I'm getting old and I just don't have the energy anymore.

This isn't an idiot question, I'd prefer to select the midi devices too.
By the way, can such old cards be installed on new systems?

Also, please tell GOG support about the bug you found!

They are not cards, but external MIDI devices (synthesizers).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_MT-32
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_SC-55

You needed a MPU-401 interface card (or a sound card with MPU-401), and connect that unit to it with a MIDI cable (to the "MIDI Out", so that all MIDI messages would be sent also to the external MIDI unit, which makes it play music).

For modern PCs, the most common way to connect them is to use an USB-MIDI adapter, and connect the external device to it. So, using your USB port.

There were ISA card versions of those synthesizers too, LAPC-1 and SCC-1. They are useless nowadays if you don't have a PC with ISA slots. One explanation might be that the DOSBox version the GOG game is using is expecting a different entry. So "midiconfig=3" is wrong, while "config=3" would be right. Just a guess, if you didn't try that already. I already mentioned that e.g. the GOG version of Little Big Adventure uses different DOSBox config formatting, than what you showed. Not sure if the difference matters.

Other than that... hopefully someone who has tried the same responds. I recall reading some other GOG forum users also using real MT-32/CM-32L/SC-55 with their GOG games, so I presume they have already done the same, successfully.

I might try the same myself (I have a CM-32L which I don't use anymore, thanks to the Munt emulator), let's see if I could be arsed to connect it... I bought the Roland USB-MIDI adapter, but have never used it.

Hi,

Unfortunately GOG's installations are not consistent. In X-Wing DOS midiconfig works while in Tie Fighter DOS config works. Looks like not even the folks at GOG are aware of which version they are using with a particular game and which config file syntax would be appropriate.

Cheers
Patrick Libuda

old gits of the world unite ;-)

Hi,

One problem is that some of the best soundcards were released in the days of ISA. This means that they have effectively been reduced to electronic scrap (I still have a Terratec Maestro 32/96 but alas it is ISA - still works in my old P133). There are ISA to USB adapters but they cost a fortune and there is no guarantee that soundcards work (they can be tricky blighters).

In that case, it is easier to get things like the SC-55 or MT-32 (both external modules with an own power supply) and connect them to your computer via a USB MIDI adapter and the line-in of your soundcard.

In case you do not already know, there is a way of checking Midi device IDs in DOSBox. Just start your normal separate DOSBox installation and type 'mixer /listmidi'. Now you get a list of your midi devices. The numbers you then enter under 'midiconfig=' or 'config=' (depending on which actually works) in the midi section of the DOSBox configuration file for your GOG game.


For example:

mpu401=intelligent
mididevice=win32
midiconfig=3 (0 MS software synth, 1 and 2 the midi stuff of my SB X-Fi, and 3 the Roland USB MIDI thing to which I connect my MT-32 and SC-55)

(in some cases, e.g. GOG's version of Tie Fighter DOS, 'config=3' works)

In Windows 7 it should be enough just to install a MIDI device switcher for the control panel and then things should work like they used to in Win95 right up to XP (without you having to worry about MIDI device IDs). In Windows 8 and 8.1 you can also install these switchers. However, the problem is that Windows 8 and 8.1 ignore any such changes to your preferred MIDI device settings that you might make. They still use the internal Roland General Midi/Synth software stuff instead! Unless you have a programme where you can select the MIDI device you wish to use, you are stuck with Microsoft's internal software midi stuff.


They might already know but can't be arsed ;-) (aka don't care).

Anyway, I hope this helps.


Cheers
Patrick

Quickly checked the source code, and it seemed that the option used to be config but was changed to midiconfig in dosbox version 0.73. Most games on gog.com use 0.74 so the latter is correct, but some use an older one that expects the former.

I suppose it is possible that they have updated dosbox for some games without changing that part of the configuration, and thus left it broken.

This GOGmix, based on this thread, is rather recent and probably gives fairly accurate information on what version of dosbox the games are bundled with.

So, did you get it to work now? You just have to use either "config=3" or "midiconfig=3" in the config file, depending which GOG DOSBox game you are trying to run?

I don't know why the config entry must be different for different games. Could be due to a different DOSBox version for that particular game, but then it would seem odd that recent GOG releases like X-Wing and Tie Fighter would use different DOSBox versions, and not just the latest.

Then again, could be there were some problems with one DOSBox version that didn't appear on the different DOSBox. For instance, running Tie Fighter (1995, Collector's CD-ROM version (that GOG doesn't have)) on the latest DOSBox seems to have some odd issues here and there, like after your dead or captured player is revived, the focus is out of whack, and you can't click on any dialog boxes or anything inside the game, until you change the game (DOSbox) into windowed mode, click on some button, and back to fullscreen mode. Or alternatively, don't use the mouse, but the joystick, to navigate in menus.

Maybe some glitch like that, which doesn't appear on an alternative DOSBox-version for some reason.

Hello.
I'm currently on the old WinXp with a SoundBlaster (just for midi) and in the past I simply had to select my preferred midi device for each DOS game via DOSbox.
For GOG titles, instead, I still have to try.

For new computers it will indeed be a problem.
Soundfonts haven't been a faithful replacement for me, sadly (as timppu knows).
I'll check some info about those modules (for the SB too?).

Thanks to both :)

Hi,

You're welcome :-).

Doesn't DOSBox automatically use the MIDI playback device of choice selected in the audio devices setup under WinXP (unless you state anything else in the DOSBox config file)?

It has unfortunately been a while since I last used DOSBox under WinXP.


Cheers
Patrick

No wait, currently I don't have any problem with midi for non-Gog games in DOSbox.
I was thinking about the future, when I'll finally buy a new pc.

Hi,

All is not lost :-). After a lot of searching I managed to find a Midi Out set-up programme that actually works under Windows 8.1. It is called Midi Out Setter and available here: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/36315/MIDI-out-setter. Am typing this while listening to the music of Lemmings for Windows and watching the display of my SC-55.

Hope this info helps :-).


Cheers
Patrick

Yes and no apparently. So far it works for me when I try to play midi files with e.g. the Windows Media Player. However. If I try to run things like Lemmings for Windows or Battle Isle 3 (German title) nevertheless the software Roland stuff provided by Microsoft plays. (Alright, it still sounds better than Adlib Midi but I would still prefer it if my SC-55 hardware stuff were used.)

The site is harmless. However, if you send me your email address via a private message I would be more than happy to email it to you (I hope nobody - particularly not the author of said programme - objects...)

Anyway, once I get the time I will continue to explore whether there is any possibility of having (old) Windows games use hardware midi.

(DOSBox works - Old (e.g. pre-DirectX) Windows games so far appear not to but I hope there's a way of correcting that.)


Cheers
Patrick

Ah, thanks but too late, I've used a temp email ; )
Bad news about those Win games, instead, but it's good that the trick works at least for DOS titles.

Hi,

It might still work for Windows titles as well: When I get enough time I will have another look at the registry. Maybe there is a way of persuading Windows 8.0/1 to use hardware midi instead.


Cheers
Patrick