Ultrasound Daily Digest Sat, 9 Oct 93 007 MDT Volume 7: Issue 8 Today's Topics: 16-bit DMA 2.06a vs 2.06L And a Wave Table of discontent swept accross GUS land! Company Addresses Dropped notes, 2.06L disks Dropped notes under Windows FTP site for MIDI files Gravis making it with support Line-in enabler uploaded Master Of Orion (MOO) GUS patch More From Origin MS Arcade + GUS new Mega-Em Origin And GUS Support 1. Origin And GUS Support 2. (2 msgs) Origin And GUS Support 4. Origin And GUS Support 5. OS/2 and GUS RCPT: Ultrasound Daily Digest V5 #19 Seal Team Still hanging in there, but for how long? subscribe Synd/gus-synd/sbos problems SYNDICATE Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #6 ZOUNDZ... Standard Info: - Meta-info about the GUS can be found at the end of the Digest. - Before you ask a question, please READ THE FAQ. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 13:06:05 -0400 From: Evan Champion Subject: 16-bit DMA Message-ID: <2cb58fee.carbon@carbon.isis.org> What is the difference between the 8 and 16 bit DMA channels (ie: does the data flow through them in 8 or 16 bits, or are they just addressed differently?) and which DMA channels are 16 bit? Evan ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 12:51:27 -0400 (EDT) From: Phat H Tran Subject: 2.06a vs 2.06L Message-ID: > Date: Thu, 7 Oct 1993 10:26:26 -0300 (ADT) > From: Damon Brodie > Subject: v2.06a vs. v2.06L > Message-ID: > [...] > Should I go ahead and use version 2.06L? > No. Since you already have 2.06a, use those disks instead. The L in 2.06L stands for Lite. They are basically the 2.06 disks with the commercianl software goodies taken out. > BTW, what is ultramid and where is it? > Ultramid is a TSR which some games use to support the GUS. It can be found in umid100.zip on Epas (probably in the submit directory), as well as in gusdrv.exe (also in the same location). Phat. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 09:39:48 +0501 (EDT) From: Gunnar Swanson Subject: And a Wave Table of discontent swept accross GUS land! Message-ID: Well Well Well, Seems like alot of people are disapointed with the performance of the GUS. Gravis, folks seem to be getting fed up with the way things are going and I can't blame them. Be ware that the people laughed at Noah the first few days that it rained. The drips like me who keep writing in about poor GUS performance are a sign of a major deluge to come not a sprinkle. I am telling my friends to avoid the GUS now! Get an SB Pro or a PAS16 it works now, that's what I tell people. I do not know what the Gravis sales or marketing strategy is but it don't seem to be working. Maybe you should fix it? :-). Well I hope that Gravis can turn things around and get on board before the flood comes otherwise its the end of Gravis/Forte blub blub blub. Sigh Gunnar Swanson gunnar@gibbs.oit.unc.edu BTW when I write, end. at the end here it is not a conceited call sign. It is just to let readers know that this is indeed the end of the message. end. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 03:36:14 +0700 (MST) From: Adam Cowen Subject: Company Addresses Message-ID: Okay, here's the plan. Anyone with Email and Smail addresses for gaming companies pleeze email them all to me. Once I recieve a fair number of addresses and such I will cross-post a message containing all of the addresses and you, the GUS user will email and write a letter to each of these comapnies. I don't know about you, but if at least 500 people do it then at least it will wake the companies up to the presence of the almighty GUS. And if you want to whine about "I have better things to do than waste my precious $4.00 cab-fare" Well you might as well staple your GUS to your wall for decorational purposes 'cause if GUS dies then you lost a $150 investment. So search for those addresses and wait for me to post again. ciao my fellow GUSers, May the force of GUS be with you! Adam ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1993 10:44:22 +0000 From: Clarke Brunt Subject: Re: Dropped notes, 2.06L disks Message-ID: <00973B50.8CCBD4A0.28665@lsl.co.uk> > I've been noticing that under Windows 3.1 there are notes which are > "dropped" while playing a song. This happens with the two sequencers > I'm using (Power Chords Pro v2.0 and Cakewalk Pro for Windows v2.0) > and the Windows Media Player utility. I don't know about notes being missed completely, but notes being truncated too soon can be due to your 'Number of active voices' setting. If all the voices are in use when the time comes to play a note, then all the Windows driver can do is cut one of the old notes off - presumably it chooses the 'oldest' note. So more active voices means that you can play more notes at once, but at the expense of lesser quality (quite noticeable on some patches, insignificant on others) because the GUS cannot sample the patches at 44kHz with more than 14 active voices. > Well after poking around epas for a while, I found GUS install disks > with the version labelled: v2.06L ... If I remember, 2.06L (Lite?) was a version of 2.06 made available for ftp. It differed from 2.06 by not having Recording Session and Power Chords, since these could not be made available in this way. I don't know what 2.06a had (maybe the missing marcato/tremstr or whatever patch was included, and maybe the Power Chords icons were got the right way round). I think you should stick with 2.06a. > This is my third day with the GUS, and geez is it ever a lot of > work to get games to work. 3 days! Give it some time! <-- probably unfair remark since I haven't really tried to play games with mine. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 13:00:51 -0400 From: jericho!gord (Gord Wait S-MOS Systems Vancouver Design Center) Subject: Re: Dropped notes under Windows Message-ID: <9310081700.AA15634@smos.bc.ca> How many voices have you got your windows driver set to? It defaults to 22, so if your .mid uses up more, the driver is probably cutting off the oldest notes so it can start new ones. What does playmidi do, anyone? Does it make a guess as to how many voices to set the gus to? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1993 17:52:50 +0200 From: PWRJAM01@Uctvax.UCT.AC.ZA Subject: FTP site for MIDI files Message-ID: <01H3VN100U2Q8WW6RR@Uctvax.UCT.AC.ZA> For those of you who want midi files, check out FTP.CS.RUU.NL they have quite a collection of midi files in the directory pub/MIDI James pwrjam01@uctvax.uct.ac.za ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1993 12:51:01 +0200 From: PWRJAM01@Uctvax.UCT.AC.ZA Subject: Gravis making it with support Message-ID: <01H3VC84J1N68WW57N@Uctvax.UCT.AC.ZA> In the past few digests they have been some complaints about the gus not being supported quickly enough. Well I bought an original SB when they first came out and had to wait at least 2-2.5 years before games supported the SB even then it was still not trully supported ( full digitized output with sound ). What I am trying to say is that unfortunately it take time for the word "GUS" to spread around and I think gravis are doing a great job to decrease this time. Until most people know what the Gravis Ultrasound is I don't think there is going much effort to support it. Everone knows what a sound blaster is - but a GUS? When you read a magazine looking for a sound card you normally look for the best and see what it has to offer ( then only the price ). I have not seen one good GUS review ! ******************************************** * James Power * University of Cape Town * * South Africa * * Internet: pwrjam01@Uctvax.uct.ac.za * ******************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1993 03:42:38 +0200 (EET) From: tnikkane@clinet.fi (Toni Nikkanen) Subject: Line-in enabler uploaded Message-ID: <9310090142.AA26108@clinet.fi> I wrote two small utils which enable and disable the Ultrasound's line in, and made a quick hack of the ultrinit.sys file which also enables the line in feature. Then I thought that somebody else might need these and uploaded them to epas, into directory /pub/pc/ultrasound/submit, as line.zip. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 11:40:24 EDT From: Bryon Daly Subject: Master Of Orion (MOO) GUS patch Message-ID: <199310081548.AA03555@q> Hello, I downloaded a patch that supposedly lets Master Of Orion use the GUS through the AIL driver. I ran the patch, loaded ultramid -c, ran the install program and selected one of the Roland cards. But when I run the game, the screen just goes black, the disk stops spinning, and that's it. I also had previously put in Microprose's MOO bugfix patch. Could that have afftected it? Has anyone else got the GUS patch to work? Did I miss something? Thanks, -Bryon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 11:31 BST From: MFZPITT@VAX.CCC.NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK Subject: More From Origin Message-ID: <9310081027.AA23905@orca.es.com> Just recieved a bit more from Origin. Q. Will you answer our question, will we see GUS support from you? A. I just realised that I didn't answer this letter. Nothing is definate at this time. The GUS market is not as huge as people think and the drivers provided are very hard to operate with our code. This certainly isn't as easy as you may think. Thank you for the letters of encouragement and I hope to read more from you soon. Best wishes, Wayne Can someone out there at Gravis provide Origin with hard data as to how many GUS owners there actually are? It would help if everyone who gets this digest mailed Origin and said Hi! I've got a GUS - SUPPORT IT! