Ultrasound Daily Digest Thu May 13 00:07 Volume 3: Issue 43 Today's Topics: Archive.epas CD-ROM Audio Pass Thru Cable? DIGEST ADMIN: ***PLEASE READ THIS*** Does anyone have this SIS VLB motherboard? Goodbye and thank you. GUS GUS=Midi Sampler ???? just bought my ultrasnd: some version nrs. List of working motherboards MIDI box delay - Not Entirely Gravis' Fault People in search of midi keyboards Prince of Persia 2 Problems w/ NEW SBOS Ultrabots & GUS Ultrasound Daily Digest V3 #42 Ultrasound FTP Sites - New files validated - May 9th, 93 VMAP and GMOS Velocity mapping 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: Wed, 12 May 1993 16:09:33 -0500 (EDT) From: adam@jazz.epas.utoronto.ca (Adam Iles) Subject: Archive.epas Message-ID: <9305122009.AA03175@jazz.epas.utoronto.ca> In case you haven't noticed archive.epas.utoronto.ca (a.k.a. klingon) has not been too healthy over the past week. The disk was always had a problem booting up, but was solid once it got spinning, but now it looks like it's toast. Anyways, a new disk has been installed, so it should be much more solid now. -- Adam Iles -- EPAS Computing. adam@epas.utoronto.ca ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 May 1993 10:32:33 -0500 From: Larry Larraga Subject: CD-ROM Audio Pass Thru Cable? Message-ID: <9305121432.AA03533@fiesta.cns.udel.edu> Does anyone know where to get the cable that goes from a Sony internal CD-ROM to the GUS' audio pass thru? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 May 93 14:03:19 CDT From: ddebry@itchy (Dave DeBry) Subject: DIGEST ADMIN: ***PLEASE READ THIS*** Message-ID: <9305122003.AA01766@itchy> Heya, folks. Word has just come down to me that all non-work related mail & news items will probably need to be removed from the machines here. This means, of course, that the Digest and all of the sub-topic reflectors for the GUS may get kicked off this site. (This is still a maybe, but it's a pretty strong maybe.) In any case, should this happen, is there anyone with enough clout at their site to let me put up the lists there? If you give me an account at your site, I'll even maintain the lists, so you won't have to deal with them once they're in. (Besides the new account, a root user needs to make some modifications to the /usr/lib/aliases (or /etc/aliases, depending on your system type) for the lists to work.) As far as space goes, they don't take much. It would be possible for me to work with just 1 meg of disk space, though I'd really prefer about 2 meg. Still, that's not a lot. The new mailserver code is set up to put a minimal load on the system while it works. The machine it runs on here (itchy) is also used as an important file & compute server for my group, and the mailserver doesn't impede that at all. Anyway, if you can swing this, drop me a private piece of mail and we'll chat. It would be really helpful... I don't think many people are interested in seeing the Digest disappear. Thanks! -- Dave ddebry@ debry@ \ DeBry dsd. peruvian. | "A jar of eyes can be a tasty treat." es. cs.utah. | com edu / ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 May 1993 12:04:15 EDT From: Marc Rouleau Subject: Does anyone have this SIS VLB motherboard? Message-ID: <9305121604.AA23226@orca.es.com> I'm thinking of buying it for $180 + $8 s&h, but I only want it if it will do 16-bit DMA correctly. Will email how-to-order details if anyone's interested. Alternately, does anyone know of an inexpensive mail-order 486 motherboard w/o CPU that works perfectly with the Gus? I don't need localbus but do not mind if it's there. -- Marc Rouleau ----------------------------------- VESA Mother Board Information Basic Description Battery: Rechargeable Ni-Cad on the system board. BIOS: AMI, supports 2.88 MB Floppy and Auto IDE detection. Shadow RAM, Hard disk type 47, Power on password, and Boot up drive sequence. Board Size: 2/3 Baby AT size. 8.7" x 9.7" Cache: 256K Static RAM CPU Cache is standard. The cache layout is direct mapped, not set associative. Chipset: SIS Clock Speeds: No need to change oscillators. Set clock speed to 25, 33, and 50 MHz by changing jumpers. Don't worry, the 486DX2-66 has an external clock of 33 MHz, and it works fine. Cooling: An extra heat sink and a CPU cooling fan is standard for 486DX2-66 motherboards. CPU Support: The ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) socket accepts a variety of CPUs. 486SX, 486DX, 486DX2, and the upcoming Pentium P24T CPUs are all supported. Manufacturer: U-Tron Performance: 486DX2-66. Landmark 222.95 MHz. 45,517 Dhrystones. 