MidiLink 2.0 looking for testers. (no MIDI devices required)

[BBond007]

What version of MS-DOS you are you using?

DOS 6.22 and QEMM 8.03

In Ultima6 I initially just went through the intro and character creation and everything sounded good on my SC-88pro.

I later noticed that I'm getting stuck notes in gameplay. Very strange that the SC-88pro will get stuck notes while the MT-32 does not...

Anyway, just out of curiosity, does setting "DELAYSYSEX=FALSE" in "/media/fat/MidiLink.INI" seem to help any? You don't need this setting enabled unless you have a MT-32 Rev0...

[nightshadowpt]

DOS 6.22 and QEMM 8.03

Anyway, just out of curiosity, does setting "DELAYSYSEX=FALSE" in "/media/fat/MidiLink.INI" seem to help any? You don't need this setting enabled unless you have a MT-32 Rev0...

Hi,

Sorry for the long silence, but been busy with other topics.

I don't seem to have a MidiLink.INI file in /media/fat/, only the regular Mister.INI.
Shall I create one and add the line you mention, or should I look for it anywhere else?

We're using the same version of MS-DOS, so that is also not part of the problem.

Cheers,

[Sorgelig]

I don't seem to have a MidiLink.INI file in /media/fat/

it should be in /media/fat/linux

[nightshadowpt]

it should be in /media/fat/linux

Thanks Sorgelig!

------------------------------------------------------------

While tinkering a bit more, I have discovered that if I use QEMM instead of EMM I get a lot less hanging notes.

It still feels random, but before I got hanging notes almost always, and now with QEMM, I played for 30 minutes Monkey Island 1 and 2 as well as Ultima 6 and did not get any hanging notes.

I'll try more games when I have the time and will share the result here.

Out of curiosity, is the AO486 core still being actively developed?

[BBond007]

I don't seem to have a MidiLink.INI file in /media/fat/

it should be in /media/fat/linux

Sorry, yeah "/media/fat/linux/MidiLink.INI"

It still feels random, but before I got hanging notes almost always, and now with QEMM, I played for 30 minutes Monkey Island 1 and 2 as well as Ultima 6 and did not get any hanging notes.

In ultima 6, I noticed that the "DELAYSYSEX" MidiLink.INI option (for MT-32 Rev0) caused hanging notes in gameplay on my SC-88pro but not on my MT-32.

Anyway, I quickly looked into the problem, and I'm testing something better, but in your case, I definitely recommend disabling it...

[nightshadowpt]

So, after some more testing it seems the DELAYSYSEX option did help (if not completely fixed) with the problem.

By using QEMM and with the DELAYSYSEX option correctly set I am now for the most part able to run games with the SC-88 Pro without any hanging notes.

Unfortunately, a few games still have the problem (i.e.: Inspector Gadget, Discworld).

Anyway, I'm quite happy with the result.

Thank you very much for spending the time and helping me troubleshoot it.

Cheers

[jca]

I am trying to setup remote MIDI.
On MISTer I did set UART to MIDI, remote, UDP. I also edited the MidiLink.Ini to set the UDP server IP to my PC.
On the PC I installed the virtual MIDI cable LoopMIDI, UDPMIDI and MUNT.
Is there a special order to start these programs and what virtual connection do I have to make?
I also have a question regarding the volume settings in MidiLink.Ini: their default value is -1. What are the proper values?
Thanks

Update:
I had started the program the wrong way and got confused.
Now I closed both MUNT and UDPMIDI, started UDP MIDI, selected LoopMIDIPort.
I started MUNT, new MIDI port, MidiIn0:loopMIDIPort.
Started the game on the Atari but do not see any traffic.

[BBond007]

I also have a question regarding the volume settings in MidiLink.Ini: their default value is -1. What are the proper values?
Thanks

Deprecated. don't mess with that setting. -1 means don't alter ALSA mixer which we don't support anyway...

That is a leftofer from testing when this required a USB DAC... I do have a reason for leaving the option in the code...

[BBond007]

I also have a question regarding the volume settings in MidiLink.Ini: their default value is -1. What are the proper values?
Thanks

You said you are trying to do remote MIDI anyway...

All you really need is UDPMIDI and MUNT.

If you are not seeing packets on your UDPMIDI app, then start midilink manually via SSH and see if that is getting data. If that is not getting data then its your core config... you don't mention what core you are even trying to get working... Amiga and ST are simple but ao486 is more involved.

Code: Select all

#uartmode 0
#midilink UDP

[BBond007]

delete

[jca]

I am the same guy who posted on the Atari thread regarding my first experiments with MIDI. I switched to this thread as it is more relevant to it than the Atari. Ok for the -1 levels, I was just curious. As my settings works locally for MIDI what should I look for after SSHing?

