Ultrasound Daily Digest Fri, 4 Dec 92 Volume 1 : Issue 38 Today's Topics: Another day on epas... Bad motherboards Digest Admin: What to do with executables, patches, etc. DRAM for GUS GUS + SCSI + SB2.0 = News! GUS and Adaptec 1542b ??? GUS and Links386 Pro GUS and Modplayers (3 msgs) GUS rev 2 card info GUS setup program crashes and burns GUS sounds great! Here's why I'm returning it... Just thinking (about the GUS)... MIDI File Format remove from list SBOS 1.22b is available Ultrasound crashing OS/2 ultrasound daily digest v Ultrasound Daily Digest V1 #37 Ultrasound question Well.. Comanche will it work in an XT bus? Wolf3D and other Digitized Effects. Digest Address: ultrasound@dsd.es.com To post to tomorrow's digest. Request Server Address: ultrasound-request@dsd.es.com To subscribe, unsubscribe, and request files. Owner Address: ultrasound-owner@dsd.es.com To contact a human if the server has troubles. FTP Site #1: ftp epas.utoronto.ca (/pub/pc/ultrasound) Digest back issues, mirror of request server People responsible: David DeBry, Adam Iles, Thomas Wong, Chris Yuzik, and many others who should be thanked often. :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 4 Dec 92 3:05:28 EST From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion) Message-Id: <9212040805.AA05113@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA> Subject: Another day on epas... To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Hi, i uploaded several midi files on epas.utoronto.ca. There is also an archive called anasyn1.arj which contains 4 new patches for the GUS. They are still hot from the oven... I finished them not long ago this early morning (or should i say, late at night). They are techno style analog synths. I'd really appreciate some feedback on this cause i didn't get a lot of feedback on the accrdeon.arj patch. BTW, i'll replace it this weekend with a better version ( i fixed the loop problem). And for the arj format it is done with arj. No, really? Yup. The unarj is available on epas also. I also uploaded a general midi description with the instruments mapping and the percussive key mapping (channel 10). Brief description of GS also. I'm looking for other formats (MT-32, Proteus etc...) to do alternate default.cfg files. Last, what synths people have on the list? Anybody with a sampler and lots of material already sampled? I have lots of stuff sampled, but if you have anything that would be worth putting in a patch, email me. I'm looking in particular for vocals (you know: move your body, free your mind, ecstasy, etc...). Ciao, -- Francois Dion ' _ _ _ CISM (_) (_) _) FM Montreal , Canada Email: CISM@ERE.UMontreal.CA (_) / . _) 10000 Watts Telephone no: (514) 343-7511 _______________________________________________________________________________ Audio-C-DJ-Fractals-Future-Label-Multimedia-Music-Radio-Rave-Video-VR-Volvo-... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1992 15:45:01 -0500 (EST) From: Morgan Stair Message-Id: Subject: Bad motherboards To: Ultrasound Daily Digest It's looking like I may need a new motherboard (ISA 486DX-33MHz currently) to use my GUS :-( Oh well, I kind of figured I was going to need this sometime anyway. My AMI BIOS is version 1.4F with a chipset date 1987! I thought I'd make this information available to all, so you'd be forewarned/fourarmed when buying/upgrading your motherboard/PC: There is a bug in the 16bit DMA channelling (4-7) with the Opti chipset dated 9149 (49th week of 1991). When I asked Gravis about the Chips and Technologies chipset dated 9241, they said none of the C&T chipsets were bad. I've almost decided (after consulting my bank account) on getting a 486-33DX local-bus motherboard for $199 (32M max, 2 local slots, send me mail if you want the company). I think this is my best option (I'm keeping my CPU and SIMMs), but I am hereby inviting constructive criticism. How much more should I expect to spend on a 486DX-33MHz EISA and is it worth it? Thanks, Morgan ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 92 20:01:01 MST From: ddebry@itchy (Dave DeBry) Message-Id: <9212040301.AA00525@itchy> Subject: Digest Admin: What to do with executables, patches, etc. To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 0:51:00 EST > From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion) > Message-Id: <9211260551.AA22092@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA> > Subject: Executables != mailing list > To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > > Please send executables (uuencoded) to ultrasound-owner@dsd.es.com, not > to the mailing list. David will then put it on the request server. > The thing is that of course, there's the bandwidth question, but also > all the messages that are after the big uuencoded message in the digest > probably wont get read. > > You can also ftp them in the /pub/pc/ultrasound/submit directory of > epas.utoronto.ca. > Do verify that the file is not corrupt by getting it after putting it there. > If it is corrupt, you can use delete to remove the file and then reupload > it. Actually, please do BOTH (if you can): 1] Email the uuencoded file(s) to ultrasound-owner@dsd.es.com 2] Upload them to epas.toronto.edu:/pub/pc/ultrasound/submit 3] Email to ultrasound-owner@dsd.es.com with a short description of what you've sent, and where you've put it. PLEASE make sure to do part #3. We've finally received our wuarchive area, and I'm working now to get things balanced out between the list server, epas.toronto.edu, and wuarchive, so I need to know what exists out there. Thanks for your help! -- Dave ddebry@ debry@ \ "Is this a monster I see before me, with DeBry dsd. peruvian. | tentacles instead of hands? Don't let es. cs.utah. | it clutch me!" com edu / - Captain Tempest ------------------------------ Date: 3 Dec 92 11:48:08 GMT From: captain@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Bran Muffin) Message-Id: <84719@ut-emx.uucp> Subject: DRAM for GUS Summary: WHERE????? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I've called all over trying to locate 6 256K 4bit DRAMs, with no luck on the retail front. (found a couple of wholesale places that would only take $100-$200 minimum orders) So, can anyone tell me where I can get these chips? ...especially in the <$30 range, since the wholesale quotes were more than that. -- |The opinions expressed above are merely the result of chaotic synapse firings| |Electrics and electronics work on smoke. If you let the smoke - O | |out, they stop working. -- Fight AIDS. Play safe. | | |captain@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Brian Murfin) DoD# 0690 nt650gt \_^___/ | ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1992 23:26:17 GMT From: tmcreek@eos.ncsu.edu (Tobin M. Creek) Message-Id: <1992Dec2.232617.3899@ncsu.edu> Subject: GUS + SCSI + SB2.0 = News! To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I ordered my UltraSound two weeks ago from PC-Zone. True to their word, it arrived today. Perfect SB compatibility was non-negotiable. I heard that it had been done, so I installed it with the SB 2.0 that was already in. I set the GUS for address 240 and put it in. Power on! The bootup sequence stopped when the HD tried to boot. Something about a diagnostic failure. Check the GUS. Reboot. Same thing. At this point, I enabled the boot up sequence display on the controller to see what was happening step-by-step (Thanks Adaptec!) I can only use floppies at this point. The Adaptec 1522 I have was not happy with the big red board. Power off. Check the Adaptec. Relocate the Adaptec from INT 11 to INT 12. DMA and address are OK. Boot again. No dice. Call Gravis. [No help given here.] Yank the SB and the GUS. Reboot. The HD works fine. At least I know The controller is OK. Reset the GUS for 260, just in case. This time, the diagnostics pass fine! The HD boots! I install the Gravis disks. I accepted the other defaults for both IRQ's and the DMA channel (my ch7 works fine even with parity!) Now for the SB 2.0. I disable the joystick port on the Gravis. I disable the joystick port on my multi-I/O card. I enable the SB's port, reset it for IRQ7 and move the printer to IRQ5. (I have 3 joystick ports, and if I want to play head-to-head, I have to buy a Y cable?!) Reboot. Everything works perfectly! I get great sound on StarControl II, and there don't appear to be any problems! Now I have to try OS/2 with SC2 in one window, and an SB game in the other! Or maybe install SBOS and play two SB games at once!!! The moral of the story: Check your addresses and IRQ's if you are gonna try this. The Adaptec's default is 11. Even though the Adaptec didn't come close to port 240, it wouldn't work. 260 ran fine. The SB is now all default (Hey, where's Nova 9?), so problems are gone for good. Also, if you have an Adaptec, enable the full bootup message sequence. It will tell you when it gets the target ready and diagnostics passed. End Result: printer on IRQ 5, standard LPT1: address. Adaptec 1522 at 340, INT12, DMA 0 (floppies INT6, DMA 2) GUS at 260, DMA7, GF1-INT 11, MIDI-INT 5 SB 2.0 at 220, DMA1, IRQ7 ------------------------------ Date: 3 Dec 1992 08:53:16 GMT From: rleberle@sparc2.cstp.umkc.edu (Rainer Leberle) Message-Id: <1fkhtsINNqqm@parsifal.umkc.edu> Subject: GUS and Adaptec 1542b ??? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article <1fjt3uINNlb8@parsifal.umkc.edu> rleberle@sparc2.cstp.umkc.edu (Rainer Leberle) writes: >Hi folks, > >I've spent the last few hours gettting a GUS and an Adaptec 1542b >SCSI-Controller to work. >I've changed the base adress on the GUS, DMA channel and IRQ on the >Adaptec, but every time i run setup, the system hangs (and the red >activity light on the Adaptec stays on!!) > >So, has anyone suceeded in installing a GUS and a Aha 1542b ? >Could you please send me your configuration (GUS & Adaptec) ? > >thanks > > Rainer >P.S.: I also have a S3 based graphics card in the system, but I think >the problem is between the GUS and the Adaptec. > >-- >Rainer Leberle rleberle@sparc2.cstp.umkc.edu >University of Kansas City, MO Hate to followup to my own posts, but digging through CompuServe I found the solution : Subj: Probs Config UltraSound Section: Advanced Gravis From: Alan Alvarez [GravTech] 71333,350 # 215473, * No Replies * To: Walter Worland (UK) 100015,2175 Date: 30-Nov-92 03:54:10 Walter, You've just discovered the joys of our advanced new 'smart' setup program. It goes out and finds what DMA channels are already in use. Unfortunately, quite a number of machines have problems having their DMA channels probed and don't return anything when we expect it. Anyhow, a new setup is on the way, and untill then, just place these lines into your autoexec.bat file after the path (put the path to your ULTRASND directory in your PATH): SET ULTRASND=220,1,1,11,5 SET ULTRADIR=c:\ULTRASND c:\ULTRASND\Ultrinit.exe SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T1 These settings are the defult. You may have to set the IRQ, DMA, and Base setup diffrently for your system. Feel free to ask here if we can be of further assistance. Cheers, == Hope it helps some pour soul. The mididemo sounds very good, but I haven't tried the SBOS yet, so stay tuned for more problems :-) P.S: I changed the default IRQ on the Adaptec to 12 and DMA channel to 7 -- Rainer Leberle rleberle@sparc2.cstp.umkc.edu University of Kansas City, MO ------------------------------ Date: 1 Dec 1992 04:52:21 GMT From: woan@soda.berkeley.edu (Ronald Woan) Message-Id: <1fer25INNb2h@agate.berkeley.edu> Subject: GUS and Links386 Pro To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article acl1@crux2.cit.cornell.edu (Albert C. Lee) writes: >I know that this is a FAQ, but hopefully someone can help me. How do I get >Links386 Pro to work with the GUS? I'm having problems getting it to work >with SBOS doing Soundblaster emulation. It works on AdLib but the AdLib sound >quality stinks. You need Links 386 Pro 1.05 or later (call Access for access to their BBS or get it from GamePub on Compuserve). Invoke Links386.exe with the /s option and sbos with the -x2 option. -- +-----All Views Expressed Are My Own And Are Not Necessarily Shared By------+ +------------------------------My Employer----------------------------------+ + Ronald S. Woan woan@soda.berkeley.edu or woan@vnet.ibm.com + + other email addresses Prodigy: XTCR74A Compuserve: 73530,2537 + ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1992 18:43:35 GMT From: ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Phat H Tran) Message-Id: Subject: GUS and Modplayers To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article <1992Dec1.145831.800@dcs.warwick.ac.uk> mew@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Merlyn) writes: >Help Needed... > >Now I've got my GUS i'm looking for a MOD player that supports it.. > >Also I've had a few problems with existing ModPlayers when running SBOS. IE >the system slows down to a point where you can't bear to listen to the MOD. >I've tried modplay, spp, and GTS and they are all running too slow with SBOS. >My system is a 386DX33 with 5 Meg of RAM. The only modplayer I can get too >work properly is WinMod Pro through windows, But it doesn't sound anybetter >than my soundblaster through windows. Can anyone help ???? > MOD files are poor quality by nature. They are 8-bit, and have relatively low sampling rates (8-11 kHz, I've heard), and playing them through the GUS won't change any of that. If you want to make better use of your soundcard, play MIDI files on it. The GUS uses 16-bit instrument patches, sampled at 44.1 or 22 kHz, when playing MIDI files. MIDI files also use many more channels than MODs, though I've not come across any that uses all of the card's 16 stereo channels, and none I've seen even comes close to filling all 32 channels in mono. But if you insist on playing MODs, WOWII supposedly works the best with SBOS. Phat. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1992 01:21:27 GMT From: aa344@yfn.ysu.edu (Joseph Maruschek) Message-Id: <1992Dec2.012127.19418@news.ysu.edu> Subject: GUS and Modplayers To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In a previous article, DXB132@psuvm.psu.edu () says: >2) Mods WILL sound better. Four channels of 8-bit sound added together >gives 10-bits. When you play a mod on a SoundBlaster, you lose 2 bits of >audio information present in the original. Mathematically, yes, you are losing 2 bits worth of information when played through the Sound Blaster. But that's not the reason that MODs don't sound as well on PC's as they do on Amigas. The problem is that we have to do this real-time digital mixing while the Amiga just has to do analog mixing. Any MOD listeners know that the faster the mixing rate is, the better the resulting sound is. The Amiga also has independent volume control of each of its four DACs. Thus, soft sounds can be reproduced with 8-bit resolution on the Amiga. On the SB, if a sound is softer, the sound has to be reproduced with only 7 or 6 bits. And that's before mixing! The Amiga's sound sound sub-system also does not have that great of a high-frequency response. In fact, there is a low-pass filter on the output that rolls off at about 8 kHz, I think. Most MOD players and games turn this filter off to get some more highs (this is why the power light goes off; the power on LED is turned off when the filter is turned off). As far as we know about the GUS, it has four mono DACs which can be used as two stero DACs, and it appears that the DACs can take data either through an I/O port or from the GUS's on-board memory. It certainly looks as if the GUS can work just like the Amiga's sound sub-system, but we'll have to get some more technical info about its architecture before we can be sure. If so, the mixing of the four channels will be done in the analog domain, and that's why MODs will finally sound better. -- aa344 is Joseph Maruschek 3 3 3 3 3 IBM PC SIGop, Youngstown Free-Net D D D D D motto: Strive for the simplest and the best. | | | | | : : : : : ------------------------------ Date: 3 Dec 1992 21:03:59 GMT From: twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) Message-Id: <1flsnvINNbhi@iskut.ucs.ubc.ca> Subject: GUS and Modplayers To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article <1992Dec02.091628.23494@infko.uucp> hodgen@infko.uni-koblenz.de writes: >You're all missing the point. I have >40 MB of MOD files, some of which I >*do* happen to like! (I case you missed it, there's some sarcasm in there). >At the moment I have maybe 20 MIDI files, of which I like 2 or 3. Until I >can get more or convert the MOD files (is that possible?) I still want to >listen to my MODs. The GUS is great but until I can DO something with it >(Star Control II *still* hasn't been released in Europe) other than listen >to the demo MIDI files, my SB will be staying in my machine. Well, I have both MODEDIT and WOWII working fine on my machine. For plain MOD playback, I'd use WOWII cause it looks much fancier and you can see each channel which doesn't do much but looks "neat". So try the above. Remember to load SBOS first. No options needed. In fact, I just use a batch file that loads SBOS, then the mod program, and unloads it when done. Very nice that SBOS has an option to remove itself from memory. I use batch files for all my games and anything that needs SBOS. Thomas. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1992 14:37:58 -0500 (EST) From: Morgan Stair Message-Id: Subject: GUS rev 2 card info To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I just spoke with Tech Support at Gravis (my turn for installation problems) and got some usefuls. First, a new GUS card IS coming out sometime, maybe toward the end of January (HAH!). The ONLY logical change will be that some of the SB emulation will be handled by hardware. The significant change will be the reduced number of chips on the card, allowing for easier production. It sounds like they don't even have a PROTOTYPE of it yet, so don't hold your breath. Once again though, I was told there will be no real differences between this card and the current one. Morgan ------------------------------ Date: 4 Dec 92 00:33:00 GMT From: v062l48d@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Harold J Screven) Message-Id: Subject: GUS setup program crashes and burns To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In response to my own question...for all interested parties out there I spoke to Gravis and they informed me that the setup program WILL crash for some types of computer. They claimed some incompatability in the way DMA is handled or something to that effect. For those having this problem there is a new version of the setup program available on the Gravis BBS, telephone # (604)-431-5927. There is also a newer version of SBOS, v 1.22, that is supposed to clear up come problems with games. It was also mentioned that a new BBS number will be available soon in Rochester NY. Harold Screven (V062l48D@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 92 7:36:01 EST From: iam@stiatl.salestech.com (Ian Mercado) Message-Id: <9212030736.AA17035@stiatl.salestech.com> Subject: GUS sounds great! Here's why I'm returning it... To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Well, folks, here it is...the complete and unabridged version of why I am forced to return my great-sounding Gravis Ultrasound for a full refund. (Make sure you buy yours at such a place that will accept returns as well.) After many months of hype and GUS digest reading, I couldn't wait until the Gravis started appearing in retail outlets (I didn't want to deal with all the many mail-order headaches that many of you had been describing). Well, last Monday, that day had finally arrived. Several Ultrasounds had been spotted by a friend at the local Micro Center over the weekend, and after rushing out there after work, I was able to pick up one of the two remaining cards (they originally had four) for $159 plus tax. (Not the greatest of deals, but I knew I could return it if I had problems with it...and, oh, did I have problems; read on...) I rushed home to install my new Gravis, but only had an hour to get it installed before heading to the Springsteen concert that evening (shame on The Boss for interrupting my Ultrasound fun!). But that was plenty for me... in 45 minutes I had that card installed, setup for the default port (220), DMA channel (1), and interrupts (GUS 11, MIDI 5). My computer booted just great (a homebuilt 486/33 with a MusicQuest MIDI card, 16550 serial card, bus mouse card, original Diamond Speedstar card, and Aska multi I/O card), and I was delighted (and relieved) when I was finally greeted with my familiar "D:\>" prompt. (By the way, software items in my configuration included QEMM, ANSI.SYS, Microsoft Mouse Driver 8.xx, Stacker, Hyperdisk, Doskey, and Vmode). I quickly switched to the D:\ULTRASND directory to begin the fun. I loaded the FLIDEMO (with fingers crossed). It sounded great. I played all the MIDIDEMO songs, they sounded even better. (Especially HIDNSEEK.MID, that one truly shows off the GUS's potential, and I think it could easily have been better, too!) Well, I'd used up my remaining 15 minutes, so it was off to see how Bruce could perform without his familiar E-Street band backing him up (he did quite well, BTW). Well, as we all know, "The Boss" is famous for his concerts of extended length, so it was straight to bed when I doggedly trudged home at about 1:00 am (I still have to work 40 hours a week, you know!). But Tuesday would be the true test...SBOS. (Insert menacing music here). I rushed home from work Tuesday to again return to my GUSsing. (And you'd better believe my wife was starting to wonder what all the fuss was over this little computer product.) I started up my computer fine, and began the testing. "SBOS installed," the irritatingly nasal voice informed me. I considered using the "-p" option to shut him up permanently, but since so many people had posted about strange problems occurring when using this option, I decided to bear with the sound of the anonymous Canadian as long as I could. First test...WOWII (the .MOD player which reportedly worked with the GUS). WOWII came up just fine, the oscilloscopes started oscillating, but what was this? NO SOUND AT ALL!!! WOWII apparently noticed this, because fived seconds later, it locked the machine up hard. "Uh, oh," I thought as I realized I was in that unlucky group of people who currently face problems getting their Ultrasound to run correctly. A few other tests revealed that indeed other games that reportedly have and should work did not work at all on my computer. After stripping all suspect items out of my configuration (MIDI card, 16550 card, bus mouse card, QEMM, and Hyperdisk), I still could not get the thing to produce any digitalized sound, I COULD however get it to do Adlib sound, which did indeed sound quite better than the original Adlib most of the time. Well, this day had produced