Ultrasound Daily Digest     Sun, 5 Sep 93   :45 MDT      Volume 6: Issue   4  

Today's Topics:
					   Emuset and Ultrasnd.ini
						IRQs available on PCs
						Return to Zork (demo)
						 Return to Zork demo
			   SBOS loading and Patch Manager problems
							   U7 MIDS
				Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #3 (2 msgs)

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: 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 <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
$  
$  > Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1993 17:09:58 -0400 (EDT)
$  > From: "Timothy C. Gion" <gion@chopin.udel.edu>
$  > 
$  > I just d/l'ed megem15b.zip last night.  I ran megem.exe and then tried to
$  > run the emuset.exe program.  It gave me an error msg stating that it
$  > couldn't find the ultrasnd.ini file.  Did I accidentally delete this file
$  
$  The ultrasnd.ini file is used by the Windows driver, so if you are using
$  your GUS in Win, then you must also have ultrasnd.ini lying around 
$  somewhere.
$  
$  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 once wrote...

$  Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1993 11:15:23 +0501 (EDT)
$  From: Gunnar Swanson <gunnar@gibbs.oit.unc.edu>
$  Subject: What the Hell is Megaem
$  
$  Pardon me but what is Megaem,
$  
$   I was out of town this summer and I missed allot of my mail, so I
$  missed the big deal over Megaem.  What is it and what does it do?  Please
$  some one tell me.

Mega-Em is awesome!  That's what it is.  It is a Roland MT-32 and Sound
Canvas emulator for the GUS.  It works spectacularly.  It is unique among
programs that I have encountered in the technique it uses to accomplish
this feat.  It taps into the I/O permission bitmap, and other data
structures of the installed VCPI server, so that an exception is generated
when any program tries to access the Roland I/O port (330h).  When the
exception occurs, Mega-Em's code is called to handle it, and voila!  You
get beautiful MIDI sound from games that know squat about the GUS.  I use
it with Betrayal at Krondor and Ringworld, and it sounds far better than
SBOS, even though digitized effects are absent.

Furthermore, because of the technique Jayeson used to install Mega-Em, it
takes ZERO Kb of memory in the first megabyte.  It is an exceedingly
clever bit of programming all round.

Keep in mind, you must load a VCPI server.  EMM386, QEMM386 or 386MAX will
do just fine.  You can get it from epas in the submit directory, filename
megem100.zip (released finally!  congratulations, Jayeson).


-- 
Mike Batchelor      |
mikebat@netcom.com  |                  This space for rent
mikebat@qdeck.com   |

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

Date: Sat, 4 Sep 93 13:02:34 PDT
From: mikebat@netcom.com (Mike Batchelor)
Subject: IRQs available on PCs
Message-ID: <9309042002.AA18732@netcom2.netcom.com>

You once wrote...
$  
$  Date: Thu, 2 Sep 93 17:59:29 PDT
$  From: Christopher Jon Wilkins <chrisw@leland.Stanford.EDU>
$
$  [...]
$  And why do I ask so many questions?
$  
$  Chris.
$  
$  P.S. How many IRQs are unused on a 486 machine with standard cheapy
$  IDE controller card with one serial port enabled? Just wondering how many 
$  I've got left.
$  

These are the IRqs that are normally unused on a 486, or can be used for
other things if you want:

IRQ0 and IRQ1 are the timer and keyboard interrupts.  You can't put
anything else here.

IRQ 2 (same as IRQ 9) - this is the cascade IRQ to the high IRQs.  Not
normally used for anything else, you can attach a device to it.

IRQ 4 and 3 are COM1 and COM2, respectively.  They can be moved elsewhere
if you wish, to make room for something else.

IRQ 5 is LPT2:  if you have one printer, this is unused.
IRQ 6 is used for floppy disk events.

IRQ 7 is LPT1:.  Normally, you can use this one for a device, because NO
software drives printers via interrupts, polling is used instead because
printers are so slow to begin with.

IRQ 8 is the int10 video interrupt.  Already taken.

IRQ 9 is the same as IRQ 2.

IRQ 10 is unused.  My Mitsumi CD defaults to this IRQ.

IRQ 11 is unused, unless you have a GUS!

IRQ 12 is the MS Mouse interrupt.  This is only used if you have a PS/2 or
Bus mouse.  Serial mice take IRQ 3 or 4.

IRQ 13 is the co-processor - don't use it, even if you have no co pro.

IRQ 14 is the int76 hard disk event.

IRQ 15 is unused.  You can put anything here.

IRQ numbers higher than 9 have priority over IRQ 3-8, because they are all
inserted in the priority queue at the position of IRQ 2.  I put my COM
ports on IRQ 12 and 15 for better communications performance in DESQview.


Hope that helps.

FINK_something once wrote...

