Ultrasound Daily Digest     Sat,  2 Jan 93       Volume 2 : Issue   2 

Today's Topics:
							 669 Uploads
					Do NEw WIndow Drivers Help...
	  GUS FAQ -- PRE ALPHA RELEASE (no answers, just questions)
						  GUS memory prob? 
					New, small mod player uploaded
				   New drivers - first impressions 
							 Simpsons...

	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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 2 Jan 93 0:00:42 PST
From: mtichy@sfu.ca
Message-Id: <9301020800.AA01571@fraser.sfu.ca>
Subject: 669 Uploads
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

I will be uploading another batch of .669 music files to 
klingon.epas.utoronto.ca (128.100.160.36).  This music format 
was created by Tran of Renaissance.  You can think of .669 
files as enhanced .mod files because they offer 8 channels, 64 
instruments and 128 patterns, among other improvements.  Here 
are the requirements as stated in the documentation of the 669 
composer:
 
**Begin Quote**
 
  To run this composer you must have the following hardware:
	1) A 386 or better computer.
	2) 2 megz RAM. (1408k extended).
	3) A VGA card.
	4) A Sound Blaster or a Sound Blaster Pro sound card. (On 
	   an SB you will get mono music, on an SBPro you will get 
	   stereo).
	5) DOS 3.0 or above.
 
  When you run this composer, you must not have any memory 
managers or any other programs that run the system in V86 mode, 
and you must not have DOS loaded high. The best configuration 
would be a clean system, but you can experiment to see what 
TSRs and device drivers you can have in memory. Note: Your SB 
or SBP must be on IRQ 3,5, or 7... IRQs 2 and 10 are not 
supported.
 
**End Quote**
 
You can also play .669 files on a Gravis UltraSound with the 
P669GU0.ARJ player which can also be found on the same ftp 
site.  These files will probably sound best on a Gravis 
UltraSound.  1MB of RAM on the UltraSound is recommended.  I'm 
not sure but I think all that is required for the GUS version 
of the player is a GUS, a 386 or better and DOS 3.0 or 
better.  I doubt you'll even need a VGA card because the only 
plain text is displayed.
 
Here are the names of the 669 files contained in this batch:
 
1SONG92.ZIP
ALUMINUM.ZIP
GROOVES.ARJ
XYPHER.ARJ
 
READ669.TXT contains the filenames of the first batch of .669 
files I uploaded.  This is because I didn't feel like making 
a .TXT file for everyone of the .669 files I uploaded.  
However, from now on I will do so to make them more 
recognizable.
 
Oh well, it's going to take forever to upload them at 2400 
bps but I'm going to do it anyway to help out all the GUS 
owners out there.  This batch contains most of the best 
sounding ones.  I urge users who have other .669 files to 
upload them to epas as well.
 
Look in the \pub\pc\ultrasound\submit directory.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 1 Jan 1993 21:06:49 +0800 (WST)
From: rlee@tartarus.uwa.edu.au (Ralph Lee)
Message-Id: <199301011306.AA27890@tartarus.uwa.edu.au>
Subject: Do NEw WIndow Drivers Help...
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

How can I use the Patch Manager to load the patches  I need for a
midi file...

If I still have to exit my program to reload the patches due to
conflicts then it's rather pointless and all the nice gimmicks and stuff
don't ease the problem of having to keep exiting programs like cakewalk
and cadenza to load patches...

Thanks
Ralph
rlee@tartarus.uwa.edu.au

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 1 Jan 93 18:34:32 MST
From: ddebry@itchy (Dave DeBry)
Message-Id: <9301020134.AA13650@itchy>
Subject: GUS FAQ -- PRE ALPHA RELEASE (no answers, just questions)
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

	I've decided (and feel free to yell at me if you think I'm
wrong), that trying to post a "composite" digest to the USENET news
feed is getting silly.  With the questions that are currently being
asked, there is a much greater need for a decent FAQ right now.  (I
know, I know, a lot of you have been telling me this for months.  I
admit it. :)

	So, included in this message is the pre-alpha release of the
GUS faq.  Currently, all that it has is an explanation of what it is,
and the most commonly asked questions about the GUS I could think of.  

