Games w/ MIDI

[SuperDeadite]

Yeah awhile ago I thought my HDD died, but then I realized the battery was dead. With the battery removed I reformatted the drive, and it worked perfectly I could install and run games OS straight off of it. But as soon as I turned the computer off for 5 mins, the HDD was no longer readable. I repeated the process, same thing every time.

For OS I have TownsOS 2.51 L40 on original CD. It autoboots itself and runs in ram or can be installed just fine. Never had an issue with TownsOS. Even my old burned CDR of 1.0 works just fine if Fast Mode is disabled...

Now Windows 3.11 requires a boot disk to install, and before that you have to install DOS of the set of 6 floppies (I have the 3.11 stuff, but I don't have DOS package). And if you really want to put in Win95, that is just an upgrade CD that runs through 3.11.

How is the condition of your battery? When I had the bad battery installed, I often had weird behavior. Sometimes the drive just wouldn't read shit. Then I had awful screeching sound effects in Chase HQ, no matter how often I reset, these issues never went away. But then I pulled the battery out and let it sit a couple days, all issues fixed. I'm guessing my failed battery corrupted the SRAM and caused everything. As I've been running on no battery for 6 months, and everything is perfect.

[Shou]

Yeah awhile ago I thought my HDD died, but then I realized the battery was dead. With the battery removed I reformatted the drive, and it worked perfectly I could install and run games OS straight off of it. But as soon as I turned the computer off for 5 mins, the HDD was no longer readable. I repeated the process, same thing every time.

For OS I have TownsOS 2.51 L40 on original CD. It autoboots itself and runs in ram or can be installed just fine. Never had an issue with TownsOS. Even my old burned CDR of 1.0 works just fine if Fast Mode is disabled...

Now Windows 3.11 requires a boot disk to install, and before that you have to install DOS of the set of 6 floppies (I have the 3.11 stuff, but I don't have DOS package). And if you really want to put in Win95, that is just an upgrade CD that runs through 3.11.

How is the condition of your battery? When I had the bad battery installed, I often had weird behavior. Sometimes the drive just wouldn't read shit. Then I had awful screeching sound effects in Chase HQ, no matter how often I reset, these issues never went away. But then I pulled the battery out and let it sit a couple days, all issues fixed. I'm guessing my failed battery corrupted the SRAM and caused everything. As I've been running on no battery for 6 months, and everything is perfect.

I have to go back and check which OS CD I have but I thought it's 2.51 L51 which wouldn't boot as is.

Reading this stuff about the battery makes me think mine must be dead. How is your SRAM running OK without the battery powering it? What kind of battery is it? Going to be a PiTA to take it out of my setup again and take it apart.

[SuperDeadite]

Without the battery, I can't use an HDD. But with no HDD connected, and no battery it runs everything off the disk perfectly fine (well minus Shadow of the Beast). It uses a CR2450. It's located next to the PCMCIA reader, meaning you have to disassemble the entire thing, hence I just pulled mine out, and haven't gotten around to installing a new one yet. My plan is to install 2 battery holders in parallel, so I can swap in a new one before removing the old. I've seen pics on yahoo auctions of people using long wires and mounting the battery right under the case cover which makes sense to me.

[Shou]

I definitely need the HDD for some of my games so looks like it's time to find an SRAM replacement which won't need the battery.

[Shou]

For OS I have TownsOS 2.51 L40 on original CD. It autoboots itself and runs in ram or can be installed just fine. Never had an issue with TownsOS. Even my old burned CDR of 1.0 works just fine if Fast Mode is disabled...

Can you take a pic of your install disc?

[SuperDeadite]

LOL, it's been so long since I've used it I got the numbers wrong. I have 2.1 L30.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r260/SuperDeadite/town_zps831f7715.jpg

[Shou]

LOL, it's been so long since I've used it I got the numbers wrong. I have 2.1 L30.

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r260/SuperDeadite/town_zps831f7715.jpg

OK, so I have 2.1 L51 which should be the latest version but the machine doesn't boot from this CD so I'm assuming my SRAM is bad...

[SuperDeadite]

First thing to do is pull out your HDD/CF. You'll notice that it attaches by a weird little SCSI adapter cable thing that separates the power and data connections. While on the mobo side it's just one giant plug. Pull that cable from the mobo itself. If you pull the drive, but leave that cable attached to the mobo with nothing on the other end, it will still give you issues (took me hours to figure this out).

With that cable removed, your machine should boot from CD just fine again. If so, then yes your issue is the battery. Remove it, then be sure to let the system totally drain of power for a few days. (Or you could short it I suppose, similar thing to CPS2 phoenixing). Then you should be able to reattach an HDD and still boot from CD. It won't be able to read the HDD until you've reformatted, but everything should work again. Though once you turn it off, you may have to do the full HDD cable removal thing again until you've replaced the battery.

[Shou]

First thing to do is pull out your HDD/CF. You'll notice that it attaches by a weird little SCSI adapter cable thing that separates the power and data connections. While on the mobo side it's just one giant plug. Pull that cable from the mobo itself. If you pull the drive, but leave that cable attached to the mobo with nothing on the other end, it will still give you issues (took me hours to figure this out).

With that cable removed, your machine should boot from CD just fine again. If so, then yes your issue is the battery. Remove it, then be sure to let the system totally drain of power for a few days. (Or you could short it I suppose, similar thing to CPS2 phoenixing). Then you should be able to reattach an HDD and still boot from CD. It won't be able to read the HDD until you've reformatted, but everything should work again. Though once you turn it off, you may have to do the full HDD cable removal thing again until you've replaced the battery.