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 12:07:34 -0600 (MDT) From: kdorff@NMSU.Edu Subject: MS Arcade + GUS Message-ID: <9310081807.AA10961@NMSU.Edu> Wow! I wasn't sure if it was something else on my system, and I DIDNT EVEN THINK to wonder of it was my GUS, but Yes MICROSOFT ARCADE (all of the games) lock my up my machine Nothing else seems to lock it up, but just in case. I have: 386/40, 256k cache 8 megs of memory ATI VGA Wonder 512+ or Diamond Speedstar Pro or Vortex by Boca 250 meg hard disk PC Tools for Windows desktop I tried everything, but turning off sound. Maybe I will try starting windows in standard mode, not 386... Kevin -- Kevin C. Dorff kdorff@nmsu.edu 3232 Missouri Apt. C mental@acca.nmsu.edu Las Cruces, NM 88001 (505) 522-1739 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Oct 93 17:30:06 EDT From: mtassone@aol.com Subject: new Mega-Em Message-ID: <9310081730.tn78105@aol.com> Does anyone know when the new Mega-Em will be released to Ultrasound users (no 20 minitue limit)?? Thanks, Mike Tassone miker@ace.com mtassone@aol.comd ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 9:16 BST From: MFZPITT@VAX.CCC.NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK Subject: Origin And GUS Support 1. Message-ID: <9310080812.AA19677@orca.es.com> I spent some time yesterday mailing Origin calling for GUS support and got a few responses. I've got mailing problems at present so I've got to send this as a few short messages. Here are a couple of my questions and the answeres I got. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 9:19 BST From: MFZPITT@VAX.CCC.NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK Subject: Origin And GUS Support 2. Message-ID: <9310080815.AA19740@orca.es.com> Q. Can't you use the GUS AIL drivers A. The GUS drivers never worked...Forte seemed unwilling or unable to help us. (can anybody respond to this - Gravis? Forte?) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 9:22 BST From: MFZPITT@VAX.CCC.NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK Subject: Origin And GUS Support 2. Message-ID: <9310080818.AA19792@orca.es.com> Q. Will you support the GUS? A. There just doesn't seem to be alot of incentive besides a few very vocal GUS owners. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 9:34 BST From: MFZPITT@VAX.CCC.NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK Subject: Origin And GUS Support 4. Message-ID: <9310080830.AA20171@orca.es.com> I informed them that the GUS had recently been rated very highly by three mags here in the UK, they just threw back at me the review in CGW. They seem to think the GUS is lacking compared to other cards. Can anyone give them a good working over on this? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 9:37 BST From: MFZPITT@VAX.CCC.NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK Subject: Origin And GUS Support 5. Message-ID: <9310080833.AA20373@orca.es.com> Well I tried, but it doesn't look too good does it? What do the rst of you think? Don't forget to mail Origin as well to tell them - osi@aol.com. Anthony Pitt ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1993 09:36:51 -0400 (EDT) From: "Bonjour, Le Prof" Subject: OS/2 and GUS Message-ID: <01H3V5I0R7O2A5UQPA@ritvax.isc.rit.edu> In reply, the GUS can run a lot of code, DOS based. Ultramid works fine (Try downloading and playing Buzz Aldrin, Windoze users!). Rumors persist on an SBOS for OS/2, but even if that works, there is the consideration that the program itself may not like it. Dune II, for instance, locked up in OS/2 with an SB Pro. The FAR.EXE required for the KLF mailings works fine, and ran quite smoothly while sending a fax. As far as drivers for OS/2 are concerned, everything I've seen for OS/2 SB stuff is not exactly potent when it comes to writing music. MegaEm will not run in a system that is set into protected mode (NOTE, OS/2 Bashers- MegaEm will not run in NT for the same reason). I sent a note to MegaEm's writer, and he basically repeated what I said. Nothing works in Windows, because of the way that OS/2 handles device drivers - I don't think it can run virtual drivers in Windows or something like that. Likely bet is to (groan, groan) keep DOS on the C: partition and use a boot manager. Until then, only buy games that support UltraMID. If you have any further questions, feel free to e-mail me about it. Jeff ------------------------------ Date: (null) From: "MASON" Subject: RCPT: Ultrasound Daily Digest V5 #19 Message-ID: <9310081649.AA29478@orca.es.com> Confirmation of reading: your message - Date: Fri Aug 20 00:45:38 To: Subject: Ultrasound Daily Digest V5 #19 Was read at 10:53, 8 Oct 93. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 17:03:12 -0500 From: jack yang Subject: Seal Team Message-ID: <199310082203.AA14089@doc.cc.utexas.edu> Well it's been a month now since I bought my Gravis... Can't say that I'm too happy about the games support. What happened to that statement on the back of the box COMPATIBILITY PLUS ????? Well Ok enough complaining here is my question.. I just bought (with my hard earned money) seal team. Ok sounds like a cool game except it doesn't have Gravis support like the guy at the store along with some of these newsletters have been telling me. Well ok that is fine because I know that there is GUSSEAL.ZIP which SHOULD fix that right? Well I run the install inside the seal directory and it seems to install correctly and I select the Gravis for the music and digitized fx. Then I load the ultramid high , and then try and run that sucker. Well the game takes FOREVER (at least 3-5 min. to load the Electronic arts logo) then another eternity for the game. And guess what? NO SOUND? Could someone tell me what is going on here? This is a way big dissapointment. I've got the following system: 486DLC33 with mathco SVGA Gravis w/256k (by the way where do I get memory), and 120MB hard drive. And yes I'm sure everything is connected fine because my mods midis and Star Control II works (about the only games that does!). Thanx in advanced. oops that is advance. Jack ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Oct 93 11:58:25 -0400 From: "Momentary language, sexual situations" Subject: Re: Still hanging in there, but for how long? Message-ID: <9310081558.AA16570@magick.tay2.dec.com> > Paul Murgatroyd wrote: > > I thought that 1 year would be more than enough time for the GUS to get > > some decent support, but it still seems as though the only people > > supporting it are those who like programming for themselves. > I wonder if you know about the Seventh Guest, the recent Sierra games, > X-Wing with MegaEM, Star Control 2 and a host of others. Of the things you've mentioned, only Star Control II supports the GUS in native mode. And it doesn't work properly with anything but 256K on the GUS. Everything else is either a hack (AIL with a 56K TSR) or shareware third-party (MegaEm) that has it's own set of problems. By "native support", people mean that it supports the GUS right out of the box without the user running ANYTHING EXTRA. A game that takes 600K of conventional memory doesn't leave me with 56K for UltraMID. Since I have a Adaptec SCSI card (hardly uncommon), Mega 'Em is a risk (it's not Jason's fault, but it's still true). In other words, if it doesn't list Gravis UltraSound on the box, it doesn't support the GUS, at least as far as the game-buying public is concerned. And Gravis had better get support into some new games quickly or it won't matter anymore... DDA ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 23:56:48 -0400 (EST) From: "Matthew M. Nordan (SY 1997)" Subject: subscribe Message-ID: I would like to get the Ultrasound Daily Digest, please. +---------+ | MM MM | Matthew M. Nordan | MMM MMM | | MM M MM | mnordan@minerva.cis.yale.edu | MM MM | +---------+ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 13:51:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Timothy B Martin Subject: Re: Synd/gus-synd/sbos problems Message-ID: Excerpts from mail: 8-Oct-93 Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #7 by Ultrasound Server@dsd.es > Date: Thu, 07 Oct 93 10:17:54 PST > From: "alan chiu" > Subject: Syndicate > > With SBOS (the latest version) loaded I tried using GUS-SYND.EXE to > run Syndicate but the screen blanked and my computer got rebooted. > Any cure? I had the same problem. It seemed to me that it was the Memory manager that i was running. Which happened to be Netroom at the time. I just boot off of a floppy using emm386 to play synd. ------------------=============> Tim! <===============--------------------- | Email?: "Do you want to see the Kingdom, | | tm43+@andrew.cmu.edu without a king?" | | - Love and Rockets | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 11:35:02 +0100 From: "a.edwards" Subject: SYNDICATE Message-ID: <11533.9310081035@pyr.swan.ac.uk> I've noticed quite a few people having problems with Syndicate crashing on them. Its doesn't seem to be just an SBOS/Ultrasound prob as friends computers have hung with true Soundblaster cards. The problem usually seems to be EMM386 - get rid of it and everything seems fine. I believe Bullfrog have recommended in some magazines that the game be run from a bare startup (if any probs are encountered that is) However, we need SBOS etc. I had a similar problem with my computer (really nasty hang with a CMOS error!) but removing EMM386 cured it. And it sounds dead good through the hi-fi at half volume! (walls rumbling to the sound of gunfire) Hope this helps, Alex Edwards - cs9h1aae@pyr.swan.ac.uk ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 12:29:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Phat H Tran Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #6 Message-ID: > Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1993 17:39:11 +0930 (CST) > From: Gavin > Subject: Cakepro2.0 > Message-ID: <931005173911.ca58@hfrd.dsto.gov.au> > > Excuse me if this has been asked/answered but my mail system chewed up a few > digests. With Cakepro2 it seems to want to load the whole drumset, thus runing > out of ram, is this right and is there a solution? > By deleting all program changes on Channel 10, these "insufficient memory" errors should disappear. The GUS driver does not know what to do