104.3 Norton SI. 11091K Whetstones. RAM Support: 256K, 1MB, and 4MB SIMMs accepted. Requires Fast Page Mode DRAM with access time of less than 80ns. 8 slots available in 2 banks. Memory configurations are: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 20, and 32 MB. Slots: 7 slots total. 2 Slots have the VESA Local Bus extensions. Warranty: 1 Year, repair or replace by our discretion. ----------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 12 May 93 09:27:07 AST From: GJames Subject: Goodbye and thank you. Message-ID: I am finally giving up on the Ultrasound. I got one last December and have been trying to get the thing to work properly ever since. I actually believed the box when it said SOUND BLASTER compatible. Since my mainreason for getting a sound card was to play games, I should have bought a sounblaster, but the promise of wavetable quality sounds was too much to ignore. I have got the thing working with most games (with various combinations os -x? -o?) but with each release of SBOS being more bug filled than the last I dont hold much hope for the GUS's future. Anyway the reason I am posting is to say thank you to all of the people who have helped me through my first sound card experience. One good thing that came out of the GUS was that I know all of the possible things that can go wrong with setting up and using sound cards. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 May 93 9:35:46 PDT From: hippo@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (Vincent Poy) Subject: Re: GUS Message-ID: <9305121635.AA08276@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu> Hi there fellow GUS Users, I have just two questions I need an answer to and it will be appreciated if you can help me out. Thanks in advance! 1) Is there any way to control the Volume with Games and stuff that uses Native GUS Support Mode? 2) Is there anyway I can plug something like a Walkman or DiscMan to the Line In Jack on the GUS and then have music go through the GUS and out the Line Out in DOS and in Windows? -- Cheers, Vince ------------------------------ Date: Mer, 12 Mai 93 10:35:38 FRA From: 9269Z%FRESTP11.BITNET@FRMOP11.CNUSC.FR Subject: GUS=Midi Sampler ???? Message-ID: <9305120837.AA17603@orca.es.com> Date: 12 Mai 1993, 10:29:35 FRA From: Benjamin Ryzman 44.41.11.02 9269Z at FRESTP11 To: ultrasound@dsd.es.com About my trouble with 'patch allocation on the fly' is that I would like to use my GUS like a real MIDI sampler: be able to use sysex or something to upload new samples from the disk to the card, without having to use the .CFG files. It would be very neat if there was a new version of the Windows drivers for this. Also, from what the retailer docs of the GUS say, the MIDI interface box is to be MPU-401 compatible. Does that mean that by the way of a cable between the MIDI in and the MIDI out, I shall be able to use my GUS with the Voyetra sequencers for DOS ? ------------------------------ Date: 12 May 93 11:06 -0700 From: Rolf Velthuys Subject: just bought my ultrasnd: some version nrs. Message-ID: <1012*velthuys@cs.ubc.ca> Hi, just bought an ultrasnd card, in Vancouver (that's very close to gravis HQ). It came with 5 disks, labelled 2.05. The SBOS version that comes with is is SBOS 2.04 (how is that related to this new SBOS2.00B7.zip file?). So far, no problems. Tried most of the demo software, and used the GUS/SBOS2.04 succesfully with Falcon3 & Wizardry 7 (no switches needed). The readme file was dated: 15/03/93. My setup: 486DX2/66 VLB/ISA, 8mb memory. Have to use DOS unfortunately to use the GUS. CU Rolf ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 May 1993 12:02:05 EDT From: Marc Rouleau Subject: List of working motherboards Message-ID: <9305121602.AA23212@orca.es.com> Some motherboards do not support DMA well and as a result do not work well with the Gravis Ultrasound sound card. What follows is a list of answers to the following three questions: 1. Describe your motherboard. 