TehGuy wrote on 2022-04-15, 21:50:

darry wrote on 2020-10-29, 01:58:

This Orpheus specific driver looks like it is based on the reference pv2860.zip driver set, so I tried to install that instead and it works fine for me, AFAICT (the only change I made is a registry key to enable digital output).

Digging up a 2 year post, but what did you end up changing if you remember? I'm trying to activate the SPDIF out so I can run my rig through my DAC and onto whatever else i need

You should be able to get the key name from the INF file or modify the inf and reinstall the driver.

Re: Orpheus Soundcard: a new DOS soundcard with SPDIF/OPL3/MPU support

@keropi @marmes Maybe that info should be added to http://www.pcmidi.eu/orpheus.html . Sorry if it's already there and I missed it .

darry wrote on 2022-04-15, 22:23:

You should be able to get the key name from the INF file or modify the inf and reinstall the driver. […]
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TehGuy wrote on 2022-04-15, 21:50:

darry wrote on 2020-10-29, 01:58:

This Orpheus specific driver looks like it is based on the reference pv2860.zip driver set, so I tried to install that instead and it works fine for me, AFAICT (the only change I made is a registry key to enable digital output).

Digging up a 2 year post, but what did you end up changing if you remember? I'm trying to activate the SPDIF out so I can run my rig through my DAC and onto whatever else i need

You should be able to get the key name from the INF file or modify the inf and reinstall the driver.

Re: Orpheus Soundcard: a new DOS soundcard with SPDIF/OPL3/MPU support

@keropi @marmes Maybe that info should be added to http://www.pcmidi.eu/orpheus.html . Sorry if it's already there and I missed it .

Ah hopefully that'll stabilize things on that end; now I'm just stuck with the MPU-401 not being found or activating or something under DOS. I've half a mind to get a really long MIDI cable to run to my interface and just nuke the mt32-pi setup I have all together, but part of me thinks the pi isn't the problem right now. Man, only thing I swapped in this rig recently was the 2MX 400 for a 4MX 460 and everything goes bonkers

My card arrived yesterday (thanks for the sweets). I'll be testing it this weekend and will probably have a great many questions. I'm focusing on the Dreamblaster X2GS for now which was included.

I actually already have one question: if I add the X2GS to the card, can I chose whether to use the X2GS or to output to my SC55 through the Midi port without having to change jumpers?

red_avatar wrote on 2022-04-21, 08:15:

[...]
I actually already have one question: if I add the X2GS to the card, can I chose whether to use the X2GS or to output to my SC55 through the Midi port without having to change jumpers?

nope it is not possible to do this choice without using the jumpers , the easiest way IMHO to achieve this is to enable CSMPU@300 and jumper WT header to CSMPU
then PCMIDI will reside at the standard 330 that older games love and you can have your external modules connected to jack and/or gameport midi
so depending on situation you select in games if you want to use ports 300 or 330 and the corresponding device will do the playback

What is average waiting time? Also, do you receive any feedback after filling the order form?

stef80 wrote on 2022-04-21, 08:27:

What is average waiting time?

send me an email with the data you entered on the form so I can check it out

sent ... thanks

keropi wrote on 2022-04-21, 08:26:

nope it is not possible to do this choice without using the jumpers , the easiest way IMHO to achieve this is to enable CSMPU@30 […]
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red_avatar wrote on 2022-04-21, 08:15:

[...]
I actually already have one question: if I add the X2GS to the card, can I chose whether to use the X2GS or to output to my SC55 through the Midi port without having to change jumpers?

nope it is not possible to do this choice without using the jumpers , the easiest way IMHO to achieve this is to enable CSMPU@300 and jumper WT header to CSMPU
then PCMIDI will reside at the standard 330 that older games love and you can have your external modules connected to jack and/or gameport midi
so depending on situation you select in games if you want to use ports 300 or 330 and the corresponding device will do the playback

Hmm I know lots of games look for 330 specifically (because it caused me a ton of issues in the past) so I think I'll just not use the X2GS then with the Orpheus. I either use Adlib or OPL3 or SC55 or MT-32 in 95% of all cases anyway so the X2GS wouldn't have been used all that much except in games that don't have MT-32 or SC55 support but do support Wavetable (and how many games are like that?).

I'll just add it to my Pentium II PC then - perhaps it makes more sense there anyway since the later games that support General MIDI wouldn't run well on my 486 DX2 66 anyway.

I do have another question: SoftMPU would fix the MT-32 timing issues which on faster PCs would cause the MT-32 to not work. Does the Orpheus include this fix as well? Older Sierra games especially need it to initialize the MT-32.