with program changes on the percussion channel. > Date: Tue, 5 Oct 93 11:12 EDT > From: MPA108@PSUVM.PSU.EDU > Subject: Re: KLF mailer??? > Message-ID: <9310051507.AA22490@orca.es.com> > > and all that general stuff. The second bit had about 900 lines to it, but when > I tried to read it, I got only gibberish. I think it might have been a file of > some sort ( perhaps a mod?), but I don't have a clue as to how I'm supposed to > convert it or use it. Anybody have any suggestions? It sounds like you have uuencoded files in your mailbox. Save the letter with the "gibberish" to a file, and then run uudecode . > Date: Wed, 06 Oct 93 18:56:05 EDT > From: Thayer York > Subject: Patch Manager > Message-ID: <06OCT93.20449629.0027.MUSIC@LAFAYACS> > > I have about 200 patch files in my directory, yet the Windows Patch > Manager only lists up to 127. How can I get to the other files? Does > the Patch Manager get its list from the MIDI mapper or does it know what > directory to look in on its own? > All the patches specified in ultrasnd.ini should show up in the patch manager. Remember that it has two windows, one for melodic and one for percussive instruments. Each window can have up to 128 instruments. The GUS comes with 128 melodic and about 60 percussive instruments. You should be able to access all these patches from the patch manager. > Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1993 22:16:42 -1000 (GMT-10:00) > From: Paul Murgatroyd > Subject: Still hanging in there, but for how long? > Message-ID: > [...] > I am seriously considering buying a SB16 + WaveBlaster from a friend. Why? > Simple...the SB16 is compatible with just about everything, sounds pretty > much the same as the GUS, records in 16-bit as standard, and includes a > CD-ROM interface. > Correction. The SB16 _plus_ WB sounds pretty much the same as the GUS. The SB16 by itself is not too hot for MIDI playback. > The support I have seen for the GUS so far has not impressed me at all. > All these work arounds are simply not good enough. Ultramid consumes more > memory than I have to offer. The only way I could make room for it was to > remove my disk cache. Hardly what I call an ideal solution. > For backward compatibility, SBOS and Mega-Em cover most of the games out there. Now, if only the negotiations between Jayeson and Gravis would wrap up soon. Phat. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 08 Oct 93 21:18:15 From: matthew.arbeid@gravis.com Subject: ZOUNDZ... Message-ID: <9310082118.A0395wk@gravis.com> Oh my...many things going on in the digest lately. Okay, feedback time. I _do_ exist, you can mail me at: matthew.arbeid@gravis.com OR matthew@gravis.com So turn off that darn flame thrower...you just may hurt yourself. Regarding GUS going out and getting known. Gravis _is_ going out and talking to many, many, many software manufactures, coders and of course, the media. In the past two weeks the marketing department has more than doubled ... things are keul at Gravis. In John's latest "Just to let you know" he mentioned a bunch of new titles that will support the GUS, since then two more releases have started shipping. To the person that bitched about my tag line. FLAME-ON>>> Hey dude...I guess I'm lucky, my job _is_ an adventure. If you're not having an adventure you're not doing the right thing. <<>> We're working on it. My Reply >>> You are like me. You have the hottest, fastest machine on the block with the latest software backing up on your desk cause you don't have the room on your drive. Ask yourself this: Did I have trouble installing my video drivers for my very expensive video acceleration card ... does it even work properly now? I think not. What does this all mean? Is Matthew babbling? No. The point I'm trying to make is this. When Gravis came out with the Win3.1 drivers they were (for the most part) stable. Now we've got the 16bit daughter card breathing down our necks and we've got to get that puppy smooth too. OS/2 is happening ... but it's got to be a solid driver, I would hope you'd all agree. So, for now you'll have to live with "We're working on it". I really do hope you'll be just a wee bit more patient. That's it...I've babbled enough. Tis a holiday weekend in Canada...but I do read my email. Matthew matthew@gravis.com --- ~ QMPro 1.0 05-8925 ~ Advanced Gravis...it's not just a job, it's an adventure. ------------------------------ Date: (null) From: (null) Anthony Pitt ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V7 #8 ************************************ To post to tomorrow's digest: To (un)subscribe or get help: To contact a human (last resort): FTP sites: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound wuarchive.wustl.edu systems/msdos/ultrasound archive.orst.edu pub/packages/gravis FTP mail server: mail-server@nike.rz.uni-konstanz.de Hints: - Get the FAQ from the FTP sites or the request server. - Mail to for info about other GUS related mailing lists (UNIX, OS/2, GUS-MIDI, etc.)