Ultrasound Daily Digest     Tue,  8 Dec 92       Volume 1 : Issue  42 

Today's Topics:
					 \\illiam \\atters speaks...
					Are patches sampled in stereo?
				   Computability has GUS's in stock
						GUS and Games (2 msgs)
					  GUS and OPTi (Mine works!)
						   GUS and Windows
						  GUS and Windows...
						IRQ and DMA conflicts
				More on the OPTI chipset nightmare...
			New uploads at epas (MOD player & MIDI songs)
					   Pesky GUS problems again
				  Problems with GUS and Modedit 3.01
					 SBOS v1.22 (Beta is Better!)
							  starcon II
				  Subject: Where to get a GUS at???
				 Testing newer SBOS / MIDI questions
					Trak Blaster 2.0 + Wowii v1.30
						Ultrasound kills OS/2
					Ultrasound support: correction

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

Date: Mon, 07 Dec 92 13:04:23 -0500
From: "It's your hand, Buckaroo" <dantonio@magick.tay2.dec.com>
Message-Id: <9212071804.AA07596@magick.tay2.dec.com>
Subject: \\illiam \\atters speaks...
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

When I saw the message about William Watters and LucasArts, I composed an
extremely polite message and sent it off. William sent me this (which
includes my message). If anyone has the original messages, where he said it
was bland, etc, can you send 'em to me?

\\illiam \\atters, LucasArts Games sez:

Someone has either truly misquoted me, or has been tampring with my e-mail, as
I have never posted anything saying that it "truly sucks", or is "bland". My
official word which was supposed to have been sent out was that it was still a
new product, and that we would wait a time to see if it takes off as its users
predict and that it will be around for a while. 
That it what it should have said...

I'm requesting if you could relay this around your nets, and also if you could
forward me the original message which contains these quotes (I'm especially
interested in the seen-by lines which will are attached at your end.)

Thank you,
\\illiam \\atters
LucasArts Games
_______________________________________________________________________________
From: It's your hand, Buckaroo on Fri, Dec 4, 1992 4:57 PM
Subject: Gravis UltraSound Support.
To: watters@kerner.com

William,

	After seeing a comment by you in the newsgroup
comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard concerning the Gravis UltraSound, I had to write
to you expressing my disbelief. While I admit that all I had previous to
the Gravis was a SoundBlaster, I must say the sound quality of the Gravis
is FAR superiour to that of the SoundBlaster. I also don't understand the
comment about the "speech sucks", since the included speech files seemed
clear and sharp, although I will admit that I get tired of hearing "SBOS
installed" all the time. But certainly not due to the quality and I can
change it to say something else.

	I can only assume that you listened to the SoundBlaster emulator (SBOS)
when you evaluated the board. If this is true, it's a totally unfair way to
judge the UltraSound, since SBOS is trying to emulate a SoundBlaster and
hence won't sound the same by any means. Did you try the included demo MIDI
files? How about the included .SND files, some of which are speech? Since
you say you were involved with Star Control II, you MUST have heard what
the board is capable of!

While I'm not going to presume to tell you how to run your business, or
what sound cards to support, I will say that adopting a "wait and see"
attitude won't endear your company to the thousands of UltraSound owners
out there now. I will certainly give preference to games that will support
my UltraSound in native mode.

In short, I ask you to reconsider your intention of waiting a year to see
"how the card is doing." You could be losing alot of sales during that year.

Thanks for your time,
DDA

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 6:57:05 EST
From: iam@stiatl.salestech.com (Ian Mercado)
Message-Id: <9212070657.AA00559@stiatl.salestech.com>
Subject: Are patches sampled in stereo?
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

I am curious...do the .PAT patch files contain actual stereo samples, or are
they just mono samples which can then be played back in a certain position
in the Left-Right stereo range.

Also...behold yet another user with problems...

> THE DAY FINALLY ARRIVED.  After ordering from EA in August, taking their 
> grief, getting the card from Disk-Count instead, the GUS has finally made 
> it to my machine.
> 
> All has gone well, 'cept for games.  Mididemo, Flidemo, Windows all work 
> flawlessly (the midis were even better than I imagined.)

Deleted bunch of stuff about SBOS not working right.

You wouldn't have an OPTI chipset on your motherboard, would you?  Supposedly,
these motherboards are flakely, although up to this point, I had experienced
no problems with it whatsoever.  (I must admit that my experience with using
16 bit expansion boards with it is rather limited.  Just the IDE board has
been 16 bit up to now).

