Gabriel Knight 1 - General Midi/MT-32 Not Working. \ VOGONS

Gabriel Knight 1 - General Midi/MT-32 Not Working.

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First post, by Zuon

Posted on 2018-10-05, 22:48

Zuon Offline

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So, I've encountered a bug running the original Gabriel Knight from within Windows 98.

Sound Blaster FM Synthesis and Sound Effects work perfectly fine in this game.

What doesn't work, however, is General Midi or Mt-32 based music. I launch the game, and am greeted with silence for all MIDI tracks. Sound effects and pre-recorded CD audio still work (such as the CD versions main menu.) This bug occurs both in the CD version and floppy disk version of the game (The main menu song is missing on the floppy version, being the only difference, due to it being MIDI on this version.) Upon exiting the game, I am suddenly greeted with a long, endless, hanging note until I either disconnect my MIDI interface or reboot the machine.

Has anyone else encountered this bug or know how to fix it? No other Sierra games appear to have this issue.

Reply 1 of 7, by Wolfus

Posted on 2020-06-20, 20:31

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Sorry for necroing older thread but I encountered the same problem today.
Gabriel Knight CD, FM synth and digital OK, GM doesn't work. Did you find the solution please? What was the configuration you were playing on?
I use ESS 1869 with DreamBlaster S2. Every other game works with General MIDI option (port address 330) like a charm. Here is no option to choose the address and I cannot find which one does the game use.

Reply 2 of 7, by kolderman

Posted on 2020-06-20, 20:50

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I look forward to trying this one day. I played the remaster a few years ago and it was one of the best games I every played. Look forward to trying it on my midi stack.

Reply 3 of 7, by Wolfus

Posted on 2020-06-21, 12:15

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Ooooook, I changed 1869 for Labway made YMF719 and Gabriel is General MIDI positive now. I don't get it. Every other game works with ESS+S2 great...

Reply 4 of 7, by Falcosoft

Posted on 2020-06-22, 15:52

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Wolfus wrote on 2020-06-21, 12:15:

Ooooook, I changed 1869 for Labway made YMF719 and Gabriel is General MIDI positive now. I don't get it. Every other game works with ESS+S2 great...

The problem is GK1 resets the mixer and ESS cards have the unfortunate default that AuxB (the port that WaveBlaster cards connect to) volume after a reset is zero. You can check this with ESSVOL. Whatever value was given to AuxB volume it is set to zero by GK1 (and Master, Wave , Synth volume are changed to '8').

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Reply 5 of 7, by Wolfus

Posted on 2020-06-22, 22:54

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Falcosoft wrote on 2020-06-22, 15:52:

Wolfus wrote on 2020-06-21, 12:15:

Ooooook, I changed 1869 for Labway made YMF719 and Gabriel is General MIDI positive now. I don't get it. Every other game works with ESS+S2 great...

The problem is GK1 resets the mixer and ESS cards have the unfortunate default that AuxB (the port that WaveBlaster cards connect to) volume after a reset is zero. You can check this with ESSVOL. Whatever value was given to AuxB volume it is set to zero by GK1 (and Master, Wave , Synth volume are changed to '8').

Thank you very much for the explanation! I started to be a bit angry because of it 🙂

Reply 6 of 7, by Falcosoft

Posted on 2021-12-23, 21:16

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Wolfus wrote on 2020-06-22, 22:54:

Falcosoft wrote on 2020-06-22, 15:52:

Wolfus wrote on 2020-06-21, 12:15:

Ooooook, I changed 1869 for Labway made YMF719 and Gabriel is General MIDI positive now. I don't get it. Every other game works with ESS+S2 great...

The problem is GK1 resets the mixer and ESS cards have the unfortunate default that AuxB (the port that WaveBlaster cards connect to) volume after a reset is zero. You can check this with ESSVOL. Whatever value was given to AuxB volume it is set to zero by GK1 (and Master, Wave , Synth volume are changed to '8').

Thank you very much for the explanation! I started to be a bit angry because of it 🙂

Just a heads up. The above muted Midi problem with ESS 1868/69 cards and Gabriel Knight 1 can be fixed now by using Midito (command line: Midito.com -lock). It can be downloaded from here:
MIDIto r12 (Midi and FM redirection, Mixer locking, Sound Blaster fixes)

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Reply 7 of 7, by Wolfus

Posted on 2022-01-05, 23:30

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Falcosoft wrote on 2021-12-23, 21:16:

Wolfus wrote on 2020-06-22, 22:54:

Falcosoft wrote on 2020-06-22, 15:52:

The problem is GK1 resets the mixer and ESS cards have the unfortunate default that AuxB (the port that WaveBlaster cards connect to) volume after a reset is zero. You can check this with ESSVOL. Whatever value was given to AuxB volume it is set to zero by GK1 (and Master, Wave , Synth volume are changed to '8').

Thank you very much for the explanation! I started to be a bit angry because of it 🙂

Just a heads up. The above muted Midi problem with ESS 1868/69 cards and Gabriel Knight 1 can be fixed now by using Midito (command line: Midito.com -lock). It can be downloaded from here:
MIDIto r12 (Midi and FM redirection, Mixer locking, Sound Blaster fixes)

Interesting, I'll try it, thanks.

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