Hmm.

Check the BIOS for a ISA clock speed or similar option. Might be a timing problem.

Do you have the SB16 in the same computer? Make sure the MIDI address is set to 300 on it.

For testing I would remove the SB16 and any other "non-essential" cards and try to isolate the issue.

Rather than using the turbo button, try disabling the cache in the BIOS (although the Turbo button might be tied to this).

But in general I do believe that MPU401AT was built with speed compatibility in mind.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Hmm. […]
Show full quote

Hmm.

Check the BIOS for a ISA clock speed or similar option. Might be a timing problem.

Do you have the SB16 in the same computer? Make sure the MIDI address is set to 300 on it.

For testing I would remove the SB16 and any other "non-essential" cards and try to isolate the issue.

Rather than using the turbo button, try disabling the cache in the BIOS (although the Turbo button might be tied to this).

But in general I do believe that MPU401AT was built with speed compatibility in mind.

yhea the sb16 is in the same machine, I use it for the digital sound effects. i did have the midi disabled on it. I do have an "AT bus clock select" option in my BIOS. its currently set to CPUCLK/6

Change it to something else. 8 MHz option available?

There might be also wait states and other latency settings that you can play with.

tried all the settings but same issue

shot of my bios screen

tried quest for glory without the sb16 in the system and same thing. I also noticed when loading the same I don't get the "so you want to be a hero" message on the mt-32's screen it just starts randomly playing different sounds

The "correct" AT bus clock divider would be CPUCLK/4 in your case, but I don't think that's the cause of your problem.
What SB16 model do you have and what did you do to to disable the MIDI port?

Just to add in, I have used the MPU-IPC-T card with the breakout box without problems on Pentium I and Pentium II systems, and also on my 486 DX2-66.

Looks like some resource conflicts there.

EDIT : errmm...does the PSU have a -5v rail?

the SB16 i'm using is a CT2900. its worked very well paired with the MT-32. i've disabled the midi port through the diagnose program, i've also just changed it to to 300 but had the same effect.

removing the card also changes nothing

is the fact i'm using a mpu-ipc breakout box and not a mpu-ipc-t box with a mpu-ipc-t isa card have anything to do with it? I don't know if it has a -5v rail. it looks like a pretty standard at psu to me. 250w

as i said before quest for glory gives me crazy sounds no matter how I set the computer, fate of atlantis I just tried again (with at bus speed set to 4) and it was a jumble of noise. exited the program and hit the turbo button, restarted the program and it ran fine though I did not even though it sounded okay I didn't get any message on the mt-32 screen where I think i recale it at least says something like lucas arts or something?

Usually the voltage secifications of a PSU will be printed on the PSU. If the label is there, try looking for a section which displays "-5v".

Another known issue that can interfere with the Roland MPU-401 based cards is the I/O Recovery Time in BIOS. Try changing to different values. I remember the need to alter the I/O Recovery Time in my Pentium II based system once, because some sounds were playing wrong. In my Pentium II, I had two options - 8-Bit I/O Recovery Time and 16-Bit I/O Recovery Time. I changed my 8-bit I/O Recovery Time to 8.

Yours shows I/O Recovery Time Delay. Try changing the values.

If the PSU does not have a -5v rail, then the card might not work properly, even though this rule generally applied for the LAPC-I cards.

Malik wrote:

Usually the voltage secifications of a PSU will be printed on the PSU. If the label is there, try looking for a section which di […]
Show full quote

Usually the voltage secifications of a PSU will be printed on the PSU. If the label is there, try looking for a section which displays "-5v".

Another known issue that can interfere with the Roland MPU-401 based cards is the I/O Recovery Time in BIOS. Try changing to different values. I remember the need to alter the I/O Recovery Time in my Pentium II based system once, because some sounds were playing wrong. In my Pentium II, I had two options - 8-Bit I/O Recovery Time and 16-Bit I/O Recovery Time. I changed my 8-bit I/O Recovery Time to 8.

Yours shows I/O Recovery Time Delay. Try changing the values.

If the PSU does not have a -5v rail, then the card might not work properly, even though this rule generally applied for the LAPC-I cards.

okay...more weirdness

I have confirmed my PSU does have a -5v rail. I tried every setting on the I/O recovery Time Dealy (2,4,8,12) and none worked

also remember when I said fate of atlantis worked when i had turbo mode on, I was wrong. when I have the turbo function activated and play fate for some reason it completely deactivates the mt-32 and what I was hearing was the sound blasters FM. I have no idea why this happens.