Oh, another thing...if Gravis doesn't make that board smaller soon, there will
be a lot of motherboards that this thing won't even fit in to.  If I had filled
up all my SIMM banks (instead of just four of them), I would not have had a 
slot that I could physically insert my Ultrasound into.

<Bitch whine moan!>

Un-subscribe-from-list

:-)

Ian

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 10:28:20 EST
From: Mike J. Brown <mjbrown@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Message-Id: <9212071528.AA09665@bottom.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: Computability has GUS's in stock
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

I called around all morning to various advertisers in the latest
Computer Shopper.  Here's what I got:

Telemart - 1.800.821.2033
$125+8= $132   "no chance till at least after Jan 1" per Travis.

Fast Micro - 1.800.441.FAST
$129+6= $135   "avg 10-14 days for special orders" per Anthony but they
			   have to get it from Gravis, so it could be any length of time

LP Graphics - 1.800.628.4517
$135+9= $144   "none in stock" (salesman said he would check with warehouse
			   and make sure, and call me back)

Digital Media Labs - 1.800.735.0605
				busy all morning

Computability - 1.800.554.9950
$135+5%= $141.75  I asked "do you have to order them?" and he said "no, we
				  do have them in stock".  I said "I'll take one."
				  He said it would be here in a week at the latest. HOORAY!!!

Mike

															Mike Brown
									 mjbrown@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
_  _ _____________________________What is the nature of YOUR Universe?

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

Date: Sun, 6 Dec 1992 01:09:23 GMT
From: rdippold@cancun.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold)
Message-Id: <rdippold.723604163@cancun>
Subject: GUS and Games
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

Let me know any additions or updates for this.  This is from my
personal testing and the testing of others.

Native GUS Support
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Star Control II
Chuck Yeager Flight Combat Simulator
 
SBOS 1.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alone in the Dark                       No settings
AV8B Harrier Attack                     -o2
Blaster Master                          -x3
Civilization                            No settings
Escape from Alcatraz                    -o3
F-15 Strike Eagle II                    -o3
Fate of Atlantis                        No settings
Formula One Grand Prix                  No settings (-o2 if sound cuts out)
Front Page Sports Football              No settings
Galactix 1.3                            -o3
Heart of China                          No settings
King's Quest VI                         -o3
Leather Godesses of Phobos II           -o1
Legend of Kyrandia                      No settings
Legend of Robin Hood                    No settings
Lemmings                                Lemmings -x for PC type
Links 386 1.05 or later                 -o1 -x2  (turn off background sounds)
PGA Golf                                -o2
Prince of Persia                        -o1
Monkey Island II                        No settings
Reader Rabbit II                        No settings
Red Baron                               No settings
Siege                                   -x3
Sim Ant                                 No settings
Strange Deadfellows                     GF1 int = MIDI int
Unreal Demo                             IRQ must be 2
Where in the World is Carmen...         -o1
Willy Beamish                           No settings
 
 
SBOS earlier than 1.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dune                                    -o2
Earl Weaver Baseball II                 -o2
King's Quest V                          -o2
Wolfenstein 3D                          -o2

-- 
Blind drunk and hauling ass / He got airborne off an overpass
He never knew he left the ground / Like a warhead target bound

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

Date: Sun, 6 Dec 1992 06:21:38 GMT
From: ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Phat H Tran)
Message-Id: <Bytr03.B0F@watserv2.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: GUS and Games
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

In article <rdippold.723604163@cancun> rdippold@cancun.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold) writes:
>Let me know any additions or updates for this.  This is from my
>personal testing and the testing of others.
>

Here are a few other games that work with SBOS 1.20, no settings:

Elite Plus
Aces of the Pacific
Ultima Underworld
Stunts (slight slowdown)
Falcon 3.0
Wrath of the Demon
Knights of the Sky

>Native GUS Support
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Star Control II
>Chuck Yeager Flight Combat Simulator
> 
>SBOS 1.20
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Alone in the Dark                       No settings
>AV8B Harrier Attack                     -o2
>Blaster Master                          -x3
>Civilization                            No settings
>Escape from Alcatraz                    -o3
>F-15 Strike Eagle II                    -o3
>Fate of Atlantis                        No settings
>Formula One Grand Prix                  No settings (-o2 if sound cuts out)
>Front Page Sports Football              No settings
>Galactix 1.3                            -o3
>Heart of China                          No settings
>King's Quest VI                         -o3
>Leather Godesses of Phobos II           -o1
>Legend of Kyrandia                      No settings
>Legend of Robin Hood                    No settings
>Lemmings                                Lemmings -x for PC type
>Links 386 1.05 or later                 -o1 -x2  (turn off background sounds)
>PGA Golf                                -o2
>Prince of Persia                        -o1
>Monkey Island II                        No settings
>Reader Rabbit II                        No settings
>Red Baron                               No settings
>Siege                                   -x3
>Sim Ant                                 No settings
>Strange Deadfellows                     GF1 int = MIDI int
>Unreal Demo                             IRQ must be 2
>Where in the World is Carmen...         -o1
>Willy Beamish                           No settings
> 
> 
>SBOS earlier than 1.20
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Dune                                    -o2
>Earl Weaver Baseball II                 -o2
>King's Quest V                          -o2
>Wolfenstein 3D                          -o2
>
>-- 
>Blind drunk and hauling ass / He got airborne off an overpass
>He never knew he left the ground / Like a warhead target bound

