BASSMIDI MIDI driver for Windows Vista/7 (x64 incl.)

[RichNagel]

http://kode54.foobar2000.org/stuff.php What version is the one above? What is the latest version?

That one is the original version. After several updates (that weren't officiall assigned a version number), the current official release version is 2.0.

[RichNagel]

Hiya Mudlord,

I think that I've found a pretty bad problem with the BASSMIDI Driver

The BASS.DLL audio library is located in the Windows SYSTEM32 directory, and there are quite a few games that use a much older version of BASS.DLL.

The newer version of BASS.DLL has several of it's procedure calls (is that the right term for it?) that have been renamed compared to the older versions of BASS.DLL. One example is; in the older versions, "BASS_ChannelSetAttributes" has been renamed in the newer version to "BASS_ChannelSetAttribute" (without the "s").

When starting one of the games that use the older version of the BASS.DLL (that calls one of these procedure names that have been renamed), you'll get an error message, and the game immediately exists.

I haven't tested all of my installed games that use BASS.DLL yet, but a few that have this problem are "Bejeweled 2 Deluxe", "Bejeweled Twist", and "Peggle Deluxe" (almost all PopCap games use BASS.DLL).

I haven't tried this yet; but I'm fairly sure that I could rename the BASS.DLL for each of the games in question to something like "BAS1.DLL", and then simply hex-edit/hack the games' executables to point to the newly renamed "BAS1.DLL"... but of course, this is sort of a PITA (and not really a proper solution/fix).

Anyhow, I dunno if you can update the BASSMIDI Driver to be installed in it's own directory (which I think would probably fix the problem); or maybe simply rename the BASS.DLL file that the driver uses to something else (similar to my hack idea above for the games).

[RichNagel]

An update:

I haven't tried this yet; but I'm fairly sure that I could rename the BASS.DLL for each of the games in question to something like "BAS1.DLL", and then simply hex-edit/hack the games' executables to point to the newly renamed "BAS1.DLL"... but of course, this is sort of a PITA (and not really a proper solution/fix).

I tried the above for "Bejeweled Twist" and "Peggle Deluxe"... worked like a champ

Unfortunately though, Bejeweled 2 Deluxe's executable (WinBej2.exe) is encrypted, so I couldn't hex-edit that one (it's so severely encrypted, that you can't even find a simple "BAS" text entry within the EXE).

or maybe simply rename the BASS.DLL file that the driver uses to something else (similar to my hack idea above for the games).

Another experiment (and my temporary $hit-rig of a fix <grin> that I can currently use).

I renamed the following files (located in my "C:\Windows\System32" directory):

BASS.dll to -> BAS2.dll
BASSMIDI.dll to -> BASSMID2.dll

Then I hex-edited all instances of "BASS.dll" and "BASSMIDI.dll", to read "BAS2.dll" and "BASSMID2.dll" in all of the newly renamed DLL files, including in the BASSMIDI driver itself (BASSMIDIDrv.dll).

Rebooted, tried out the BASSMIDI Driver, and tried out all of the games in question... and everything worked perfectly Anyhow, I figured you might wanna know


P.S. Of course WinDoZe locks all of the DLLs, so you have to do some creative renaming/rebooting to do that... but if one knows what to do (what to rename, when to rename it, and when to reboot), it can be done without a hitch

[Maxime]

mudlord, this release works much better than the previous 1.x!

vanBasco's used to freeze each time I tried to play many MIDI files (I never found why) but I don't have experienced any crash with this one.

Rendering is also much better thanks to better effects support!

Keep that good work up!

@RichNagel: nice find! But anyway, the workaround should be much, much simpler; any Windows program usually looks in its own directory for dependencies (DLLs) before looking in the Windows\System32 directory. So, if you put the older BASS DLL in the executable file directory, it should use this one before trying to access the file from System32, so you shouldn't need to hex-edit each executable, which is a pretty hardcore solution.

[RichNagel]

@RichNagel: nice find! But anyway, the workaround should be much, much simpler; any Windows program usually looks in its own directory for dependencies (DLLs) before looking in the Windows\System32 directory. So, if you put the older BASS DLL in the executable file directory, it should use this one before trying to access the file from System32, so you shouldn't need to hex-edit each executable, which is a pretty hardcore solution.

