dosmid.txt - audio/dosmid - Rivoreo Source Code Repositories


            DOSMid - a low-requirements MIDI player for DOS
                     http://dosmid.sourceforge.net


 *** INTRO ***

 DOSMid is a MIDI player for DOS. It's a real mode application designed to run
 on very modest hardware configurations. It plays both MIDI and RMID files.
 DOSMid is not a software MIDI emulator, thus it requires a MIDI-capable
 hardware available via the standard MPU-401 interface. Some sound cards
 provide such interface natively, although many need an additional 'wavetable'
 daughterboard to produce actual MIDI sound.

 Minimal requirements:
  - a MPU-401 compatible sound card with a synthesizer (wavetable or external)
  - an 8086 CPU or better
  - a video card able to display an 80x25 text mode (ie. CGA or better)

 Highly recommended:
  - an 80286 CPU
  - VGA
  - 256K of available XMS memory


 *** USAGE ***

 During runtime, DOSMid can be controlled with the keyboard:
  ESC       Quits to DOS
  +/-       Volume up/down
  ENTER     Skip to next song

 At the command-line, DOSMid accepts several options, as listed below:

 DOSMID [/noxms] [/delay] [/mpu=XXX] file.mid

  /noxms    Use conventional memory instead of XMS. This is obviously useful
            only if you don't have have XMS. Don't use this option otherwise,
            since without XMS you won't be able to load MIDI files bigger
            than a few dozen KiBs (at least not all tracks).
  /nodelay  Do not wait 2ms before each XMS access. Such waiting is sometimes
            required when the MPU controller is emulated by a TSR driver
            (specifically, the AWEUTIL driver used with SoundBlaster AWE 32/64
            cards happens to crash if XMS accesses are not slightly delayed).
            If you are a MIDI puritan (and NOT using AWEUTIL), you can use
            /nodelay, but you are unlikely to hear any difference anyway.
  /mpu=XXX  Force dosmid to use MPU-401 on port XXX. If not forced, DOSMID
            scans the BLASTER environment variable for the MPU port, and if not
            found, it fallbacks to port 330h.
  /log=FILE Logs all DOSMid activity to FILE. This is clearly a debugging
            option that you shouldn't be interested in. Beware, the log file
            can be pretty big (much bigger than the MIDI file you are playing).
  /fullcpu  Do not let DOSMid being CPU-friendly. By default DOSMid issues an
            INT 28h when idle, to let the system be gentler on the CPU, but on
            some hardware this might lead to degraded sound performance.
  /dontstop Never ask the user to press a key after an error occurs. This is
            useful if you want to play a long playlist and don't care about
            bad MIDI files, simply skipping them (or if you play a single file
            and wish that DOSMid exit immediately if the file is unplayable).


 *** LICENSE ***

 Copyright (C) 2014,2015, Mateusz Viste
 All rights reserved.

 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
    list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
    this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
    and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
 AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
 IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
 ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
 LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
 CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
 SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
 INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
 CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
 ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
 POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

	DOSMid - a low-requirements MIDI player for DOS
	http://dosmid.sourceforge.net


	* INTRO *

	DOSMid is a MIDI player for DOS. It's a real mode application designed to run
	on very modest hardware configurations. It plays both MIDI and RMID files.
	DOSMid is not a software MIDI emulator, thus it requires a MIDI-capable
	hardware available via the standard MPU-401 interface. Some sound cards
	provide such interface natively, although many need an additional 'wavetable'
	daughterboard to produce actual MIDI sound.

	Minimal requirements:
	- a MPU-401 compatible sound card with a synthesizer (wavetable or external)
	- an 8086 CPU or better
	- a video card able to display an 80x25 text mode (ie. CGA or better)

	Highly recommended:
	- an 80286 CPU
	- VGA
	- 256K of available XMS memory


	* USAGE *

	During runtime, DOSMid can be controlled with the keyboard:
	ESC Quits to DOS
	+/- Volume up/down
	ENTER Skip to next song

	At the command-line, DOSMid accepts several options, as listed below:

	DOSMID [/noxms] [/delay] [/mpu=XXX] file.mid

	/noxms Use conventional memory instead of XMS. This is obviously useful
	only if you don't have have XMS. Don't use this option otherwise,
	since without XMS you won't be able to load MIDI files bigger
	than a few dozen KiBs (at least not all tracks).
	/nodelay Do not wait 2ms before each XMS access. Such waiting is sometimes
	required when the MPU controller is emulated by a TSR driver
	(specifically, the AWEUTIL driver used with SoundBlaster AWE 32/64
	cards happens to crash if XMS accesses are not slightly delayed).
	If you are a MIDI puritan (and NOT using AWEUTIL), you can use
	/nodelay, but you are unlikely to hear any difference anyway.
	/mpu=XXX Force dosmid to use MPU-401 on port XXX. If not forced, DOSMID
	scans the BLASTER environment variable for the MPU port, and if not
	found, it fallbacks to port 330h.
	/log=FILE Logs all DOSMid activity to FILE. This is clearly a debugging
	option that you shouldn't be interested in. Beware, the log file
	can be pretty big (much bigger than the MIDI file you are playing).
	/fullcpu Do not let DOSMid being CPU-friendly. By default DOSMid issues an
	INT 28h when idle, to let the system be gentler on the CPU, but on
	some hardware this might lead to degraded sound performance.
	/dontstop Never ask the user to press a key after an error occurs. This is
	useful if you want to play a long playlist and don't care about
	bad MIDI files, simply skipping them (or if you play a single file
	and wish that DOSMid exit immediately if the file is unplayable).


	* LICENSE *

	Copyright (C) 2014,2015, Mateusz Viste
	All rights reserved.

	Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
	modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

	1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
	list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

	2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
	this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
	and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

	THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
	AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
	IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
	ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
	LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
	CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
	SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
	INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
	CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
	ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
	POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.