How to Make an MT32-Pi for the MiSTer (Cheap Option Included!)
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2023
- In this video, I'm diving into the MT32-Pi project, which turns your Raspberry Pi into a Roland MT-32 MIDI synthesizer. We'll look at 3 different ways to connect it to a MiSTer FPGA, including a low-budget option that just uses an old USB 2.0 cable that you can cut up. I'll take you through the software configuration, as well as the assembly process for a nice MT32-Pi HAT.
Games demo'd in this video:
- 4D Sports Boxing (PC)
- Police Quest 2 (PC)
- Space Quest 5 (PC)
- Day of the Tentacle (PC)
- Secret of Monkey Island (PC)
- Kings Quest VI (PC)
- Robocop 3 (PC)
- Castlevania Chronicles (X86000)
- Civilization (PC)
Links mentioned in this video:
- The Munt Project - github.com/munt/munt
- MT32-Pi Github - github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi
- Tested MIDI Interface Cables - github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi/w...
- Mio MIDI Interface - www.iconnectivity.com/product...
- Tested MT32-Pi USB cables - github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi/w...
- MiSTer/MT32-Pi GPIO Pinout (for direct wiring) - github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi/w...
- Engineer PA-21 Crimpers - www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
- Generic Dupont Connector Kit - www.amazon.com/Taiss-Connecto...
- Parts List (Mouser - does not include PCB) - www.mouser.com/ProjectManager...
- MT32-Pi Gerbers - github.com/MiSTer-devel/Hardw...
- Raspberry Pi 4 (Mouser) - www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...
- USB Cable with Dupont Connectors - www.amazon.com/MEIRIYFA-USB-M...
- OLED Display 5-pack (Amazon) - www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09...
- MT32-Pi HAT Spacer - www.thingiverse.com/thing:473...
- MT32-Pi HAT Button Covers - www.thingiverse.com/thing:473...
- OLED Spacer - www.thingiverse.com/thing:475... - Hry
I started this video just out of curiosity, but ended watching it all to the end, even not planning to build MT32pi nor Mister
Nice production value and great info with a quality thrift vibe. Just found your channel, thank goodness! Good stuff
Thank you so much for your amazing videos
I love this thing, MIDI has some really georgous sounds and GST's, to get the best version of the MT32-Pi, it's really worth installing a decent DAC & DSP, a DAC with multiple clocked oscilators and a DSP for clock rate select, sample-rate, and EQ + lowpass/highpass filters etc, I also want to add PGM chiptune audio to my MiSTer, as I love that sound too, a Philips SAA1099 will do nicely as well as ASLIB OPL3 sound, so I have the big three, Chuptune (PGM), ADLIB (FM) and MIDI (XG & GM), would be dope to have Tandy and Disney Sound Source too (COVOX) and even GUS, these are totally uniqe sounds that sound incredible in the games that use them,and are worth experiencing, I hope eventually we get an upgrade to the MT32-Pi, to make it an all pupose, universal hardcore synthisizer, for MT32, SC-55, SC-88, ADLIB, PGM, CVX4, GUS, SB-Pro, as well as a good DSP & dual DAC built in, and even a nice vintage HIFI quality Pre-AMP, and a VCO to pass everything through to modulate it all for shaping (depth, attack. clock, BPM, autotune, finetune, et cetera).
Basically an official MiSTer add-on board dedicated to all of the above, that is also included in the framework, and with compatability to use the audio chipsets with console and arcade cores too, rather than exclusively for computer syetem cores, for this reasonI will always opt to play the computer ports of games, so I can use real audio hardware or the significantly higher grade audio that the MT32-Pi produces versus the standard audio from the FPGA+DAC, the FPGA puts outbit-perfect sound data for sure, but from there it just gets fed to the DAC, and it's sounds rather flat and lifeless, not to mention all charecter is lost from original hardware, being able to use the MT32-Pi as a DSP filter & EQ stage, plus a Pre-AMP, would completly transform the generic sounding standard MiSTer audio output for console & arcade cores.
wow, you are an elder wizard, you make me want to become adept at electronics. I was raised in the 90s not around soldering irons so I am great with software but have almost no knowledge of hardware, but this video makes it clear like.. what a skill set you can have if you just know how wires work, what's in a usb cable, how it can connnect to things. really ace
Thank you! I grew up with a Radio Shack spring-based electronics lab, but I also mainly focused on software early on. It wasn't until my early 20s when I got more into hardware and electronics. You can do great on either path, but knowing how to do both well is really when the magic happens. I hope you continue to pursue the hardware side!
