I solved the DOS problem part. There was a problem with the CD-ROM driver. I checked the CD-ROM manufacturer and it was a Hitachi CDR-8235 and downloaded their driver:
http://www.hitachi.us/Apps/hitachicom/content … upport/Drivers/
I copied all the settings the driver added to autoexec.bat and config.sys to my custom .pif MS-DOS launcher and the message about the missing CD is gone.

I still don't know what to do with Windows freezing when trying to use the daughterboard for midi playback in X-Wing.

GL1zdA wrote:

I still don't know what to do with Windows freezing when trying to use the daughterboard for midi playback in X-Wing.

I tested that and have the same problem with my Vortex2 board. Happens with either the Roland or Yamaha daughterboard. It must be just one of the incompatibilities.

What drivers are you using? I have the 1.02 beta package. Maybe I will try older ones or generic Vortex 2 drivers.

I'm using the latest reference drivers, unless something new came out in the last couple years. 😳 I don't have the version handy.

Under pure DOS, my PC also freezes requiring a reboot, so it's not just Windows.

Like I said in the other thread, I play it under DOSBox, so I don't care much. And for that matter, I really don't play it anymore! If you are wanting a more DOS oriented machine vs later Win9x machine, you may just want to stick with a SB16. Research the correct one without the 'hanging note' DSP issue.

GL1zdA:
I still don't know what to do with Windows freezing when trying to use the daughterboard for midi playback in X-Wing.

My Turtle beach montego II (a vortex 2 card) also has problems with Tie-Fighter (Collectors CD-ROM) Midi music in a Windows 9X dosbox. It was as if not all midi data was getting through to the daughterboard. what works for me is installing and loading up the VDMsound driver for windows9X prior to loading Tie Fighter. (VDMsound configured to do only midi emulation, and set to use the Vortex 2 daughterboard midi device) Then it sounds properly, so maybe that also helps in case of X-wing.

PS: I use reference driver V4.06.2046 for the vortex-2, and only have this problem with the Tie-Fighter music (Imuse).

I downloaded the VDMSound package for Win9x, but I don't know how to configure VDMSound to only do MIDI emulation. I guess I don't have to install all dlls in install.bat and delete SET BLASTER in dosdrv.bat and probably change something in vdms.ini... Could you tell me how to do it?

Well I see my VDMsound folder is very small, so I can attach it in its entirety.

GB 15-1-2008 This is vdm-sound 2.04 with windows 9X loaders. Setup only to grab MPU-401 MIDI music, which is then played by the […]
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GB 15-1-2008
This is vdm-sound 2.04 with windows 9X loaders.
Setup only to grab MPU-401 MIDI music, which is then played
by the windows midi mapper default synth.
VDMConfig.dll is from version 2.10 which seems to remove
the annoying tip-of-the-day system.

PS. adlib emulation seemed very-very slow.

place in C:\dosapp\VDMSound
add these two lines to your c:\config.sys file
SET PATH=C:\DOSAPP\VDMSOUND
SET VDMSPATH=C:\DOSAPP\VDMSOUND

Example xwing.bat in xwing folder:

call vdms.bat
xwing.exe
vdmsboom

...that's post no. 100: No Newbie anymore!

I got XWing working with my Aureal SQ2500 (Vortex2) board under straight DOS, with my Roland wavetable DB without freezing.

I was having a similar problem with Tristan pinball. It turns out some of these older games don't like the Aureal "defaults" of IRQ5 and DMA3. I don't think it'll work in Windows, but in pure DOS, if you change the AU30DOS.INI file to use IRQ7 and DMA1 it works fine. I just use a different .INI file for DOS.

You need a few things.

AU30DOS.COM and AU30DOS.INI in the same directory (XYZ for example) reachable by DOS.
In your autoexec.bat, "SET WINBOOTDIR=C:\XYZ"
VORTMIX.EXE to set the DOS volume, if desired. You can find that in this thread:
Re: How do I use an external wavetable within dos applications/games?

Here is the AU30DOS.INI file that works for me. Only a couple variables change from the default.

1[AU30DOS.COM]
2MPU401External=0
3ModemBase=0x000
4ModemIRQ=0x0
5JoystickBase=0x201
6MPU401Base=0x330
7SBFMBase=0x220
8FMBase=0x388
9SBFMDMA=0x1
10SBFMDMA2=0x1
11SBFMIRQ=0x7
12PCIIRQ=0xA
13CPUSpeed=0x3E9
14Reserved2=0x00
15Reserved1=0x00
16mixer_master=0x00
17mixer_phone=0x00
18mixer_mic=0x00
19mixer_line=0x00
20mixer_cd=0x00
21mixer_aux=0x00
22Reserved4=0x00
23Reserved3=0x00
24Reserved2=0x00
25Reserved1=0x00
26string_prod=Vortex PCI Multifunction Platform
27string_ven1=Aureal Semiconductor
28string_ven2=(c)1997 Aureal Semiconductor, Inc. Fremont, CA
29string_err1=Error: Run Windows 95 to set configuration
30string_err2=Error: Could not find a PCI BIOS
31string_err3=Error: Could not locate Vortex device
32string_err4=Error: Could not enable Vortex system
33string_err5=Error: An unexpected error has occurred
34string_msg1=Sound Blaster support is enabled at port
35string_msg2=Sound Blaster support is disabled
36string_msg3=Joystick enabled at port
37string_msg4=Joystick support is disabled
38string_msg5=MPU401 MIDI system enabled at port
39string_msg6=MPU401 MIDI system is disabled
40string_msg7=Modem enabled at port
41string_msg8=Modem is disabled

Well, my problem is, it freezes under Windows. In DOS mode there are no problems with the default setup. I tried to change the settings, but without any success - setmuse (the sound setup utility) either freezes Windows or plays nothing. (If I choose a SB as SFX and misconfigure the port setting, or choose a soundcard I don't have (ex. Soundscape) and then try to test the music setting (correctly setting the MPU-401 address) it simply does nothing (looks like it runs the test music for 0.5 second and returns, but there is no sound). But if the port setting for SFX is right or I choose 'None' as SFX Windows hangs after trying to play the test music. I tried to disable the emulated SB, but it still hangs, even if the SFX is set to 'None' and music to GM.

I also tried the Yamaha Software Synthesizer, set it as the Windows dosbox midi output, but the giant amount of stuck notes disqualifies it (at least for X-Wing CD) (I have only tried the version that came with FF7, maybe the newer work better).

Because I didn't have much time recently, I still haven't tried the VDMSound which I hope will solve the problem.

Well, I assume the default IRQ/DMA for the Vortex is 5/3 since that is what it is for me, but maybe not. What is yours?

I even tried a SB16 and it didn't work until I used 7 & 1.

The SBPro Emulating device has defaults: Port 220h, IRQ 5, DMA 1 and 3 (don't know why 2 DMAs?). Port can be set to 220h, 240h and custom. IRQ can be either 5 or 7. DMA can be 1 and 3, 1, 3 or none. I tried the defaults, the standard 7/1/220h, 5/1,3/220h, 5/1,3/240h, 5/3/220h, 5/3/240h, 5/None/220h, 5/None/240h. The effects are always the same - it hangs. As I said - it even hangs when I disable the SBPro Emulating device.