Ultrasound Daily Digest Wed, 3 Mar 93 Volume 2 : Issue 59 Today's Topics: [GUS] MOD Composers Developing a GUS driver for Linux Did the GUS kill my computer? GRAVIS NEWS - SBOS 1.4B2 GUSMOD problem Major ultrasound lockups New GUS owner queries problem with GUSMOD 2.04 SBOS Sbos 1.37B sbos 1.37b and xwing Sierra - Lets Boycott Them! X-Wing and GUS flawless???? 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: 1 Mar 93 18:45:55 MDT From: sl859@cc.usu.edu Message-Id: <1993Mar1.184555.64661@cc.usu.edu> Subject: [GUS] MOD Composers To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In article <1mtqj4INN13m@menudo.uh.edu>, st1qb@Rosie.UH.EDU writes: > Anybody know which one of the many MOD Composers will work well with > the GUS and SBOS? If so, which one? I know Tran and Josh are working > on a GUS specific but was wondering which one works good with SBOS. > Then maybe I could sell my SBPro to help cover my habitual spending > on computer things. Never fear. I'm just finishing up a little 16-channel Protracker composer. I gotta compress the patterns, and then I'll release it along with Gusmod 2.10 and GTSR 1.10. Next day or so, I'd imagine. Josh ------------------------------ Date: 2 Mar 93 12:49:22 CST From: CHRISL@county.lmt.mn.org Message-Id: Subject: Developing a GUS driver for Linux To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Hi, I started working on a GUS driver for Linux a couple days ago. Things are at a very early stage right now--mostly, I have C code written to cover all of the GUS functions described in the ultradox put out by Renaissance. I've successfully read and written from GUS memory, but have yet to get my board make any noise except for an occasional click. I'd love to share ideas and code with anyone else who's also working on a Linux driver. I'd really like to see some C code to play a voice . . . I admire the group Renaissance for digging around enough to get info on how the GUS works, but I'm really tired of looking at assembly code. Is there a reason to not most GUS code in C or another high-level language? Also, Francis Dion was suggesting that there were a lot of Ultrasound capabilities not listed in the ultradox, e.g. tremolo and vibrato. Is this just a guess, or can the GUS really do this stuff in hardware? If so, it seems like it would be very worthwhile to get the SDK. Chris Laurel chrisl@county.lmt.mn.org ------------------------------ Date: 2 Mar 1993 10:38:59 -0500 From: jyanowit@mtholyoke.edu (Jason Yanowitz) Message-Id: <1mvv2j$2rp@slab.mtholyoke.edu> Subject: Did the GUS kill my computer? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Well, prepare for a tale of woe. I've tried calling tech support (not helpful, in addition to being difficult to reach), emailing them at compuserver (no response) and john.smith@gravis.com (no response). So, I turn to the net: December, 16, 1992: At last, my GUS has arrived. In an excited frenzy, I open it, look at the manual, pop in my additional 768k RAM, and go to install it my computer. After grounding myself throughly(sp), I installed the card in a slot. (Keep in mind, I had a PAS (ptui, ptui, ptui) and it worked as well as a PAS can work.) (I've also had a fair amount of experience messgin with computer innards, so I know basic safety stuff, even if I'm ignorant in many areas). I go turn on my computer, and nothing happens (the power supply turns on, and that's it). Slightly alarmed, but aware of everyone's GUS problems, I uninstall the card (turning everything off, of course) and my computer still doesn't work. This is disconcerting. After playing the cards shuffling game, it still doesn't work. [December 17 to January 25, 1993: Numerous mailings of various computer parts, including my motherboard (sans CPU) and other stuff. Computer tech support thought I had cracked the motherboard in installation. Suitably embrassed I started mailing stuff back. However the motherboard was fine, which meant my CPU was fried (that was the confirmed final diagnosis). That's right, my 386-40 CPU was dead.] During this time (b/f I learned it was my CPU), I installed the card in a friend's computer, so we could hear it. Well, playmidi was quite impressive, but SBOS (v1.21) wasn't working. We tried various options with Wolf3d, none worked. Then, all of a sudden, his video collapsed to a single line. (he doesn't have the Opti CHipset, does have a 386-40). We turned off his computer. THe upshot was he had (according to his tech support) "severe DMA conflict" - he pulled out all his cards, reinstalled them 1 by 1, and all's well again. So, my question (I now have hte Opti chipset, unforunately, but I think it's the acceptable one): is it possible that my GUS could nuke my CPU? Or was it something else? I ask, because I haven't installed it in my new, working computer yet (but boy do I want to). Oh yes, I also noticed (before installing it in my friends machine), that I hadn't set one of my RAM chips properly (one pin wasn't in the socket -- I'm so embarassed), but that shouldn't make a difference, right? Please, please, please advise! Thanks, Jason "desperate for GUS sound (and a linux driver)" Yanowitz (last posting I noticed was forwarded to the GUS list. I'm not sure what the mechanism is that causes that, but I guess I'll let that machine/person do so again -- if it's a person, thanks and sorry I didn't do it myself). -- Jason Yanowitz | PGP 2.0 key available via fingering and email. jyanowit@orixa.mtholyoke.edu | PGP key fingerprint: 0F D1 7C A1 A3 1F B7 26 B6 27 4A CE 1A 6D 91 6B "A pox on Columbus" -- Bernstein, in the movie _Hester Street_ (Go see it!) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Mar 93 17:29:20 From: john.smith@gravis.com Message-Id: <9303021729.A1203wk@gravis.com> Subject: GRAVIS NEWS - SBOS 1.4B2 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest This message was originally addressed to ALL and a carbon copy was sent to you. ---------------------------------------- Important Gravis News ===================== Gravis has released the wide beta version of SBOS 1.4B2, (GUS0014.ZIP). You will find this file at the following locations: CompuServe: GO PCVENB Area #14 InterNET: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound/submit FidoNET: 1:153/978 FREQ SBCNET: 13:900/3 FREQ CDNNET: 94:850/103 FREQ Gravis BBS: (604)431-5927 Infinite Dreams: (604)733-6432 MIDI 1040: (604)732-4446 The Sound Barrier: (718)979-6629 and (718)979-9406 About this new SBOS version --------------------------- There have been MANY changes to SBOS over the last few months. Here is a quick list: ~ The .SBS files have been replaced by a single SBOSLIB.SBS ~ SBOS no longer interferes with Windows operations, and will even re-load itself upon exiting Windows. ~ Improved compatibility ~ Sound quality improved In general this is a COMPLETE re-write over previous versions. Thank you for your time and patience. John Smith, SysOp of Advanced Gravis BBS cc: MATT ION @ 1:153/7040 NORMAN YEN @ 1:153/7042 WAYNE DUVAL @ 1:153/914 CHARLES SCHEFFOLD @ 13:420/0 ultrasound@dsd.es.com jeki@oscar.bbb.no sl859@cc.usu.edu --- ~ QMPro 1.01 05-8925 ~ It's not hard to meet expenses, they're everywhere. ------------------------------ Date: Mar, 02 Mar 93 11:30:58 FRA From: 9269Z%FRESTP11.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU Message-Id: <9303021034.AA12398@orca.es.com> Subject: GUSMOD problem To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Date: 02 Mars 1993, 11:28:07 FRA From: 9269Z at FRESTP11 To: ultrasound@dsd.es.com following up my recent post: I almost forgot to specify my Ultrasound setup: the board release number is 2.4 and it is 768kb populated. Since GUSMOD work for one of my friend's 512kb setup, I'll try to withdraw 256kb tonight. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1993 17:04:21 PST From: Bob Tinsman Message-Id: <9303021704.aa20149@scooa.sco.com> Subject: Major ultrasound lockups To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I just got my ultrasound and, at first, would get very frequent lockups. I haven't downloaded all the goodies from epas yet, so I was just running the demos on the Gravis disks. After running playfile a couple times, I would inevitably get a system lockup so solid I had to power-cycle my machine--even resetting wouldn't help! I've got a no-name 486/33 motherboard. The chipset is made by Intel (yes, the chipset AND the cpu). I solved a lot of the problems by pulling out a tape controller board, but the system will still lock up if I try running SBOS (I think it's 1.22) and then playing a Sierra game. It locks up right at the beginning when it's trying to init the sound card. I haven't tried with any SBOS switches. I have another box I can try it on, so if it works on that, I guess my motherboard's bogus. Any comments? Bob Tinsman ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1993 11:06:05 +0000 From: Clarke Brunt Message-Id: <00968E73.22461580.1081@lsl.co.uk> Subject: New GUS owner queries To: Ultrasound Daily Digest I acquired my GUS yesterday, and pleased to say it seems to work fine. No apparent problems with parity or DMA (tried channels 1 and 5) under DOS or Windows, despite the warning about my UMC chipset in the FAQ. (If anyone wants further details of chipset, please ask). I've not been able to do any FTPing yet, so sorry if my questions would be answered there. How do I tell what SBOS I have got? A dump of the .EXE reveals the characters 1.20 so maybe that is the answer. My installation disks were 1.21 (the 1 being written on afterwards). My aim is probably to use MIDI, connecting a keyboard. The bundled software is not much help for this. Are the 'hundreds' of general MIDI patches ('free when you send your registration card') any different from the loads of patches already in the MIDI subdirectory? Will the 'MIDIsoft Recording Session' software (which the FAQ says Gravis has a licence to bundle with the card) be supplied free also? My supplier (OPTECH, U.K., probably related to Logitech) said that it would. More documentation of the two windows drivers (neither of which is called ULTRA.DRV as the manual says) would be appreciated. ------------------------------ Date: Mar, 02 Mar 93 09:16:19 FRA From: 9269Z%FRESTP11.