nothing but frustration, and unfortunately, it was once again bedtime. Further GUSsing would have to wait until Wednesday. I got a call from my wife Wednesday afternoon. "Honey, the computer won't boot." "Oh, great," I thought as I reverted to my days of working on the computer help-line for a former employer. Apparently, the computer would power-on, the hard disk light would light...stay lit...stay lit...and nothing would execute. After putting my poor wife through many meaningless (to her) boot-floppy, Norton utilities gyrations (none of which would get the computer booted), I had her remove the Ultrasound. It booted like a champ. Well, I knew I would be in store for more GUS fun that evening, so I enlisted the aid of a fellow computer-knowledgeable programming geek to help me out with the Ultrasound tuning that was to ensue. We arrived at my house that evening, armed to the teeth with our favorite game software (including the much renowned Star Control II) and our collectively vast pool of knowledge of IBM computer circuitry. Two and a half hours later, we determined that absolutely no matter what sort of software configuration we used, no matter what DMA channel we selected, and no matter what interrupts we used for the GUS, DIGITAL SOUNDS WOULD NOT WORK ON THE DAMN THING USING SBOS!!! (Yes, I was getting peeved by this point... especially because the problem my wife was having during the day had carried over into the evening...most of the time the computer would NOT boot off the hard drive with the GUS installed...it would boot fine from a floppy however, and then allow hard drive access.) Well, nearing the point of total despair, we loaded up Star Control II. It sounded AWESOME!! Damn, WHY WOULDN'T SBOS WORK RIGHT ON THIS THING????? As we again pondered possible solutions to the problem with renewed vigor, I suddenly remembered that extra 386/40 I had lying in the corner I had purchased as a Christmas present for my little sister (don't worry, my wife has already given me thorough mental pummeling for my overly extended generosity). Well, you'd better believe we had the GUS installed in a flash...this system contained the 386/40 with a Boca SVGA card, a no-name multi I/O card, the GUS, and the hard drive from my 486/33 (I couldn't afford to get my sis a hard drive, I was being bashed by my wife enough as it was). We powered up both systems (the hard drive was still in my 486/33's case), and BINGO...it booted right up off the hard drive! FLIDEMO? Check! MIDIDEMO? Check! SBOS? CHECK!! WOWII played mods like a champ! Tristan played digitized pinball sounds just great! Even Castle Wolfenstein sounded superb!! (I had forgotten how much I enjoyed playing that game, too!) My excitement quickly turned sour, however, when I realized that the computer I was enjoying my wonderful Ultrasound on was slated to be delivered to my little sister in just a few weeks. But my friend and I did figure out a few things as he was packaging up the Ultrasound to take home and try out on his 486/50: Apparently the Ultrasound has some problem with certain hardware configurations that can easily prevent SBOS from working correctly, and (in my case), even prevent the computer from booting up successfully. Obviously, the software was not a factor as I was successfully running SBOS on the 386/40 with QEMM, Stacker, and Hyperdisk loaded. Oh, and the Ultrasound was back to the default ports and interrupts when we used the 386/40 also. We took pity on poor Joe-Average user who doesn't know his DMA channel from his RAM disk. Obviously, there are some hardware problems that Gravis needs to address before releasing the final revision of this card (see included message below). As for me? Well, after my friend gets through his testing, I'll re-install it on my 486/33 to give it one last shot. There's still a few things I could try changing in the CMOS, that could possibly (but doubtfully) produce better results with SBOS. If I fail to have any luck there, I'll be returning my GUS (woefully) for a full refund. Thank goodness I had planned for these abnormalities ahead of time by purchasing the GUS from a place with such a customer-oriented return policy. For all you people who have GUSses installed and working great, I am very happy for you. I laud Gravis's attempt to make such a bold first entry into the sound card market. I firmly believe that Wave Table Synthesis is the sound card technology of the future, and I can't wait until a stable card emerges as the industry standard, so I can purchase it and enjoy a whole new realm of PC gaming enjoyment. I only hope that the "card of the future" is as reasonably priced as the Gravis, and possibly even hope that it would indeed be made by Gravis (I still think that their PC Gamepad is the greatest PC video gaming accessory ever made!). But until then, here's what Spectrum Holobyte has to say: -------------------- From: ajredmer@netcom.com (Akila J. Redmer) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games Subject: Re: Comanche:Max Overkill and Ultrasound? Date: 1 Dec 92 23:04:11 GMT Actually, I have found most of the messages very interesting. I would like to add my two cents to the discussion because I have a different prespective to offer. I am head of development at Spectrum HoloByte and also worked on Accolade Star Control I and II products. I have been VERY involved with Gravis on various projects incuding the Ultrasound. It has been our experience that the UltraSound is significantly more difficult to support than competing sound cards. This is partly due to it being flakely in different machines (something they know about and are fixing), and the fact that they only supply object modules for developer's to be compatible with. This severely limits