GUS Daily Digest Wed, 22 Feb 95 9:37 PST Volume 19: Issue 22 Today's Topics: Aladdin Archives of recent Ultrasound digests? Best CD-ROM for low-end use with GUS Correction on Warcraft floppy patch... Dark forces-gus DarkForces and GUS Dark Forces will support GUS! Digest on WWW!!! Gravis and Windows 95 GUS Daily Digest V19 #20 GUS Daily Digest V19 #21 (2 msgs) GUS Daily Digest V19 #21; OS/2 beta first!! GUS Max Codec - bad crystal?! Help I heard from Lucas Arts! KQ7 and GUS maxsbos causing reboots Mortal Kombat II Original GUS still available? OS/2 Warp/WinOS2 Question... Pirates Gold w/ Gus Suggestions to Advanced Gravis Theme Park and HMI Upgrading Warcraft & SBOS 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: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 14:09:37 -0500 From: "Michael Grant Wilson" Subject: Re: Aladdin Message-ID: on Fri, 17 Feb 1995 12:59:32 -0800 (PST), Matt Bachand wrote > ONce I realized Aladdin and LionKing were just like the Genesius > versions, i went out and bought them and are impressed. EXCEPT aladdin > doesn't have GUS support, LionKing Does, so it looksl ike the future > games will, but I REALLY would like to get aladdins sound to work. If > therea re any patches or whatnot, please say so. Thank you. > I played the demo off of the PCGamer CD using SBOS. The sound was not spectacular, but reasonable. McQ. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 10:02:13 -0600 (CST) From: rwright@dhostwo.convex.com (Randy Wright) Subject: Archives of recent Ultrasound digests? Hi - I have been unable to locate recent back issues of this digest on any of the official U.S. GUS archive sites. The same applies to the music and programmer digests, as best I can tell. The digests directory still exists in the ultrasound hierarchy on wuarchive, but seems to cease at V11, #10, which was from 12 Feb 1994. Does anyone know if there is an anonymous ftp site carrying more recent back issues? If not, do any readers have private archives which they could upload to one of the current ftp archive sites? If readers will email responses to me, I'll summarize what I learn in an upcoming issue of the digest. -- Randy WrightUsmail:Convex Computers Phone: (214) 497-48683000 Waterview Pky. Email:rwright@convex.comP.O. Box 833851 Richardson, TX 75083-3851 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 13:37:30 +0500 From: dbakken@BBN.COM Subject: Best CD-ROM for low-end use with GUS I have a GUS that I bought maybe six months after they came out, and I'm now looking to get a CD-ROM for my PC. I'd love recommendations as to a good low-end one that others have gotten to work with the GUS with no problems. My basic requirement is double-speed, and I think that multi-session photo CD capability would be helpful. I don't need to find the absolute cheapest one; I'm willing to pay a bit more than the least possible if it gets me more now and in the future, though I most certainly don't need anything approaching a high-end drive. I mainly want to use it with educational programs for my kids (3 and 6). The GUS FAQ lists the following, which is known to be out of date: ------------------------------------------------------------------- | Advanced Gravis Product Support BBS Pricing & Availability | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | Item When? SRP($US) | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | MIDI Connector Box | --OUT-- | $49.95 | | 16-bit Stereo Recording Interface Card | --OUT-- | $149.95 | | LMSI CD-ROM Daughter Card for CM205 and | ??? | $59.95 | | and CM215 (Phillips, Magnavox, LMSI) | | | | Sony CD-ROM Daughter Card for Sony 31A | ??? | $49.95 | | Mitsumi CD-ROM Daughter Card | ??? | $49.95 | | SCSI CD-ROM Daughter Card | ??? | TBA | ------------------------------------------------------------------- I guess, since I'm not a MS-DOS expert and don't have a lot of time to waste getting things working right, that I would be best off getting a daughtercard for the GUS and then the corresponding CD-ROM drive. Which of the above daughtercards are available from Gravis now, and which would be best for my modest needs? I must say that the SCSI daughtercard sounds very interesting if I could later get SCSI hard drives to hook onto it, though I don't know anything about how many SCSI CD-ROM drives are available and how they compare to non-SCSI ones. Any help on the above would be greatly appreciated, as well as pointing out other considerations I may not be factoring in. Thanks for any information! Dave ==== Dr. David E. Bakken Distributed Systems Department BBN Systems and Technologies 10 Moulton Street MS 6/3D Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Voice:617-873-6072 FAX:617-873-4328 email:dbakken@bbn.