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 4:58:34 PST
From: (Gnit Leirbag)
Message-Id: <9212071258.AA26351@fraser.sfu.ca>
Subject: GUS and OPTi (Mine works!)
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

:) From: thomasp@csufres.CSUFresno.EDU (Thomas Pearson)
:) Message-Id: <9212070601.AA00567@csufres.CSUFresno.EDU>
:) Subject: Will the GUS work with a OPTI chipset??
:) To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>
:) 
:) I have heard that for some reason or another the GUS will not work with
:) OPTI chipshits????
:) 
:) I have a 25Mhz 486DX with a OPTI chipset 2 (c) 1989 chipset.
:) 
:) 
:) Will I be able to get the GUS to work with this motherboard or what??

Fret not. The chip sounds like the exact one I have on my 386dx25 board,
and I haven't had any problems with my GUS. I even have a WD-7000 SCSI
controller co-existing peacefully with a generic IDE controller on my
board with no problems. BTW, what's the date on the chip? Mine's 9101...

:) 
:) I was going to buy a GUS this week,  but if I can't get the thing to work
:) with this motherboard---FORGET IT!!!
:) 
:) I can't replace the board because I have had it for over a year now.
:) 
:) It seems to work with EVERYTHING!!  I mean programs, games, and I have had
:) no problem with my scanner.  Of coarse, I don't have a sound board or a 
:) CD-ROM or something that useds the DMA so I can't tell you anything more.
:) 
:) Is there a way a can tell if I have a proper 16-bit DMA channel or do I
:) just have to buy a GUS and find out that I don't.
:) 
:) Does anyone have a OPTI chipset that the GUS works with???
Besides myself, I think there may be two others on the net. Not too sure.

:) 
:) That is all.
:) 
:) Please post to the usergroup or mail to this list.
:) 
:) -----
:) /****************************************************************************\
:) * Thomas Pearson                     |Internet:                              *
:) * California State University, Fresno|thomasp@csufres.CSUFresno.EDU          *
:) \****************************************************************************/

Gabriel Ting
gting@sfu.ca

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

Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1992 16:15:38 GMT
From: yoshida@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Stuart Yoshida)
Message-Id: <107370006@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM>
Subject: GUS and Windows
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard, c60a-lj@danube.Berkeley.EDU (Rasputin) writes:
> How well does the GUS work in the windows enviornment?
> [...]

  In my opinion the GUS works great in Windows.  I have my environment
  set up such that everytime I open the Quote For The Day program,
  Windows plays "The Four Seasons" by Vivaldi (a MIDI song).  My talking
  clock will *simultaneously* tell me the time of day using digitized
  speech.  Awesome!

  The GUS will work with any Windows program that plays back standard
  MID or WAV files.  I have used it successfully with Wired For Sound
  Pro by Aristosoft and Media Player by Microsoft (an applet included
  with Windows 3.1) to play back some wonderful sounding MID files.
  However, as it has been mentioned previously, many Windows sequencing
  programs do not take full advantage of the Multi-Media Extensions
  available under Windows that are needed to run the GUS properly.  The
  workaround is to use a program like Media Player that uses the MMEs
  that the GUS needs to load the sound patches before using a sequencer
  like Cakewalk, Master Tracks Pro, etc.

  However, there are at least two sequencers that will support the GUS
  via MMEs:  MidiSoft Recording Session by MidiSoft and Power Chords by
  Howling Dog.

  I think that the full potential of the GUS is best exploited in the
  Windows environment, and that's how I intend to use it.  When the
  GUS-supported versions of MidiSoft Recording Session and Power Chords
  programs become available, you best believe that I'll be getting them
  ASAP.