$  
$  Date: Thu, 2 Sep 93 14:04:00 +0000
$  From: FINK_MARTIN/HP2000_13@idacom.hp.com
$  
$  Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to
$  get Syndicate to work with GUS.  There have been
$  many messages, all with too few details.  So I
$  sat down, took all the detail, added some of my
$  own, and got it to work.....here is everything
$  you need to do.....
$  
$  CONFIG.SYS
$  ==========
$  
$  DEVICE    = C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
$  BUFFERS   = 30,0
$  FILES     = 30
$  DOS       = HIGH
$  LASTDRIVE = Z
$  FCBS      = 4,0
$  STACKS    = 9,256
$  SHELL     = C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS\ /p
$  DEVICE    = C:\ULTRANSND\ULTRAINIT.SYS ULTRASND=220,1,1,11,7

Doesn't this line give you a "bad or missing ULTRAINIT.SYS" message?
Or is it a typo?

$  DEVICE    = C:\DOS\DBLSPACE.SYS /MOVE

This may be part of your problem.

$  AUTOEXEC.BAT
$  ============
$  
$  @ECHO OFF
$  SET DIRCMD=/L /C /P /A
$  CLS
$  PROMPT $P$G
$  PATH C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS;C:\ULTRASND
$  SET TEMP=C:\DOS
$  SET ULTRASND=220,1,1,11,7
$  SET ULTRADIR=C:\ULTRASND
$  SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T1
$  ULTRINIT
$  C:\DOS\MOUSE
$  SBOS
$  
$  SYND.BAT
$  ========
$  
$  @main >nul: /iirq7 /idma1 /c0
$  
$  
$  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
$  
$  The key things are the change of SYND.BAT and the removal of the
$  EMM386.EXE driver from CONFIG.SYS.  Also, there should be no options
$  on SBOS.  When I used options...it crashed.  Volume settings are
$  OK.  You can use the Syndicate patch 'GUS-SYND.EXE' instead of
$  modifying SYND.BAT.  I know the Syndicate manual days that it will
$  work with EMM386.EXE, but I had solid hard crashes on my HP VECTRA
$  486/33MI when I tried to use it in any configuration.

Syndicate works fine for me with EMM386 and QEMM386.  Stealth is not even
a problem.  I would say that the fault lies in your Vectra, which is a
very wierd machine from a memory management standpoint.  I am not
surprised EMM386 had a problem with sound on a Vectra.  Did you try EMM386
with just the ON parameter - making no high RAM?  You should have at least
D=96 on the EMM386 device to use most any GUS program.

Try this: EMM386.EXE RAM X=C000-C7FF X=E000-E7FF FRAME=C800 I=E800-EFFF
...I=B000-B7FF D=128.  If your Vectra has a SCSI disk controller ROM, you
should also exclude its address range, and move the page frame accordingly.
If that fails, remove the RAM parameter and try again.  If that still
fails, some other memory manager that is not brain-dead would be in order.
The Vectras require some tweaking, and EMM386 doesn't give you the tools
you need to get it to work well.


-- 
Mike Batchelor      |
mikebat@netcom.com  |                  This space for rent
mikebat@qdeck.com   |

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

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> > Date: Thu,  2 Sep 1993 10:29:31 -0400 (EDT)
PH> > From: "Adam K. Rixey" <ar2w+@andrew.cmu.edu>
PH> :
PH> 
PH> > Subject: Return to Zork (demo)
> > Message-ID: <cgVUB=O00VpJ0BU0cN@andrew.cmu.edu>
> > 
> >    There's a demo of the new Return to Zork game at wuarchive
> > (/pub/msdos_uploads/game_demos/zorkdemo.exe) and I'm happy to say 
> > sounds INCREDIBLE with the AIL drivers.  To get it working, copy
> > gf1midi.drv to the directory (I couldn't get digitized sounds work
> > I'm not sure if there even are any in the demo) and execute the de
> > with the command "made demo -o -m:gf1midi".  
> >    Now if only it's as good as the other Zork games were...
> >
> 
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)?...
If the answer to the two previous questions is yes, then it is time to 
	contact Novalogic 

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
Message-ID: <9309041752.AA05620@emunix.emich.edu>

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

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

Date: Sat, 04 Sep 93 22:32:24 EDT
From: Raphael Pungin <IQM221@URIACC.URI.EDU>
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:

PATH=c:\dos;c:\util;c:\bat;c:\windows;c:\ultrasnd
COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM
PROMPT=$p$g
TEMP=C:\TEMP
ULTRADIR=C:\ULTRASND
ULTRASND=240,7,7,11,5
BLASTER=A240 I5 D1 T1

I do have the file sbos.sbs in my sbos subdirectory. The version of SBOS
is 2.08. My system is 386DX33, 4MB RAM, Trident SVGA, GUS, SB PRO, PC-MIDI
card, DOS 6 w/ DoublSpace. I get the same error even when I take my SB PRO
out of the computer.

