Ultrasound Daily Digest Mon, 21 Dec 92 Volume 1 : Issue 52 Today's Topics: Anybody here? Calling all GUS SDKers and users! Digest Digest Admin: ARRRGGGGHHHH! drams general GUS and SB(Pro) GUS Availability in the Portland, Oregon Area? GUS Compatibility List 1.02 GUS problems gus starconII on an OPTi motherboard OPTI owners, detail the specifics... Ultraprobe 51 earth 1 USS8 pauses and hard drive speed 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: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 15:44:52 -0400 (AST) From: Shadow Of Fear Message-Id: Subject: Anybody here? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Directly from his dark office on the top of a dark Tower..... \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Hello? Is the digest still published? Haven't heard from it since last friday.... ____ _ _ _ / \ \ /' )' )' ) | | | / / / | (_|__/ \ / / __. .__ ___ | | __. . . \ . ___ / (__(_/|__) )__/(__ \_/__(_/|__)\_)__/\__)__) <_ Markus on QuartzPARADISE and AfterFive (506)855-4974 - Canada +---------------------------------------------+-----------------------------+ | markus@info.umoncton.ca | "My son, ask for thyself | | For Talk: markus@clement.info.umoncton.ca | another kingdom. For that | |---------------------------------------------+ which I leave is too small | | When all else fails, read the instructions | for thee" - King Philippe | +---------------------------------------------+-----------------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 09:32:58 GMT From: ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Phat H Tran) Message-Id: Subject: Calling all GUS SDKers and users! To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article <1992Dec18.225839.62168@cc.usu.edu> sl8nl@cc.usu.edu writes: >Ouch, I just ran into a major brick wall in my GUS modplayer... > >All you with SDK's, listen up. Maybe I'm missing a command... > >OK, as you are all aware, module samples have a start, length, loops, and >loope, illustrated like. > >Start Length >+--------------------------------+ > ----------------- > LoopS LoopE > >Alright, as far as I can tell, the GUS only supports this. > >Start-----------------------End > LoopS------------End > >Am I missing something?????????? This is going to really hurt in looping >samples if it can't do it like Amiga modules! > >Joshua Jensen > The GUS seems to be oriented toward playing MIDI instruments. You have the attack transient, which is played once and is located before loopS, and you have the sustain waveform that is looped for the sustain and faded for the release. Since few real instruments experience a significant change in waveform as their sustain dies, this approach is quit simple and yet realistic. Instrument samples for MOD files also have the attack and sustain phases. However, I don't think MOD players merely fade the sustain waveform for the release, and as a result, there's a release phase in which the sample itself fades. The MOD approach is more flexible in the sense that you can have weird and wonderful waveform changes occuring at the end of a note. But a disadvantage is that you can only end notes right at the end of the loop. If you end the note when the middle of the looped section is played, you will probably hear a "pop" since the release section of the sample was only aligned for the end of the loop. The GUS approach will let you end a note at any time. Also, the MOD sample format means that a long release time means a huge sample size. If you want to play MOD files faithfully on the GUS, then you can split the MOD sample into two GUS patches: Start--------------------------------------------------------Length LoopS---------------------------LoopE Start---------------------------------------EndStart------------End LoopS---------------------------LoopE Patch 1 Patch 2 Play the first patch at the note on signal, and then play the second patch on note off. I don't know how easily it would be to implement so that the two patches meld nicely together. A better way to play MODs on the GUS is to drop the release phase from the MOD samples altogether, keep only up to LoopE, and then have the GUS handle the release in its hardware. This approach will save a lot of memory, and should not affect the sound of the MOD any since practically all release phases are copies of the sustain phase with the volume diminishing over time. Well, there ya have it! I just wrote a whole article on two subjects I know next to nothing about. I have no idea how the GUS actually works (No, I don't have the SDK.) and I know even less about the MOD format. I am just going on what info Josh presented in his query and some assumptions of mine, the biggest being that the release phase of the MOD sample is a complete sample of a note fading. For all I know, it could actually be a fixed-amplitude waveform that the MODPlayer fades during playback instead. Please correct me if I'm wrong anywhere, anybody. I'm just tossing ideas around. Phat. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Dec 92 09:53:17 EST From: timkwan@Athena.MIT.EDU Message-Id: <9212201453.AA05148@e40-008-4> Subject: Digest To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Is the GUS Digest server acting up again? I have not been receiving the digest for the last two days!! What IS happening? Can something be set up to at least inform the subscribers of the digest that "Sorry, something fucked up, so you won't be getting the digest today"? Tim ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 15:01:29 MST From: ddebry@itchy (Dave DeBry) Message-Id: <9212182201.AA00339@itchy> Subject: Digest Admin: ARRRGGGGHHHH! To: Ultrasound Daily Digest My apologies to everyone for the problems the digest and server have been having all week. No, I'm not taking the digest down. No, I'm not getting rid of the request server. We've just had all kinds of weird things happen to machines around here lately. Hopefully (knock on a 3d wood texture) things are all straightened out and all will be well for the future. Did anyone receive a digest #50? Anything mailed between 10am MST and 3pm MST on 12/18/92 to the digest or the server were eaten by the EtherMonster. Please resend them. -- Dave ddebry@ debry@ \ "Treat every day like it was your last one on DeBry dsd. peruvian. | earth: with a lot of whimpering and crying." es. cs.utah. | com edu / - Tommy Sledge ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Dec 92 22:43:00 -0800 From: fico!fico8!tab@apple.com Message-Id: <9212210643.AA11440@apple.com> Subject: drams To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Is there any advantage to populating the Ultrasound board to 1MB if ones not planning to use a midi device? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 16:27:38 -0800 From: fico!fico8!tab@apple.com Message-Id: <9212190027.AA13256@apple.com> Subject: general To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I recently purchased the "USS10TRAX" from Forte. I been quite pleased with the way the software handles. One additional way to make your Ultrasound more flexible is to get a mixing board. A few years ago I purchased one of Radio Shacks high-end mixing boards. I have the output of the mixing board going to the Ultrasound's audio input line, and all inputs for the Ultrasound come through the mixing board. Using this technique, you can have microphones,tape,cds',turntables, and other devices going into the board without the need for switching cables. If you're planning to use this technique, you should find a 1khz tone generater and all the VU meters to the same deflection. Using this technique helps avoid unnecessary distortion. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 19 Dec 92 13:25:56 EST From: Phat H Tran Message-Id: <9212191825.AA12173@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca> Subject: GUS and SB(Pro) To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > Date: 17 Dec 1992 21:57:46 GMT > From: nukenin@access.digex.com (R. Cliff Young) > Message-Id: <1gqt4qINNc1a@mirror.digex.com> > Subject: GUS, SBPro, and GS2000 antics > Summary: Fun with Conflicting Hardware/Confused Software in the PC World > To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > [...] > My options are to: (1) remove the SBPro and just use GUS w/ SBOS > (which I assume will work fine, since I haven't seen any others having > problems with GS2000), (2) remove the GUS (Noooooo!!!!!!), (3) buy a > new system and dedicate it to the GUS ;) , (4) live with Adlib sound, > or (5) live without GS2000. > Moving the GUS's MIDI irq out of the 2-7 range should let the SBPro play digitized sounds. I have a GUS and a SoundBlaster in my machine, and in Falcon 3.0, I can get digitized sounds out of the SB and "FM" music out of SBOS. The SB's irq is on 5, and the GUS's are on 15 and 12. I also have to run SBOS and then uninstall it if I want to hear FM music from the SB. The digitized messages will still play just as well. Phat. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 16:21:11 -0800 From: Bob Beck Message-Id: <9212190021.AA27308@eng2.sequent.com> Subject: GUS Availability in the Portland, Oregon Area? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Just wondering if anyone in the Portland area has a GUS and/or know where to get it for a reasonable price? All input appreciated. Bob Beck rbk@sequent.com Sequent Computer Systems (503)578-9809 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 19:24:41 GMT From: rdippold@qualcom.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold) Message-Id: Subject: GUS Compatibility List 1.02 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest GUS Tested Programs Compatability List V1.02 Dec 18, 1992 Send updates to rdippold@qualcomm.com. This is a list of compatibility settings for the Gravis Ultrasound card. I have not personally verified all of these, most of them are submitted to me by other GUS owners. Your results may vary. Nor is this a list of all programs that will run with the GUS - this is just a list of those that have been tested by those who sent me mail. It is for the purpose of helping GUS owners run a program without hunting for the appropriate options. The "Version" indicates the version of SBOS that the program was tested with. 1.22 is the new beta from Gravis. Native GUS Support ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Star Control II Chuck Yeager Flight Combat Simulator SBOS Version Parameters ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4-D Boxing 1.20 None (Announcer's voice is too slow) Aces of the Pacific 1.20 None Alone in the Dark 1.20 None Amazon 1.20 None Armour-Geddon 1.22 None ATP 2.0 1.22 None AV8B Harrier Attack 1.20 -o2 Blaster Master 1.20 -x3 Catacombs 3D 1.20 None Civilization None Comanche: Maximum Overkill 1.20 None (Get Update from Novalogic) Comanche: Maximum Overkill 1.20 None (or music=adlib, sound=sb) Commander Keen (part 4) 1.22 -x2 Conan 1.20 None (Adlib mode) Contraption Zack 1.22 None Daughter of Serpents 1.22 None Dinosaur Adventure 1.22 None Dragon Flight 1.22 None Dragon's Lair III 1.22 None Dune II 1.22 None Elite Plus 1.20 None Escape from Alcatraz 1.20 -o3 F-15 Strike Eagle II -o3 Falcon 3.0 1.20 None Fate of Atlantis 1.20 None Formula One Grand Prix 1.20 None (-o2 if sound cuts out) Front Page Sports Football 1.20 None Future Wars 1.20 None (Adlib mode) Galactix 1.3 1.20 -o3 (not fully compatible) Galactix 1.3 1.22 None The Games: Summer Challenge 1.20 None Goblins 2 1.22 None Grand Master Chess 1.22 None Hardball III 1.22 None Heart of China 1.20 None Hole in One Minature Golf Dlx 1.22 None Humans 1.20 -o3 The Incredible Machine 1.20 None Joe and Mac: Caveman Ninja 1.22 None Kiloblaster 1.22 None King's Quest VI 1.20 -o3 (no speech) King's Quest VI 1.22 -o2 -x3 Knights of the Sky 1.20 None L.A. Law 1.22 None Leather Godesses of Phobos II 1.20 -o1 Legend of Kyrandia 1.20 None Legend of Robin Hood 1.20 None Leisure Suit Larry V 1.22 -o2 -x3 Lemmings 1.20 Lemmings -x for PC type Lemmings 1.22 None Links 386 1.05 or later 1.20 -o1 -x2 (turn off background sounds) Llamatron 2112 1.22 None (Turn off QEMM) PGA Golf 1.20 -o2 Prince of Persia 1.20 -o1 Putt-Putt Joins the Parade 1.22 None Monkey Island II 1.20 None Overkill 1.20 None Reader Rabbit I 1.20 None Reader Rabbit II 1.20 None Reading Adventures in OZ 1.20 None Red Baron 1.20 None Rex Nebular 1.22 -x3 Rome AD 92 1.22 None Siege 1.20 -x3 Sierra Xmas Card '92 1.22 None Sim Ant 1.20 None The Simpsons 1.22 None Simusex 1.20 None So You Want To Be a Hero? 1.20 None (Adlib mode) Spear of Destiny 1.20 -o2 Spear of Destiny 1.22 None Star Trek 25th Anniversary 1.22 None (Adlib mode) Street Fighter II 1.22 None Strange Deadfellows 1.20 GF1 int = MIDI int Stunts (slight slowdown) 1.20 None Task Force: 1942 1.22 None Thunder Hawk 1.20 -x3 (still flakey) Tristan Pinball 1.20 None Ultima Underworld 1.20 None Unreal Demo 1.20 IRQ must be 2 V for Victory: Utah Beach 1.22 None V for Victory: Velikiye Luiki 1.22 None Where in the World is Carmen... 