software developer's access to the board. A third noteworthy reason that it is more difficult to support is that it has some capabilities that surpass existing sound cards. It is essentailly three Amiga's stuck together from the audio pespective. As for comments regarding its relative value. Star Control II does sound better running with a Gravis than any other cards available. It is also true that many people cannot get Star Controll II to run with a Gravis, as noted in other posts. This is tied to flakiness. Gravis as a whole makes very good products, especially input devices for the Macintosh, I would editorialize that they feel short with the UltraSound. Here at Spectrum we are working with next generation sound cards just around the corner that far outperform all cards on the market today. Consumers are in for a lot of wondeful choices. AJ Redmer Executive Director, R & D Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1992 23:42:25 GMT From: adhir@wam.umd.edu (Al Dhir) Message-Id: <1992Nov30.234225.14576@wam.umd.edu> Subject: Just thinking (about the GUS)... To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Supposedly my GUS is coming tomorrow... :) I was thinking: Seeing as how the GUs supports daughtercards (SCSI, 16-bit sampling), why wouldn't it be possible for Gravis to make a SB support daughtercard with an FM chip on it and bag all this SBOS bs? It couldn't be too expensive, and then we'd have 100% hw compatibilty. I say this because I am thinking about buying an old SB along with my GUS for 50 or 60 bucks if I can find one so I don't have to sacrifice any games that don't work with it. If Gravis made one and sold it for 50 or 60 dollars, I'm sure a number of people would buy it. That way we'd have a choice... Also, what's the latest scoop on how GUs works under OS/2. Can I expect to see native drivers anytime soon, or do I have to keep booting DOS/Windows? -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Al Dhir Technical Consulting Staff Internet: adhir@cygnus.umd.edu University of Maryland, College Park Bitnet: adhir%cygnus.umd.edu@Interbit (301) 405-1500 * (301) 405-3014 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 92 20:59:37 -0800 From: cs15fa38@csufres.CSUFresno.EDU Message-Id: <9212040459.AA01915@csufres.CSUFresno.EDU> Subject: MIDI File Format To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Does Ultrasound work with standard MIDI file(MFF 0 or MFF 1)? I don't own an Ultrasound presently, but I've a LAPC. I've a collection of MIDI files(all standard format), and I can upload them, if US works with MFF 0 or MFF 1. Roland Chia ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 92 18:36:48 PST From: Bob Beck Message-Id: <9212040236.AA21512@eng2.sequent.com> Subject: remove from list To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Please remove me from the Ultrasound mailing list. Thanks. -- Bob Beck rbk@sequent.com Sequent Computer Systems (503)578-9809 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1992 14:40:08 -0500 (EST) From: Morgan Stair Message-Id: Subject: SBOS 1.22b is available To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Tech support says there is a Beta version of the next SBOS available on the Gravis BBS as a selfextracting archive. Would someone put it on epas? Better yet, would someone from epas get an original from gravis and put it in the read-only section of /pub/pc/ultrasnd? Thanks, Morgan ------------------------------ Date: 2 Dec 1992 20:35:44 GMT From: twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) Message-Id: <1fj6n0INN6ni@iskut.ucs.ubc.ca> Subject: Ultrasound crashing OS/2 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article <1fhbhqINNpsr@agate.berkeley.edu> drkszk@ocf.berkeley.edu (Derek Suzuki) writes: > Whenever I try to run any GUS software (playmidi, SBOS, etc.) >in an OS/2 DOS session, it takes down the whole system. It gives me >a register dump and says to reboot. > What might be causing this? Is there a way around it? > Well, as Alan from Gravis puts it.... OS/2's comment about being "a better DOS than DOS" ain't exactly correct in that it can't handle some of the things DOS program can tell DOS to do. In other words, just like those with the Sound Blaster, PAS,....etc.... wait for the OS/2 drivers to come out. The driver for SB is out by the way. Gravis did say they will come out with a OS/2 driver (one of these days) and someone did mention in Usenet that they'll have a hand at writing a OS/2 driver for the Ultrasound (if he got the technical info he asked for). So one thing you can do is write Gravis and tell them we NEED an OS/2 driver and get them going on that! :) Their Fax number is (604) 434-5155 and their phone (604) 431-1807. Or 1-800-663-8558. But if anyone know how to send email to CompuServe from internet... their CompuServe address is 75300,733. Their internet address is 75300.733@compuserve.com OR Chris Yuzik Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. chris_yuzik@sfu.ca Thomas. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1992 19:00:00 -0500 From: Yuri Lee Message-Id: <1992Dec3.104.144652@dosgate> Subject: ultrasound daily digest v To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I don't think that was an error. It says not to use mono phono jack on line-out connector but if you want to use it anyway, get a stereo to mono adapter. UG>And on a side note, when I tested the cards, Gravis is actually pretty UG>bland compared to most. And it's speech truly sucks... UG>Still 99% of it is the amp and speakers that you hook it through... This is a damn lousy letter. I don't know what the guy tested GUS with but it seems that the guy only looked at demo softwares that came with GUS. What other cards is he comparing GUS with ? Obviously, he doesn't appear to be a programmer. UG>I'm not trying to talk anybody out of the GUS, just trying to face what may UG>be a difficult situation... A great product with very little support. My UG>principle use for the GUS will be gameplay and the SBOS software sounds like UG>a real pain in the butt (TSRs in general have always worried me, and with UG>the 'pushing the hardware envelope' entertainment software we are seeing UG>now, every lower-640K chunk of memory is *so* important...). The $130 SB Pro UG>Basic at Egghead is starting to look a whole lot better. No. No. No SB pro. If you don't like GUS, I suggest you to look elsewhere. But not SB pro. It just isn't worth the money. UG> Does anyone here know what it is that Media Player does to load patches UG>that other programs don't do? I assume it's probably a fairly simple call, but UG>it doesn't help if I don't know what call it is :) Other softwares aren't simply aware of such sound cards as GUS. If all are written the way MCI MIDI driver handles MIDI synth device, there shouldn't have been any problems with current GUS windows driver. BTW, Media Player simply dumps a MIDI file to MCI MIDI driver in Windows. And if you want to use lower level MIDI I/O functions in windows to play a note on GUS, you need to load patches before you send Note On message to MIDI device. 'mmloadpatch()' loads patches for you. - Yuri regards, - Yuri - ** Waterloo, Ont.,Canada *** internet: ylee@sunee.uwaterloo.ca ** --- ~ DeLuxe} 1.26b #10704 ~ I tried the rest but bought the best!!!! -- Canada Remote Systems - Toronto, Ontario World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 92 13:00:50 EST From: Phat H Tran Message-Id: <9212031800.AA15353@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca> Subject: Ultrasound Daily Digest V1 #37 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > Date: Wed, 2 Dec 92 20:57:19 EET > From: Lasse Hero > Message-Id: <199212021857.AA03730@mdata.fi> > Subject: Lucasfilm and support for GUS (lack of...) > To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > > I asked Lucasfilm Games about Ultrasound support, here's the answer: > > - - - - > > At this time, nope. I've listened to many cards, all with the same > machine, same speakers, just different cards. And with so many new > developers coming out with new cards it's difficult to find ones that > will stay any sort of distance. When some of the dust settles, we may > look into it. Just not at this time. > > And on a side note, when I tested the cards, Gravis is actually pretty > bland compared to most. And it's speech truly sucks... > Still 99% of it is the amp and speakers that you hook it through... > > \\illiam > > - - - - > > Damn! I don't have the card yet, but it CAN'T be that lousy, can it..? > Sorry, but I don't think that William did more than run some games with SBOS when he tested the GUS. The Ultrasound is definitely one of the best sounding cards out there. About the only cards that sound better than it at the moment is the Roland Sound Canvas and the Turtle Beach Multisound, and anything more expensive than these two. If you can divulge William's email address to the net of GUS fanatics, I think we can get him to give the GUS a second look. > Date: Wed, 2 Dec 92 7:15:05 PST > From: Andy Young at Nosferatu U. > Message-Id: <9212021515.AA00828@hpsmo100.rose.hp.com> > Subject: Support concerns > To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > > I too am starting to be more than a little worried about support for the > GUS. Two of my favorite game companies, LucasArts and Sierra, have stated > that they have no plans to support the GUS. Of course, this isn't to say > that they never will; but if they do, it'll be a while, and by then, maybe > we'll see the GUS Pro :-). > The GUS is spanking new, and almost unheard of outside the Internet's small circle of devotees, so I'm not surprised that not all developers have warmed up to it. The ones that have given the card a close inspection have been very receptive, though. Take the crew at Toys for Bob (Star Con 2), for example. Electronic Arts is also promoting the card, but with customers very angry at delays, and EA blaming Gravis for not delivering, I wonder if the relationship has somewhat soured. If there are any of you who are hoping for an overnight explosion in Ultrasound games and utilities, let me remind you that the PAS-16 and SBPro, released when there were few sound cards around, had to wait quite a while for support. It will be harder for the GUS, released two months ago, amid hundreds of other "new" soundcards, to catch the eye of game makers. The fact that there is a small number of developers committing themselves to the Ultrasound this early in its release is a good sign. When Gravis get off their asses and start promoting their card, the exposure will help tremendously. At the moment, it's up to Ultrasound owners to lobby for its support. Addresses, anyone? > I'm not trying to talk anybody out of the GUS, just trying to face what may > be a difficult situation... A great product with very little support. My > principle use for the GUS will be gameplay and the SBOS software sounds like > a real pain in the butt (TSRs in general have always worried me, and with > the 'pushing the hardware envelope' entertainment software we are seeing > now, every lower-640K chunk of memory is *so* important...). The $130 SB Pro > Basic at Egghead is starting to look a whole lot better. > > > Dissappointed and more than a little indecisive, > > .Andy. > > andy@hpsmo100.rose.hp.com Hewlett Packard - Support Materials Operation > TSN: AndyY, Box 24491 8050 Foothills Blvd, Roseville, CA 95678 > In terms of sound quality, the SBPro looks mighty ugly next to my GUS. GUS owners should not be second-guessing their purchase, for they have bought the best soundcard inexpensive enough for the masses. And worries over lack of support are premature. If, after six months, developers are still saying that they won't support the Ultrasound, then we can worry. But at the moment, the situation is actually quite positive. The GUS is just too good a card for developers to ignore. The only thing that can prevent its success is industry politics. Let's hope Gravis stays in developers' good books. Phat. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1992 07:40:18 GMT From: ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Phat H Tran) Message-Id: Subject: Ultrasound question To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article zonnevel@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl (B.J.Zonneveld.tel-015-622622) writes: >I still haven't got my Ultrasound card but do have some questions: > >1) Is the card that's being shipped now fully upgradable to 16-bit? I have > a pamphlet describing this option but wanna know from someone closer to > the Gravis source. Being from Europe I have to buy the card via another > dealer. I do want to know this cause when I wanted a soundcard I looked > into this and found out that the Ultrasound is the best deal for its > money with 16-bit sampled sound and 32 channels of wavetable synthesis. > Yes, the card that is being shipped is fully upgradeable to 16-bit recording. It has several rows of bare connectors and tens of undocumented jumpers for the purpose of upgrading. >2) Is it also upgradable with the CD-ROM interface? > Yes. >3) Is it really true the midi-in doesn't work yet? I got some synths stacked > at home and this is just another reason I wanted this card. > The MIDI hardware is in place, I think, but the current drivers don't support MIDI IN. Out and thru are operative, from what I've heard, but you'll have to wait for new drivers if you want to use the card as a MIDI synth module. I haven't tried any of the MIDI facilities on my GUS, so I could be mistaken in the above. >4) How easy is it to plug in the extra memory? Can a regular pc-user do this? > If you can remove the lid off your box, you can also upgrade the memory on the card yourself. Simple insertion of six small chips into standard DIP sockets is all that's needed. Phat. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Dec 92 10:49:15 CST From: tarjan@iastate.edu Message-Id: <9212031649.AA05347@iastate.edu> Subject: Well.. Comanche To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Does anyone have the patch for Comanche? Cant call LD .. So... Also anyone have the patch to Power Chords.. It is a windows guitar simulator that does midi.. It is awesome but it might be nice to have it produce sound!! Cya later.. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 92 12:24:57 MET DST From: mico@trzdor1.ico.olivetti.com (Michele Costabile) Message-Id: <9212031125.AA03067@trzdor5.trzdor1.ico.olivetti.com> Subject: will it work in an XT bus? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Hi, I am waiting for my card and have not changed computer yet (will do that soon). Will the GUS fit into and old XT type of machine or shall I have to wait until the new super duper more86?? -- Michele ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Dec 1992 00:45:40 -0500 (EST) From: "Mark W. Fleig" Message-Id: <9212040544.AA06598@orca.es.com> Subject: Wolf3D and other Digitized Effects. To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Would someone mind refreshing my memory about getting the digitized sounds to come through on a 286. I've had the GUS installed for only a few days, and everything works great, except for the digitized sounds through SBOS. I'm running on a 286, so cpu speed is defintely a posability, and I do recall something mentioned in the past about setting the card freq speed a little slower for slower machines. Any ideas? By the way. "Get a 486" IS a valid answer. Should be here soon, but until then... -mark ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Dec 92 13:18:05 GMT From: G.S.R.Price@cen.exeter.ac.uk Message-Id: <9016.9212031318@olib> To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I am having some problems with my Ultrasound and I would be grateful if some of you with GUS cards could try out an experiment for me and mail me the results. The senario is as follows: I bought a GUS at the same time as a friend. To begin with, I thought I had some sort of interupt conflict, since if you click into USS8, and record a sample at 44.1Khz in stereo, "hiss" is added to the sample. The problem can be shown up very effectively, by sampling with no input, and then playing back at full volume - you can hear random noise. This is not a problem with the power supply introducing noise into the amp, but from the sample. I eventually tried my card in my friends machine and found it to have the same problem. However, his card, (although it has hiss), has nothing like the hiss mine does. I sent the card back and the card I recieved as a replacement has the same problem. I would be grateful if some of you could try sampling nothing for me, and mail me to say whether you had the same problem. One final point - if you click the "zoom" icon in USS8 to view the waveform, my card shows two separate lines, one red and one yellow. My friends card however only shows one red line, (ie. the yellow and red are so close, they cannot be distinguished and the red pixels overwrite the yellow ones). I would also like to know if you can see one or both channels using USS8. Thanx in advance. Gordon Price (G.S.R.Price@uk.ac.ex) ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V1 #38 ******************************