KB free? You have to run the game with SIERRA.COM, not with SCIV.EXE.

How garbled are the Tandy graphics? If they appear as though only every other horizontal line is being drawn, then you can do the Tandy mod to restore the missing lines on many games.

I doubted that anyone would put up with the slowness of the PCjr. with Sierra's SCI titles for long.

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Reply 199 of 566, by dJOS

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dreamblaster wrote:

1st prototype... (Still waiting for the yamaha chips to arrive)

DSCN0241.JPG

Looks Amazing!

I havent read every page of this topic yet so apologies if this has been asked, does this need a bi-directional LPT port?

I'd like to run one from my Tandy 1000 EX which isnt bi-directional.

PS, the physical interface is not an issue, I made these adapters so I could muck around with DB25 based gear.

UuukCsql.jpg

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