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.
									 ***
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.

Thanks,
   Raphael
	__________________________________________________________________
   / ___      ___    )( Computer Science, Univ. of Rhode Island, USA /
  / /__/     /__/    () iqm221@uriacc.uri.edu,  pungin@cs.uri.edu,  /
 / /\APHAEL / UNGIN  )( br326@cleveland.freenet.edu _______________/
 \________________________________________________________________/

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

Date: Sat, 04 Sep 93 14:32:58 
From: jason.lin@support.com
Subject: U7 MIDS
Message-ID: <9309041432.A4468wk@support.com>

PT>Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1993 14:18:51 -0400 (EDT)
  >From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
  >Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #2
  >Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309031450.B554-c100000@sciborg>


PT>I don't think there were any U7 MIDs on Epas.  I would have grabbed
them
  >right away had I seen them.  There were some MIDs from Sierra Online
  >games, though...

I swear that there was a copy of U7 MIDs on Epas because I got a copy
off there before..  Nevertheless, I called LD and got the file.

---
   ______        __
  (__  __) ~CG~ / /     |  Internet: jason.lin@support.com
 _  / /        / /      |            izzyvu9@mvs.oac.ucla.edu
( \/ /        / /__     |
 \__/ASON    (_____)IN  |  Fidonet:  1:102/837

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

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>

Adam K. Rixey scurries across a keyboard, producing this:
> Subject: Return to Zork (demo)
> 
>    There's a demo of the new Return to Zork game at wuarchive
> (/pub/msdos_uploads/game_demos/zorkdemo.exe) and I'm happy to say it
> sounds INCREDIBLE with the AIL drivers.  To get it working, copy
> gf1midi.drv to the directory (I couldn't get digitized sounds working,
> I'm not sure if there even are any in the demo) and execute the demo
> with the command "made demo -o -m:gf1midi".  

	According to the readme, there are digitized sounds.

>    Now if only it's as good as the other Zork games were...

	Doubt it (said Dave, playing the devil's advocate).  Of
course, I'm a die-hard text adventure fan.  Sound and graphics DO NOT
belong in *any* Infocom game.  DEATH TO THE ACTIVISION/MEDIAGENIC
BASTARDS!!! 

	Excuse the outburst.  Tender subject.  :)

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!

	Sorry.  Hey, as long as you are writing to them, get them to
join the mailing list.  I promise not to slam them anymore.

	Much.

	:)

-- 
Dave  ddebry@ debry@   \ 
DeBry dsd.    peruvian. | "Try a banana in your shoe and you'll know
	  es.     cs.utah.  |  what a day is."
	  com     edu      /  

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

Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1993 17:39:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #3
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309041725.B5448-b100000@sciborg>

> Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1993 09:31:49 -0500 (CDT)
> From: Michael Allen <mlallen@uafhp.uark.edu>
> Subject: dune2ail.zip
> Message-ID: <Pine.3.07.9309030949.A18587-8100000@uafhp.uark.edu>
> 
> 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.

Download /pub/pc/ultrasound/submit/umid102.zip from Epas.

> Date: Fri, 03 Sep 1993 17:53:20 -0600 (MDT)
> From: BRUECKD@yvax.byu.edu
> Subject: GUS SDK Corrupt?
> Message-ID: <01H2IQU84JPE8Y5IZQ@yvax.byu.edu>
> 
>  I have tried to get the Ultrasound SDK from all 3 FTP sites listed in the FAQ,
> but the file I get is always corrupt. The file, GUSDK201.ZIP is unreadable by
> PKUnzip... stupid mistake on my part?? Any help appreciated..
>

I just DLed the file from Epas and it tested fine for me.  Are you using
binary mode for the transfer?
 
> Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1993 11:15:23 +0501 (EDT)
> From: Gunnar Swanson <gunnar@gibbs.oit.unc.edu>
> Subject: What the Hell is Megaem
> Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309031123.A27946-9100000@gibbs.oit.unc.edu>
> 
> Pardon me but what is Megaem,
> 
>   I was out of town this summer and I missed allot of my mail, so I
> missed the big deal over Megaem.  What is it and what does it do?  Please
> some one tell me.
>

It's what GUS owners have been yearning for ever since the card was
first announced: an MT-32/SCC-1 emulator.

You can download it from Epas /pub/pc/ultrasound/submit/megem100.zip

Phat. 

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

Date: Sat, 4 Sep 93 21:49:58 +0200
From: kuhnert@welfa5.elektro.uni-wuppertal.de (Graphik-Gruppe)
Message-ID: <9309041949.AA01172@welfa5>



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

End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #4
************************************
