I don't have a PCMCIA sound card so can't help there.

For newer versions of ports for games you'll have to use Kernelex. If you don't want to use that you'll need to try older versions.

Duke Nukem 3D
eduke32_win32_20131012-4097 (Last SDL1.2 version....not sure if works on 9x or not but start there if not using KernelEx)
or
eDuke32 for Win95
or
Eduke32 for DOS
Re: Eduke16 - Eduke32 for DOS

DXX-Rebirth
AFAIK this still uses SDL 1.2 but if the latest versions don't work then likely they were compiled with newer versions of VS. Just try old versions. Skip each year until working then increment 3 months up then 1 month down, etc.

Bondi wrote:

I have a laptop that I want to use for gaming. It's a P233MMX machine, runs W98 and has a Yamaha PCMCIA MIDI card. And I'm looki […]
Show full quote

I have a laptop that I want to use for gaming. It's a P233MMX machine, runs W98 and has a Yamaha PCMCIA MIDI card. And I'm looking for games that can utilize this setup.
For now I found only Zandronum (ZDoom fork) that meets my requirements. Version 2.0 runs on W98 and can use Windows MIDI devices.
I tried also EDuke32, Descent rebirth, Wargus - but they all don't run on W98. At least the versions that I tried.
Does anyone know if there are either native windows games or source ports that run on W98 and support system MIDI device?

AFAIK, if the PCMCIA sound card is Yamaha OPL3 compatible, your native notebook audio support is disabled (so it'll use the PCMCIA card) and you know how to specify the resources correctly (0x330h in DOS, and etc) it'll just work. Of course, whether it uses the Midi device in Win98 or the software wavetable stuff depends on whether you are using the VxD drivers, or the newer WDM drivers (which might use software emulation).

Besides, with an older laptop like that, why use the updated source ports when the original will work just fine? You are not trying to make it work via AC97/HD Audio on modern Windows (which was the prime motivation for the newer source ports)

DXX-Rebirth 0.56 is the last version that runs on Win98 out of the box, no KernelEX needed. It won't be a great experience on a P233MMX though. I'd suggest tracking down the original source ports from the '90s (D1X 1.43 & D2X 0.25) instead.

There are a lot of Win9x MIDI-enabled games and ports. Here is what I've found on my hard drive alone:

Age of Empires
BreakThru!
Descent 2
Final Fantasy VII
Heroes of Might & Magic II
MageSlayer
Raptor: Call of the Shadows
Take No Prisoners
True Love
WarCraft 2: Battle.net Edition

Also ZDoom LE (Legacy Edition), xDuke, games by Yahtzee Croshaw (I especially recommend Trilby: The Art of Theft!), and, possibly, Exult (Ultima 7), Pentagram (Ultima 8 ) and Wing Commander: Privateer - Gemini Gold, but I haven't touched those 3 myself.

Not to mention you can set DOSBox (for old enough games, as P233 can only handle so much emulation) and ScummVM to use your native synth for MIDI output.

P.S. Exult and ScummVM are now using SDL 2 - which requires WinXP to run - so you'll need to look up the older versions:

DosFreak wrote:

Skip each year until working then increment 3 months up then 1 month down, etc.

Thanks to all of you!
Now I have lots of things to try.

@ragefury32, this pcmcia card is unfortunately neither OPL3 nor DOS compatible. It works only as MIDI synthesizer in Windows. The laptop has built in OPL3 clone chip, but you can't compare it with MIDI.

Bondi wrote:

I have a laptop that I want to use for gaming. It's a P233MMX machine, runs W98 and has a Yamaha PCMCIA MIDI card. And I'm looki […]
Show full quote

I have a laptop that I want to use for gaming. It's a P233MMX machine, runs W98 and has a Yamaha PCMCIA MIDI card. And I'm looking for games that can utilize this setup.
For now I found only Zandronum (ZDoom fork) that meets my requirements. Version 2.0 runs on W98 and can use Windows MIDI devices.
I tried also EDuke32, Descent rebirth, Wargus - but they all don't run on W98. At least the versions that I tried.
Does anyone know if there are either native windows games or source ports that run on W98 and support system MIDI device?

How about the Sonic & Knuckles Collection for PC?

That game features the soundtrack for the original Genesis/MegaDrive title with some minor alterations and uses native Windows MIDI devices for playback. It even includes the possibility of choosing between FM and General Midi in the set up screen.

There is a free demo that runs on Win95/98.

Fun fact about the 'minor alterations' of the PC soundtrack - ice cap and launch base are actually based on earlier versions. This revelation was only just made this month with a Nov 1993 Sonic3 prototype releasing out there.

leileilol wrote:

Fun fact about the 'minor alterations' of the PC soundtrack - ice cap and launch base are actually based on earlier versions. This revelation was only just made this month with a Nov 1993 Sonic3 prototype releasing out there.

I didn't know!

To get back on topic, though. How about the early LucasArts titles such as Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max Hit The Road, or perhaps The Secret of Monkey Island?

You can run all of those on ScummVM, inside Windows which in turn allows you to route the music output to your preferred MIDI device!