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 19:43:16 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Angeles Subject: Correction on Warcraft floppy patch... I received a message from a person who could not find the Warcraft floppy patch. I figured out that I got the name wrong when I searched for it in wuarchive.wustl.edu. For those who is interested in the floppy patch, I have enclosed a couple of FTP sites who carry it. I apologize for any inconveniences because of my error. Jeff Angeles Filename to look for: flop115.exe FTP sites who carry the Warcraft floppy patch: archive.orst.edu (easier to logon, but directory is a mess...) in pub/packages/gravis/submit wuarchive.wustl.edu (cleaner directory, harder to logon...) in systems/ibmpc/ultrasound/game ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 95 11:24:49 GMT From: S94 Subject: Dark forces-gus To all GUSes there is still hope.. I recieved this message from lucasart today, > >From LucasArts3@aol.com Wed Feb 22 00:48:54 1995 >From: LucasArts3@aol.com >Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 19:48:39 -0500 >To: abrahami@cs.man.ac.uk >Subject: Re: Dark FORCES-ultrasaound >Content-Length: 126 > >We hope to support the GUS card in native mode for the release version of the >game. Hope you liked the demo! > >Ian / LucasArts Nice of them to reply personally so quickly and hopefully they will include gus support in Dark Forces. Ivar ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 95 08:32:16 GMT From: ljb@spclmway.demon.co.uk (Lewis Berrie) Subject: DarkForces and GUS I E-Mailed LucasArts yesterday and had a prompt reply today .. many thanks. The reply stated they hoped to have native Ultrasound support before the game is shipped. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Lew :-) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 20:48:20 -0600 (CST) From: BackTrak Subject: Dark Forces will support GUS! Hi folx! I just wrote off to Lucas Arts the other day, and you'll be pleased to note the results! Gravis take note! This is 'customer support!' [Following message to Lucas Arts] Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 01:30:09 -0600 (CST) From: BackTrak Subject: Dark forces/GUS... To: Lucasart1@aol.com >Hi! Just like to say that you guys make some excellent games, and I >enjoyed playing the Dark Forces demo... Unfortunatly, I have heard that >this game will not be Gravis UltraSound supporting... How come? Many MANY >demo groups who recieve no compensation at all have successfully been >programing for the GUS for the last couple of years, with FANTASTIC >results! In fact, supporting the GUS only makes Lucas Arts look better, >due to the improved sound quality, not to mention a wider equipment >support base, both of which greatly improve a software companies public >image! Nonetheless, I will not be purchasing a copy of Dark Forces, >untill it does support the GUS. > > Thanks for taking the time to read this! [To Which Lucas Arts had to say this!] Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 19:48:46 -0500 From: LucasArts3@aol.com To: backtrak@ais.net Subject: Re: Dark forces/GUS... We hope to support the GUS card in native mode for the release version of the game. Hope you liked the demo! Ian / LucasArts [ Fluteous wisps of effervescense... [ BPS ]-------> Nick Pirocanac <------] [ Myasmic whorls of incandescense... [25.8%]------> BackTrak@ais.net <-----] [ Trash Can Dreams of a goat named bill... ]EWnewNeWnEwNEWnewNeWnEwNEWnewNe] [ Through all these things, I can yet see...]The Home Page is Now On-Line!!!] [ The colour of your third eye. -- ]HTTP://www.cl.ais.net/~backtrak] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 14:05:13 -0700 (MST) From: "Ignatius Tam" Subject: Digest on WWW!!! Hi boys and girls, i've put recent general digests in a web page since no