I've tried pulling the sb and running the midi card alone and i still just get jumbled random notes so i don't think its a card conflict and the connection seems good since the MT-32 is obviously getting some signal

Do you happen to have a gameport > MIDI cable?

Because then you can use the SB16 MIDI port. But remove the Roland and put the SB 16 MIDI back to 330. The Lucasarts games all work like that.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Do you happen to have a gameport > MIDI cable?

Because then you can use the SB16 MIDI port. But remove the Roland and put the SB 16 MIDI back to 330. The Lucasarts games all work like that.

yhea, thats the setup I used before the roland card. I just wanted to add the roland to avoid the odd hanging note bug i get time to time and bypass the performance hit you get from running programs to make the sb16 work with games that require intelligent mode.

MPU-IPC-T does not use the -5V line. If it did, you would see a gold stripe at the fifth pin from the left.

play fate for some reason it completely deactivates the mt-32 and what I was hearing was the sound blasters FM. I have no idea why this happens.

The game will use FM if it fails to autodetect the MPU-401. Run "atlantis r" to force Roland MT-32 sound. Other than that, I find your descriptions confusing.

Please make a list of which games work with turbo on, and which games work with turbo off but not with on, and which games don't work at all. Try them without the Sound Blaster installed to be sure, and make sure to force each game to use Roland sound, rather than relying on their autodetection routines. And tell us which Quest for Glory 1 (EGA or VGA) version you are using.

also some good pics of the card and the insides of the breakout box would be nice, maybe there is a fault somewhere that needs fixing. One line could be damaged and make the card unusable, it's not that uncommon with old stuff (for example I had a 486 mobo with a scratch on 1 small line: no L2 cache would work until the line was patched).
Do a visual inspection, anything that left a mark on the card is suspicious!

NewRisingSun wrote:

MPU-IPC-T does not use the -5V line. If it did, you would see a gold stripe at the fifth pin from the left. […]
Show full quote

MPU-IPC-T does not use the -5V line. If it did, you would see a gold stripe at the fifth pin from the left.

play fate for some reason it completely deactivates the mt-32 and what I was hearing was the sound blasters FM. I have no idea why this happens.

The game will use FM if it fails to autodetect the MPU-401. Run "atlantis r" to force Roland MT-32 sound. Other than that, I find your descriptions confusing.

Please make a list of which games work with turbo on, and which games work with turbo off but not with on, and which games don't work at all. Try them without the Sound Blaster installed to be sure, and make sure to force each game to use Roland sound, rather than relying on their autodetection routines. And tell us which Quest for Glory 1 (EGA or VGA) version you are using.

I was incorrect in thinking any game worked with the turbo off. apperently all games only give jumbled notes regardless if turbo is on or off.

QG1 is the EGA version.

I also just tried the card and breakout box on a completly seperate PC with the same result. This machine had no sound card just the MPU-IPC-T and on playing ultima 7 just got jumbled notes so it seems the issue is with the card or breakout box. pictures will be forthcoming.

definitely something wrong with the mpu then, please make sure the pics are high-res and clear, we might spot something !
just to make sure , you have tested another midi cable, right?

keropi wrote:

definitely something wrong with the mpu then, please make sure the pics are high-res and clear, we might spot something !
just to make sure , you have tested another midi cable, right?

no, I only have the one that worked fine with my sb16/mt-32 setup. I've gone back to that setup to make sure it all worked ok and it did.

is this how it should be with the midi card?

midi card > breakout box > midi cable from breakout box out port > mt-32 in port > either sound cards line in or straight to speakers

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/198/5sf.JPG/ I don't know why that image isn't displaying right but heres a direct link to it

I don't see anything obvious.

yes, the mpu looks good... what is that smudge at the cap above the "mpu-ipc-t" silkscreen? glue?
also yes, it goes : mpu -> breakout -> midi out -> mt32-IN

that's a tough one here... it could mean that an ic on the mpu is damaged... 🙁

Also, have you tried from the other MIDI out jack? The MPU-IPC-T breakout box has two MIDI outs, right?

EDIT : Also just noted that your breakout box does not have the "T" in the model name. (Just MPU-IPC). I do not know if this is of any significance or not.

Yhea, I tried the other port. Sucks if its the card as I can't get a refund so I'm out 70 bucks. I was thinking the same thing about the breakout box but as far as I can find there basicly the same. And yes, that appears to be glue under that cap just to help keep it down.