  The 16-bit professional quality recording card from Gravis has been
  speculated to be ready for release by the end of January 1993.  I'm
  not holding my breath, but I will also be snagging up this card once
  it's available.  For now I'm just enjoying the sound of my GUS as I
  initialize Windows and hear Jean-Luc Picard say, "Engage."  :-) :-)
  :-)

--

  Stuart Yoshida

Internet: yoshida@elektra.fc.hp.com
   Voice: (303) 229-2324

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1992 05:02:43 GMT
From: gting@fraser.sfu.ca (Gabriel Sii Kuok Ting)
Message-Id: <gting.723704563@sfu.ca>
Subject: GUS and Windows...
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

ehobbs@nmt.edu (Eric Hobbs) writes:

>Hi folks.

>I got my GUS a few days ago and it sounds great!
> 
>I have noticed some peculiarities, though.  Sometimes
>when I run windows, after it plays the Ta Da .WAV, I'll get
>mucho garbage through the card.  Eventually, it stops, so then I
>quit Windows and then I get the exit windows sound followed by 
>a lot of static again.  Then my machine appears to crash.
> 
>Anybody have any ideas why this happens?

You obviously must have loaded sbos beforehand. Even if you unload sbos with
the -f parameter, windows will still give you garbage. There are two ways to
go about it: (1) Hard boot the system, as in switching off and on again. I've
found that even hitting the bloody reset button doesn't clear the sbos 
stuff inside the GUS's ram. 
(2) WOuld be a better choice. Just run playmidi before running windows. It 
somehow manages to clear the RAM on board... 

:)

> 
>Also, is there anyway to change the patches that SBOS uses?

Should be. There just aren't any new patches out yet...

> 
>Thanks,
> 
>Eric A. Hobbs
>ehobbs@jupiter.nmt.edu

Gabriel Ting
gting@sfu.ca

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 11:42:53 GMT
From: "James Andrews, User Support" <james@sol1.east-london.ac.uk>
Message-Id: <8225.9212071143@uk.ac.uel.sol1>
Subject: IRQ and DMA conflicts
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

Like half the people on here my GUS is arriving sometime soon so....
Does anyone know of a pd utility that will list current devices IRQ settings
and (is this right?) DMA port numbers?  Eg My Western Digital card is on
IRQ 2, 280 under 386bsd.....which lists all devices at boot time but often
forces the system to use different IRQ/port numbers to DOS ( and why not?)

I would like a DOS utility to list these things to be able to sort out
if there are any conflicts.  Im sure that something like this would be of
general interest on this mailing list given that a lot of the problems 
people are experiencing installing cards are because of conflicts.

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 6:30:19 EST
From: iam@stiatl.salestech.com (Ian Mercado)
Message-Id: <9212070630.AA00273@stiatl.salestech.com>
Subject: More on the OPTI chipset nightmare...
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

Yes, I'm the guy who posted that wonderfully long message about my experience
trying (with limited success) to get SBOS to produce digitized sounds.  It
turns out, that yes, indeed, I have a 486/33 motherboard with the OPTI chipset.
Like many others, the ultrasound will not work correctly with my motherboard
because of this.  However, the motherboard that I was successfully able to
get everything to work on is also based on the OPTI chipset, but this one was
a 386/40.  

I WAS actually able to get SBOS digitized stuff to work on my
486/33, but I had to disable both Internal and External RAM caching in the
CMOS settings.  Since this is obviously not an acceptable alternative, I guess
I'll still be returning my Gravis until they either fix the problem or I get
a new motherboard.  (Which will probably be a while...that 486/33 still has
a lot of life left in it.)

I'm not too concerned, however.  SBOS is still not on par with an actual
Soundblaster.  (Ever notice how much worse your .MOD players sound?  Stick back
in a Soundblaster...then you'll notice.)  Yes, I know...all these shortcomings
will soon be a thing of the past when people start supporting the GUS, but for
me that's a moot point.  Maybe when this "lower chip count" board comes out,
the problem will magically be gone.

> I've been hearing some stuff about the Gravis not liking motherboards
> with the OPTI chipset.  I'm waiting for mine t o come in the mail
> and this concerns me because, of course, i have an OPTI motherboard.
> Is this for 486's only, or 386's too?  I have a 386-40 with the usual
> Trident SVGA, generic multi card, etc etc...
> 

Read above.  Worked great on my 386/40.

> I have heard that for some reason or another the GUS will not work with
> OPTI chipshits????
> 
> I have a 25Mhz 486DX with a OPTI chipset 2 (c) 1989 chipset.
> 
> 
> Will I be able to get the GUS to work with this motherboard or what??
> 

Give it a shot and see.  If not, take it back.