one is doing this. the functionality of the page is somewhat limited due to my laziness and stupity but at least let everyone browse through past digests. I'll keep new digests for about a month or so then it will be compressed and sent to epas since my account quota is not unlimited. I don't know if the site actually works so pls try it and mail me back if you can't access it. if you guys are satified with the page then i'll post this message to the soundcard newsgroups. access the page using: http://gpu.srv.ualberta.ca/~itam/digest.html hope u enjoy it! -iGnatius Marto Piggus(tm)!! Your dreaming pig-meat is here! Contact your local dealer e-mail: tam@cs.ualberta.ca ^..^ __^ My home page: itam@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca | <||> | } http://ugweb.cs.ualberta.ca/~tam Phone: 403-433-3187 ---------\_____/ --------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 14:38:57 -0500 From: kjancef@tiac.net (Ken Jancef) Subject: Gravis and Windows 95 Well, I got the GUS drivers to work in Windows 95!!!!! I have build 331 (and I got build 337 about an hour ago). I did a fresh install on my Packard Bell Pentium. After the install, I dual-booted into my old DOS, renamed my ULTRASND directory and hid it (a different way I use to back a directory up). I then installed the GUS software (3.57 mind you) as I would if I had Windows 3.1 installed. It found the Windows stuff it needed, and the install was flawless. I then re-booted into Windows 95, and lo-and-behold...I had a Gravis program group with all the icons!!! I figured I was in, and I was right, except.... Well, the Windows apps work great (Midisoft Recording Studio, SoundStation, etc...), but the DOS games don't work so well (yet!). The only one I tried was DOOM, and it locked when it went looking for the Gravis. I'm going to install 337 this week, and I'll let you all know the results. By the way, with an original SoundBlaster 16 (which I have at work), Most, if not all DOS games work well, including DOOM and DOOM II. Sorry to ramble... Ken Jancef ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 15:17:20 +0200 From: m@mjf.pp.fi (Mika Fonsen) Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V19 #20 I finaly got my US Navy Fighters CD and I have an USNFGUS.ZIP upgrade from epas, which provides digital sound for the game. Is there a way to get those both (music & digital) to work? --- __ __ ______ __ __ ______ / \/ \ | ____/ : , : Mika Fonsen : / \/ \ | ____/ / /\__/\ \| |__ : Mika Fonsen : Kaukonpolku 4b14 : / /\__/\ \| |__ / / \ \ _/ : m@mjf.pp.fi : FI-04200 KERAVA : / / \ \ _/ \/ OS/2 \/_| : : Finland : \/ GUS! \/_| ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 22:16:08 +0200 (EET) From: Saari Anssi Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V19 #21 >Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 10:22:10 -0600 (CST) >From: read@utpapa.ph.utexas.edu (Dave Read) >Subject: X-COM and GUS? > >Has anyone gotten X-COM to work with a GUS? It's a DOS4GW game, so >megaem is out...And it doesn't use anyone's standard sound libraries >(as far as I know). SBOS works, but...well...you know. > >If any X-COM players are out there, please drop me a line so we can >compare notes on getting sound from it (or talk about the game >itself). If you're not an X-COM player, I highly recommend it! Well, there are several solutions. For example, use tactical.exe from UFO 1.0, which gives you very nice GUS sound effects with panning and all, but has some bugs later versions, like the one in Xcom, fixed. In case you didn't know, European customers are Microprose's beta testers. I currently use a SBPro clone. You can also use Maxsbos, but that doesn't help if you don't have a Max. Besides, the music doesn't sound that great to me at least. Perhaps it's better with 1M than 512K. Another option is to pressure Microprose, I think their representative claimed they have the patch that was supposed to come out in November in "internal testing" which I doubt very much. Seeing is believing. Anssi ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 12:08 +0000 (GMT) From: GBRINK@NKI.NL Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V19 #21 Dear All, I just got a reply-mail from Lucas Arts on GUS support and the games Dark Forces and The Dig. They said