Ultrasound Daily Digest Mon, 15 Mar 93 Volume 2 : Issue 70 Today's Topics: [GUS] About those new distribution disks on Epas... Can't get sound from AA in SBOS 1.42b3 Can GUS do this? General MIDI TSR? GUS & OS/2 GUS: thoughts on SBOS 1.4b3... GUS Digests GUS Direct Mode ? GusMod 2.10 & 2.11 Gusmod 2.11 available! New problem with SBOS Origin's reply Super Tetris locks up with GUS Sysex Request The new diskset! ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 1/8 ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 2/8 ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 3/8 ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 4/8 ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 5/8 ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 6/8 ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 7/8 ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 8/8 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. *** HEY!!! *** Before you ask a question, *** READ THE FAQ ***. It's available on the request server and the ftp sites, or check the newsgroup archives. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1993 04:10:44 GMT From: ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Phat H Tran) Message-Id: Subject: [GUS] About those new distribution disks on Epas... To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Before I bring five 1.44MB disks to school and start ftping them, can someone tell me what exactly those new GUS disks contain? Specifically, I'm wondering if they have: 1. The entire GM patch set? 2. A version of PlayMIDI that isn't a voracious resource hog and supports at least 24 voice polyphony? 3. A Windows MIDI driver that is stereo and 24-voice, with all the MIDI hooks, such as panning and pitch bend? 4. A Windows WAVE driver that supports playback and recording in stereo at 44.1kHz? 5. Anything else interesting? And I've read in the readme that the software bundle will be shipped to registered owners... So I guess we won't have to pay the $14 or so like we had thought? (I'm assuming "software bundle" means Recording Session and Power Chords.) Phat. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 93 14:54:25 -0800 From: santeew@sisters.cs.uoregon.edu Message-Id: <9303142254.AA00995@sisters.cs.uoregon.edu> Subject: Can't get sound from AA in SBOS 1.42b3 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Lo Gravis-Land, I've tried using SBOS 1.42B2 and 1.42B3 to get Armour Alley up and running with sound. I remember the bombing and machine gun fire, et al, worked okay with V1.22, but in the last two beta versions, all I get is the "Ding" that sounds when you order up your forces. No more bombs, explosions, gun fire, etc. It makes it hard to tell what the enemy is doing. If someone has gotten this to run, could you tell me what your setup is, if you had EMM386 installed, or other things that might affect SBOS? Thanks, Wes Santee | "If you must vomit, santeew@cs.uoregon.edu | Please don't do it on my shoes" | -- Tom Trent ------------------------------ Date: 12 Mar 93 22:02:51 GMT From: mek@acs.bu.edu (Mark Kern) Message-Id: <111762@bu.edu> Subject: Can GUS do this? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article <1noao5$f20@aurora.engr.LaTech.edu> lar@engr.LaTech.edu (Layne A. Robinson) writes: >Thomas Wang (wang@capella.cup.hp.com) wrote: >: One of my friends want to record, and play midi tracks. >: He also want to record, and play one digital vocal track AT THE SAME TIME. >: He wants the vocal track to be 16 bit sample, CD quality sound. > >: The upshot is to come up with a digital recording system. > >: Can the GUS do this? Is there any software that would do this stuff? > >: -Thomas Wang (Everything is an object.) wang@cup.hp.com > >What you might do is save the MIDI to WAV (You can do this in Windows with a >PAS by playing the MIDI and recording it with PocketRecorder) and then use >some kind of WAV editor to merge the two (Wave for Windows or Sound Impressions or >whatever) > This is more involved than it appears. The idea, which has always been intriguing, is too have a clean recording by sending all the midi data to the tape recorder, along with a digital audio track for things like acoustic instruments or voice. Why? Because in a small studio setup, this is an ideal way to get the cleanest recording and avoid "bouncing" or "ping-ponging" tracks, which degrades quality. No, you can't do this with your GUS, PAS or Soundblaster. There is no software available to do the intricate syncronization between the one digital track and the MIDI tracks on the IBM. One day you might, but not today. However, you can get a Mac with an audiomedia card and Opcodes latest version of their sequencer "Vision." Vision will sync up to 2 tracks (last I checked, which was a year ago) along with the midi data. It is also a very, very cool sequencer for MIDI to boot. I saw Thomas Dolby demonstrate Vision at a talk once, and it was great. Simms ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1993 23:15:16 -0500 From: mchen@sol4.cs.psu.edu (Michael Chen) Message-Id: <9303150415.AA13335@sol4.cs.psu.edu> Subject: General MIDI TSR? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Are there any plans for a General MIDI TSR to fool programs looking for the MIDI device into finding the Ultrasound? I hope so, because otherwise I don't really give a damn about the GM patches. Failing that, can I try to fake it by running DOS apps from Windows? -- Michael Chen | From the depths of our most lucid horrors | | spring our fond hopes and pure desires... | mchen@cs.psu.edu | except what comes from HELL! :-) 7/23/92 | ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1993 20:48:42 GMT From: jericho!gord (Gord Wait S-MOS Systems Vancouver Design Center) Message-Id: <1993Mar11.204842.29189@jericho.uucp> Subject: GUS & OS/2 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I think the desires of the OS/2 crowd would be best served by a survey, as opposed to individuals standing up on usenet soapboxes. If I were Advanced Gravis, I too would wonder how much effort to spend on OS/2 support. Ie how much bang for the buck. If enough OS/2 people respond, that SERIOUSLY want to use the GUS under native OS/2, then I am sure they would put effort into it. SO: OK, you OS/2 proponents, put your money where your mouth is, and start a survey. IE publish the survey in the appropriate news groups, ask all to email them to you, summarize the results, and post them back to usenet, and PAPER mail a copy to the people at Gravis to get their attention. I have heard estimates that there may be over 40,000 gus's sold so far. How many really want to use it under OS/2? Of the OS/2 users out there, how many would run out and buy a GUS tomorrow? (Dont send me your answers, I don't run OS/2). If you get the users to include their home addresses in the survey, then you will be doing some free marketing for Gravis, and they may take even more notice to the OS/2 issue. I for one might be interested in purchasing OS/2 if it did have native GUS support, and some Native music/midi apps.. -- Gord Wait SMOS Systems Vancouver Design Centre uunet!jericho!gord gord%jericho@uunet.uu.net or even some days ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1993 21:16:36 GMT From: primus@netcom.com (Robert keng) Message-Id: <1993Mar12.211636.22601@netcom.com> Subject: GUS: thoughts on SBOS 1.4b3... To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Hi all: Finally, we now have an acceptable working version of SBOS (well, it is to me...). UW2 worked fine, with no noticable degradations on my 486-66. The -x3 option works!!! I had to use that option for Ultima 7 to correct some looping digital problem that I was having (especially the speech, the Guardian echoed everything twice). The screeching noise in UW2 is gone, but sometimes I would encounter the same looping problem as in Ultima 7. It still has problems handling digital sound effects though. The missile roar in Falcon 3.01 OFT, for example (BTW everything else in that game sounded better than SB...), sounds like a 'ping', and the engine noise is a bit unstable at times. This version is a bit more stable, IMHO, as long as the right options are used. The SFX and BGM in this version does sound better than the previous versions.(one complaint: I still can't hear any damned explosions in Falcon 3.0. I have nothing to go on when I'm getting fragged by Shilkas and ZSU-57-2s until it's too late...) Much better, though it needs some fine tuning. It keeps on getting bigger!!! It takes up 20,000 bytes now, and just about kills me because I've only got 64K in the UMA!!! Time to get that VL-bus caching controller from Promise Technology so I can trash SmartDrive... -Rob primus primus@netcom.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1993 23:31:10 GMT From: sis!tai (Francis Tai) Message-Id: <1993Mar12.233110.5372@sis.uucp> Subject: GUS Digests To: Ultrasound Daily Digest For those who missed the digests or needs to get the digests and have FTP access, FTP to EPAS and go to the /pub/pc/ultrasound/submit/digest and all of the new ones can be found there.. (Up to v2n67) Francis -------------------------------------------------------------------- | Francis Tai | Internet: tai@eclipse.sheridanc.on.ca | | 3rD Year Systems Analyst | OR: francis.tai@canrem.com | | Sheridan College |----------------------------------------| | Brampton, Ontario, Canada | Toronto: Home Of The World Champs Jays | -------------------------------------------------------------------- -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- | Francis Tai | Internet: tai@eclipse.sheridanc.on.ca | | 3rD Year Systems Analyst | OR: francis.tai@canrem.com | | Sheridan College |----------------------------------------| ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1993 04:12:43 GMT From: colin.buckley@rose.com (colin buckley) Message-Id: <1993Mar14.041245.12420@rose.com> Subject: GUS Direct Mode ? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Date Entered: 03-13-93 22:58 Here's a dumb question. Can the GUS play only samples on the DRAM? Or can I keep play them in DOS memory without moving them to DRAM? I want to be able to manipulate the GUS like the SB in direct mode, and just send it the bytes. Does the GUS even have something similar? I don't want my samples in DRAM. None of the other popular sound cards do (yet), and if I have to have enough DOS memory for graphics and sound for the other cards, I see no point to move the samples to DRAM. I don't wish to exploit each card's features and make different sounds for each card, but rather one mono sample at a low sample rate that will play on all cards. It maybe not be what you want, but it's still better then hearing the sound through the PC Speaker which is what will happen if the GUS doesn't have a direct mode, although I guess you could see if SBOS will emulate the SB correctly. Besides I'm just a lowly one man programmer, not Sierra so don't worry, who's programs no one will ever see. Besides, I don't even own a GUS to test it with. You know what really pisses me off, is sound card companies who charge you for the SDK and make you sign non disclosure agreements. Where the hell would they be if people didn't support there cards. Yet to support there card, they want you to pay. Completely idiotic. Did I have to pay IBM to support VGA? No... No wonder there is no sound card standard. SB has a hold on the market simply because Creative Labs was first with a widely available sound card that already had support (due to Adlib compatiblity). It wasn't even a low priced sound card. I still can't believe I paid CND$230 those many years ago, but hey, free joystick... Anyways... .----------------------------------------------------. | Colin Buckley | | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | | InterNet: colin.buckley@rose.com | | | | So Eager to Play, So Relunctant to Admit it... | `----------------------------------------------------' --- RoseReader 2.00 P003288 Entered at [ROSE] RoseMail 2.10 : RoseNet<=>Usenet Gateway : Rose Media 416-733-2285 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 93 12:35:47 EST From: jagati1@SERVER.uwindsor.ca (Jason Jagatic) Message-Id: <9303141735.AA11307@SERVER.uwindsor.ca> Subject: GusMod 2.10 & 2.11 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Hmm... I was wondering if anyone else has been having trouble with these programs? I have trouble with both of the new versions of GTSR and GUSMOD. Actually most of the problems are with GTSR, I always get a 'Divide Overflow error' in the middle of a MOD playing in the background, that then freezes up my system... Why is that? Earlier versions didn't.... Earlier versions wouldn't play a couple of mods I have, but that problem was fixed (good going Josh)... But now, another of my mods doesn't play properly DEE-LITE.MOD seems to be in almost a fast forward mode... Strange. Has anyone else had these problems? What can I do to correct them? Jay. jagati1@server.uwindsor.ca ------------------------------ Date: 13 Mar 93 16:20:42 MDT From: sl859@cc.usu.edu Message-Id: <1993Mar13.162042.65122@cc.usu.edu> Subject: Gusmod 2.11 available! To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Gusmod 2.11 is also available on archive.epas.utoronto.ca as /pub/pc/ultrasound/submit/gmod211.lzh. Here's the what's new list: - The "buzz" bug is toast (really!). - Self-induced divide overflow error fixed (stupid, stupid, stupid). - Final line 64 is gone. - Gusmod's and GTSR's memory allocation scheme changed. Hopefully, this will alleviate the problems. - Simple interactive mode added. Tagging and other neat features come later. - FLT4 support fixed. - New, improved setup program. Joshua ------------------------------ Date: 15 Mar 93 07:07:22 MET+1 From: "Proconia" Message-Id: Subject: New problem with SBOS To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Hi. I have found a new problem with SBOS, the program changes the keyboard layout. I live in Sweden and have to run keyb sw to get the swedish character set, but SBOS resets the keyboard to US keyboard layout. Are there any simple solution of this problem? /Lars Ljungberg proconia@tekn.hj.se ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 93 16:51:08 -0600 From: pancake@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Christopher Daniello) Message-Id: <9303142251.AA27046@doc.cc.utexas.edu> Subject: Origin's reply To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I just got this from Origin customer service: >The reason the the GUS is not supported is do to the fact that it is NOT >an industry standard sound card (SOUND BLASTER is an industry standard). If >it were, there would be more software companies that would support it. The >GUS does not even come with a silicon FM chipset, which is required to host >most of the digitized sound/speech fx. The GUS is a bargain basement sound >card. It is less expensive, and show it with its incompatibility with the >industry standard. I suggest we flood origincs@aol.com with mail, this guy (Rik Packham) is way off base about the GUS being a bargain basement sound card. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1993 18:34:04 GMT From: aspencer@austin.ibm.com (Alex Spencer) Message-Id: Subject: Super Tetris locks up with GUS To: Ultrasound Daily Digest My wife has been playing Super Tetris for Windows under Windows 3.1 on our Gateway 486SX-33. With sound effects turned on she can consistantly lock up our system by hitting two items at the same time. Both items produce a sound. The only remedy is to hit the reset button. Yesterday I installed the new windows drivers GUS0012.ZIP from epas. The new behavior is that the game still locks the system up under the same conditions, but now the reset does not bring the system back up but it stops indicating that an adapter card has generated an unexpected interrupt. Now we must power off to clear this condtions. Anyone else having problems with Super Tetris and GUS? Alex Spencer -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Alexander K. Spencer IBM Tieline: 678-6294 IBM Corp. AWD