Ultrasound Daily Digest Mon, 6 Sep 93 :46 MDT Volume 6: Issue 5 Today's Topics: [GUS & SB] Question... Contration Zack works with Gravis dune2ail.zip Line-in MIDI Surfer (v1.01) released Misc Return To Zork (fwd) Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #3 What is a FAR file Zorkdemo setup for GUS 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: Sun, 5 Sep 93 14:36:29 CST From: Erick_Bergquist@edtng.Kenosha.WI.US (Erick Bergquist) Subject: [GUS & SB] Question... Message-ID: <9309052036.AA00a5d@edtng.Kenosha.WI.US> Hello, I recently plugged in my old SB card, and everything is working fine. Sounds awesome btw. But, some programs such as DMP will run fine on the GUS, but when I try to run DMP on the SB all I get is garbage. My settings for each card are below, maybe someone can point out what may be wrong ... SoundBlaster: GUS: Base: 220 Base: 240 IRQ: 7 IRQ: 11 DMA: 1 DMA: 3 for both MIDI IRQ: 5 SB DMA: 1 Lemmings II with Mega-EM and Blaster Effects sounds awesome!! See ya!! -- Via DLG Pro v0.995 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-= // Amiga / 386 Erick Bergquist ITCnet: 85:872/203 \\ // Kenowhere, Wisconsin KENOnet: 10:11/0 \X/ CIS Major Erick_Bergquist@EDTNG.Kenosha.WI.US =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=[ Happy GUSing ]=-=-= ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1993 13:49:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Geoffery Wright Subject: Contration Zack works with Gravis Message-ID: I've gotten Contraption Zack to work with the Gravis Ultrasound. Its simply a matter of copying the Gravis midi driver over the SB driver and copying the GF166.com file over the other com file. The funny thing is, I think COntraption Zack only supports the SB but it has MIDI songs in it. Works for me. I found it was not that hard at all to install a Thunderboard (SB compatable) with the Gravis Ultrasound. Now I have the perfect sound package at a low price. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Sep 93 13:34:34 -0500 From: Stephen Neely Subject: Re: dune2ail.zip Message-ID: <9309051834.AA05152@celnext.BoysTown.ORG> Michael Allen wrote: >I am trying to get the dune2ail program to work but I don't know where to >find the files: ultramid, gf1midi.adv, or gf1didi.adv. I looked in the >ultrasound directory and did not find them. Any help would be greatly >appreciated. Get the ultramid files in umid102.zip from the submit directory on epas. ============================================================== Stephen T. Neely INTERNET: neely@BoysTown.ORG Boys Town National Research Hospital 555 North 30th Street PHONE: (402) 498-6751 Omaha, NE 68131 FAX: (402) 498-6638 ============================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1993 23:09:43 -0600 (MDT) From: Jody L. Baze Subject: Line-in Message-ID: <9309060509.AA23302@carina.unm.edu> I recently purchased a CD-ROM drive. I would like to play a CD from OS/2, but I cannot reliably enable the GUS's line-in. If I use sbos -L to do it, OS/2 eventually gets upset. I can not use MEGAEM to do it since it will not run in a DOS session under OS/2. Is there some utility out there that enable the GUS's line-in and nothing else? Do I need to get the GUS SDK and figuare out how to do it myself? If I do need to do it myself, are there any tips you can give me. Thanks, John -- jbaze@carina.unm.edu John Poet using a friends account ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1993 18:11:21 -0500 (CDT) From: "Alan S. Estenson" Subject: MIDI Surfer (v1.01) released Message-ID: Mycroft's MIDI Surfer, a freeware "jukebox" style program for Windows 3.1 has been released to archive.epas.utoronto.ca (as well as several other ftp sites) Of course, MIDI Surfer fully supports the GUS. :) (for a _short_ time only, I will email this program to interested parties) Program Information... File: SRFMD101.ZIP File Size: 28889 bytes Compressed with: PKZip 2.04g Application Name: Mycroft's MIDI Surfer Version: 1.01 (first release version) Distribution: freeware Author: Alan S. Estenson, este0005@gold.tc.umn.edu Requires: MS Windows 3.1, VBRUN300.DLL, an installed sound device capable of playing MIDI files (does not work with PC Speaker driver) Description: Mycroft's MIDI Surfer is a "jukebox" style program for setting up and playing a queue of midi files in MS Windows 3.1. Thus, you may work at any application while your favorite midi files play in the background. Midi Surfer supports midi patch caching; it is therefore fully compatible with the Gravis UltraSound. Features include: queueing files from different directories, the ability to calculate the queue playing time, the ability to add and remove files to/from the queue at any time, plus all the usual features and more! Included documentation: Surfmidi.doc -- Alan S. Estenson aka "Mycroft" este0005@gold.tc.umn.edu Aerospace Engineering / University of Minnesota / Minneapolis, MN Rosemount Aerospace, Inc. / Burnsville, MN #std. disclaimers apply# ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1993 15:19:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Phat H Tran Subject: Misc Message-ID: > Date: Sat, 4 Sep 93 12:28:29 PDT > From: mikebat@netcom.com (Mike Batchelor) > Subject: Emuset and Ultrasnd.ini > Message-ID: <9309041928.AA14161@netcom2.netcom.com> > > You once wrote... > > $ > $ Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1993 14:18:51 -0400 (EDT) > $ From: Phat H Tran > $ [...] > $ However, emuset uses ultramid.ini, not ultrasnd.ini. Ultramid.ini can be > $ found in the GUS AIL package on Epas. Place it in your /ultrasnd/midi > $ directory. > > I'm afraid you are mistaken, Phat. Emuset definitely looks for > ultrasnd.ini in the ULTRADIR directory. I found this out when I added the > pistol patches to it, leaving the whistle commented out with a ; > semicolon. Emuset complained mightly about a corrupt ultrasnd.ini until I > removed the comments. > You are quite correct. I had always thought emuset would use ultramid since it already had the proper GM patch subsets for 256k, 512k, 768k, and 1024k GUSes. > Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1993 09:30:18 -0400 > From: jgamache@AIX1.si.usherb.ca (Jerry Gamache med. nucl) > Subject: Re: Return to Zork (demo) > Message-ID: <9309041330.AA24070@AIX1.si.usherb.ca> > > Phat H. Tran wrote > > > PH> I want to pressure Activision into putting GUS drivers into this > PH> game when it ships. I'm really looking forward to it, but will > PH> feel much better buying it if it supports the Ultrasound. Anybody > PH> know Activision's email address? > > Has Gravis contacted activision first?... > Is the midpak digipak package released to the proper authorities for > distribution (i.e. Ratcliff and Miles software companies)?... I think Gravis have already submitted the GUS drivers to John Miles and Ratcliff, but I don't know if they've been officially approved yet. One thing that bugs me about the game industry is that many developers there seem to think that the GUS gobbles CPU time. For example, Pat Cook, designer of Front Page Sports Football Pro, said that his game won't support the GUS as anything but an Adlib because it, like the Adlib, requires the CPU to do all the work to play digitized samples!? This from a top designer at Dynamix?! Then there are pundits (eg. Rich Heimlich) who say that Mega-Em will bring a system to its knees since handling the MIDI stream without the aid of a 68000 requires huge amounts of CPU time. Right. > If the answer to the two previous questions is yes, then it is time to > contact Novalogic > Novalogic? > Date: Sat, 4 Sep 93 13:52:06 -0400 > From: jkauth@emunix.emich.edu (gruft) > Subject: Return to Zork demo > Message-ID: <9309041752.AA05620@emunix.emich.edu> > > programs which use the digpak drivers for producing digital sound gives sound > full of popping noises... are these the infamous UltraClicks(TM) I've been > hearing so much about? If this is what we can expect when software companies > use to support digital sound on the GUS, I will NOT be happy. > The GF166.COM driver was apparently written by John Ratcliff, not Forte. (Well, Forte wasn't mentioned anywhere in the copyright.) We all know that the GUS can play a sample stream without clicks, as evidenced by the GF1DIGI.ADV driver, so these UltraClicks aren't inevitable. > Date: Sat, 04 Sep 93 22:32:24 EDT > From: Raphael Pungin > Subject: SBOS loading and Patch Manager problems > Message-ID: <9309050309.AA26766@orca.es.com> > > Hi. I have two problems. > > Here is the first one: > > When I try to load SBOS, I get the following error: > > Interrupt time out > Error on load of patch library (C:\ULTRASND\sbos\sbos.sbs) > > My GUS configuration is 240, 7, 7, 11, 5. I also have SB PRO installed in > my machine. It's configuration is A220 I7 D1. Here is my DOS environment: > [...] > According to SBGUSFAQ.TXT I have to load and unload SBOS to "allow GUS Adlib > registers to "float"". Does any one know what could cause the error I get > when loading SBOS. I'm not sure why SBOS 2.08 is giving you problems (could it be an improper installation?) but if all you're using SBOS for is to make the GUS coexist with the SBPro, you should try using SBOS 1.20 since it's a little less grumpy about your settings and motherboard than the new SBOSes. > *** > My second problem is: > > When I start Patch Manager in windows, the Gravis logo comes up and then > Patch Manager window comes up *VERY* slowly. You can actually see it being > painted for about 7 seconds. And all I get is a wait cursor with patch > scrollers empty. Windows locks up. Everything else in windows works fine > with the GUS. > > Neither of the two problems occured originally when I bought my GUS. I am > not sure what caused those problems. Any help is greatly appriciated. > Have you added or removed any hardware or software recently? Have you checked to see if your GUS is properly seated? (I've heard of reports of GUSes becoming unseated because of poor fit in the machine.) Have your tried running the diagnostics in SETGUS? What disk version do you have? > Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1993 03:35:04 -0600 (CDT) > From: ddebry@grue.dsd.ES.COM (Dave DeBry) > Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #3 > Message-ID: <9309040935.AA13389@grue.dsd.ES.COM> > > Phat H Tran scurries across a keyboard, producing this: > > I want to pressure Activision into putting GUS drivers into this game > > when it ships. I'm really looking forward to it, but will feel much > > better buying it if it supports the Ultrasound. Anybody know Activision's > > email address? > > According to the readme: 76004.2122@compuserve.com > > Being the wacky cynic that I am, I'd have to say that I don't > think you stand a chance in hell of changing the minds of those EVIL > CORPORATE TAKEOVER RAIDING PIRATE SCUM! BAH! > I don't have high hopes of swaying anybody, but I'd just like to hear what excuses they have for not shipping the game with the GUS drivers. Will an extra 45k kill them? > Sorry. Hey, as long as you are writing to them, get them to > join the mailing list. I promise not to slam them anymore. > It would help if others write in as well... :) BTW, a while back, it was reported that The 7th Guest, Rules of Engagement 2, and Buzz Aldrin's Race into Space will soon ship with GUS drivers (the original releases of these games did not have GUS support, except BARIS with only GUS digitized sounds.) Anybody seen proof of this? Phat. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1993 21:48:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Phat H Tran Subject: Return To Zork (fwd) Message-ID: I asked the Activision rep on CIS regarding GUS support in Zork, and here was his very prompt reply: (sounds good) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 05 Sep 93 20:08:22 EDT From: "W. Volk (Activision)" <76004.2122@CompuServe.COM> To: ptran@sciborg Subject: Return To Zork We just barely managed to get a set of Gravis drivers (for digital audio and MIDI) working properly in the product this previous week. It was a huge effort, but it looks like it worked. Right now I'd say that there's a very good chance that the Gravis stuff will be in the release product. Only remaining issue (for the floppy, not CD) is the size of all the Gravis stuff.. Zork will be in the stores on Oct. 1st. Thanks, William Volk ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1993 10:54:01 -0400 (EDT) From: sad@umcc.umich.edu (Scott Deming) Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #3 Message-ID: nc = hip-hop!digger@amdahl.com benny = ?; Benny, async = s2969065@t2.technion.ac.il ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 11:29:41 +1000 (EST) From: s904858@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (Stuart Gough) Subject: What is a FAR file Message-ID: <9309060129.4717@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU> Hi all, Recently someone uploaded a file called comunion.zip - it is a music file of some sort with the extension .FAR! I tried to play it using damtrak ( or whatever it is called) but nothing happened except that the program said it was a 15 sample mod! Can anyone tell me ( or everyone else ) what this format is and how to play it! I am yet to come across any other .FAR files Stuart Gough ----------------------------- ------ --------------------------------------------------- | If you can't stay young - Stuart Gough | | Stay immature s904858@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au | s904858@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au | Lucas Kenny - aged 10 s904858@huntsman.cse.rmit.edu.au| s904858@kowari.cse.rmit.edu.au | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Sep 93 12:00:18 PDT From: mikebat@netcom.com (Mike Batchelor) Subject: Zorkdemo setup for GUS Message-ID: <9309051900.AA25639@netcom3.netcom.com> jgamache & jkauth once wrote... $ $ Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1993 09:30:18 -0400 $ From: jgamache@AIX1.si.usherb.ca (Jerry Gamache med. nucl) $ Subject: Re: Return to Zork (demo) $ $ On a side note, this demo contains digital sound... Just run GF166.COM $ before MADE DEMO -O -M:GF1MIDI (if you copy GF166 to the directory $ and run SETD, the program will offer you to choose the GUS, very $ nice, but only works for digital voices.) Look in the batch files $ to see how it works. Nice output, with lots of clicks and pops, maybe $ the drivers need more tuning, maybe the demo is badly programmed. $ $ Have fun $ Jerry Gamache $ jgamache@aix1.si.usherb.ca $ ------------------------------ $ Date: Sat, 4 Sep 93 13:52:06 -0400 $ From: jkauth@emunix.emich.edu (gruft) $ Subject: Return to Zork demo $ $ I got digitzed sound to work just fine with the Zork demo. I copied the gf166.com file over to the demo directory and the setup screen for digitized sound $ displayed the Gravis card as an option. Now for a question. I've noticed that $ programs which use the digpak drivers for producing digital sound gives sound $ full of popping noises... are these the infamous UltraClicks(TM) I've been $ hearing so much about? If this is what we can expect when software companies $ use to support digital sound on the GUS, I will NOT be happy. $ $ -Josh Josh is right on the money, Jerry. Copy your AIL *.adv drivers to the zorkdemo directory, including gf166.com (gf1digi.adv is not really needed). Then make a batch file, 'zorkgus.bat': setd soundrv made demo -o -m:gf1midi soundrv -o SETD will find gf166.com and offer Ultrasound as one of the choices. It only selects the device for digital effects. The MIDI driver is selected from the command line -m switch. SETD copies the selected driver to soundrv.com (NOW you know what that ubiquitous driver is!). Not very sophisticated, but I suppose it doesn't have to be (that's the idear, right?). I heard the pops when I ran it under EMM386 from MSDOS 6. They vanished under QEMM386 v7. The quality of the digital voice samples is not very good to begin with, at least compared to The 7th Guest or DuneII. The music sounds an awful lot like The 7th Guest, not very inspired, but sound quality is good. The demo also sounds super under Mega-Em 1.00, minus digitized effects. Using SBOS, the pops were still there with EMM386 and vanished under QEMM v7. Sensitivity to brand of memory manager seems to vary from machine to machine. I agree with Phat - the Ultrasound drivers ought to be included with the release version of the game. But if they are not, it's still easily supported. The neat thing about including the drivers with the game is that the compatibility sticker will FINALLY list "Advanced Gravis Ultrasound." I always liked the name of the company, it sounds very high tech. :) -- Mike Batchelor | mikebat@netcom.com | This space for rent mikebat@qdeck.com | ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #5 ************************************