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From [e-mail] Tue Jan  5 04:22:07 1993
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From: Ultrasound Digest Owner <[e-mail]>
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Subject: Ultrasound Daily Digest V2 #4
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Ultrasound Daily Digest     Tue,  5 Jan 93       Volume 2 : Issue   4

Today's Topics:
                         Adv Gravis Accolades
                     GUS & Winmod Pro in Stereo!
                      GUS and higher bus speeds
                          GUS CARD (2 msgs)
                              GUS Games
                       Hardware volume control
                      Is there MT-32 Emulation??
                           I U/L more 669s!
                           More OPTi blues
             New (gus0012) Windows Drivers - Possible Bug
                    Patch Manager and MIDI files
                            PatchMgr bug?
                 Quest for Glory 3 and SBOS 1.23 beta
                              SBOS 1.23
                    SBOS 1.23 and digitized sound
             Upgrading to 1MB GUS's - EVERYONE doing it?
                         Windows and GUS/SBOS
                      Wired for Sound Pro - HELP

    Information about the UltraSound Daily Digest (such as
mail addresses, request servers, ftp sites, etc., etc.) can be found
at the end of the Digest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 00:04:43 GMT
From: [e-mail] (timothy folkins)
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Adv Gravis Accolades
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

Date Entered: 01-04-93 18:58
From: [e-mail] (Timothy Folkins)
Orga: Rose Media, Inc. (Toronto, Ontario - Canada)
Subj: Advanced Gravis Accolades

This may be schmaltzy and use up critical bandwidth, but I just wanted
to say a public "Thanks!" to Advanced Gravis for creating a great
sound card AND for attempting to pump out updates to their software.

Living on the bleeding edge can be very trying at times and I would
just like to say that I think Advanced Gravis is doing a good job.

(a little pat on the back never hurt ... maybe the General MIDI
patches will come along soon ! :-)

regards,
tef
---
   RoseReader 1.70 R001122: A squashed bug on the windscreen of life
   RM 2.00 : RoseNet<=>Usenet Gateway : Rose Media 416-733-2285

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 04 Jan 93 11:21:06 -0500
From: "It's your hand, Buckaroo" <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: GUS & Winmod Pro in Stereo!
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

> Just a tip, I've gotten Winmod Pro to work in Stereo with the
> new GUS driver.  It doesn't mention it in the documentation
> but you need to set the sample/playback speed at either 11025,
> 22050, or 44100.  It might work at other at other rates but I
> haven't tried them.  Most like multiples of those values.

I had my sampling set to 22050 so it worked fine for me. Given that the GUS
can handle 44.1kHz, I'll probably crank it up and see if MODS sound better.
Does anyone else notice that WinMod Pro playing stereo slows down Windows
(yeah, it's slow already, but...:-)?? Or is it just my setup?

DDA

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 09:06:34 -0500
From: "Frank Pikelner" <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: GUS and higher bus speeds
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

Hello all,

Just a reply to the person gaving problems running the GUS at higher bus speeds.
I have a 386/40 with the OPTI chipset, and run my GUS at 13.2MHz - no problems.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   ---  ---     Frank Pikelner                                        /~\
   \    \  \    Technical Assistant, Department of Computer Science  <v.v>
    \-   \--    York University (Toronto, Canada)                    '\^/;
     \    \    Internet: [e-mail]                          _{!}_
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 02 Jan 1993 06:19:33 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Ranseus (Jim Knepley))
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: GUS CARD
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Alan Robb) writes:
>I am having a heck of a time getting my GUS card to work.  Does anyone know
>if it works with QEMM or not?

Yep, I'm running QEMM 6.02 with Stealth and high memory enabled, the GUS
does seem to conflict slightly with my mouse (occasional lockups of the
mouse) and I can't run Fastback 2.10 any more.
QEMM isn't your problem, anyway.
I don't know about the graphics card, I use an ATI.

Jim
--
----- [e-mail] --------------- Boycott Colorado -------------
 Jim "Ranseus" Knepley |  Avoid rectal-cranial inversion.
 Programmer, magician, |  "Gun's don't kill, it's those bullet things"
 computer geek.        |

------------------------------

Date: 2 Jan 93 15:41:04 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Pete Kilcullen)
Message-Id: <pmk.725989264@digex>
Subject: GUS CARD
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

[e-mail] (Alan Robb) writes:

>II Am having a heck of a time getting my gus card to work. does anyone know
>if it works with QEMM or not? Also is there a conflict with the Trident VGA
>card which fouls everything up? I have tried to contact Gravis but it is
>almost impossible to get through.

