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[marl3n3]

Hey all, I'm an Apple noob and I hope this board is an OK location to post this.  I promise I spent many many hours researching this b4 I posted!  Just let me know and I can delete / post else where to unclog the board

My question in short is: do any of you run a serial MIDI interface thru OMS on the G3 Wallstreet's GeoPort successfully?  I cannot get the OMS software to recognize the port and my Studio 128x interface (known working) for the life of me.  Can anyone here vouch that OMS actually supports the combo serial port on the Wallstreet?  Do I need some go-between application that I am not aware of?

The context goes like:
 
I got this Powerbook G3 Wallstreet 266mhz to work with an opcode Studio 128x midi thang I have hooked up (and known working, known responds to windows serial).  I'm running a fresh install of 9.2.2 I got from this website, and I also ran 8.1 and 8.6 images released with the PowerBook G3s only to get the same bad behaviors under all circumstances, on two diff hard drives.

The bad behavior is that OMS simply doesn't seem to recognize the GeoPort and/or 128x.  OMS interface still presents two ports for OMS to scan, separate printer and modem serial ports, on which it never detects the 128x.  (It also fails to detect 128x if I select neither serial port.)  I've done a bunch of permutations of things to no avail, extensions on and off, etc.  I installed MOTU FreeMidi in desperation and THAT program describes my port as a Combination Modem/Printer Serial Port, which is what most of the printer setups seem to want to call the GeoPort in the Chooser application.  So I'm not totally convinced OMS supports the g3 wallstreet combo serial port at all!!!  Does it have standard old serial ports hard-coded into it?

Does anyone have proof this setup can work?  And if so, what the heck can I do to try to fix mine up?  There's no driver in FreeMidi for the 128x, so no luck testing there.  This is my first time running an apple computer, let alone of this era, so don't hesitate to give me scrub advice.


[a maybe related odd behavior: I've also had no luck getting it to detect *any* USB devices using a cardport to USB card that a user on some forum specifically said worked with their Wallstreet, despite having USB mass storage and the other USB extensions running. I am finding the machine to be a bit of a stumper.  LAN works great tho.]

[Architecture]

I successfully used 5x Unitor 8s on my G3 PDQ laptop Serial port with no issues.

[robespierre]

The reason the PBG3 has a single serial port is that Serial Port B is wired to the infrared port.
So (in hardware) the Mini-Din-8 connector is Serial Port A, which is equivalent to the modem port.

[GaryN]

A couple of basic but absolutely necessary thangs:

You must have a 128x OMS driver in the OMS folder in the System Folder.

You must have a correct "crossover" serial cable to connect the 128x. That's a cable that connects the data sends on each end to the data receives on the other. Don't be surprised if you have to make this yourself. Opcode made the 128x for PC users which is why it has DB9 serial ports instead of the RS-422 Mini-DIN found on all but the earliest B&W Macs.

Here's a link showing the pinouts on each type. Keep telling yourself how much fun it is working with obsolete computer hardware while you sort this out.

https://whitefiles.org/tec/pgs/h10b.htm