Thanks for the tip, never knew about that at all. Just thinking on how to make a restorable setup since we know these batteries are going to die someday...

[Stefan_L]

SuperDeadite could you please make a recording of the stage 2 (Windy Avenue) music from Granada using a real X68K and real CM-32L?

I have been told in a discussion that Granada has "problem" using Hoot to play the music but there is always a possibility that Hoot emulation is correct and the bug is the actual game,you can solve this by doing a recording if you want

[SuperDeadite]

SuperDeadite could you please make a recording of the stage 2 (Windy Avenue) music from Granada using a real X68K and real CM-32L?

I have been told in a discussion that Granada has "problem" using Hoot to play the music but there is always a possibility that Hoot emulation is correct and the bug is the actual game,you can solve this by doing a recording if you want

I'll get to this, keep forgetting.

Anyway, got in a copy of FM Towns Xak III today, and it supports both GS and CM-64 format MIDI. It's a bit of a strange game, as certain parts like the intro use CD audio, but during gameplay, it's FM only or MIDI. Weird as Towns XaK II is completely CD Audio and has voice overs.

GS works fine with the FMT-403 (internal SC55mkII). However annoyingly it does not support the Towns audio input lines (Genocide and Murder Club do). So an external mixer is required. Haven't tested it with my CM-64 yet, but I assume it should work if I use the MIDI Output on the card.

Edit, there's a nifty X68000 MIDI board giving you internal GM, never knew such a thing existed.
http://page11.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/n124447378

[SuperDeadite]

Got the Space Harrier CD Audio patch working

http://youtu.be/k53n_gLeXQ4


Also found another FM Towns MIDI game, D&D Stronghold by Ving. However it only supports RS-MIDI, not IF Boards. I tried using an SC-55mk2 with an official Roland RS-232 Serial cable, but it does not work. I'm guessing I need either a Sacom SX-M232 RS-MIDI adapter or a Roland MPU401, but I have neither. I assume the other Western games that didn't work for Shou are the same format.

[SuperDeadite]

Finally got the stupidly hard to find Towns version of Illusion City. And it uses LA (MT-32 family) MIDI like all other versions of the game. Though to be honest, the FM in this version sounds really badass, and I prefer it over the same old MIDI tunes used in all versions of the game. In fact I much prefer the FM here over the FM in the X68K version, which seems odd as the Towns uses the same chip as the Megadrive. Still though sounds really fucking good in this version.

The scrolling is also smoother then the X68k version as well. A lot more slick to play, certainly the version to play (though I have no experience with the PC98/88VA one myself). Considering that Queen of Duelist Gaiden Alpha + on X68k also is bit choppy compared to the Towns version, I think Takeru/Brother fucking sucked at programming for the MPU.

Oh and by the way, this game is a pain in the ass to get running on a 486 based Towns. It's a simple process once you know what you're doing, but it's one of the strangest setup procedures I've ever seen, and the special Towns version instruction sheet explains it in only 3 lines of text. If anyone ever needs to do this, let me know. (On a pure 386 Towns, you don't have to do any of this).

[Shou]

Finally got the stupidly hard to find Towns version of Illusion City. And it uses LA (MT-32 family) MIDI like all other versions of the game. Though to be honest, the FM in this version sounds really badass, and I prefer it over the same old MIDI tunes used in all versions of the game. In fact I much prefer the FM here over the FM in the X68K version, which seems odd as the Towns uses the same chip as the Megadrive. Still though sounds really fucking good in this version.

Have you compared it to the MSX version?

[SuperDeadite]

Yes, this version actually runs very fast compared to both the MSX and X68k versions. The extra speed makes the game a lot more fun to play imo. Only thing is that it's a floppy disk game, but I have been unable to dump it. I've dumped other Towns floppies, but the usual methods don't seem to work here.

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhHW5oHcHRg

[Shou]

Yes, this version actually runs very fast compared to both the MSX and X68k versions. The extra speed makes the game a lot more fun to play imo. Only thing is that it's a floppy disk game, but I have been unable to dump it. I've dumped other Towns floppies, but the usual methods don't seem to work here.

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhHW5oHcHRg

I meant musically

Picked up a CM-64 and MU2000EX...now just to figure out how to wire up some kind of distribution matrix and mixing setup between all of my machines.

[SuperDeadite]

The FM is a lot clearer. The MIDI is exactly the same of course.

As for a setup, Roland/Eidrol makes some really nice MIDI Patchers. They have like 8 inputs, 8 outputs, and USB. You can send any input to any output with a the push of a button. They are around 20,000 and up, but the best there is really.

[Shou]

The FM is a lot clearer. The MIDI is exactly the same of course.

As for a setup, Roland/Eidrol makes some really nice MIDI Patchers. They have like 8 inputs, 8 outputs, and USB. You can send any input to any output with a the push of a button. They are around 20,000 and up, but the best there is really.

Thanks for that, eyeing that one but looks like it's made for a rack setup. Not sure how I'll set this up lol

[SuperDeadite]

Found a doujin patch to add MIDI support to X68 Mad Stalker.
Am I the only one that thinks "Full Metal Forth" was better then "Full Metal Force?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OguZ_0eaEAM