USA Phone: (512)838-6294 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 93 1:38:30 CST From: cowles@hydra.convex.com (John Cowles) Message-Id: <9303140738.AA12737@hydra.convex.com> Subject: Sysex Request To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Phat Tram writes: -Gravis/Forte: What I would like to see implemented in the Windows MIDI -driver is a bank switching feature implemented as a sysex command. The -default bank uses the patch assignment in ultrasnd.ini, while the custom -banks will use whatever .ini filename is passed through the sysex command. -This way, musicians can actually get to take advantage of the RAM. - -Phat. Why not use what is already being widely used (at least by Roland, Yamaha and Kawai on their newer stuff) - a bank controller message. This is controller number 0. Send controller number 0 with the value of the bank number you wish to load. From this point, until you change the bank, every patch change comes from the new bank. On Roland, if there is NO instrument with that number in the selected bank, the patch from the first bank lower than the chosen bank that HAS an instrument is loaded. But I WOULD like to see an initialization sysex message as well as sysex messages to change the 'quality' of the sample. John Cowles ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 93 15:25:19 PST From: Andrew Krenz Message-Id: <9303142257.AA23535@hub.ucsb.edu> Subject: The new diskset! To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Welp, I grabbed the new disks off of epas. Some first impressions: The new patch set is great. Demo0013.mid (from SCDEMOS, the one of Beethoven's 5th) sounds a LOT better. The new playmidi program works great too. Nice job, Gravis. The new version of SBOS has convinced me once and for all that I need a new motherboard. (I currently have a 386/40 OPTI). Older versions of SBOS usually just crashed my machine. This new one flat out refuses to load and says I have a "port address conflict," even though the new install program doesn't sense a conflict. At least it doesn't crash. About the new Windows drivers: They do the same thing for me. Before Program Manager comes up it spits out a dialog box that says I either have a DRAM problem (which I don't) or a base port conflict. Now I have no more Windows drivers. Well, at least the old ones work. I tried every base port combination possible by changing the jumpers on the card. No luck. Anyone out there willing to sell me a 386/40 motherboard (minus CPU) for REAL CHEAP?? :) -- ======================================================================= | Andrew Krenz | Visit | '87 Chevrolet Caprice | | uznerk@mcl.ucsb.edu | Beautiful | 9C1 Police Package 350 | | UC Santa Barbara | Isla Vista, CA | Bad Boys Bad Boys..... | ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 13:05:25 From: john.smith@gravis.com Message-Id: <9303131305.A1891wk@gravis.com> Subject: ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 1/8 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest UltraSound New File Announcement ================================ GUS0017.ZIP thru GUS0021.ZIP ---------------------------- Here is what you have all been waiting for. This is a complete new disk set which will replace the V1.21 we have been shipping for the last few months. Where to Get These Files ------------------------ These files have been hatched (uploaded) to the following Gravis Nodes. However, it may take a few days to reach all of them. Authorized Gravis Nodes BBS List as of March 9, 1993 Name Location Node No. BBS Phone No. Speed ============================================================================== Advanced Gravis Burnaby, Canada *1:153/978 (604) 439-7979 V32bis Deep Cove BBS White Rock, Canada 1:153/915 (604) 536-5859 DS MIDI 1040 Vancouver, Canada 1:153/7040 (604) 732-4446 V32bis Max Megabit's Data Port Halifax, Canada 1:251/1 (902) 454-8351 DS (902) 453-5731 HST (902) 454-9635 2400 The 1st Dutch MIDI BBS Holland, Europe 2:281/610 +31-15138754 DS Open Access BBS Norway, Europe 2:502/284 +47-61-97945 V32bis Geniaal BBS 2 Netherland, Europe 14:1000/3 +31-2290-43038 V32bis +31-2290-45816 V32bis Data Bank BBS Pennsylvania, USA 1:273/316 (215) 429-9455 V32bis The Sound Barrier Staten Island, USA 13:420/0 (718) 979-6629 DS (718) 979-9406 DS I can 'C' Clearly Now Iowa, USA 1:290/102 (515) 472-3651 V32bis Joyful Noise Oregon, USA *1:105/5 (503) 335-3053 V32bis *1:105/55 (503) 335-9600 DS ============================================================================== NOTE(S): - All systems are No Parity, 8 Data Bits, 1 Stop bit (N81) - All systems are online 24 hours/day - Speeds: V32bis - 14,400 bits per second (CCITT standard) HST - 14,400/16,800 bits per second (US Robotics Prop.) DS - 14,400/16,800 bits per second (HST/V32bis) - * - Files are File Requestable FTP Sites: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound wuarchive.wustl.edu systems/msdos/ultrasound CompuServe: GO PCVENB area #14 *** IMPORTANT **** There are about 8Mb of files. This roughly translates to 8 hours of downloading at 2400 baud or 90 minutes at 14400 bps. Keep this in mind if you are calling long distance. You will need to unzip each file to a seperate 1.44Mb 3 1/2" disk to install. When Will it be Mailed ---------------------- Once the printed documentation is done. All I can say is the adendum is done, patch manager