help: getting mt-32 working in DOS/win 3.1

[Oblivion]

first post 

been really getting into old PC games again and especially old sierra adventure games. i recently built a 486 from the ground up and as a birthday present my GF bought me a mt-32. unfortunitly dispite my efforts over the last 2 weeks i have been unable to get it to run under DOS. i know it may be easier to run an emulator on a modern computer in some respects but i really want to get this functioning on my true dos pc, i'm at my wits end with it and hopeing you guys here can help.

i know for certain the mt-32 as well as the cables and connection are good. i did test the unit/canles on a winxp pc with a soundblaster live! card and it funtioned fine but under my dos pc i get nothing.

i'm running a 486 33mhtz pc with DOS 6.22 and win 3.1. my sound card is a soundblaster16 model CT2230. i ran the setup and diagnose several times but nomatter what i do the mt-32 will not work. the sb16 on its own works perfectly. the two games i've testing with are Indiana jones and the fate of atlantis and kings quest IV since from what i've read they do not require a patch and should work fine with the sb16. both these games also worked fine with the mt-32 when i tested under xp with the Live! card. when i run Fate under mt-32 mode i get the SB sound effects and voice from the CD but no music at all. when i try to run KQ4 the game locks up on starting. i just get a black screen and my mouse pointer but nothing else.

i tried installing win 3.1 thinking maybe the GUI would help with setting it up but i get the same results. i even took the sound card out and checked the jumper settings to make sure the midi port was enabled and set to 330

my autoexec.bat settings on startup are (i've encluded everything not just the sb settings)

set ctcm =c:\ctcm
c:\amouse\amouse
set sound=c:\sb16
set blaster= a220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
c:\ctcm\ctcu /s
rem ** set blaster = a220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
set midi = synth:1 map:E mode:2
c:\sb16\diagnose /s
c:\sb16\mixerset /p /q
LH /L:0:2,45456 /s c:\dos\smartdrv.exe /x
@echo off
prompt $p$g
path c:\windows:c:\dos:c:\trmouse
set temp=c:\dos

LH c:\cdrom\mscdex /d:mscd000

any help would be greatly appriciated. only things i can figure are wrong is somewhere there is still a setting thats not correctly set but i've been going over it and tinkering with the setup for 2 weeks now. only other thing i can guess is the midi port on the sb16 is dead even though the rest of the card works fine.

[Marten]

I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but here are a few thoughts.

First, working backward from your assumption that the MIDI port might not be working - if you connect an old-style joystick to the port, and configure your system to not use the port for MIDI, does the joystick work?  (Of course, this requires a joystick from the pre-USB era, which you might not have, but I thought I'd ask.)

Second, make certain that you have your MIDI cables to the MT-32 connected correctly.  You mentioned that you tested it on another PC and found it working, but it can still be easy to get confused about which cable goes to which port on the MT-32.  MIDI-Out cable goes to MIDI-In on the MT-32, and MIDI-In cable goes to MIDI-Out on the MT-32.

Third, when using Windows 3.1, as I recall, configuring the MIDI output is not an intuitive task.  Your "set blaster" line in your autoexec is probably easier.

Fourth, I don't know or remember if the blaster variable is case sensitive but I've always seen it expressed this way in all capital letters (adapted from the Apogee FAQ):

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T3 P330 H5 E620
 |    |     |    |  |  |  |    |  |
 |    |     |    |  |  |  |    |  |_______ AWE 32 Only Parameter
 |    |     |    |  |  |  |    |__________ "High" DMA Channel
 |    |     |    |  |  |  |_______________ MIDI Port
 |    |     |    |  |  |__________________ Type of Card
 |    |     |    |  |_____________________ DMA Channel
 |    |     |    |________________________ Interrupt
 |    |     |_____________________________ Port Address
 |    |___________________________________ Environment Variable
 |________________________________________ DOS Command

Fifth, you're working with some classic hardware there, so you need to make certain that your Interrupt (IRQ) is not in conflict with any other devices on the computer.

Sixth, Microsoft has some helpful information applicable to configuring for either DOS or Windows 3.1, here:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/124944

Seventh, if you determine that the MIDI port on the card is bad, you can probably find another refurbished SB16 on eBay or elsewhere.  The only catch is that shipping may cost more than the value of the card.

[Oblivion]

well, figured i would update this. i finally managed to get the mt-32 running...sort of.  i started over from scratch. bought a newer isa sound blaster and reinstalled the entire setup. i first tried indiana jones and the fate of atlantis and it worked fine. i get great roland music and the sb16 sound effects. next though when i tried kings quest IV i get the same problem and the game will not initiallize if its set to use the roland.

i'm really confused since one game works fine and then KQ4 doesn't. especially considering from what i read KQ4 doesn't require any patches or anything

any ideas?

[Salient]

Doesn't KQ4 (among others) need an intelligent-mode MPU-401 midi port instead of the UART-only ports  found on most soundcards for MT-32 support?

[Cloudschatze]

Doesn't KQ4 (among others) need an intelligent-mode MPU-401 midi port instead of the UART-only ports  found on most soundcards for MT-32 support?

Yes, or at least a soundcard that will ACK all MPU commands (Ensoniq).

One available workaround is the use of Anders Olsson's MT-32 / SoundBlaster MIDI driver.

[Oblivion]

thanks guys. that did the trick. its very satisfying to finally get this working after so long fiddleing with it.

one more question

i get ALOT of noise with this setup, at least under kq4. alot of staicly crackling on high notes. whats the cause of this? the patch? should i get better cables or speakers?

[andrew603]

Turn down the master volume on your MT-32.   Without going into detail, the nature of the design causes it to clip internally, which sounds like what you are describing.

I remember the KQ4 soundtrack being particularly loud.

[Tom]

I remember the KQ4 soundtrack being particularly loud.

Yeah, me too...this was one of the worse soundtracks I recall for MT-32 clipping.