1.20 -o1 Willy Beamish 1.20 None Wing Commander 1.20 -o2 -x2 (slow) Wing Commander 1.22 -o2 -x2 Wolfenstein 3D 1.22 None WOW II 1.3 (MOD player) 1.20 None Wrath of the Demon 1.20 None SBOS earlier than 1.20 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dune -o2 Earl Weaver Baseball II -o2 King's Quest V -o2 Wolfenstein 3D -o2 -- She hates testicles, thus limiting the men she can admire to Democratic candidates for president. -- John Greenway, "The American Tradition", on feminist Elizabeth Gould Davis ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 22:13:17 EST From: Matthew E. Bernold Message-Id: <92353.221317MEB117@psuvm.psu.edu> Subject: GUS problems To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article , markus@clement.info.umoncton.ca (MARC PAULIN) says: > >In article <1992Dec17.171409.21554@rose.com> francisco.perez@rose.com o >(francisc >perez) writes: >>From: francisco.perez@rose.com (francisco perez) >>Subject: Re: GUS problems >>Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 17:14:06 GMT > > >>I have 1 meg on my GUS and the only problem that appears is a static noise >>after I move the cursor in the SAVE GAME or LOAD GAME section, and this >>disappears after the game is saved or laoded. Other than that, everything >>sounds fine. By the way, I'm also using an Opti chipset (don't know the >>model #), and QEMM (I don't disable it for StarCon2). My DMA is set to 7. > > I have a 286 16MHz. My GUS is on DMA 5. I never heard any static >noises or wrong patches problem with Star Control II. The game works and >keeps me busy for hours full with sounds and music. But with my GUS on DMA1, >I do have the 'wrong patches being played' problem. > Hmmm....that sounds a bit suspicious to me. I think I'm starting to see a pattern here. When I first installed my GUS, I used the factory default DMA 1, and I got the "Wrong Patches played" problem. Then, later on, I moved the GUS to DMA 5 to use a 16bit DMA, and the patches played fine, but after a while of playing the game, I got the "loud blast of static out of the left speaker" problem. Finally, I read the article that said that someone was playing SC II with the GUS on DMA 7 and wasn't having any problems. I went home and moved the GUS to DMA 7, and played for 5 hours without a problem. I did notice a click from the speakers every time that it changed from one song to another, but the right patches played, and there was NO static! I'd like some feedback from everyone who is having problems with SC II. What DMA are you set for? What chipset do you have? What processor? Maybe if this trend continues, it'll make the author's jobs easier, and we'll get a fix that much sooner.... :-) Matthew E. Bernold MEB117@PSUVM.PSU.EDU <> meb@haydn.psu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 08:17:42 -0800 From: cliff@trifid.astro.ucla.edu Message-Id: <9212181617.AA20858@trifid.astro.ucla.edu> Subject: gus starconII on an OPTi motherboard To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Well, I finally got around to replacing my 486 motherboard that has an OPTi chipset ( 486-WB motherboard with OPTi chips 82C392 82C493 F82C206 ) with a new EISA motherboard that has a SIS chipset. My old motherboard worked fine with playmidi and the media player in windows but failed when I ran StarControl II. In StarControl II, I would get a load scratchy-whinning noise when I changed to different items in a menu and eventually the game would slow to a crawl and lock up my computer. Well, last night after swap- ping the motherboards, I noticed that I get the same whinning noise less frequently when I'm switching to different items in the menu but now I can play with absolutely no system slow downs or lock ups.... I should also state that my GUS has 1 Meg of memory on it and I've noticed postings from others that this could cause problems with StarControl II. Hopefully, Accolade will post a patch to fix this. I've also noticed that the game will sometimes play incorrect patches like battle sounds when I'm out crusing by myself. cliff cliff@trifid.astro.ucla.edu ------------------------------ Date: 8 Dec 92 23:42:48 GMT From: poe@wharton.upenn.edu Message-Id: <1992Dec8.184248.1@wharton.upenn.edu> Subject: OPTI owners, detail the specifics... To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Hello, World I have noticed a lot of people having trouble with DMA transfers using motherboards with OPTI chipsets. OPTI is/was a rather respected name in the community and it would be a shame to trash them if it was only a particular part or set of parts that caused problems, rather than their entire line of products. Hopefully OPTI owners will come forward and help compile a list of working chipsets and non-working chipsets. Possibly with the hardware that caused problems, or supected hardware that worked fine. Maybe OPTI can pick up the ball from there. The common threads I've seen so far: 1. People with problems mostly state they are using 486 boards. 