dox are done and we are finishing up the dox for the bonus software. What About the Bonus Software ----------------------------- You may have heard about some bonus programs that were to be included with the new disk set. This extra bonus disk will be mailed to all registered GUS owners at the same time we mail you the new disk set. Due to licensing, these bonus programs are NOT included with this 5 disk set. What Has Changed ---------------- EVERYTHING! I'm including parts of the README file that talk about some of these changes. For a complete explanation please refer to the COMPLETE README. Also, printed documenation will be mailed out to all registered GUS owners. So send in those registration cards! +---------------------+ ============ THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM THE NEW README ============= (Continued to next message) --- ~ QMPro 1.01 05-8925 ~ Tried to play my shoehorn... all I got was footnotes! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 13:05:31 From: john.smith@gravis.com Message-Id: <9303131305.A1892wk@gravis.com> Subject: ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 2/8 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest (Continued from previous message) ===== ONCE YOU HAVE INSTALLED THE NEW SOFTWARE RUN GV.EXE TO VIEW README ====== 2.0.0 **************** CHAPTER 2. ULTRA SOUND SOFTWARE ****************** SECTIONS for CHAPTER 2 Section 2.0 About Chapter 2 2.1 Joystick/GamePort Utilities 2.2 ULTRAJOY 2.3 ULTRINIT 2.4 PATCHMGR 2.5 UBAT 2.6 AUDIO 2.7 SETGUS 2.8 SBOS 2.9 ULTRAFLI 2.10 PLAYMIDI 2.11 PLAYFILE 2.12 CONVERT 2.13 GRVCOLOR 2.14 USS8 2.15 ULTRAMOD 2.0.1 About Chapter 2 This chapter is used to document new information on any of the software distributed with your UltraSound card. Any information here supersedes anything in the manual or addendum. 2.1.0 SECTION 2.1 - Joystick/GamePort Utilities =========== This utility is used in conjunction with GravUtil.exe to set your joystick up. It loads itself and then runs Advanced Gravis' GravUtil.exe program to determine the proper joystick values. When in GravUtil, use the up arrow to increase the compensation value and the down arrow to decrease this value. When GravUtil is complete, joycomp will display the current compensation value and instruct you to place an 'ultrajoy [#]' line in your autoexec.bat file AFTER your set ULTRASND=... line. For Example: ULTRASND=.... ULTRAJOY 17 2.2.0 SECTION 2.2 - ULTRAJOY.EXE =========== This utility is used to program the joystick speed compensation value into your UltraSound's game port. To set up the joystick compensation enter 'ultrajoy [0-31]'. For example, entering 'ultrajoy 20' will set the speed compensation to 20. Faster machines require smaller numbers. It may also be necessary to use a different value to correct drifting & other control related problems in specific games. Try different values until you find that works best. 2.3.0 SECTION 2.3 - ULTRINIT.EXE =========== This utility is used to set up the software programable DMA channels and interrupts. It is HIGHLY recommended that you put the following line in your autoexec.bat file AFTER the set ULTRASND=.... line: For example: set ULTRASND=220,1,1,11,5 c:\ultrasnd\ultrinit.exe It may be necessary to specify a full path to ultrinit.exe. This will make sure that the card is set up so the MIDI can be used with any existing software by making sure the software configurable IRQs are programmed. Without this, any applications that need MIDI IRQs would not work. The IRQ vector that the MIDI uses is the last parameter in the ULTRASND environment variable. It also resets the card so that any looping sounds will stop. Ultrinit.exe has 3 options that can be passed to it. 1) -o Leave output enabled after it resets the card 2) -m Leave microphone input enabled. 3) -l Leave line level input enabled. For example: (Continued to next message) --- ~ QMPro 1.01 05-8925 ~ Tried to play my shoehorn... all I got was footnotes! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 13:05:42 From: john.smith@gravis.com Message-Id: <9303131305.A1893wk@gravis.com> Subject: ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 3/8 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest (Continued from previous message) Ultrinit -o -m -l There is also a version of the initialization program that can be run from your config.sys file. Ultrinit.sys just initializes the card and then removes itself from RAM. This is needed to set up the UltraSound so that some other drivers will detect the UltraSound as a SoundBlaster. This is necessary because several of the drivers (CD-ROM etc) need to detect the presence of a SoundBlaster or they will not run with sound. Note that this does NOT load the SoundBlaster driver, it only sets up enough so that these drivers are happy. Sbosdrv.exe or Sbosdrv.sys and loadsbos MUST be run later if you want to hear anything. 