Thanks, i built one last year with a PI Hat and a PI 3A+ and mounted it to the top of an acrylic case. I love the look and the sound when playing DOS or X68000 games. I did not know you could run it with a UISB cable so good to know, especially with PIs harder to get.
The USB cable only takes the place of the HAT; you still need the Pi, as it does the actual MT32 emulation. It's nice to have an option, though, where you only need the Pi + a USB cable.
If you want to connect to a real MIDI port , just use a cheap lvl converter and 2 220 ohm resistors. No need to fool around with optocoupling but if you do make sure it's a 3.3v part .
Was thinking about doing something with my old (pretty much toy keyboard that does have MIDI-out). I have RPI zero 2W and although I can solder and have most components. I wonder if you can actually do this without any soldering at all... First getting a Midi(out)->USB interface then getting (because zero 2W) does not have a 3.5 PWM audio jack (which also seem to sound horrible with noise artifacts) and USB sound card (10 USD from Amazon?). Or just get the audio thru HDMI and the let the HiFi/TV or something do the DA conversion.
Would this work? is there any support for the RPI with Midi2USB cables out there, I guess USB audio soundcards is working as some of them have been tested to work for RPI's.
Hi. I order everything from mouser and have constructed the MT32-pi, it is fully working. The only thing I could not find was the top plate. Where can I get the files for that? Those were not in the description.
Dear ken, on 15:30 you talk about using just one wire to connect the Pi.
While removing the red wire is ok if you have external power, I believe it is recommended to connect the ground together.
Yes, that's a good point - there should be a common ground between the Pi and the MiSTer.
What does the second usb port do on the MT32-Pi hat? Does it let you pass through the user port?
No, it's wired up exactly the same as the other USB port. I don't see any documentation on the 2nd port, but I'm guessing that it's there as a MIDI thru port, allowing you to chain multiple MIDI devices through the MT32-Pi. I didn't add the 2nd USB port on any of the units I built.
Hi Ken! 👋
Thanks for the fantastic & informative video on the MT32-Pi! I'm so happy you made a video on this! 👍
Could you help me answer two questions for me, please?
I have a ready built MT32-Pi but I noticed that I've not updated it at all (I'm still on v1.07!)
Do I lose any functionality if I don't update it to the latest v0.13.1 release?
Also, can you tell me if there is good MIDI only players on the MiSTer computer cores where I can just play MIDI music?
I'm sure I've seen one somewhere but not sure how to access it.
Thanks! I appreciate the suggestion - it was an enjoyable one to put together!
Regarding upgrading to a newer version of MT32-Pi... are you saying you're running 0.1 or 0.7.1? Either way, there's been several releases since then which include bug fixes and support for various types of LCD displays and other features, including things like network-based MIDI streaming. Is there a reason you're not updating to 0.13.1? It only takes a minute to do it and there's no functionality regression that I'm aware of.
Regarding MIDI players ... I grew up in the 90s, so I lean towards firing up AO486 and running either DOS or Win95. Have you tried out megamid? It's a DOS-based MIDI player with MT32 support built in.
@@whatskenmaking I bought this MT32-Pi already assembled & I have no clue how to update it but I'll follow your guide! LOOOL
How do I get to megamid?
It does sound like (pardon the pun) what I'm after! 👍
@@phillai Ah, no problem - to update it, you need to copy the mt32pi_updater.cfg, .py, and .sh files from the GitHub repo (github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi/tree/main/scripts) over to the scripts folder on your MiSTer. Then connect the microSD card from your MT32-Pi to your MiSTer with a USB SD-card reader, and just run the mt32pi_updater.sh script from the MiSTer menu. The updater script will pull the latest version, so after you get the script on there, you only need to run the script again in the future to update to later versions.
For megamid - I found a copy here - just load it up in AO486 DOS - dosprograms.info.tt/download/megam166.zip
@@whatskenmaking Thanks Ken! Keep up with the great work on your CZcams videos!! 👍
I'm curious does the single wire setup let SNAC work for other devices or does it still make it confused if you try to multitask on that? Can it be reassigned to another pin to leave SNAC available?