2. People with problems mostly state they have a write-back cache. 3. People stating non-write-back caches have had better compatibility. 4. The most problematic piece of hardware seems to be the Gravis Ultrasound. The majority of disgruntled GUS owners have OPTI chipsets. 5. The SB-Pro has also had problems with the OPTI chipset. 6. Adaptec SCSI controllers have problems with very fast disks, or Multiple devices on the controller (High DMA throughput) 7. The date of the chipset seems to bee irrelavent. 8. Some have claimed that if the cache is disabled, compatibility returns. Any others? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 10:08:38 EST From: dionf@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Francois Dion) Message-Id: <9212181508.AA12570@brise.ERE.UMontreal.CA> Subject: Ultraprobe 51 earth 1 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Beyond the ultraworld of Ultrasound Digest Owner: > > Date: 18 Dec 1992 00:58:37 GMT > From: alex@soda.berkeley.edu (Alex D.) > Message-Id: <1gr7ntINNk3r@agate.berkeley.edu> > Subject: GUS and OPTi partially fixed > Summary: GUS & OPTi & 486s > To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > > Okay, now I know that my GUS is not broken. I recently installed in a 386/33 > OPTi write/back cache machine. It almost has the exact chips that are on my > 486/33 OPTi motherboard (bought them from the same place), namely the F82C206 Same DMA controller? > I know that someone else previously post the same type of experience, I just > want to confirm it. The 486/33 OPTi motherboard doesn't work correctly > with the GUS, whereas the 386/33 does. Is the chip too fast or what? Oh Definitely not. It's flaky. You will find it on old 486 and some rare 386 with opti. > ------------------------------ > > Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 09:39 EST > From: "Matthew E. Bernold" > Message-Id: <9212151438.AA05867@orca.es.com> > Subject: SBOS.CFG > To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > > I was reading the GUS manual earlier on this week (Yup, actually reading the > manual...what would my hacker's club think of me now...) and noticed that > SBOS has a config file. Supposedly, it allows you to set the keys used to > control the volume, and even to CHANGE THE SOUND THAT SBOS PLAYS ON STARTUP!! NO SHIT? 8) it's the first thing i did with my GUS: record a new file. I now have: OOWEEE I AM READY! I MEAN I'M IN THE MOOD! (James Brown, sampled on Church of Ecstasy, from the group Church of Ecstacy) > I tried to do this, but it wouldn't work. You are supposed to be able to put > in a filename, and a frequency to play back at, on the third line of the .CFG > file, and SBOS will use that file instead of it's built in voice. I tried this > by using one of the sounds that comes with the GUS, arrow.snd. I put in the > following lines, one at a time: > > arrow.snd 8000 > d:\ultrasnd\arrow.snd 8000 > D:\ULTRASND\ARROW.SND 8000 Two things: change the SBOS.CFG in \ULTRASND, not \ULTRASND\SBOS and try arrow.snd,8000 (dont forget the comma). > Has anyone been able to get this SBOS option working? As JB would put it: YES BABY! 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: Fri, 18 Dec 92 10:26:26 EST From: Chad@hel-cclhd.brl.mil Message-Id: <9212180926.aa27959@HEL-CCLHD.BRL.MIL> Subject: USS8 pauses and hard drive speed To: Ultrasound Daily Digest hmmm... there seems to be a common denominator of asking what my hard drive speed is. Well it's 14 ms.. I think that it is fast enough to play mix'ed files on the fly. Anyways I saved the mix, and it sounds GREAT! No delays. thanks for all the responses. BTW: I got permission to record clips from a local bands' tape with my card and I'd post them if everyone wanted me to. The band is called Modern Ruins, and I think everyone would love it .. Why can I only record 1 min of sound in USS8? oh well.. tell me if you want me to FTP the sound clips to EPAS. they are only about a meg or so each.... cHaD ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V1 #52 ******************************