All of the Popcap games have their own installed version of BASS.DLL located in their own installation directories... dunno why that they don't use that version (instead of the one in the SYSTEM32 directory).

Anyhow, Mudlord posted over in the Hydrogen Agudio forums that he just released a new version that fixes the problem... will test it out ASAP

[ex-driver]

A friend of me means that BASSMIDI has some timing problems on playback ( you can hear it most time on bass section from drumkit) the timing ist not a steady rythm. testet on a 420MB soundfont and there is one more bug i dont understand. Some midis have playback errors on this synth by using for example patch 050/ MSB 127. There should be a melodic instrument (synth string) but it plays a drumkit (not channel 9 or 10). It often happen on the device MSB 127 .any idea why this happen?

[mudlord]

I tried a game using the BASS library (Beat Hazard Ultra).

The game runs fine with the driver installed.
Seems like then its a issue on PopCap's end.

[RichNagel]

I tried a game using the BASS library (Beat Hazard Ultra). The game runs fine with the driver installed. Seems like then its a issue on PopCap's end.

It all depends on the version of BASS that the game is using, and if it is using any of the renamed calls.

Newer versions of BASS have had some of their "procedure calls" (is that the correct name for it?) renamed. A game that uses some of those calls, and is using an older version of BASS, will puke out when trying to run them.

BTW, most of the newer PopCap games use a newer version of BASS, so those run fine. But, most of the older games will have a problem with it (ones I had mentioned previously), as well as any other older games that use the older versions of BASS (and those same calls).

[mudlord]

*facepalm*

Can't believe I forgot about that. Still trying to wrap my head around what's causing the issue. And how that imbecile solved it.

Been happily playing so far with a XG driver for Windows 7 x64... but I have been working on some installer updates for the BASS driver though. Whats a exact list of some old games with this issue?

edit: gotta love forum censorship.

[RichNagel]

*facepalm* Can't believe I forgot about that.

Hehe, happens to the best of us... espeically as we (I) get oldr <grin>.

Still trying to wrap my head around what's causing the issue. And how that imbecile solved it.

AFAIK he simply installed the files to their own subdirectory.

Been happily playing so far with a XG driver for Windows 7 x64

That Windows Vista/7 compatible S-YXG driver will be EXTREMELY cool. Can't remember how many messages that I've read on the Internet from folks wanting something like that.

I'm running XP, so's the S-YXG50 WDM driver works fine on mine, but it'll be nice for folks to be able to finally use it under Vista/7 as well

but I have been working on some installer updates for the BASS driver though.

:big_smiley:

Whats a exact list of some old games with this issue?

Bejeweled 2 Deluxe, Bejeweled Twist, and (original) Peggle Deluxe all suffer from this problem.

[Bregalad]

Is there a way to make change in the .sf2 list apply without rebooting your computer ?
Cause I can click to apply as many times as I want, close all MIDI sequencing software, close the configuration utility, re-start some MIDI soft, deselectging Bassmidi and reselecting it, and the old .sf2 is STILL used.

[kode54]

Feel free to run the uninstaller to see which processes are still using the driver, then cancel out after you've terminated them. Lots of programs like to use all the installed MIDI drivers, including Google Chrome, Steam, Pidgin...

[RichNagel]

Heya Mudlord,

I noticed that you released a new version of the installer/driver (version 2.01) Does it incorporate any of the PopCap game fixes? Just a-wondering

Lots of programs like to use all the installed MIDI drivers, including Google Chrome, Steam, Pidgin...

I myself just recently installed Steam and bought Day of Defeat (the Half-Life 1 version, not the "Source" version). I have quite a few buddies that play DoD, and have been recently wasting away my time getting slaughtered by them <grin>.

Anyhoo, I was just wondering, what does the Steam Client do with a MIDI driver (is there some MIDI player feature that I don't know about, being that I'm new to Steam and all)?

[MaliceX]

GUI bug found on both BASSMIDI and VST MIDI synth drivers.

-If user inputs an invalid path to a file, the app attempts to load it anyway and will either crash (BASSMIDI), or change the string path shown (VST MIDI). Need a fail-safe mechanism here.

[mudlord]

that synth uses dynamic loading.

rfnagel: thanks for reminding me, now can reproduce the bug with a hand-modified Bejewelled Twist executable (since I didn't have the change for it on the Steam sales).