ESS1868F and X2GS wavetable midi support \ VOGONS

ESS1868F and X2GS wavetable midi support

Topic actions

First post, by drew2020

Posted on 2025-08-09, 17:18

drew2020 Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 56
Joined: 2022-08-26, 18:42

I have an ESS1868F and X2GS wavetable card. My goal is to play midi files in DOS as well as old DOS games. I used DOS ESS1868F drivers from Phils web site. Unfortunately, when I configure DOOM to use midi, I don't get any music. Also, when I use dosmid /sbmidi=330 *.mid to play midi file, I get a hardware initialization error message. It seems like the ESS1868F is not communicating with X2GS. Using dosmid /opl *.mid, the midi file is played. I'm not sure what to do next

My autoexec.bat

SET SOUND=C:\AUDIODRV
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P300 T4 REM Corrected to match ESSCFG D1 setting
SET PATH=C:\AUDIODRV;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\Windows\System
C:\AUDIODRV\ESSCFG.EXE /A:220 /I:5 /D:1 /B:330 /J:E
C:\AUDIODRV\ESSVOL.EXE /V:8 /L:8 /W:8 /M:0 /C:8 /S:8 /A:0

config.sys
REM === Load DOS into high memory and enable UMBs for LH commands ===
DOS=HIGH,UMB
REM === Load extended memory manager ===
DEVICE=A:\HIMEM.SYS
REM === Load ANSI.SYS ===
DEVICE=A:\ANSI.SYS
REM === Enable Upper Memory Blocks without EMS by default ===
DEVICE=A:\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
REM === Load ESS1868F Sound Card Driver into High Memory ===
DEVICEHIGH=C:\AUDIODRV\ES1868.COM /A:220 /I:5 /D:1 /B:330

Reply 1 of 5, by Yoghoo

Posted on 2025-08-09, 17:24

Yoghoo Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 442
Joined: 2021-07-17, 18:32
Location: Netherlands

You're using P300 in SET BLASTER. This should be P330 as that is used by your ESS1868F settings.

Don't know if that would solve it as I'm using a X2GS wavetable card with another soundcard but here it works without problems with SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T4 (and using 330 as midi port on the soundcard).

Reply 2 of 5, by drew2020

Posted on 2025-08-09, 17:41

drew2020 Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 56
Joined: 2022-08-26, 18:42

I use P330. That was a typo. Thanks

Reply 3 of 5, by badmojo

Posted on 2025-08-09, 21:26

badmojo Offline

Rank l33t

Rank: l33t
Posts: 4257
Joined: 2011-10-11, 04:14
Location: Australia

drew2020 wrote on 2025-08-09, 17:18:

C:\AUDIODRV\ESSVOL.EXE /V:8 /L:8 /W:8 /M:0 /C:8 /S:8 /A:0

Try changing /A:0 to /A:8 - this is MIDI volume parameter from memory.

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 4 of 5, by sfryers

Posted on 2025-08-09, 21:45

sfryers Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 137
Joined: 2023-03-31, 18:20
Location: United Kingdom

badmojo wrote on 2025-08-09, 21:26:

drew2020 wrote on 2025-08-09, 17:18:

C:\AUDIODRV\ESSVOL.EXE /V:8 /L:8 /W:8 /M:0 /C:8 /S:8 /A:0

Try changing /A:0 to /A:8 - this is MIDI volume parameter from memory.

This is the most likely solution. If it doesn't resolve the problem then try plugging directly into the jack on the Dreamblaster module to verify whether it's producing any sound.

MT-32 Editor- a timbre editor and patch librarian for Roland MT-32 compatible devices: https://github.com/sfryers/MT32Editor

Reply 5 of 5, by drew2020

Posted on 2025-08-10, 21:13

drew2020 Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 56
Joined: 2022-08-26, 18:42

my bad. I actually have the X2SE card. it only has the USB port

Go to top of page Go to top of page

Back to Sound