No, it uses one of the USB 2 data lines for the MIDI data, so it interferes with the SNAC. Many of the SNACs don’t use all 9 pins, but reassigning MIDI output to a different pin isn’t possible without code updates. Just curious - is there a particular core you’re looking to use both MT32-Pi and SNAC on at the same time, or are you looking to just keep them plugged in?
@@whatskenmakingI've never bought a Pi before and figured it would be worth asking before making the investment. Mostly planning to use Midi with DOS with the 486 core and earlier computers and not sure how much I'd be using SNAC while using them. USB is more than adequate for most of their communications.
there are some model of mt-32pi with midi in/out is it possible to add it to a simple rasberry ?
Yes, you can wire a MIDI interface directly into the GPIO header on the Pi ... see this article in the MT32-Pi wiki - github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi/wiki/GPIO-MIDI-interface
Hi Ken, big fan btw, i have a question if you have some time, i got the mister multisystem and decided to go with the pi-mms, i got a pi 0 w2, solder it, and it showed on the screen when i booted it but then nothing, it doesnt get detected in mister, weirdly enought, if i plug the micro usb cable on that pi, it power the entire mister multisystem, even if its turn off, and even if i unplu the barrel jack, so for sure power is feeding throught and the green light is on the pi 0 w2 as well, its just a weird one where everything should work, but it doesnt, nothing on the screen and on the core it support, it doesnt show up, like the x6800. just thought i ask a pro about what he thinks about, im waiting on another pi 0 w2 in case maybe the micro sd slot is defective, i presume if no sd card, nothing will show or work, or would it detect as well?
forgot to mention, i went back and redid all the solder joint, includint the one that was already done for the screen, resistor etc, just to be on the save side
I haven't looked at the Pi MMS yet, but I assume it works mostly the same as the zero-based MT32-pi... Are you using the latest version of MT32-pi on the zero's microSD card? Also, what do you have J17 and SW7 set to? Without the uSD card, there's no operating system on the Pi, so you shouldn't even see the Pi boot up. Have you tried connecting the pi to a monitor and seeing if it boots?
@@whatskenmaking Hi Ken, so i tried to plug to my pc, nothing, i plugued in hdmi with power, nothing as well, might be a defective board, not sure what you mean with J17 and SW7
I was referring to J17 and SW7 on the MMS. If you take off that front cover, J17 is the set of 3 pins that get jumped to determine the voltage levels for the user port (3.3v or 5v). SW7 sets whether there's 3.3v or data on the IO6 pin. And I actually just saw in the Pi-MMS datasheet that it doesn't matter what SW7 and IO6 are set to, so disregard that suggestion (www.retrocollective.co.uk/assets/MMS/manuals/Heber_Multisystem_PiMMS_Cartridge_Datasheet_80_23157_Issue2_17_11_2022.pdf). How did you install the MT32-Pi image on the sd card?
I only have 8 wires in my USB 3 cables. What am I doing wrong?
I found the pinout and located the drain. My cable has 3 drains, do I twist them together?
Hmmm... your cable doesn't sound like a standard USB 3 cable. You say there's 3 drain wires? Are all 3 connected to the same pin on the USB connector? Cross reference your wire colors with the table here: github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi/wiki/MiSTer-FPGA%3A-Interface-pinout - Which color wire are you missing?
I dont have an soldering iron, I never soldered, I dont have an 3d printer or the rest, would be cheaper to buy an complete one in my case 😂
An unorthodox question: if you have any extra MT32 pi hats, may I buy one from you?
Sure, I do have a few extra and would be happy to give them a good home. Send me an email (the address is in the About tab of my channel) and we’ll work out the details.
Same goes for anyone else that might want one … I have a couple that aren’t assembled yet so if anyone wants a kit to build themselves we can do that too… but I’m also happy to build it for you.
What is a mister?
It's an FPGA-based hardware emulation system that reproduces classic video games and vintage computers, so you can play them on modern hardware. I made a video on it a couple of months ago - if you haven't seen, I'd suggest checking it out - czcams.com/video/frbKVuCrWz8/video.html.
@@whatskenmaking Thank you for taking the time to respond to me. I'll watch the video.