Re: MIDI on SB Live! ? (fwd)

jimd_at_siu.edu wrote:
> The "midi connector" is connected to the Amiga via its serial port. The
> Creative "midi cable" is plugged into the Creative soundcard (MIDI/"game"
> port) and one of the MIDI OUT ports on the "midi connector", which has been
> verified as receiving valid MIDI data as it also drives one of my MIDI
> keyboards.

I have an Amiga 1000 with one of these cables.  I've used it
with a Sun SPARCStation 1+ before.  8-).


> So where does the 'PC UART' come into play since the MIDI connection doesn't
> go to the FreeBSD motherboard? Are you saying the the Creative Soundblaster
> Live! soundcard has a UART that is unable to properly handle/adjust to MIDI
> data streams? Perhaps you thought that I was connecting the "midi connector"
> to the FreeBSD system's serial port? Sorry.

Yes, that's what I thought you were suggesting doing: taking
the Amiga voltage converter cable that relies on the host UART
running the serial port at the MIDI baud rate, and connecting
it to the PC serial port, under the mistaken idea that you'd
be able to set the baud rate on a 16550-type UART to the MIDI
baud rate.  If you are running it out the Creative cable hooked
to the Joystick port, well, essentially you just need a serial
driver, since it's already clocked at 31,250 baud.


> I don't know about "av differential voltage converter" with respect to the
> Creative Labs "midi cable" as it has MIDI DIN jacks on one end and a DB15
> jack on the other.

I was referring to your Amiga cable, which converts from +/- 11
volts for RS232-C to -5 to 15.

If you are going to roll your own for a PC, you end up having to
use a microcontroller of some kind to deal with the buffering for
the baud rate differential; here is a good site:

	http://www.maxmidi.com/diy/serial/

And here's the main page:

	http://www.maxmidi.com/

It's a site put together by the author of "Maximum MIDI", which is
a book I recommend; it has a full toolkit of MIDI software, which
was written in C and C++.  Probably a useful resource for your
intended project...

-- Terry