I have a Sound Blaster 2 and it has on it a socketed YM3812 (OPL2). I have also a couple SB16s. One is a CT1740 and it has a small YMF262-M soldered on the board. The other is a CT2230 and it doesn't have any Yamaha chip at all, must be the OPL3 is then integrated into Creative's custom chip?

I think it would be cool to have a board to make use of any of these old chips, just for partial compatibility with MSX-AUDIO / music-module

It would be nice, indeed. FM registers are exactly the same, so all games using only FM (most of Compile ones) will work.
I think there is a tracker with option for 2 Music Modules, that is equal to use a OPL3 (OPL3=OPL2x2)=stereo

The original idea of osises was to desolder the YMF262 i understood, i guess this will work with MBFM. Then we could have cheap (and maybe small) audiocards.

I think it is worth trying to make a converterboard with a 74HC541, 74HC138 and a 74HC32 and put the original Soundblaster completely into the MSX slot. If Soundblaster=Soundblaster, the Soundblaster with YMF262 should be the same as a Soundblaster with a CT8903 or so. In that case we could also use cards with the Creative chipset, but maybe i'm off topic, just a try to see if it works. If so, we can also use the Soundblaster as MSX-Audio (without samplechannel) by routing &HC0 to &H388... I don't know how the 16bit access is done, maybe 8 bits is okay, or we have to fake the parity, in worst case latches are needed but then i doubt the compatibility. Anyway the YMF262 is also 8 bit and initilalizing the mixerchip seems not too difficult.

This morning i also found a soundcard with a YMF278, but i think it is not a Soundblaster type, 'Ultrasound', maybe Gravis Ultrasound.

YMF278 is OPL4. Those were used on "brandless" wave table soundcards some 10 years ago. All of the ones I have seen had the GM rom on it as well. So now you can make your own moonsound.

TO MSX-FREAK: Send me more information to my mail osises@hotmail.com, thanks (if you want you can speak in Spanish).

Of course, the original idea is to create a new board with desoldering Chips of an original PC card or similar. I suppose that the idea to connect a card ISA directly to the MSX is possible and can work, but it seems a shoddy work, but very cheap.

Yes i think a new board will be a more decent solution.

An ISA adapter can be a good solution for Soundblasters with an other chipset. Yesterday i made a temporary solution with 3 chips, it seems to work but i cannot run MBFM on my MSX, i use a NMS8245 for this.

One of the problems when using ISA card is that it work with a different clock from the one of the MSX. I believe that normally it is of 14.xxx mhz, although I ask myself so that it would not work in a MSX with a smaller clock? Maybe the rest of the electronic...? I don't know.

MBFM should run fine on a 8245. Maybe it couldn't find the OPL?

Hey, DD, how's yer little brother doin'?
(omelette du fromage)

Whoa, old stuff, Dexter's Lab!

It indeed needs a clock of 14MHz but it doesn't have to be in sync with the databus it seems only a reference for the audiochips and maybe serial devices. An external oscillator works fine, i have 3 soundcards, the older one with YMF278 is working as MSX Audio, but not with MBFM because it is complaining about not enough memory.

Anyway i can communicate with that one with the help of 3 extra 74HC chips and one transistor to invert the RESET (Who developed an active HIGH reset!?!?). The other two carts are plug-and-play, they ignore all access after power up, they must be told what I/O they have to use and after that they can be enabled. One of those is an AWE64. I wrote a basic program which initializes the plug and play stuff. The plug and play card gets in the right state and responds after a lot of OUT's but i don't know if the port programming itself works, anyway the hardest part is finished. Debugging a 'dead' card is really a black box... Anyhow for getting a soundblaster working there is a small (and fast) startup tool needed in AUTOEXEC or so.

Manual, do you know what MBFM is looking for at startup? Is it also the YMF chip itself or extra hardware in Moonsound cart?

Ro, haven't seen my bother for a long time! Deedee wants to play!

DD - I think MBFM also uses a few (6) channels from the wavetable part and for that it may need the MoonSound sample memory (and refuse to start when it can't find it). A bit stupid, someone should make (or remake MBFM) a tracker which only uses the OPL3...

MBFM seems to work now on an original card, a Soundblaster clone, so it should work on a single YMF262 also i guess? In case of a soundblaster, the wavechannels are sometimes producing noise.

For an original card A2 must be inverted, that was the problem... I assumed MBFM accessed the YMF chip at address &HC0-&HC3 but it seems to be &HC4-&HC7. Finally the Plug-and-Play stuff is working, the OPL1 part and the mixer are working fine. Unforunately one or two extra chips are needed to invert A2 in some situations.

Cool!

DD. Can you send me the electronic scheme that you are using? (osises@hotmail.com) Thanks for it, I have much curiosity