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

Date: Tue, 8 Dec 92 1:14:13 EST
From: Meshreki@ee.udel.edu
Message-Id: <9212080614.aa02020@zip.ee.udel.edu>
Subject: New uploads at epas (MOD player & MIDI songs)
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

ftp epas.utoronto.ca:/pub/pc/ultrasound/submit/

	gsfiles1.zip
	ds15demo.exe

gsfiles1 is another collection of midi songs (.mid), one of which
is the infamous canyon.mid from Windows 3.1, but with more patches.

ds15demo.exe is an impressive mod player/editor written by the
Space Pigs.  Once you realize that _everything_ on the screen is a
button that you can press, you are ready to use it.  I think you
need a mouse and EGA.

Sam

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

Date: 7 Dec 92 14:57:37 EDT
From: Richard Wyckoff <RWYCKOFF@cardinal.sc107.wesleyan.edu>
Message-Id: <MAILQUEUE-101.921207145730.544@cardinal.sc107.wesleyan.edu>
Subject: Pesky GUS problems again
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

	Has there been any solution to the Starcon2 problems yet?  I just upgraded
to 1meg of RAM and while most of the music functions ok (booting under almost
completely clean set up), whenever it plays the tone associated with making
menu selections, the tone will play, followed by noise (which doesn't go away
until some music plays).  Is there a patch for this game yet?

	On a related note, has anyone experienced the following problems with
Windows:  more often than not (even after reboot), when Windows goes to play
the wav file during startup, it will play, and then dump a whole bunch of
samples (like all the Starcon2 samples).  Again, this is even if I've done a
warm boot in between playing Starcon and running Windows.  Maybe NCC really is
a problem?  I run it to set keyboard repeat rates.  (And I definitely never
run SBOS before running Windows, so that can't be it).

	I can't exactly blame these problems on the GUS, since I believe my
motherboard is flaky.  I'll see if they go away when I replace it (in a couple
weeks), but they seem more like sound board problems.  I hope Gravis gets more
of the bugs worked out of this board in the next hardware revision (and I hope
we can trade in our boards for new ones).

**              Richard Wyckoff - Catullus - .Sig radio edit               **
** RWYCKOFF@CARDINAL.SC107.WESLEYAN.EDU  --  RWYCKOFF@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU   **

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

Date: 4 Dec 92 18:16:00 GMT
From: v128nkga@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu
Message-Id: <ByqyrH.D2I@acsu.buffalo.edu>
Subject: Problems with GUS and Modedit 3.01
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

	Hi, I've had my GUS for about a week now, and overall I'm
pretty happy with it.  I've gotten pretty much everything working
(with a bit of help from the net -- thanks!).  However, there is
still one program that I cannot get to run correctly (well, there's
only one remaining problem at the moment :).
	The problem, as the subject suggests, is with modedit 3.01
which I picked up from epas.utoronto.ca.  It refuses to run with
my GUS.
	OK, here's the situation :

	When I first load it, it defaults to pc speaker, and I
get some really poor sound from that (which I was trying to
avoid with the GUS :).  Fine.  Everything works (at least everything
I tried) with the pc speaker.
	Next, I go to the configuration and change it to sound
blaster (btw, I've already loaded sbos).  I go to play a file, choose
a file (the one that it comes with) and play.  And, everything
seems to work.  I get music from the speakers that sounds, well, OK.
	The problem is that I can't stop the playback .. at all!
I tried moving the mouse .. nothing.  Tried the arrows on the keyboard ..
nothing.  Tried the t key (for sTop playback) .. nothing.  I tried
telling the program to only play a part of the song .. it never stops.
If I hit enough keys on the keyboard, I eventually get an internal
stack overflow (or something), and I have to reboot (yay! :/).

	Has anyone else had this problem .. has anyone solved this
problem?  I know several people have gotten modedit working with
the GUS, but from the messages, it seems like it has been no problem.
So, does anyone out there have any ideas of what I'm missing, what
I have to try, what option you use with sbos (I've used -o2, which,
I've noticed sounds noticeably better than -o1 -- less hiss).
	Thanks for any help in advance.  Please e-mail or post
any replies.  If I get a bunch of requests for an answer to this
problem (assuming I'm not the _only_ one), I'll just forward the
answer that I receive (assuming that I get an answer :).
	Once again, thanks in advance for any help.

					Later,
					Henry

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 14:23:31 MST
From: Stuart Yoshida <yoshida@elektra.fc.hp.com>
Message-Id: <9212072123.AA02585@elektra.fc.hp.com>
Subject: SBOS v1.22 (Beta is Better!)
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

  I've downloaded the newest version of SBOS (v1.22), and, at
  least for me, it works much better than the previous version!
  Now I can play Star Trek in DOS *AND* have my mouse work!  Such
  a deal.  But seriously, it works great.