2.4.0 SECTION 2.4 - PATCHMGR.EXE =========== Patch Manager makes loading and auditioning WaveTable samples, or 'Patches', easy and fun. You can use 'PatchMan' to load UltraSound's memory with the patches you select. These patches will then be available for use with your favorite Windows music composition or Sequencer software. Some new software already includes the Windows MCI commands to load patches from a MIDI file much the same way as PatchMan does. Soon, all new Windows MIDI music creation / editing software will have this feature built-in. Patch Manager will still be useful as a quick and easy way of comparing, auditioning, and managing your Patches. Program Requirements... - Correctly installed Gravis UltraSound card, Windows 3.1 - The current Windows driver in this disk set. Installation Notes.... * Note - PatchMgr may not work correctly with earlier versions of the Windows driver. Use only with the driver supplied on this disk set. - In Windows, Click on the group you would like Patch Mgr's to be installed into, then click on 'New' in the Program Manager's 'Files' menu. Click on 'Program item'. Fill in the resulting dialog box's 'description' and 'Command Line' fields (use the 'browse' button if you like) and click OK. - Run PatchMgr and select 'Quick Tour' in the Help Index menu for an overview of operation. Explore the various menu options. - The 88 key 'Patch Man' synth keyboard has an octave more keys than most synths for future patches that will use the extra range. Note that many patches can be played well beyond their intended range. - PatchMgr's 'Memory remaining' guage will operate correctly no matter what memory configuration your GUS has. - An upgrade to 512k or the full 1 meg of RAM on the card is recommended if you intend to use your UltraSound card for MIDI Music compositions using more complex orchestration. 2.5.0 SECTION 2.5 - UBAT.EXE =========== This utility will help you build batch files to run applications that require SBOS options. For Example: If your application is called game.exe, UBAT will help create a batch file called ugame.bat that will load SBOS with the options needed each time the game is run. ugame.bat would contain these lines: SBOS -O2 game.exe 2.6.0 SECTION 2.6 - AUDIO.EXE =========== There are 2 parameters to audio.exe that may need to be adjusted to get acceptable playback or recording. The playback and recording buffer sizes can be set using the -kp# and -kr# options respectively. The parameter specifies the number of K of memory to reserve for the appropriate buffer. For example: audio -kp40 -kr50 will reserve 40K for playback and 50k for recording. The defaults (Continued to next message) --- ~ QMPro 1.01 05-8925 ~ Tried to play my shoehorn... all I got was footnotes! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 13:05:44 From: john.smith@gravis.com Message-Id: <9303131305.A1894wk@gravis.com> Subject: ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 4/8 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest (Continued from previous message) are 24K for playback and 10K for recording. The buffers are kept relatively small so they don't take up to much RAM. The playback size is probably OK for most situations. The record buffer is probably too small for most situations. You will probably need to increase this size if you want to do any substantial recording. A buffer size of at least 50K is usually necessary to do a stereo recording at 44.1 kHz. Note: While it is possible to do high speed recordings using audio.exe and playdigi.exe, it is not recommended. Since these run as TSRs, they do not get the attention from DOS that may be required to prevent loss of data. Playfile.exe is a dedicated program and should provide better results. Note: Playfile.exe can record stereo data at ONLY 22050 hertz and 44100 hertz. playdigi.exe can only record stereo at 44100. 2.7.0 SECTION 2.7 - SETGUS.EXE =========== 2.7.1 Configuration file changes Setgus is a utility to help set up the hardware configuration of your UtltraSound card. Its purpose is to make it as easy as possible for you to get a dma/irq setting that works in your computer. It also has some diagnostic features built into it to help you diagnose a problem before calling tech support. SETGUS can be run by typing SETGUS or SETUP 2.7.1 Configuration file changes ================================ Several things are added/changed on your autoexec.bat and config.sys files. config.sys ========== device=ultrinit.sys ultrasnd=220,1,1,11,7 Autoexec.bat ============ set ULTRASND=220,1,1,11,7 Set the environment variable that all applications should look at to get the configuration of the card. C:\ULTRASND\ultrinit.exe Perform a hardware reset of the card. See above. call C:\ULTRASND\sbos.bat Load the SoundBlaster Emulator. This is done by default. You may remove it if you choose. If so, you must re-load it when you want to run a Sound Blaster application. set ULTRADIR=c:\ULTRASND Tells applications where UltraSound root directory is. An application can use this to determine where the patches are (C:\ULTRASND\MIDI). set BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T1 Some applications look at this environment variable to determine the Sound Blaster parameters to use. These should reflect the same values as ULTRASND. The factory defaults have been set to: Base port address ---- 220 DMA channels --------- 1 UltraSound IRQ ------- 11 MIDI IRQ ------------- 7 (*NOTE* this is an update from the manual) 2.8.0 Sound Board Operating System Notes. ========================================= 2.8.1 About SBOS 2.8.2 SBOS V2.00 2.8.3 SBOS options for specific games 2.8.4 SBOS command line options (Continued to next message) --- ~ QMPro 1.01 05-8925 ~ Tried to play my shoehorn... all I got was footnotes! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 13:05:45 From: john.smith@gravis.com Message-Id: <9303131305.A1895wk@gravis.com> Subject: ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 5/8 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest (Continued from previous message) 2.8.1 About SBOS -------------- ================================================================ UltraSound and SBOS do a very good job of emulating the Sound Blaster audio card. However, since it is a software solution to a hardware problem, the emulation is not perfect. The UltraSound WILL NOT sound EXACTLY like an Ad Lib or a Sound Blaster. Very rarely will the results be unacceptable. Most commercially available applications, including those directly from Creative Labs, will run OK. Most 'shareware' type applications will also be OK, but it is much more difficult to test them, so there might be a higher percentage that do not operate properly. If possible, we will attempt to fix any of these problems in future releases of the SBOS software. ================================================================ A few applications do not use Direct Memory Access (DMA) to do their digital audio. They may either use polled I/O or the PC's timer to do their output timing. Both are VERY taxing on the PC and can severely degrade the performance of SBOS. A 16 MHz 386 or better PC is recommended to get decent performance. Applications that were ported from the AMIGA and use the 'modplay' method of playing digital audio MIGHT have performance problems. Removing any expanded/extended memory drivers (if possible) may also improve performance. 2.8.2 SBOS V2.00 ---------------- 2.8.2.1 About this new SBOS version... 2.8.2.2 A Note on SBOSDRV.SYS... 2.8.2.1 About this new SBOS version... This new SBOS V2.00 maintenance update replaces all previous version SBOS. Testing on various software confirms improvements in digital sound and fewer configuration difficulties, plus the benefits of a .SYS driver for use with some CD ROM software or memory configurations. The new SBOS no longer needs to be executed between each application. Example: If you run windows and then exit to run a game, SBOS will still be loaded and ready to run. The only acception to this is if a game requires an option. In this case you must rerun SBOS with the appropriate option. 2.8.2.2 A Note on SBOSDRV.SYS... The new sbosdrv.sys driver (V2.00) is loaded from the config.sys file and uses the entire ULTRASND environment string as its parameter. eg: device=sbosdrv.sys ultrasnd=220,7,7,11,7 where 220 is the base port. 7 and 7 are the DMA channel (in/out) 7 is the P.C.M. (MIDI) IRQ 11 is the GF1 IRQ The user should remember to type SBOS at the DOS prompt to re-load the driver for any audio to be heard. Make sure this is updated if the settings are changed in setgus. 2.8.3.8 New parameters -P Turns OFF the "SBOS installed" audio message when loadsbos is run. -L Leave line level input enabled when SBOS runs. This can be useful if you want to hear another input source thru your UltraSound. -Cxx This allows your to specify a different control vector to be specified. Some applications require 7E which is the default for sbosdrv & loadsbos. The range is from 7A to 7F. The option MUST be used if you use netroom. The 'SBOS installed' message can be customized by specifying a file to play followed by the playback rate, in the sbos.cfg file. No drivers from Creative Labs (such as ct-voice.drv) or Ad Lib (Continued to next message) --- ~ QMPro 1.01 05-8925 ~ Tried to play my shoehorn... all I got was footnotes! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 13:05:46 From: john.smith@gravis.com Message-Id: <9303131305.A1896wk@gravis.com> Subject: ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 6/8 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest (Continued from previous message) (such as sound.exe) are supplied with the UltraSound card. If an application requires any and you do not already have them, the application will NOT run. You must obtain them from some other source. IF an application runs that uses the UltraSound, SBOS will re-load its patches as the application exits. This means that you should be able to run SoundBlaster compatible programs and real UltraSound applications without having to re-load SBOS. 2.9.0 ULTRAFLI ============== Documentation clarification on option #8 (two's complement data) This parameter tells Ultrafli what type of audio data is being used. A '2' in this position says the data is in twos complement form. Anything else specifies raw binary. The default is set to raw binary. 2.10.0 PLAYMIDI =============== 2.10.1 PlayMIDI Options 2.10.2 PlayMIDI Configuration File 2.10.3 PlayMIDI GUI The music files and instrument files are copyright of: EYE & I Productions and Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. A utility to play MIDI sequences thru UltraSound is also provided on the installation disks. Its usage is: 2.10.1 PlayMIDI Options -------- playmidi [options] filename.mid options are: -c# Remove midi channel # +c# Add midi channel # -t# Remove track # +t# Add track # -h Display this help message to screen -p Play whatever can fit into memory - ignore errors +d# Increase the delay between midi events -d# Decrease the delay between midi events +gs channel 10 will play from the rhythm-set -gs channel 10 will play from the tone-set -ichannel Ignore channel info and play everything on channel 0 -iprogram Ignore program (instrument) changes -icontrol Ignore control changes -ipitchbend Ignore pitch bend information -iaftertouch Ignore after touch information -udebug Turn UltraSound debug on -v Display version number -v# Set master volume (0 - 4096) -verbose Verbose: Display text info# -debug Display debugging and text information 2.10.3 PlayMIDI GUI -------- Playmidi now has a graphical interface to it. Just type playmidi to use it. 2.11.0 Playfile =============== Playfile now has a graphical interface to it. Just type playfile to use it. It now can play .wav files. The GUI has a selector. The command line has two new switches. -SND for .SND files and -WAV for .WAV files. type playfile -? for a complete listing of the option switches. 