Hmmm. I have a Trident VGA w/1024 and use QEMM 6.0. I've had no trouble.
Can you descibe your problem? Is it just getting GUS to work; or is it a
game conflict??
Pete [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 15:45:42 GMT
From: [e-mail] (francisco perez)
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: GUS Games
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

Date Entered: 01-04-93 10:40
A couple of weeks ago, I read a message saying that Jump Jet and World
Circuit would both support the GUS in native mode.  A friend of mine went
down to the states on the weekend and he said that he saw both of these
games, but he didn't check the sound support.  Can anyone who's seen these
games confirm whether they support the GUS or not?
---
   OLX 2.1 TD   If this were an actual tagline, it would be funny.
   RM 2.00 : RoseNet<=>Usenet Gateway : Rose Media 416-733-2285

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 09:50:03 CST
From: [e-mail] (Ken Goach)
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Hardware volume control
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

Hi all,

Well, I noticed another person wishing for a hardware volume control.
I run my GUS into a mixer, which solves this problem for me, but I
have a fix for others.

I was at the local Radio Shack buying junk when I saw what you folks
need. There is a small gadget that is essentially a volume control
for headphones. It has a 1/8" male jack on a wire that leads to the
volume control, which is a small housing that has a dial and a 1/8"
female jack. All you'd have to do is put this between the GUS and
whatever cables you use to connect it to speakers/stereo/whatever.
Then you'll have a hardware volume control!

I'd guess these things run for >$5.00.

Enjoy.

[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 04 Jan 93 14:50:38 EST
From: Jerry Gamache <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Is there MT-32 Emulation??
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

Today I saw a computer equipped with a SoundBlaster and a MIDI interface linked
to a MT-32 compatible synth. I heard the Xeen demo played with and without the
synth playing. The music sounded A LOT better on the synth. I am wondering if
the GUS can give that kind of MT-32 emulation. So I have a question for the
actual users of GUS:

         When emulating the SB, does the GUS use it's own patches or does it
play soundblaster-like music in games like Xeen or WingCommander??

         Can the MIDI port of the GUS be used to hook a MT-32 synth? Will the
GUS recognise it and play the music like the SB does?

                     Any answer would be welcome!

                                                    Jerry Gamache
                                                    QAAA @ UDESVM

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 17:19:18 PST
From: [e-mail]
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: I U/L more 669s!
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

I will be uploading another batch of .669 music files to
klingon.epas.utoronto.ca (128.100.160.36).  This music format
was created by Tran of Renaissance.  You can think of .669
files as enhanced .mod files because they offer 8 channels, 64
instruments and 128 patterns, among other improvements.

You can play .669 files on a Gravis UltraSound with the
P669GU0.ARJ player which can also be found on the same ftp
site.  These files will probably sound best on a Gravis
UltraSound.  1MB of RAM on the UltraSound is recommended.  I'm
not sure but I think all that is required for the GUS version
of the player is a GUS, a 386 or better and DOS 3.0 or
better.  I doubt you'll even need a VGA card because the only
plain text is displayed.

Here are the names of the 669 files contained in this batch:

669BLISS.ZIP
ACIDFUNK.ZIP
AMBER.ZIP
ATHRWRLD.ZIP
BOOM!.ZIP
DREAM.ZIP
GREENBRQ.ARJ
INFOHIT!.ARJ
LONGWALK.ARJ
OPPEN9.ARJ
SANCTION.ARJ
SOLDST1.ARJ
TECHNOCA.ARJ
TIMEWARP.ARJ
VMOMENT.ARJ
VOICESEV.ARJ

klingon.epas.utoronto.ca (128.100.160.36)

Look in the \pub\pc\ultrasound\submit directory.
or \pub\pc\ultrasound\utils\669

You'd better enjoy these because it only stole six to seven
years of my life uploading these puppies at 2400 bps.  Non-GUS
lovers stay away from them!  I mean it!  Now, if you'll excuse
me I'm going to go lie down.

BTW, I have three or four more 669 files which are too big to
fit into memory so I won't even bother uploading them.  One is
a sesame street 669 file that unarchives to about 1.2 MB!  If
anyone can get the 669 composer working with their GUS please
give me the details.

Later!

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 23:01:45 PST
From: Andrew Krenz <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: More OPTi blues
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

I posted a message to yesterday's digest about my first experience with the
GUS and about some problems I had with using SBOS.  Well, I just spent the
last 2 hours or so trying everything I possible could to get SBOS to work
with Wolfenstein 3D.  As usual, no matter what I did, my computer wound
up crashing.  (386/40, OPTi, AMI Bios dated 1990 something, Trident SVGA).
Sometimes, maybe 1/3 of the time, Wolf3d would load if i turned the turbo
switch off.  When the game fires up, it seems to recognize a SB, but you still
have to manually set it to SB in the sound settings.  Either way it bombs the
instant you fire the gun or open the door.