that they are probably going to include native GUS support in the release versions of these games. Well, let's pray they will. Guido Brink Amsterdam Holland ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 12:13:56 GMT-0100 From: "HOOGENDOORN,A" <9210246@HSU1.HVU.NL> Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V19 #21; OS/2 beta first!! > Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 19:55:57 -0500 > From: Alex Harden > Subject: Win95 drivers > > so when are we going to see some wide-beta Win95 drivers for the GUS > to complement the upcoming wide-beta (3) or Windows 95? > > t'would be nice to see the GUS support Win95 before/at-the-time-of its > release. I want GRAVIS to finish the OS/2 drivers first, or at least release a beta version of the driver...... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 00:49:22 +0200 (EET) From: Jani Mattsson Subject: GUS Max Codec - bad crystal?! Message-ID: Hey all GUS Max owners! I'd like to ask a favor from you.. if you haven't got any problems getting the card out of your computer, could you take it in your hand so that you can see the 'Cystal' text on the Codec chip oriented like it should be when you normally read text. On the left from ithe Codec, there are two metal-covered oscillator crystals. Could you please read what is written on the leftmost one and E-mail me what it says there? (** Don't use (r)eply to this digest!! **) The problem is, that the Codec data sheet says the codec needs a 16.9344MHz input, but on the crystal my GUS Max has, it reads 19.75MHz. And everytime I use playfile or any Windows program to digitize or playback something, the sampling rate is too high, i.e. if I set the sampling rate to 22050 in the program, the actual rate is something like 25700Hz, which matches closely the difference between the frequencies of the invalid and the correct crystal frequencies. So I now suspect that Gravis has accidentally put a wrong type of crystal on the card that I have, and I'd like to know if everybody else has a 16.9344MHz chip there instead (as it should be). /Jani Mattsson ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 95 11:43:56 GMT From: F J Dosil + A P Duchement Subject: Help > ------------------------------ > > Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 15:58:38 GMT > From: " CoverSoft " > Subject: Subject: > > HELP > > ------------------------------ > To (un)subscribe or get help: en la linea superior puedes ver en donde puedes obtener ayuda. Para ello, en elsubject del mensaje tienes que poner la palabra help y enviar el mensaje asm, sin mas nada dentro. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 00:02:14 +0000 () From: "Eric M. Busalacchi" Subject: I heard from Lucas Arts! Message-ID: Here is the responce I got about GUS support: >Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 20:26:24 -0500 >From: LucasArts3@aol.com >To: emb@herman.tiac.net >Subject: Re: GUS-MAX Support for Dark... > >We hope to support the GUS card in native mode for the release version >of the game. Hope you liked the demo! > >Ian / LucasArts That's cool, it looks like a good game. Have a good one. -- Eric M. Busalacchi emb@herman.tiac.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 13:16:56 -0800 (PST) From: Francis Li Subject: KQ7 and GUS Here are a few hints to try to get KQ7 and the GUS working together... According to Sierra, you should DISABLE WinG when playing KQ7 with the GUS. This is done by adding WinG=False into the INI file in the SIERRA\KQ7 directory. I don't know how much of a performance decrease you might see... If you're running Windows for Workgroups, turn OFF 32-bit File Access (but leave 32-bit DISK Access on). I don't know if it makes a difference, but to load the MIDI patches into the GUS, I used the appropriate MIDI Mapper Config (Ultra 1024k, Ultra 512k, etc) and the appropriate MID file (LOAD1024.MID, LOAD512.MID, etc). Sierra's tech file says to run the setup program and run the MIDI test each time, which sounds silly to me... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 10:07:06 -0600 (CST) From: rwright@dhostwo.convex.com (Randy Wright) Subject: maxsbos causing reboots I recall seeing recent discussions about maxsbos causing reboots, but as I didn't save any of this discussion thread, I'll have to ask again: is there a known workaround for this problem? The system is an Intel P/90 motherboard, using an older non-max GUS with 1024K installed. -- Randy WrightUsmail:Convex Computers Phone: (214) 497-48683000 Waterview Pky. Email:rwright@convex.comP.O. Box 833851 Richardson, TX 75083-3851 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 23:59:32 +0000 () From: "Eric M. Busalacchi" Subject: Mortal Kombat II Message-ID: Is the official Mortal Kombat II out, or are you guys still talking about the beta? I live in Boston, Massachusetts (USA) and all of the stores I call haven't heard anything about it. *shrug* Thanks! One more thing, if anyone has the FTP site for the MK II demo, could you email it to me? Thanks. -- Eric M. Busalacchi emb@herman.tiac.net ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 23:10:44 -0600 (CST) From: blarsen@robinhood.engg.uregina.ca (Bryan Larsen) Subject: Original GUS still available? Hey, does anybody know if the original GUS is still available? I've got a friend who wants one, but he doesn't need to do any recording or a CD-ROM interface. We're in Saskatchewan, Canada. Bryan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 21:46:50 -0500 From: Nick Avgerinos Subject: OS/2 Warp/WinOS2 Question... Hello all, my first post to the digest so forgive me if i screw something up! Anyway, I have a question about OS/2 Warp & the GUS. I've loaded the beta drivers from Gravis and they work great, but that's not really my problem. My problem is when I load a Windoze session, I always get two error messages for the GUS drivers (in windoze) saying that the driver needs to be in Enhanced Mode to run, and then another error saying that the GUS can't be initlized. I understand that the OS/2 probably had control of the GUS set for itself. My questions are these: Is there are way to set Windoze to run in Enhanced Mode (I couldn't find any on the settings) and will this fix my problem, or is it even possible to get the GUS to work in Windoze while in OS/2. If it's not possible, is it at least possible to get it so it doesn't display those error windows every time I load a Windoze program, while still having the drivers installed so I can run Windoze from DOS??? Or am I the only one having this problem because I havn't seen anything like it mentioned on the digest so far. Oh well, thanks for any help you can give me! () , _ "If I wanted to I could turn mountains to sand /`-'| / // Have political leaders in the palm of my / / __. ______ /___/> // Hand." - Melissa Etheridge /__-<_(_/|_/ / / <_/_) (__ Subject: Pirates Gold w/ Gus I've got a Gus with 1 meg, and was playing Pirates Gold, using the Mega-Em emulator for the SB and Roland (rt32 I think.) When playing music, the sounds appear to be mixed up, like the music goes off key and such, and during the boat battles, when you fire cannon and it hits, a piano chord is played. If you miss, a different one is played. I was wondering if this is "correct" and "normal" for the game, normal for the GUS using emulations, or if perhaps this is totally abnormal. Also, if anyone uses the GUS with os/2, I wanted to ask if you had problems running windows sessions in Os/2. My system tells me that I need to run Windows in "enhanced mode" to use the GUS, despite the fact I'm telling win-os2 to do just that. And I'm left without any sound. I've used the Manley vd and e drivers, as well as the Alpha drivers, to no avail. "I have no respect for the passion of equality, which seems to me merely idealizing envy." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.homi@netcom.com Don't like guns? Don't buy one. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 21:36:15 +0000 From: alek@linefeed.com (Alek Hayes) Subject: Re: Suggestions to Advanced Gravis RE: From: Ted Ching Subject: Suggestions to Advaned Gravis >2) Since the card's performance is based entirely on the software running >it, invest more money/resources in professional programmers. This means >flawless Sound Blaster emulation. BAH! (SPIT) Ptooeeey... Why bother with the poxy, crappy SB? Ultrasound support is so wide spread that you can basically fart on SB. And as for the AWE16 (not bloody 32 you twats at CL), all that makes it so blooody different is the reverb. Anyone heard the patches