  Now, my question is:  How do you get SoundBlaster emulation
  under Windows?  I suspect that I'll have to sacrifice native
  GUS support, so I'm reluctant to try it.  The Super Tetris for
  Windows requires a SoundBlaster card for the music to work :-(

  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

  AdTHANXvance,

--

  Stuart Yoshida

Internet: yoshida@elektra.fc.hp.com
   Voice: (303) 229-2324

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 20:55:47 -0800
From: cliff@trifid.astro.ucla.edu (cliff UCLA Astronomy)
Message-Id: <9212080455.AA08364@trifid.astro.ucla.edu>
Subject: starcon II
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

 I just got StarControl II and tried it out on my 486 33mhz.  I checked my
 system docs and discovered that my motherboard has the Opti-486WB chipset
 with 8megs of 70ns RAM.  I started using my GUS last week with playmidi
 and the windows media player.  So far everything works (DMA 6 IRQ 5 IRQ 11).
 When I started up melee in the starcon2 directory and tried to set up the
 melee, i got a load whinning noise.  When I actually started the melee,
 the sounds were nice but eventually, to game slowed to a crawl until it
 would locked up.  I tried this both booting up with himem.sys and dos high
 and booting from a floppy with no memory management.  Any ideals.

 cliff
 cliff@trifid.astro.ucla.edu

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1992 15:03:47 GMT
From: cwatters@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Coyt D Watters)
Message-Id: <1992Dec7.150347.16298@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: Subject: Where to get a GUS at???
Summary: In stores or via the mail
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

In article <9212050013.AA29236@csufres.CSUFresno.EDU> thomasp@csufres.CSUFresno.EDU (Thomas Pearson) writes:
>
>I would like to buy a Gravis Ultrasound.
>
>I have been reading this usergroup for the last two months and have heard
>that one place to get the Gravis at is a place called
>"Disk-Count Software", phone number 1-(800)-448-6658.
>
I bought mine though disk-count.  It came to about $135, and was shipped 
UPS 2-day.  It took 3, but that's ok.

Always ask if the item is in stock.  They said "plenty" of Gravis when I 
called.

>In the event that my Gravis doesn't work with my computer, heaven forbid,
>can I return it to either of these places?? 

Disk-count is all sales final.  Returns only for defective merchandise.


I was in Electronics Boutique t'other day.  They had one.  Asked salesman - 

	"Yeah, we got a few, don't know anything about them."

Maybe he used to work at Radio-Shack B^).  BTW  EB price was $161 + tax.

(I sure hope mine works.  My wife actually got it for me for xmas and won't
 let me have it yet.  I keep offering to let her have one of her presents if
 I can have the GUS. )

-Coyt

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 16:21:25 CST
From: ken@batman.austin.ibm.com (Ken Goach)
Message-Id: <9212072221.AA03393@batman.austin.ibm.com>
Subject: Testing newer SBOS / MIDI questions
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

Hi all,

Hope this note finds you in good GUSing!

Yesterday I downloaded the newer (1.21 I think) version of SBOS from
the Gravis BBS. It seems to run a little faster - Wing Commander
wasn't quite as slow as it had been. I think it even sounds better, but
that may be more between my ears than on my hard drive! ;-)

One bad thing did happen, though. I was playing Spear of Destiny (a
really bitchin game, with great GUS sound!) when we got to the spear!
When we picked it up, everything froze expect the music. The GUS kept
right on play music, but we couldn't move, reboot, anything. I had to
do a cold boot. We tried it two more times with the same results -
once we got the spear, everything froze. Well, we finished that part
without sound, saved our game on the next level, and restarted using
SBOS for sound. Everything else was fine from then on. Really weird.

Also, you Wolf 3-D players may have noticed that sometimes the sounds
(guns, doors, voices) will stop. I've narrowed it to two events. One is
finding a secret door, the other is when a level boss talks. After each
of these, no digitized sounds will play unless you do something like
save the game (F8 key for quick save) or hit escape then select "Back
to game." Then the sound works fine. Kind of a pain, but still better
than a Soundblaster! ;-)

I am also having some trouble with 4-D Boxing. The digitized voices
are sssslllllooooowwwwww. Haven't played with the -o -x parameters
enough yet, though. And I haven't tried it with SBOS 1.21.

What's out there now in the way of new software from Gravis, and
how does it work? Did someone mention a *1.22* level?