2. Can you use 16-bit DMA? 3. Any other problems? Hopefully this list will help us all to purchase PC's and motherboards which support DMA. I am willing to continue serving as a clearinghouse for this information, so please let me know about your motherboard. Note that the AIR UMC localbus boards are a bit tricky. The UL board with three proprietary localbus slots works fine; the VL board with one VESA localbus slot works poorly. -- Marc Rouleau 1. AIR. 486UL pre-VESA localbus motherboard (w/ 486DX2-66), UMC 82C480 AT chipset with 3 proprietary localbus slots 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. No problems at all. 1. AIR 486VL with 486DX-33, AMIBIOS, UMC 82C480 AT chipset with UMB82C482AF/UMB82C206L/UMB82C481A, 1 localbus slot 2. No, 16-bit DMA does not work. 3. Clicking noises w/ 1M GUS RAM, low MIDI in Windows w/ high WAV volume. 1. 486DX-50 VLB, UMC 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. No reported problems 1. 486DX-50 VLB, Bioteq 2. Don't know if 16-bit DMA works. 3. Didn't work 1. HP Vectra 486U (used in 486/25U, 33U, 50U, and 66U computers) 2. Yes. 3. None that I know of. 1. 486DX-33 ISA-486SIQ, AMIBIOS, 256K cache, chipset is a single SIQ chip. 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. No problems. 1. 486DX-33, OPTi 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. "I have trouble with early versions of SBOS, but that's most likely due to running DR DOS 6.0, not the motherboard." 1. 486DX-33, OPTi ?/?/82C206Q, 1/93 2. No, 16-bit DMA does not work. 3. Windows crashes after doing too much sound-oriented stuff. DOS stuff works fine: sbos, playmidi, gusmod, p669gu0, etc. 1. 486DX-33, OPTi 82C392/82C493/F82C206 2. No, 16-bit DMA does not work. 3. "Windows driver seems to drop instruments now and then. About 1 instrument in 5-10 seconds in faster MIDI songs, like PopCorn." 1. DTK 486DX-33, Symphony, 8/92 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. No reported problems 1. 486-20/25/33, ETEQ Micro Cougar II chipset, board by Mitac, 5/92 AMIBIOS, no cache 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. No problems -- uses DMA w/ SCSI controller, SBPro, and GUS 1. 486DX-33 Orchid VLB 256K cache, 1/93, AMIBIOS 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. No problems. 1. 486DLC (Cyrix), OPTi 391 motherboard, 12/92 (HI-TECH) 2. No, 16-bit DMA does not work. 3. No reported problems 1. 386-40, Bioteq 2. Don't know if 16-bit DMA works. 3. No reported problems 1. 386-40 PC-Chips chipset w/ 82C206 DMA controller 2. No, 16-bit DMA does not work. 3. No problems. 1. 386-40 OPTi & SiS chipset w/ SiS 85C206 DMA controller 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. No problems. 1. 386-25/33/40, OPTi 82C391/82C392/82C206 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. No reported problems 1. Micronics 386, 2/91 (Gateway 2000) 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. No reported problems 1. "Soyo 386DX-33 (Soyo is the Far Eastern Manufacturer) with an ITT 387 and AMI BIOS. It has a mix of OPTI and CHIPs chipset, including what I think may be the dreaded OPTI DMA-killer chip (It's in another part of the country, so I can't tell you the chip numbers)." 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. "I have had problems with SuperStor and DOS Games. Games start OK and then hang after a period of time, but the music continues." 1. 386-25, DCA chipset?, Packard Bell Legend 300SX 2. Don't know if 16-bit DMA works. 3. "Problems - problems with Windows 3.1 MIDI support. MID file tempos are bad, they drop notes, truncate notes, play wrong notes. Any time I use certain patches (flute, panflute, ocarina) Windows will crash and return EMM386 exception error #06. All MIDI applications (Media Player, Patch Manager, Winjammer) get this error." 1. DTK PEM-2500 (25Mhz 386DX) DTK BIOS 2. No problem w/ 16 bit DMA (I also have 5.7 Mhz Adaptec 1542B SCSI controller in the same system) 3. No problems at all 1. 286-20, C&T NEAT 82C212B/82C206/? 2. Yes, 16-bit DMA works. 