2.12.0 Convert ============== Convert will convert .snd files to .wav files. 2.13.0 Grvcolor =============== This is a utility to set up the colors used in setgus, playfile and playmidi. It creates a file called grvcolor.ini. 2.14.0 USS8 =========== This is a digital sound editor. (Continued to next message) --- ~ QMPro 1.01 05-8925 ~ Tried to play my shoehorn... all I got was footnotes! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 13:05:48 From: john.smith@gravis.com Message-Id: <9303131305.A1897wk@gravis.com> Subject: ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 7/8 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest (Continued from previous message) 2.15.0 Ultramod =============== Ultramod is a mod player that works specifically for the UltraSound. It does not use SBOS. Two mods from Accolade's Star Control II are also supplied. Check them out to see how good the UltraSound can sound for applications written for it. To run it, type: ultramod midi\comandr.mod Stop the mod playback by hitting any key. The modplayer should also playback most other mods you might have. 4.0.0 WINDOWS ============= 4.1.0 ATTENTION Windows Users The Ultrasound driver has been designed to work with Windows 3.1 in 386 enhanced mode ONLY! The install is now done by the install program. If no errors occur you should be able to run windows after re-booting after the install. 5.0.0 Troubleshooting Information ================================= 5.1.1 Wrong Port Setup 5.1.2 ULTRASND Driver 5.1.3 GRVSULTR.386 Missing 5.1.4 16 BIT DMA Channels 5.1.5 NMI Problems 5.1.1 Wrong Port Setup If you select the wrong port during configuration and restart Windows, a message, warning you to reconfigure the driver appears. Simply choose Setup from the Drivers Applet in the Control Panel, enter the correct base port, and restart Windows. 5.1.2 ULTRASND Driver If the Ultrasnd.drv file is deleted from the \windows\system directory, any application using the driver will issue its own error message directing you to install a driver. Go back to the Drivers Applet, and choose Add to reinstall the driver, or exit Windows and copy the file from the floppy to \windows\system manually. 5.1.3 GRVSULTR.386 Missing If the Grvsultr.386 file is deleted from \windows\system, a message will appear when you start Windows indicating the file is missing. Then, a message box appears stating that the Ultrasound card cannot be enabled. The easy way to remedy this situation is to exit Windows and copy the Grvsultr.386 file from the floppy back into \windows\system. Restart Windows and the driver will become active again. Using the Control Panel at this point requires a few extra steps: Go to the Drivers Applet in the Control Panel, and Remove the Ultrasound driver. A message appears, telling you that Windows must be restarted to remove the driver. When you restart Windows, the message regarding the missing Grvsultr.386 file will still appear. Ignore this message, go back to the Drivers Applet, and reinstall the Ultrasnd driver, selecting "New" when a message indicates that the driver is already on the system. A message during the installation, indicating the driver can't be enabled, will appear. Continue with the installation, restart Windows, and the driver will become active again. 5.1.4 16 BIT DMA Channels The default DMA channel has been changed to an 8-bit channel because a few (not all) motherboards do not have 16-bit DMA channels that operate properly. They may work fine on yours. We suggest that you try to run it on a 16-bit channel because performance is better. We can transfer data twice as fast. The 8-bit channels are 0-3. The 16-bit channels are 4-7. If 'flakey' things happen with the 16-bit channel switch back to a free 8-bit channel. Stereo recording WILL be better on 16 bit channels. If you get gaps or popping, try using one of the 16 bit channels. 5.1.5 NMI Problems Some computers have their DRAM parity disabled. SBOS will not work properly with this. Re-enable the parity check in your BIOS setup. (Continued to next message) --- ~ QMPro 1.01 05-8925 ~ Tried to play my shoehorn... all I got was footnotes! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 Mar 93 13:05:49 From: john.smith@gravis.com Message-Id: <9303131305.A1898wk@gravis.com> Subject: ULTRASOUND NEW DISK S 8/8 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest (Continued from previous message) For further Information READ the README!!! Enjoy John --- ~ QMPro 1.01 05-8925 ~ Tried to play my shoehorn... all I got was footnotes! ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V2 #70 ******************************