Onto MIDI. I am currently experimenting with Dan McKee's Winjammer.
Dan's great - he answers email and everything! The GUS works well
with Winjammer. Still, I have some Windows/MIDI questions for ya'll:

-WHEN IS THE MIDI INPUT GOING TO WORK?!?!?! I am dying to hook up
 an external keyboard and get busy!
-Is there a better MIDIMAP.CFG (or similar file) for the patch tables?
 I keep thinking things are not quite right. What settings should I
 be using? MT-32 works, BTW.

-Anyone cracked the patch loading problem yet? Please say yes.

A friend got me the scdemos.zip file off some ftp server (probably
Indiana) and they sound really really good! A few anomalies here
and there, but they sound really good. Where can I get more, besides
the site in Canada?

Since everyone was complaining about USS8, I thought I'd say that I
find it O.K. I have made quite a few SND files from movies, and plan
on making more, with USS8. I'd like to make some available for you
all to see what you think. Someone tell me the best way to do this.
I'll try mailing one to the ftp server - a Ferris Beuler file called
PSANDQS.SND for your approval. They are 22 khz stereo, I think.

One thing I discovered - USS8 froze a lot when I hit the Sample and Mon
buttons. Now I just use the Mon button, and when I record it records
just fine. Anyone else got any USS8 tricks?

As always, reply to ken@austin.ibm.com, not ken@batman......

Ken

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 22:07:06 -0800
From: ejohnson@nike.calpoly.edu (Jade)
Message-Id: <9212080607.AA1317991@nike.calpoly.edu>
Subject: Trak Blaster 2.0 + Wowii v1.30
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

Hi all,

Thought you might like some mod players to mess around with.  I've uploaded
wowii130.zip and tblast20.arj to epas.

wowii130 (I believe) is the latest version.  It works great with my GUS.

tblast20 also works great.  I had no slow down even when I put all the
scopes and waveforms on.  I'm using a 386sx25 so most of you should
have no problem.

On a different note (no pun intended) :-)

With the cakewalk for Windows demo I'd like to pan different channels left
and right.  I think -1 is off and 64 is centered.  Does anyone know
what full left and right are?  I can't experiment because I have no
left and right speaker currently.

I hope that patch loader comes out soon.  Has anyone been able to hack
any software for the GUS yet?  I'd love to beta test anything available.

Chris, if you read this, is Gravis working on a patch for Wizardry 7?
No one has been able to get it to run correctly yet.

Thanks in advance,

Erik


-------------------------------------
Nox Quondam, Nox Futura....
------------------
ejohnson@hebe.calpoly.edu
-------------------------------------

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 11:28:25 CST
From: <woan@vnet.ibm.com> (Ronald S. Woan)
Message-Id: <9212071728.AA20694@exeter.austin.ibm.com>
Subject: Ultrasound kills OS/2
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

> Well, as Alan from Gravis puts it.... OS/2's comment about being "a
> better DOS than DOS" ain't exactly correct in that it can't handle some
> of the things DOS program can tell DOS to do. In other words, just like
> those with the Sound Blaster, PAS,....etc.... wait for the OS/2 drivers
> to come out. The driver for SB is out by the way.

OS/2 has limitations in DOS support in terms of interrupts and support
of some undocumented calls, but I think you will find that overall it
is better a better DOS than DOS in its configurability, builtin
caching, and memory management (virtual EMS,DPMI).

OS/2 MMPM/2 drivers will do nothing for DOS applications (they are out
supporting both PAS and SB cards). CL is working on a virtual DOS
driver for their cards; however, people with PAS and SB cards are
reporting few problems with use of their cards in the DOS emulation of
OS/2 as opposed to the GUS which can basically kill off OS/2's DOS
sessions.

I have nothing to do with OS/2 except as a user, but I hope that AG
will work with IBM to rectify the problems.

+-----All Views Expressed Are My Own And Are Not Necessarily Shared By------+
+------------------------------My Employer----------------------------------+
+ Ronald S. Woan       (IBM VNET)WOAN AT AUSTIN, woan@exeter.austin.ibm.com +
+ outside of IBM                       woan@vnet.ibm.com or woan@cactus.org +
+ others     woan@soda.berkeley.edu Prodigy: XTCR74A Compuserve: 73530,2537 +

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

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 20:52:57 EST
From: Etienne Mayrand <etienne@osd.ulaval.ca>
Message-Id: <9212080152.AA05383@lac_tonnerre.osd.ulaval.ca>
Subject: Ultrasound support: correction
To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>

Oups, I just found out that my last message was broken up by
the digestive system of the mail server. It seems that it searches
for the keyword "From: " to decide where a new message begins. Since
my message contained a few of those, it deed weird things to it.