for AWE *without* reverb? THEY'RE CRUD! 100 times worse than the Gravis patches. It just proves how hard working the chaps at Gravis are: They've managed to create patches which sound fantastic without any silly special FX units. Besides, I dont know if this happens to anyone else, but after a while of listening to my friends AWE16, the synthesised, reverbed and echoed sounds make me feel physically sick... Honestly. The same with another friends Roland D110. The GUS just doesnt have that "plasticy" feel to it. Its simply real. What more can I say? >3) Either update your General MIDI patch set, or increase the memory of >your card. 1 MB is the bare minimum for General MIDI support. Or maybe >find a way to use XMS memory as a cache storage for patches, which can be >loaded into the GUS when needed. Yes, memory is my only grudge. COME ON GRAVIS! WE WANT MORE MEMORY! Let's put vocals in our Midi files! WAHEY! >Thats it. I really think that the GUS can become as famous as the Sound >Blaster one day if its implmented correctly. The SB is DEAD, Dude... Long live the GUS! HURRAH! Oh, I'm British by the way... Alek. -- ___________________________________ This message was posted by Alek Hayes | Email me about life, the universe | Alek@linefeed.com | and everything. | | * | | But please, nothing about AWE32's | ----------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 95 15:41:50 MET From: (Martijn de Jong) Subject: Theme Park and HMI Hi Gussers, I tried yesterday to copy the hmi-drivers from Nascar-racing over those of Theme Park (they have the same names). Of course it didn't work, cause I do need at least something in the config-file, but I don't know what. Anyone out there who actually did get Theme park to work with something else than sbos or maxsbos? Thanks in advance, Martinus. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 21:43 GMT From: haydn@cix.compulink.co.uk (Haydn Evans) Subject: Upgrading Hi All! I have a 1 meg GUS (upgraded), not the MAX. It came with ver.2.06 software. I purchased THE ULTRASOUND EXPERIENCE CD-ROM and tried to upgrade the software to ver.3.56. Unfortunately it does not work. I have tried numerous times but I get the following error, on loading windows, APPLICATION ERROR WNDT caused a General Protection Fault in module ULTRASND.DRV at 0001:AA6F I use PCTOOLS for WINDOWS v1.0 as my user interface. My Gravis has been very reliable and have had no problems other than the usual incompatabilities we all suffer from, from time to time. I would like to upgrade the software as (I assume) it will benefit me. I tried using the ULTRASND.DRV from ver.2.06 but it only works in a limited capacity. Generally it locks the computer up. Hope someone can offer some advice/assistance as I have been trying to resolve this problem for quite some time now :-( ]-[aydn ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 21:48:23 --800 From: kwlau@gandalf.HK.Linkage.Net (Lau Kwok Wai) Subject: Re: Warcraft & SBOS In the mail from STESLE@calvin.nhidh.nki.no, he wrote: >Does anyone know how to get digital soundeffects to work in the game >WARCRAFT??? >The music works with sbos, but when I try to install soundblaster for >digitaleffects the program locks up and I have to reboot my machine. >Does anybody have a answer to this problem? I also notice that the SBOS sometimes does not function well under protected mode (WarCraft is run under protected mode). The game Cyberia also has this problem. I need to plug back by SB2.0 in order to play the game! Hope that next version of SBOS from Gravis will solve the problem la. Best regards, Johnny ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 13:08:05 -0700 (MST) From: "ttait@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca" Hello one and all. I was wondering if anyone would happen to know what the best method of getting sound up and running with the Electronic Arts game called Noctropolis. It does not seem to have native GUS support. I have tried MegaEm which just locks up on me, as well as SBOS which does the same. Any ideas would be muchly appreciated! Thanks. Tim Tait email: ttait@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca Edmonton, Alberta Canada ------------------------------ End of GUS Daily Digest V19 #22 *******************************