Thanks for your work and your help with my problems.

[BBond007]

As my settings works locally for MIDI what should I look for after SSHing?

Just check that MidiLink is starting correctly and all the parameters are being read in correctly (for example UDP_SERVER).

You may also want to try and "ping" the UDP_SERVER and make sure that works...

If you are not using an IP address, then it my be a DNS issue.

[jca]

Problem solved: strange firewall problem.
The first time I started UDPMIDI I allowed it for home/work network but not for public network
I SSHed and pinged my PC: no go.
I went into the firewall settings and saw that I was on a public network. I allowed UDPMIDI on public network and now remote MIDI works.
My PC is connected via a Ubiquiti NanoStation M5 to my office which has a domain controller. I did not join the domain but Windows considers it as being on a public network for whatever reason.
Thanks

[BBond007]

what do you think about my changes in midilink? sources are updated in mister-devel repo.

Thanks! I do like the changes

The "UDP_BAUD_ALT" setting is definitely useful, but the problem is all these NULL/modem playable games all work at a different baud (typically 300 - 9600), so you'll still be constantly editing that setting in MidiLink.INI just like I'm constantly changing "UDP_BAUD" for the other modem capable cores..

I've been working on changes to allow the baud rate to be altered from the OSD without reloading/resetting MidiLink EXE. --> https://github.com/bbond007/Main_MiSTer ... 85bf3852e1

I made videos to demonstrate how this option works with the "Remote/TCP" just because it is simpler to demo than "Remote/UDP" but there no difference in how it works --> (Minimig Core) https://youtu.be/V_ufiCpTH7M --> (Atari ST Core) https://youtu.be/082lz0YAOEs

I added utility ("mlinkutil") to my "MiSTer_MidiLink" repo (which gets called mb Main_MiSTer):

#mlinkutil BAUD 19200

I think I can also add the ability to load/change FluidSynth soundfonts to this utility without resetting MidiLink EXE.

[jca]

I posted on the Atari thread but will also post here. With the new midilink MIDI does not work any longer for me. Am I the only one?

[BBond007]

I posted on the Atari thread but will also post here. With the new midilink MIDI does not work any longer for me. Am I the only one?

Can you be more specific? "Local:MUNT", "Local:FSynth", "Remote:UDP"? Nothing works?

You mention the Atari ST thread, so I assume you mean that core, but do other cores still work?

I have tested "Remote:TCP" and "local:MUNT" but I have not yet tested other modes.

It might be that you needed to issue the command "chmod 755 /sbin/midilink" if truly nothing is working after you updated midilink...

I did find a small bug in "Remote:TCP" but it would only potentially effect the Atari ST core.

Thanks

[Sorgelig]

In AtariST there was way to get connection speed from MFP registers. I can add a way to read it, so it won't require OSD speed settings.
Probably similar detection can be done in other cores.
I need to investigate it.

[jca]

chmod did it
Thanks

I should have posted more information and a least SSH to see that midilink was not an executable but I had to make my post really fast due to an emergency call from the office. Sunday and Monday have been really busy with soft PBX, SIP phones, servers and IP cameras. Murphy said:
If thing can go wrong at the same time they eventually go wrong at the same time. They did . Today things are clearing up, I had time to test MIDI local MUNT during lunch time and I have no doubt that local FluidSynth and remote MUNT will work.
This evening will be time to finally have some fun with MISTer .
I owe you a Martini, shaken not stirred

[Sorgelig]

i've merged BBond007 changes into Main, so it will be used till some reading of UART speed will be implemented.

@BBond007, can you test if it works as you designed?

[BBond007]

i've merged BBond007 changes into Main, so it will be used till some reading of UART speed will be implemented.

@BBond007, can you test if it works as you designed?

Thanks!

Would it be possible to disable/hide the BAUD option for the just for the cores that support reading the UART?

So far so good...
I still more testing to do...

Here is a quick video of the OSD sondfont option in use --> https://youtu.be/gghXt02bmEY

FluidSynth has a shell on TCP:9800 which (among other things) allows soundfonts to be loaded and unloaded. This is the interface I'm using. "/sbin/mlinkutil" communicates with this shell in addition to changing the UART baud rate.

Code: Select all

Usage:
 - #mlinkutil BAUD [rate]
 - #mlinkutil FSSFONT [fileaname]

I'll need to look at the FluidSynth shell source because right now I can't figure out how to load soundfornts that have spaces in the name. Otherwise it seems to work well...

[Sorgelig]

Would it be possible to disable/hide the BAUD option for the just for the cores that support reading the UART?

currently none of cores support UART baud reading. Besides the simple baud read, it needs detection of baud change.. So i'll leave it for future improvements. It's the feature every user needs.