Task: Add an Emulated AdLib Sound Card to Your Retro PC
Needed: PC with an 8-Bit ISA Slot (e.g. IBM XT/AT/PS2) and a PicoMEM 2 Card
Time: 15-30 minutes
Introduction
The AdLib Music Synthesizer Card was one of the first sound cards to make IBM PC-compatible games feel truly musical. Released in the late 1980s, it replaced the thin beeps of the PC speaker with multi-voice FM synthesis built around Yamaha’s YM3812 (i.e. OPL2) chip. Because AdLib became the first widely adopted de facto PC game-audio standard, later cards such as the Sound Blaster kept AdLib compatibility, making OPL2 music one of the defining sounds of the PC era.
I recently installed a modern PicoMEM 2 card in my IBM PS/2 Model 30 that comes with emulated sound card support. This project is to give that a try with Adlib.
Instructions
First, you will need a PicoMEM 2 card. I have instructions here on how to purchase and install the PicoMEM.
Second, you will need to locate an AdLib Juke Box image (.img) file with the software to install the driver and give it a try. There are several versions of AdLib available on archive.org. Here is version 1.64 from 1991 that works in my setup. You will need the .img file from the zip. Put this in the Floppy folder on your PicoMEM microSD card.
Third, enter the PicoMEM setup utility at boot and arrow over to the Audio tab. Select Global Audio Output as On and set AdLib under Sound Cards to On. This enables the emulated AdLib. Note there are other sound cards here to try.
Fourth, while in Setup arrow back to the Disk tab and select the Adlib .img file for Drive A as shown below.
Fifth, reboot the machine and boot off your C drive as the floppy is not bootable. Change directories to A: and run jukebox.exe.
Sixth, make sure you have speakers plugged into the audio jack of the PicoMEM and choose a song from the menu using the numbers. Arrow for more options.
Comments
The built-in hardware for the sound card support is an improvement in PicoMEM 2 over previous versions of the board that required an ad-on board. It is now plug-and-play. Below is a video so you can hear what the audio sounds like.
I will let you boot up a game that can take advantage of the AdLib.