Also, I tried using the newer WOWII 1.30 Mod player.  I loaded SBOS and then
tried to run WOWII.  It said something like "Sound Blaster IRQ error" and
just quit.  My computer doesn't have anything in it that could cause an IRQ
conflict as far as I know.  Just about anything that uses the SB mode seems
to bother my computer.  Games that use Adlib ONLY work with SBOS, *sometimes*.
Basically, I'm starting to get pissed.

I tried changing stuff in my BIOS setup program ranging from disabling the
64k cache to putting in RAM wait states.  Nope.  Tried disabling stacker
AND Qemm.  Nope.  I sit here in jealousy and watch my roomate play
Wolf3d on his brand new OPTI 486-33 local bus system (with GUS) and wonder
how he can get his to work and not me.  The GUS works perfectly on my system
with everything else, ranging from StarControl II to playing stereo mods
with WinMod using the new drivers, to playing those sc_demo MIDI files that
still blow my mind each time I play them.

Remember that supposed announcement that Gravis had hired a "professional
programming team from California" that was supposed to work on new versions
of SBOS?  Is that still true?  Will there ever be an SBOS that works with
supposedly bum old OPTI motherboards like mine?  Sheesh.  I like my computer.
It seems almost as fast as my roomate's 486/33 when running windows and
stuff, but if there's no way I can get the Gravis to work with it in terms
of SB emulation, looks like I had better save up for a new motherboard.
Sorry if this seems long, but I need to vent my frustrations somewhere :)

Thanks,

-Andrew Krenz
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 9:57:00 EST
From: Mark Pfeifer <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: New (gus0012) Windows Drivers - Possible Bug
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

I've been playing with the new Windows drivers from epas (from gus0012.zip)
and have found an interesting problem.  I wrote a small Windows program that
calls waveInGetDevCaps (to find out what sound rates / formats the driver
supports).  In the returned structure, the wChannels field is set to 1 -
indicating one channel recording - mono.  However, the dwFormats formats
field lists both mono and stereo formats as supported.

Admittedly, it's a minor bug (my source code that I used to get the device
capabilities is available upon request.  Messy, since I just threw it
together, but available.)

BTW, how do you select the sound format (sample rate and mono/stereo) for
a recording from Windows?  Neither the Sound Recorder nor WaveEdit (which is
incredibly slow on my 386SX-16) allow any choices.  I'd like to be able to
set this.

                        Mark

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Mark Pfeifer                   [phone]   Internet: [e-mail]
Hewlett-Packard Little Falls Site               #include <disclaimer.h>
Wilmington, DE 19808                            #define OPINIONS mine

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 04 Jan 93 11:29:51 -0500
From: "It's your hand, Buckaroo" <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Patch Manager and MIDI files
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

> Windows will only let one application have a particular MIDI output device
> open at a time.  The MIDI device has to be open before you can load patches.
> Thus if your music app has the MIDI device open, Patch Manager's hands are
> tied.  Some applications release the MIDI device when they are not actually
> using it (e.g., WinJammer), some hang on to it as long as the application is
> active (e.g., Band in a Box).

Hmmmm. I was under the impression, perhaps false, that this isn't always
true. I think that it is possible to write a "virtualising" driver that
makes the MIDI device available to whomever wants it. Of course, this will
sound rather odd if two things are playing at once...:-) But this isn't how
sound drivers are normally written (mostly because of the "two at once"
problem)...

So I think it can (and should in this case) be done...

DDA

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 08:50:13 -0500
From: cg-atla!cg-atla![e-mail] (Robert Pasky)
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: PatchMgr bug?
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

I downloaded patchmgr and the latest drivers (gus0012.zip) from epas.
First, a question:
Now that the Windows driver has midi-in, does PatchMgr allow you to
audtion its patches by playing an external keyboard?
Next, a minor complaint:
Why does launcing PatchMgr take so l-o-n-g? I thought this program
would be the way to load the proper midi patches for Cakewalk etc.
but it looks like using Media Player is going to be faster.

Finally, a bug, I think:
Every time I close the Help window (by double-clicking on the control
button at the top of the window -- I haven't tried other methods) the
PatchMgr puts up a message box that says the midi port is being used
by another program (or words to that effect), and PatchMgr exits!

Unless I'm the only one who has this problem, I'll let Gravis know
about it. My setup: 486/33, Windows 3.1, latest drivers, etc.