I don't know how many people were confused, but I sure was.
So here is the correct version:

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

Hi everybody,

As most of those who purchased an Ultrasound, I know that its the best
soundcard available for less than 200$ on the market today. Period.
I also know how great it sounds. Sure, I've had my share of problems
and anxiety attacks, but I knew I was taking a risk when I bought this
new product only one week after its release, back in October. After all,
you don't get at the cutting edge of technology without some bruises. But,
in the end, I'm a very satisfied customer.

What worries me, though, is the increasing number of game companies
announcing that they won't support this great new soundcard, for this or
that reason. Just to remind you of the reasons invoked so far by the game
developers, I have compiled the following list:

-------------------------------
	BEGIN INCLUDED MESSAGES

> From: Sierra
> 
> Sorry, but the way we create our sound files and the lack of RAM on
> the Ultrasound card make it almost impossible for us to support it.
> 
> Anonymous Sysop
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> From: Spectrum Holobyte
> 
> I am head of development at Spectrum HoloByte and also worked on
> Accolade Star Control I and II products.  I have been VERY involved with
> Gravis on various projects incuding the Ultrasound.  It has been our 
> experience that the UltraSound is significantly more difficult to support 
> than competing sound cards.  This is partly due to it being flakely in
> different machines (something they know about and are fixing), and the 
> fact that they only supply object modules for developer's to be compatible
> with. This severely limits software developer's access to the board.  A 
> third noteworthy reason that it is more difficult to support is that
> it has some capabilities that surpass existing sound cards.
> 
> Here at Spectrum we are working with next generation sound cards just 
> around the corner that far outperform all cards on the market today. 
> Consumers are in for a lot of wondeful choices.
> 
> AJ Redmer
> Executive Director, R & D
> Spectrum HoloByte, Inc.
> ajredmer@netcom.com
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> From: LucasArts
> To: Ultrasound Daily Digest <ultrasound@dsd.es.com>
> 
> At this time, nope. I've listened to many cards, all with the same
> machine, same speakers, just different cards. And with so many new 
> developers coming out with new cards it's difficult to find ones that
> will stay any sort of distance. When some of the dust settles, we may
> look into it. Just not at this time. 
>  
> And on a side note, when I tested the cards, Gravis is actually pretty
> bland compared to most. And it's speech truly sucks...
> Still 99% of it is the amp and speakers that you hook it through...
> 
> William.

-------------------------------
	END INCLUDED MESSAGES



This looks pretty discouraging, doesn't it? If it's not the lack of RAM,
it's these capabilities that surpass any other card (!). If it's not the
incredible number (hundreds, probably ;) ) of developers who are touting
their own soundcard, it's these next generation sound cards that will 
be released real soon now (yeah, sure).

In fact, there is a common thread here. It's the fact that nobody is giving
their real reason: economics!

Let's be frank, would you invest thousands of dollars in development cost
for a product that was just released in the US, has software and hardware
bugs, nonexistent support and no mass-marketing worth mentionning? Further-
more, would you make that decision if you didn't even really know what
it sounds like, or had no knowledge of its technology? Probably not.

What matters here is return on investment. These guys are out there to
make a profit. They have to be convinced that they will sell a lot more games
(thousands more, not just a few hundreds) before they commit to anything 
(CD-ROM, GUS, Super VGA, no matter, it's all the same).

What we are witnessing here is a game of wait and see. Game developers
are waiting for GUS sales reports, Gravis is waiting for bug reports
and new software (BTW, where are those new patches I've been waiting for?) and
customers are waiting for game support and trouble free cards.

Thankfully, there are customers who will buy a new and better technology no
matter what. It is a well known fact in mass marketing that a small percentage 
of all customers go bonkers when they see a new technology and that
they "gotta have it". If it were not for this segment of the population,
there would be no VCRs, HDTV, home computers... So far, I think that it is
mostly this kind of customer who has bought the GUS.

There is also this much bigger segment who will buy when it feels that
the risks are lower. I think that some game developers are waiting for the 
signal that these people are buying the GUS before supporting it. When they
will see that people are buying their competitor's games because it supports
the GUS, they will be at their computers faster than you can say 
"Let's configure your Gravis Ultrasound"!

So, there's really no reason to worry. This card is already the best
selling sound card in Canada (according to Beamscope) and it will 
probably make a killing in the US and Europe too. In a few months, one
year at the most, many game developers should support it.

In the meantime, simply enjoy your GUS and don't worry. I sure don't.


Etienne Mayrand
Laval University
Quebec, Canada

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

End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V1 #42
******************************