	What I need you to do is to read over the FAQ, and then answer
the questions.  Add more questions if you think it needs them, or
delete what you don't like.  Mail me back a copy.

	Meanwhile, I'm going to read all the back issues of the Digest
(what better thing is there to do on the first week of the new
quarter?), and answer some of these myself.  Plus I'll be adding in
everything that people mail me.  In no time at all (realtime FAQ
generation) we'll have a nifty FAQ.  I'll post it to the Digest and
comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard once every two weeks, and keep updating it
as it needs it.

	Sound good to everyone?

	Good.  Now, please contribute.  I'm lazy, and I adhere to the
philosophies of Fido Dido, so if you don't do anything, I'll never get
this done.

	Here's the pre-alpha FAQ:

======================================================================

	Certain questions concerning the Gravis UltraSound ("GUS")
sound card are asked over and over on the UltraSound Daily Digest (a
mailing list for GUS users) and on comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.  These
questions tend to grate on frequent readers of both groups in much the
same way that Ed "You May Already Be A Winner On Star Search" McMahon
does on every living creature on the planet.

	In an attempt to alleviate some of that stress from the lives
of USENET/Internet folk, this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list
has been created.  It is constantly being updated and maintained by a
well trained force of eggplants under the control of Dave DeBry
(<ddebry@dsd.es.com>, <debry@peruvian.cs.utah.edu>).  If you have any
questions, comments, complaints, or extra cash, please feel free to
send them to him.  Don't expect a reply very quickly, as Dave does
have a life outside of this FAQ.

	If you would like to join the mailing list and be privy to the
latest and greatest information, banter, and poor spelling concerning
the GUS, mail to <ultrasound-request@dsd.es.com>.  The automated
server will tell you how to sign up for the mailing list, tell you
where the FTP sites associated with the Digest are (they recieve
software updates directly from Gravis often), and other such
information that will eventually lead you down the trail to Nirvana,
Valhalla, Heaven, or whatever Land O' Happiness your religion wants to
get to.


Index of Questions
------------------
	1] What is the GUS?
	2] How does the GUS emulate the SoundBlaster and Adlib cards?
	3] Where can I get a GUS, and how much will it cost?
	4] What version of the GUS hardware is the latest?
	5] What version of the GUS software is the latest?
	6] Is the GUS still in beta-test phase?
	7] What machines will the GUS work with?
	8] Why should I upgrade the memory onboard my GUS?
	9] Where can I get memory for the GUS, and how much will it cost?
	10] I'm having trouble installing the GUS software...
	11] I'm having trouble getting the GUS to work with Windows...
	12] How do I get the GUS to work with this game?
	13] How do I get the GUS to work with this music program?
	14] How do I get the GUS to work with this aardvark?
	15] What new hardware is coming out for the GUS?
	16] What new software is coming out for the GUS?
	17] What software companies support the GUS?
	18] How do I go about programming the GUS?

======================================================================

	Thanks for all your help in advance!

-- 
Dave  ddebry@ debry@   \ "She had a voice so husky it could have pulled
DeBry dsd.    peruvian. | a dog sled."
	  es.     cs.utah.  |
	  com     edu      /                                 - Tommy Sledge

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 01 Jan 93 22:28:59 -0500
From: "It's your hand, Buckaroo" <dantonio@magick.tay2.dec.com>
Message-Id: <9301020328.AA02420@magick.tay2.dec.com>
Subject: GUS memory prob? 
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

>   I just finished installing my 1meg of Dram into my GUS, and I came 
> across a few things I want to ask about.  The chips in the card it's self are
> 100ns but the ones I installed are 80ns, Is it ok to mix? (the card now has
> 2 100ns and 6 80ns).  The Dram tester says all clear.