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU Message-Id: <9303020817.AA09680@orca.es.com> Subject: problem with GUSMOD 2.04 To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Date: 02 Mars 1993, 09:10:10 FRA From: 9269Z at FRESTP11 To: ultrasound@dsd.es.com Hello there | I've tried unsuccessfully the new version of GUSMOD (2.04) yesterday. Although I configure it using the defaults (ie: SET GUSMOD=2531102,C:\ULTRASND) (the default setup of my GUS), it just play the first note of the MODs I tried (AXEL-F, BARTDANCE), and I'm unable to use other program for the GUS anyafter. My system is loaded with TSR and device drivers, but I tried with a clean config without any luck. My system is a 386/33dx with SiS 85C320 chipset. Hopefully the 2.10 will run well on my computer | (1.10 run well) +---------------------+-------------------------------------------------+ | Benjamin RYZMAN | "...And now something completly different |" | | ESTP Paris | -Monty Pithon | | EMAIL: | "640 kb should be sufficient for anyone" | |9269Z@FRESTP11.BITNET| -Bill Gates, 1981 | +---------------------+-------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Mar 93 16:28:49 EST From: jagati1@SERVER.uwindsor.ca (JAGATIC JASON ) Message-Id: <9303022128.AA11062@SERVER.uwindsor.ca> Subject: SBOS To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In yesterday's Ultrasound Digest, John Smith from Gravis mention that they are currently working on SBOS 1.4B2. I was wondering if future versions of SBOS would support SBPro (is that even possible?) or SB16. And are there any plans to create a driver(emulator?) for other hardware? Possibly PAS16 or one of the more popular Roland Cards... I am not sure if any of this is possible, but it would be interesting to have... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Mar 93 10:53:56 EST From: thanatos@hyperion.wright.edu (Terry Chlebek) Message-Id: <9303021553.AA16581@hyperion.wright.edu> Subject: Sbos 1.37B To: Ultrasound Daily Digest > > From: john.smith@gravis.com > Subject: SBOS 1.37B > > It seems SBOS 1.37B is turning up on BBS's around the world. This is a month > old beta version which DOES CONTAIN PROBLEMS. We are currently on V1.4B2. > Since V1.37B was not a release copy we will not be supporting it. Use it at > your own risk. Many things have changed in SBOS over the last month including > better sound and compatibility. > > Thank you for your attention. > > John > Maybe you should check with your support people on America Online. That is where 1.37B came from. They released it there around Feb 20th. Terry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 Mar 93 8:15:34 CST From: Michael J Stumpf Message-Id: <9303021415.AA13324@tamsun.tamu.edu> Subject: sbos 1.37b and xwing To: Ultrasound Daily Digest It was very easy for me to get SBOS 1.37b and XWING working.. At first, 1.37 did not work with anything and I was a bit dismayed, but after some toying around I managed to find that the -o3 option is required with nearly everything.. it makes it work like 1.23 (seemingly). This is a very nice version (compared to what I've been using). A C library of fn supporting the GUS is a great idea, but alas my hands are tied from such actions. Mike.. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Mar 93 07:45:41 EST From: mspe@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us (Matthew Spewak) Message-Id: Subject: Sierra - Lets Boycott Them! To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Here is a message that Sierra wrote back to me conserning the GUS, after I suggested that it would be in their best interest to support the card very soon: ------------------------------ Date: 2 Mar 93 13:23:09 EDT From: Richard Wyckoff Message-Id: Subject: X-Wing and GUS flawless???? To: Ultrasound Daily Digest In the last issue of the digest there are no less than two messages saying that X-Wing works *flawlessly* with SBOS...what do you mean by flawlessly? I've got SBOS 1.20, 1.22, 1.23, and 1.37B and the ones I've tried (1.22 and 1.37B) *usually* play the music correctly (although it tends to crap out during missions), but worse, DIGITIZED SOUND EFFECTS RENDER THE GAME UNPLAYABLE! I've got a 486/33, and I usually run the game with a disk cache, so I know it's not a speed problem, it's an SBOS problem. And before you ask, no I don't have an OPTI chipset, and I've never had any of the many and varied problems described in this digest. Again I ask (as I have several times to newsgroups and in e-mail) can anyone actually use the digitized sound effects in combat with SBOS? If I have them on, firing cannons will cause the game to 'jump', and when Tie fighters roar by, the frame rate drops to about 2 fps for the duration of the sound. Does anyone else experience this problem, and if not, what are your machine specs/SBOS settings? Or are people just turning off the digitized sound or living with the jumping? ** Richard Wyckoff - Catullus - .Sig radio edit ** ** RWYCKOFF@CARDINAL.SC107.WESLEYAN.EDU -- RWYCKOFF@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU ** ------------------------------ Date: (null) From: (null) To: Ultrasound Daily Digest Date: 28 Feb 93 03:43:40 EST From: Sierra On-Line <76004.2143@compuserve.com> To: Subject: Gravis Ultrasound Support Although Sierra supports more sound cards than any other company in the industry, it does not look like we will be directly support the Gravis UltraSound card in the near future. This may change over time, but so far we do not have plans for any support for it. Happy Gaming! - Mike/Sierra On-Line Tech Support -------------------------------- I say SCREW THEM, TOO! We have to keep sending these guys e-mail. Someone, please repost a list of all game companies e-mail addresses along with mailing addresses. Lets get working guys! We can make the difference. ----- Matthew Spewak, Princeton High School BBS DNS: mspe@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us UUCP: ...!princeton!phsbbs!mspe Disclaimer: Author bears full responsibility for this message. ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V2 #59 ******************************