Not working correctly on my retro game pc

[orizzle]

Edit: SOLVED! Was using a 2.0 amp power supply. Bumped it up to a 3 amp and we are good!!!! THANKS!!!

Hello everyone,

I am trying to get mt32-pi to work with a Pi 3B and softmpu via serial on a Cyrix PR233.

• I ordered the exact RS232 converter from this video (MAX3232): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TI6cYEtwLE
• I have it wired as per the directions on MIDI-via-RS-232-or-USB-to-serial. Tried swapping TX/RX and tried with and without Vcc connected
• Set config to 38400 baud
• Enabled ethernet in config, can ping pi (seems like ssh/telnet are disabled though so can't see output/logs)
• Added MT32 roms (untested, not sure of a good source for these?)
• Device=himem.sys, device=emm386.exe
• Softmpu /MPU:330 /SB:220 /IRQ:5 /OUTPUT:COM1 gives me success (have also tried without the SB and IRQ options with success message)
• Pi connected to speakers thru headphone jack

Game I am trying is EcoQuest, a Sierra game (not protected mode). Has MT32 support. Install detects the MT32 (probably because softmpu is responsible for this). Loading the game results in a couple random notes being played and then speakers silent. Green LED continues to flash on my pi.

Any ideas? Love the idea of this project and really want to get it running.

[opjose]

You do need a valid set of roms for this to work.

Hooking up a display and knobs & buttons shows you what is going on and lets you check that the ROMS are recognized and if the MT-32Pi is receiving the data correctly.

The provided kernel is task specific so it does not provide a console, ssh nor telnet connection. It is dedicated to the MT-32 emulation.

[orizzle]

Are there any free roms available that I can use to test my setup until I can locate working roms?

I found some MT32 roms that mentioned specifically they work with this project but no go.

[dwhinham]

Everything looks good in terms of configuration, so I'm not really sure (I am no expert on DOS games), but this kind of thing can happen when your CPU is too fast. The way some old games were programmed means that when running on faster hardware, timing problems appear. Often you can work around this kind of issue with BIOS settings or a "slowdown" program that reduces the CPU clock speed or disables caches. Your game doesn't appear on this list of speed-sensitive games, but you might want to see if any of the remedies in there have an effect on your game.

I would also just try other games too and see if you get any further.

If you have no LCD and want to check if your MT-32 ROMs are working, rename the soundfonts folder or delete it. If you still get some sound, the MT-32 synth initialized and the ROMs were good. If there's nothing at all, your ROMs were bad and it couldn't fall back on Soundfont mode.

@opjose has already touched on this, but re: SSH/Telnet not available - this isn't a Linux project; there's no shell, no commands to execute, no applications to run - you don't have all the things you are used to from typical Raspberry Pi setups. That's the whole point of it.

[orizzle]

The game runs fine with my sound blaster and setmul.

Did you mean rename soundfonts or rename roms?

I will try this and report. Is the flashing green light still to be expected even with bad roms?

[dwhinham]

I did mean the soundfonts folder, yes. The point is to force it to use MT-32 mode or die, because you aren't sure if the ROMs are good.

It works like this:

• ROMs available and valid? Enable MT-32 mode.
• At least one soundfont available? Enable SoundFont mode.
• Check config file - try to switch to user's preferred synth.
• If preferred synth is unavailable, try the other one.
• If no synths available, fatal error (hang, no MIDI activity LED etc)

So - if you kill the soundfonts folder, the only option is MT-32 mode. So if you get sound, you are definitely in MT-32 mode and the ROMs definitely work. ROMs are either 100% good or broken, so even some bad notes mean your ROMs are perfect.

[orizzle]

Thanks for the info. For an update, all rom sha1's match what's on the wiki. Renamed soundfonts. Pi boots, can ping, green light flashes when midi file played, but still no sound. Confirmed with 2 sierra games, playmid, and gsplay. Any ideas from here?

Edit: SOLVED! Was using a 2.0 amp power supply. Bumped it up to a 3 amp and we are good!!!! THANKS!!!