------------------------------

Date: 1 Jan 93 19:38:19 GMT
From: s106275@ee.tut.fi (Anssi Saari)
Message-Id: <s106275.725917099@ee.tut.fi>
Subject: New, small mod player uploaded
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

I have uploaded to wuarchive.wustl.edu, in pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS a new module 
player called Powerplayer (pp12.zip). The advantage of this player to others is
that it is small, taking only 31K of that precious 640K we dos users have to
put up with. Also, the player plays the mods correctly, the authors have 
taken considerable effort to ensure that. Because of the size, there are no
cool graphics, naturally. The program invokes a dos shell while playing.

It plays .mod, .stm, .wow (never seen one of these) and 
Octa Composer files. Requires 386 and either a Soundblaster/compatible or
a dac in LPT1 or 2. SBPro is not supported, maybe in a future version. Also,
GUS will probably be supported, as soon as the authors get their GUSes and 
sufficient info on the card (I already gave them the info posted here and 
other sources). PAS support may come, as well.

I can't tell if it works with SBOS. I have my TB coexisting with the GUS and 
no mod player will play if I install SBOS, even though they worked when I had 
only my GUS installed. 

Anssi


-- 
Anssi Saari s106275@ee.tut.fi                
Tampere University of Technology 
Finland, Europe                  

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 01 Jan 93 22:43:51 -0500
From: "It's your hand, Buckaroo" <dantonio@magick.tay2.dec.com>
Message-Id: <9301020343.AA02453@magick.tay2.dec.com>
Subject: New drivers - first impressions 
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

>   By the way, has anyone come across a Windows MIDI player
> that will sequentially play all the MIDI files in a
> directory? Something like MediaPlayer would be nice.

It's call Creative Labs MM Jukebox and it comes in the sbw31.exe archive (I
think) along with the ChatterBox which does the same for WAV files. It's
interesting that Jukebox actually does the patch caching properly! This
archive can be found out on ftp.cica.indiana.edu and it's mirrors...

As for my impression of the new Windows driver, it's mostly GREAT. WinMod
Pro in stereo is awesome and it's nice to have volume control for both WAV
and MID files. However, and this might be an artifact of how I set up
WinMOD, but it really kills Windows to have this puppy cranked up. I've had
it hang for long periods, requiring Ctnl-Alt-Del to get Window's attention!
Of course, the MOD is still playing all the while...

I also had WinMod Pro crash trying to play a mod file. This trashed
Windows, left a little sample looping in the GUS and even brought on the
dreaded Parity Error upon reboot! Even running Ultrinit didn't fix it.
Eventually, I cycled the power and that shut it up...

DDA

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 1 Jan 93 19:35:08 PST
From: brian@ccnext.ucsf.edu (Brian Huddleston)
Message-Id: <9301020335.AA19930@ ccnext.ucsf.edu >
Subject: Simpsons...
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

Does anyone out there have a working ver of the Simpsons mid file?  
Im not good at playing around with the cfg....  (this file, even with about 7 
instruments not being able to be loaded, is great!!.) Who ever created it, 
please send a .cfg with it.....


						brian@ccnext.ucsf.edu

------------------------------

Date: (null)
From: (null)
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

> 1: When I try to play the Simpson mid I keep getting some "Unable to load program 7 to track 4) or something like that. (so the song isn't complete) I still 
> hear  what has been loaded. 

Check the .cfg file (either simpson.cfg or default.cfg) I believe this
tells which instruments map to which patch number. What the error means is
that it was trying to load patch 7, except it couldn't find it. You can
edit up a simpson.cfg and put any patch you like on 7...

> 2: last thing, has anyone had any probs with Starcon][, for some reason, 
> it messes up what playing a few songs, (eg: an instrument in a song is replaced
> with another instrument. or when I fire a missle from the earth ship I sometimes
> hear the effect for the pkunk: "Goober, Idiot, etc....) 

What DMA channel do you have your GUS on? I've heard that Starcon II does
this if you're using an 8-bit DMA channel...

DDA

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End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V2 #2
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