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S2P : Tiny Parallel Port General MIDI Synthesizer

General MIDI Synthesizer for parallel port

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Small size general MIDI Synthesizer for parallel port.DOS game compatibility through SoftMPU TSR and patching.I produced a small batch of these boards, they are available here : https://www.serdashop.com/S2P

This PCB provides great quality general midi sound for computers that have a parallel port.

In particular, for 386+ DOS computers, a TSR was written to implement compatibility with existing real mode games on 386+. (for example Vikings). 

Also available is s2ppatcher : https://github.com/pdewacht/s2ptools which allows to patch some DOS games.

And finally also an SDK is available for your own game development : https://scalibq.wordpress.com/2019/03/09/dreamblaster-s2p/

PCB Connections :

USING SOFTMPU: DREAMBLASTER S2P MODE

You can download the special softmpu DOS TSR version compiled executable and sources from  https://github.com/pdewacht/softmpu 

Run SoftMPU specifying the parallel interface to be used and the base port

address of the MPU-401 interface, e.g.
  SOFTMPU.EXE /MPU:330 /OUTPUT:LPT1 
To enable MT-32 compatibility, add the /MT32 switch to the command line, e.g.
  SOFTMPU.EXE /MPU:330 /OUTPUT:LPT1 /MT32

A Sound Blaster base port address and IRQ can optionally be specified if
MPU-401 interrupts are required.

We are also working on a patching utility, and had success patching doom for S2P compatibility, so far.

Working games : 

  • Doom and other games using the same sound engine (Heretic, Hexen, Raptor: Call of the Shadows, etc.)
  • Games that use the Miles Audio Interface Library, both 16-bit and 32-bi

Demonstration of SoftMPU in action with the DOS game vikings :

The board uses the SAM2695 synthesizer chip from Dream.

Parallel port pinout of S2P : 

Using the patcher s2ppatch :  example patching doom :

Scali created an SDK for adding S2P, OPL2LPT and OPL3LPT support in your homebrew DOS games :

Check it out here : https://scalibq.wordpress.com/2019/03/09/dreamblaster-s2p/

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terrence vergauwen wrote 01/12/2021 at 04:04 point

Hi,

I'm interested in purchasing one of your "DreamBlaster SP2" midi soundscard for the paralllel port on an older computer.
I was wondering if the "DreamBlaster S2P : General MIDI wavetable synth for parallel port" is compatible with an IBM PC/XT with a 80186 CPU and 640KB RAM.
I do have an additional 32KB of expanded RAM available.
The PC/XT has a DB25 parralel port for attaching parallel printers...

I'm sure the hardware will be compatible, I'm just a little bit worried about the driver TSR that's mentioned on the project space as it talks about running it on a 386 CPU. Would the TSR work on a 16-bit 80186 CPU equiped XT running MS-DOS 5.0 ?

Thank you for your time,
and I hope to get a reply,

Yours,
Terrence

  Are you sure? yes | no

serdef wrote 01/12/2021 at 17:24 point

Hi Terrence, the TSR works with 386 and higher.

  Are you sure? yes | no

terrence vergauwen wrote 01/12/2021 at 19:58 point

thats too bad... :( I might try an OPL2 on LPT port then ;)

  Are you sure? yes | no

serdef wrote 01/12/2021 at 20:03 point

instead of TSR, you can use the S2P patch utility s2ppatch :

https://github.com/pdewacht/s2ptools/tree/master/s2ppatch

game compatibility is limited, it is best to check which games actually would run on your xt

  Are you sure? yes | no

terrence vergauwen wrote 01/12/2021 at 20:08 point

Do you know of any games that are compatible and are somewhat "playable" on an XT 80186 @ 7MHz with 640KB RAM with CGA graphics?

What about the older sierra games, like larry 1, 2, 3, space quest 1,2,3,4, kings quest 1,2,3,4 etc... ?

It seems quite tricky acording to what i read on the page for the patch utility, and i can't run quake and such ;)

  Are you sure? yes | no

terrence vergauwen wrote 01/12/2021 at 20:10 point

I'm trying to do a "world first on youtube", which is attach a soundcard to an HP 200LX palmtop (from 1994) which is a tiny MS-DOS 5.0 machine, after i've managed to acquire a very rare 200LX compatible parallel port PCMCIA card...

  Are you sure? yes | no

terrence vergauwen wrote 01/12/2021 at 20:14 point

Do you think the list of compatible patched games for the opl2lppt here:https://github.com/pdewacht/adlipt/wiki/ADPATCH-Tested-Games

should be identical for the patch utility for the dreamblaster sp2 ?

There are several games on their that I actually have installed on the palmtop that work fine :)

  Are you sure? yes | no

serdef wrote 03/09/2019 at 13:41 point

  Are you sure? yes | no

serdef wrote 07/03/2018 at 17:16 point

S2P DOS Game patcher under development :

https://github.com/pdewacht/s2ptools

  Are you sure? yes | no

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