-- Bob

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 10:10:36 pst
From: Thomas Wang <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Quest for Glory 3 and SBOS 1.23 beta
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

I determined that SBOS switch -o2 -x2 will work nicely with Quest for Glory 3.
With SBOSDRV.SYS loaded, the analog music contains some statics.  If I remove
SBOSDRV.SYS, and just run SBOS -o2 -x2, then everything sounds fine.


 -Thomas Wang           (Everything is an object.)           [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 19:19:45 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Chris Babcock)
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: SBOS 1.23
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

While talking to Forte, I asked some questions about SBOS 1.23.  Turns
out this version was never supposed to go public (not anywhere near
ready for release).  They said to keep using SBOS 1.22 until another
version appears on the BBS (other than the current 1.23).

Chris Babcock
VOR Technologies, Inc.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 5 Jan 93 00:02:26 EST
From: [e-mail]
Message-Id: <9301050502.AA24319@prism>
Subject: SBOS 1.23 and digitized sound
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

   I noticed that the digitized sound is a lot softer in SBOS 1.23 than it was
in 1.22... I also remember (at least I think) someone posting either here
or on c.s.i.p.s, about changing the volume of the digitized part, while leaving
the adlib/sb FM-compat part alone. Could someone clue me in as to how this is
done, if its possible...

I really like the fact that 1.23 gets rid of most of the scratching in Stunt
Island, but its too damn soft, so Im using 1.22 for it now...


any help is much appreciated...

[e-mail]
a.k.a. Guy Elden Jr.

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 18:35:00 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Phat H Tran)
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Upgrading to 1MB GUS's - EVERYONE doing it?
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>I repeatedly see messages of the variety "...MUST upgrade your GUS to 1MB
>as soon as humanly possible...."  Well, I picked up some memory chips (< $30),
>but have NOT installed them ever since reading about problems running a 1MB
>GUS with Star Control II -- the ONLY (?) currently available commercial
>software with native GUS support.  Has this been resolved yet?  Or, does this
>only happen to "some" people?  Or, is everyone saying, "to h-ll with
>Star Control; I wanna hear those big MIDI files"?
>

I've heard that SC2 works dandy if the GUS is on a 16-bit DMA channel such
as 7, regardless of how much RAM is on the card.  I don't have the game,
so I can't really test this claim out.

BTW, are Toys for Bob still working on a patch for the game?

Phat.

------------------------------

Date: 4 Jan 93 11:50:45 AST
From: GJames <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Windows and GUS/SBOS
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

I got my GUS for Christmas. I couldnt believe the quality of the
sound it produces.
  Installation was pretty staright forward, but I have to use 8 bit
DMA : (  . I ran flidemo and mididemo to check the card and
everything
seemed to work ok. I loaded SBOS and tries wolfenstein 3d, worked ok
but sounded different from the SB Pro I had tried. I then ran the
Gravutil program and it saya I have a conflict. Is this program
reliable? I have tried lots of IRQ, I/O and Dma combinations and
gravutil always reports a conflict. Should I ignore this ?

I loaded the windows drivers as sugessted in the manual and copied
the files. (I was using the v1.22 disks that came with my card).
I then tried using MIDI Keyboard in windows and was dissapointed with
the amount of missing sounds. I tried Midi Drum and only 3 drums
worked (acoustic bass drum, cowbell and high bongo). I played for
hours learning about patches and key maps etc. but I could'nt get
anymore sounds.
  I then tried the disks I downloaded from EPAS (v 2.25 I think) and
reinstalled everything (including the windows drivers). I noticed the
appearance of a new file (ultrasnd.ini i think) where does this new
INI file go?  The drumkit now produces the first 10 or 15 of the drum
sounds, the rest produce nothing.
  I tried loading SBOS, starting windows and configuring for SBlaster
operation but windows wont let me.

My questions:

1) Is Gravutil reliable?
2) Can SBOS be used with Win 3.1? How do I set it up?
3) How can I get all of the drum sounds with MIdi Drum?
4) What id the ultrasnd.ini file for?
5) How is the Default.cfg used by windows to set up my card.


Thanks
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 18:35:49 -0700 (MST)
From: [e-mail] (QUIS CUSTODIET IPSOS CUSTODES.)
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Wired for Sound Pro - HELP
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <[e-mail]>

Hi,

Just got Wired for Sound Pro, but it doesn't recognize the Windows
Ultrasound Driver.  Does anyone have this program working with their
Ultrasound?  Howdya do it???

Thanks for any help,
Ted.

------------------------------

End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V2 #4
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