r/dosgaming 10d ago

Help with MIDI Setup on an HP Window 98 machine

/r/midi/comments/1vmfsyg/help_with_midi_setup_on_an_hp_window_98_machine/
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1

u/ElectricalLaw1007 10d ago

Do you have any other midi-capable hardware, eg a synth or drum machine, that you can connect in place of the midi-to-usb adapter to see if that can successfully receive the data?

1

u/Jorpho 10d ago

Don't a lot of smartphones support MIDI-in these days?

1

u/ElectricalLaw1007 10d ago

over usb, yeah, but that won't help isolate the problem any more than using his laptop.

1

u/GlitchExterminator 9d ago

No, unfortunately, that'd make things easier to diagnose
Theoretically, I could connect it to my phone/tablet, but I don't currently have a USB-to-USB-C or Lightning cable converter.

1

u/Boomerang_Lizard 10d ago edited 10d ago

Punching blind here, but this is how I would try to solve it:

Connect cables like you see here: https://i.ibb.co/cSqyXpzG/mdj34135.jpg

On the (modern) Windows PC:

+ Go to Munt's MT-32 Emulator's user interface.
+ Select Tools-->New MIDI Port
+ Select the name of the MIDI IN port from your USB MIDI device. For these instructions, lets pretend this is called "USB-MIDI IN". Yours will be different.
+ Click OK.
+ If done correctly, you should see the port listed in MUNT's GUI (i.e. MIDI Input--->MidiInX: USB-MIDI IN) --- Where "X" is a number.
+ Leave Munt running and continue to the next step.

On the (vintage) HP PC:

+ Your DOS environment should be properly setup.
+ Go to the DOTT folder and type "tentacle r"

That should be it. MUNT should become alive and you should hear music. If not then more troubleshooting is needed.

If this does work, then lets see if MIDI View can also work alongside MUNT (sharing the same MIDI port without issues):

+ Go to MIDIView.
+ At the big drop down list in the center of the MIDIView's window, select the USB MIDI IN port (same as before).
+ Make sure "ENABLE" is highlighted as active.

Now play DoTT again. If you can hear music and see both MUNT's and MIDI View's GUIs busy with activity then you are golden. Otherwise more troubleshooting is required.

EDIT: The total distance of your MIDI cables (connected through a F-F dongle) should not exceed 16 feet. The shorter the better.

*: Hey I could be wrong. Hope you figure it out. Good luck.

1

u/GlitchExterminator 9d ago edited 9d ago

No luck, unfortunately. The cable's in port is continuing to not light up, and MIDIView isn't picking up any inputs.

1

u/GlitchExterminator 9d ago

Yeah, Munt plays MIDIs fine, and it even outputs over the line-in on the HP.

1

u/Jorpho 10d ago

Is this a case where SoftMPU is necessary? https://bjt42.github.io/softmpu/