I can only think one GM game that does not offer port selection, Prisoner of the Ice ... maybe there are more but the vast majority has no issue with port 300

PCMIDI has no "speed control" like softmpu - it is like the original Roland and MQ cards of the past.
The solution is to slow down the whole system, with my 233mmx build I just use ICACHE and it works fine - not sure about a pentium2 system though - there is no such utility AFAIK

keropi wrote on 2022-04-21, 10:02:

I can only think one GM game that does not offer port selection, Prisoner of the Ice ... maybe there are more but the vast majority has no issue with port 300

PCMIDI has no "speed control" like softmpu - it is like the original Roland and MQ cards of the past.
The solution is to slow down the whole system, with my 233mmx build I just use ICACHE and it works fine - not sure about a pentium2 system though - there is no such utility AFAIK

Well the Orpheus is to go in the 486 DX2 but Sierra games go wonky the moment you go above a 386 - slowing that down doesn't fix all games (I can only get it down to the speed of a 486 SX 33 with any utility I tried). The X2GS will get added on the soundcard in my Pentium II.

Can I still use SoftMPU if need be or are the two incompatible?

never tested the pcmidi/softmpu combo tbh 🤣
what sierra games go crazy? I am curious now

mmh yep, I really don't know what Sierra games you are talking about @red_avatar. I own about all of them and play them regularly on a dx2-66. I'm probably running most if not all of NRS timing fixes I'll grant you that, but I don't see why you wouldn't, and even speed-sensitive arcade sequences are fine on a 486.

keropi wrote on 2022-04-21, 11:33:

never tested the pcmidi/softmpu combo tbh 🤣
what sierra games go crazy? I am curious now

No worries - I tested all the games that gave the old "failed to initialize hardware" error and they all work fine.

I decided to stuff the card in my Pentium II after all though. I forgot I used a combo of an SB32 and an Audician 32 there (to get OPL3 music) and the functionality of the SB32 is pretty similar to that of the Orpheus but at least I'll have OPL3 on the same card.

Boohyaka wrote on 2022-04-21, 14:14:

mmh yep, I really don't know what Sierra games you are talking about @red_avatar. I own about all of them and play them regularly on a dx2-66. I'm probably running most if not all of NRS timing fixes I'll grant you that, but I don't see why you wouldn't, and even speed-sensitive arcade sequences are fine on a 486.

Castle of Dr Brain, LSL3, Codename Iceman, etc. all required patches or Softmpu to work on faster machines. The games don't need Softmpu on my 386 however and the sierrahelp website explained why:

http://www.sierrahelp.com/AudioHelp/AudioHard … nErrorHelp.html

EDIT: Just put in my SB16, tried running the same games and I got the error or a black screen as before so yeah, it seems the Orpheus does fix that problem without needing to patch the games. I mean, I know the patches are there but it's always nice when hardware fixes things instead of needing to patch software.

Yup, I've had those dreaded initialization issues on faster machines, but not on my 486 and I'm not using SoftMPU. Not sure why your experience is different

Boohyaka wrote on 2022-04-21, 14:59:

Yup, I've had those dreaded initialization issues on faster machines, but not on my 486 and I'm not using SoftMPU. Not sure why your experience is different

Well it IS a 486 DX2 66 - I haven't tested it on my SX 33 in many years so perhaps the DX2 66 is just too fast while even a DX 40 might not be?

Orpheus DEFINITELY fixes the issue without needing a patch however, nor a slowdown. It's interesting for sure. I'll be moving my Orpheus to my Pentium II now which is DEFINITELY too fast - let's see what it does there.

EDIT Hell yeah: it works perfectly on my Pentium II without any slow down or patch needed. That's amazing! I'll definitely be keeping it in my Pentium II then.

OK after installing Orpheus on Windows 98 I have some more questions:

I installed the Dreamblaster X2GS but while it works on DOS games when I select General MIDI, in Windows I can only select the Crystal MIDI. Is there a way to have MIDI played back in Windows games so that it sounds more akin to a Soundblaster AWE64 (well, like the way it makes MIDI sound in Windows 10 when hooked up via USB)? Or is there a way to play MIDI files to it instead of using the Crystal chip? I discovered the X2GS doesn't work via USB so it would be sad thing for this to also not work ...

You need to install the MPU-401 device driver in Windows. It's not a plug-n-play feature, since it's a genuine MPU-401 device.

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-04-21, 17:27:

You need to install the MPU-401 device driver in Windows. It's not a plug-n-play feature, since it's a genuine MPU-401 device.

Ahah I actually misunderstood the website - that's my mistake. Thanks for the advice. Now to hunt down a driver.

^ indeed, just add manually the MPU-401 device and you'll get the option to select it for midi playback
windows come already with a MPU-401 driver
X2GS works fine via USB under win10, use something like Tom's MIDI Player to easily select output devices

edit:
unless you are using the CSMPU device for the WT header, you better enable it via the eeprom tool and then windows will install the CS mpu driver