3. No reported problems ------------------------------ Date: 12 May 93 13:30:42 +0100 From: Bjorn Havard Kleven Subject: MIDI box delay - Not Entirely Gravis' Fault Message-ID: > So, hopefully a million other people haven't posted the info > (particularly to that poor guy in Italy) but, as far as I know, there have > still been no sightings of the GUS midi connector (or, for that matter, the > 16-bit recording daughtercard). I'm a bit surprised about this. > The midi connector seems pretty trivial - not exactly an enromous R&D job. > And there's obviously a market for it. So, Gravis, WHERE IS IT? (You're > throwing money away ...) I just have to defend Gravis a little here. The long wait is due to the appearantly simple process of making the case for the box - which in reality is a far from trivial process - Gravis waited weeks (months) for the molds to be ready from whoever makes them. The current delay is also due to some problems with the mold. As for the 16-bit daughterboard, the delays are all the results of the desire to make this daughterboard as good as possible - among the best. I don't remember which it is, but one of the key components will be the same as used on the Turtle Beach Multisound - a very good and very expensive board. -=* Bjorn :: bjornhk@dhhalden.no ACCESS DATA :: TEL: (+47)-9-17 50 48/61-97 311 FAX: 61-97 312 BBS: 61-97 945 300-14400 bps, 24 hrs ------------------------------ Date: 12 May 1993 16:39:31 PST From: chrisw Subject: People in search of midi keyboards Message-ID: <9305122345.AA15377@leland.Stanford.EDU> Hi everyone. Just thought I'd forward on this ad I saw in rec.music.makers. synth since there's been quite a few people looking for keyboards to use with their GUS. Note that PC-200's are kind of small (4 octave) - though they do have proper size keys. My feeling is they might be not bad for a home setup where you don't want the whole room taken up by a 88-key weighted monster. (They're easy to lift as well. I risk permanent back injury whenever I lift mine). Some disclaimers: I don't know this person at all. I'm just passing on the ad. I'm also not sure of the going price on these things (although they are normally offered on rec.music.makers.synth at about this price). I guess if it was me I'd offer $150. Make sure you ask about how worn it is / whether it's home use only. Chris. >>FOR SALE >>-------- >>Roland PC-200 keyboard controller $180 obo >>49 key C-C synth action keyboard. Can send on any MIDI channel, >>Functions: mod stick/pitch wheell, velocity sensitivity control, >>pan control, channel select. >>Can be powered by battery or any 9V power supply. >> >>-------- >>AFC >>claassen@ebs330.eb.uah.edu >>aclaasse@nyx.cs.du.edu ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 May 93 12:22:00 -0500 From: wayne.sterling@sosinc.com (Wayne Sterling) Subject: Prince of Persia 2 Problems w/ NEW SBOS Message-ID: <429.10.uupcb@sosinc.com> To correct the problems with SBOS and Prince of Persia 2, you should do the following: make a batch file that has: SET ULTRASND=220,1,1,7,7 SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T1 call sbos.bat prince.exe --------------------------- You will have to change your setup to interrupt 7 if you have changed it, but this configuration is supposed to work. Atleast that was what I was told. wayne.sterling@sosinc.com ---- +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Southern On-line Services - SysOp: Russell Jackson - 504-356-0790 | | 2000+ Windows Files, 2.4 Gig, Internet, RIME and Throbnet On-line | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 May 93 13:02:09 MES From: fischer@tmpmbx.netmbx.de (Axel Fischer) Subject: Ultrabots & GUS Message-ID: >From: Steven.Morrison@f1.n251.z1.fidonet.org (Steven Morrison) >Subject: Sound in UltraBots by NovaLogic >Message-ID: <30109.2BEF7992@ns.fidonet.org> >Is there any way at all to get sound out of UltraBots on the Ultrasound? What for problems fo you have with ultrabots? I borrowed the game from a friend and had no problem with SBOS 2.04. No switches are required. -Axel ------------------------------ Date: 12 May 93 13:23:11 +0100 From: Bjorn Havard Kleven Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V3 #42 Message-ID: > So, hopefully a million other people haven't posted the info > (particularly to that poor guy in Italy) but, as far as I know, there have > still been no sightings of the GUS midi connector (or, for that matter, the > 16-bit recording daughtercard). I'm a bit surprised about this. > The midi connector seems pretty trivial - not exactly an enromous R&D job. > And there's obviously a market for it. So, Gravis, WHERE IS IT? (You're > throwing money away ...) I just have to defend Gravis a little here. The long wait is due to the appearantly simple process of making the case for the box - which in reality is a far from trivial process - Gravis waited weeks (months) for the molds to be ready from whoever makes them. The current delay is also due to some problems with the mold. As for the 16-bit daughterboard, the delays are all the results of the desire to make this daughterboard as good as possible - among the best. I don't remember which it is, but one of the key components will be the same as used on the Turtle Beach Multisound - a very good and very expensive board. -=* Bjorn :: bjornhk@dhhalden.no ACCESS DATA :: TEL: (+47)-9-17 50 48/61-97 311 FAX: 61-97 312 BBS: 61-97 945 300-14400 bps, 24 hrs ------------------------------ Date: 11 May 1993 06:42:40 GMT From: twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) Subject: Ultrasound FTP Sites - New files validated - May 9th, 93 Message-ID: <1snht0INNj7t@iskut.ucs.ubc.ca> ReprintFrom: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard GRAVIS ULTRASOUND FTP SITES NEWS ========================================================================== Ftp Site: archive.epas.utoronto.ca Directory: pub/pc/ultrasound wuarchive.wustl.edu systems/msdos/ultrasound ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello all. I've just validated the following files for today, May 9th, 93.... in both of our ftp archive sites: Subdirectory: ..../sound/midi/files beetho27.zip, biginjpn.zip, chrismid.zip, chrisnot.zip, depeche.zip, depinv1.zip, fairmid.zip, hazy.zip, mid.zip, midpcfix.zip, wholenew.zip Subdirectory: ..../sound/midi/util gusorg.exe - version 2.0 of GUS Organ for composing midi files winmusic.zip - Windows midi composer/player (no patch caching) Subdirectory: ..../sound/patches/files harp.zip Subdirectoy: ..../sound/patches/util ped2.arj - new version of Patch Editor (windows) Subdirectory: ..../sound/mod/util gusmp.zip - Modplay 1.21b MOD player for Ultrasound gusmpsrc.zip - GUS Modplay's source code Subdirectory: ..../sound/misc gldwav10.zip - Goldwave 1.00 sound editor for Windows Subdirectory: ..../info modform.zip - Amiga (ProTracker) Module format document Subdirectory: ..../util/unix snd-driv-1.99.3.tar.Z - Hannu Savolainen's Linux sound driver for the Ultrasound Notes to UPLOADERS: =================== ibt93mid.zip was uploaded incorrectly, and can't be unzipped. Can the uploader please reupload it? Thanx! adagio04.tar.Z and mp-perl.tar.Z can't be uncompressed. The sound driver was ok and was validated but can the uploader please reupload these 2 files again? Thanx! Ee-bee-dee-ee-bee-dee.... that's all folks! Thomas. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 May 93 3:14:02 CDT From: cowles@hydra.convex.com (John Cowles) Subject: VMAP and GMOS Velocity mapping Message-ID: <9305120814.AA04341@hydra.convex.com> .tc says: >Morgan_Stair@dl5000.bc.edu says: > >> What does vmap mean anyway... is it that the GUS-windows-midi drivers >> and GUS-DOS-playmidi use logarithmic volume scale, and thus midi files >> need to have all their "volume" information changed for GUS? > >Correct. The GUS's volume control is logarithmic, while Roland's >synthesizers use linear volume control from 0-127. > >One of the functions GMOS will perform is to use a lookup table >to convert these linear volume to logarithmic volume. > >.tc Please don't forget the volume controller (7) and the expression controller (11). VMAP currently ignores these (which is a problem). A GS Init sets volume to 100, and expression to 127, so even though a midifile does not need to have an explicit volume setting inside it, there is an implicit one due to the default GS setting. VMAP assumes that the volume and expression settings are always equal to 127! Finding the actual volume can be quite complex, even on a synth with linear volume curves. For example, if I set the volume controller to 100, the expression controller to 100 and then output a note with a velocity of 100, I will actually have a note with an absolute velocity of .7890625 * .7890625 * .7890625 of max - about 62! [ 128 * (101/128)**3 - 1 ] In defense of Mr. Tran (the author of VMAP), this becomes much more complex when the velocity curves are logarithmic! John -- John Cowles cowles@hydra.convex.com Convex Computer Corp. 214 497 4375 3000 Waterview Pkwy Richardson, Tx. 75080 ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V3 #43 *************************************