GUS Daily Digest            Sun, 9 Jan 94   007          Volume 10: Issue   9 

Today's Topics:
				 Announcing :Midi Patch Browser: v0.6
						   DOOM  RTZ almost
							GUS:  Big Hit?
				   GUS Daily Digest V10 #8 (2 msgs)
				   Patch Maker Lite and new drivers
							  Thanks Dan
					   Windows CRASH on record!

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, 8 Jan 94 23:46:46 +0100
From: f93-maj@nada.kth.se
Subject: Announcing :Midi Patch Browser: v0.6

Announcing :Midi Patch Browser: v0.6 -> 'MPB06.ZIP' upon epas.

If you've just wanted to play around a little and try some patches or such
you might have discovered that most sequancers to a very bad job of it.
Cumbersome multi-level pop-up menus, having to tell them to update the patch
cache, entering program change numbers and worst of all, no support for
multiple patch banks...
With the patch manager that comes with the Ultrasound you must manually upload
patches before beeing able to play them and, it doesn't (yet) support multiple
patch banks, and it only supports the Ultrasound...

Therefore I've done a proprietary program for doing this sort of thing.
Everything on screenm just click to change output device, channel, patch bank,
or instrument from list complete with names for everything (you'll have to do
a little configuring first though).Supports 'cache' banks, GS banks or nobanks.

This is the first release, 'MPB06.ZIP', and also my first Windows program so
let's hope it's not to buggy. Check it out and have fun!

/FMJ

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

Date: Sat, 8 Jan 1994 03:39:29 -0500
From: Dale Luther Bewley <dbewley@tech.iupui.edu>
Subject: DOOM  RTZ almost

	I can get the soumd effects to work fine, but choosing MIDI I get no 
music. I read that I need to copy ULTRAMID.INI to my DOOM dir and rename it
but I don't have that file. I searched the whole disk , will I have to re-instal
my GUS warez?

	I got digitized speech from Return to Zork, but now it is giving me
DIVIDE ERRORS. I'm playing with 607k free. 

dbewley@etsun.tech.iupui.edu

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

Date: Sat, 8 Jan 94 09:36:58 -0500
From: liaor@churchst.ccs.itd.umich.edu
Subject: GUS:  Big Hit?

I don't think so.  Maybe the GUS is a big hit on the internet, but the internet
isn't exactly a representation of the general computing populous.

I'd say the SB-16 (gasp) and probably those "generic" SB-immitations (NX Pro)
are "big hits."  You can go to many mom&pop computer stores and find them
on the shelves.  Only certain stores sell the Gravis Ultrasound (Fry's
Electronics in my area, as well as Software Etc., amazingly) and it rarely
gets advertised.

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

Date: Sat, 8 Jan 1994 12:22:05 -0500 (EST)
From: bpage@infi.net (Bob Page)
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V10 #8

> A buddy of mine has a Roland Sound Canvas and he just possibly might buy a GUS
> but what he wants to know is whether he can get the two to work simultaneously.
> Specifically, can you have a GUS playing any digital sounds (like SB in Megaem)
> and having the Sound Canvas MIDI passed on to the actual Sound Canvas through
> the MIDI port on the GUS. Also, is the external MIDI part of the GUS MPU-401
> compatible? What we want to do is run games with Sound Effects going on the GUS
> and the MIDI music on the REAL Sound Canvas.
> 
> ------------------------------

I have a Sound Canvas as well as a GUS & there is no way at the moment to do
what your friend wants.  I would LOVE to be wrong on this so someone PLEASE
tell me how to do it.  I know that a future version of MegaEM is supposed to
allow this & I will be crazed happy when/if it does.


-- 
--- Bob Page (bpage@infi.net) 
=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=-=.=

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

Date: Sat, 8 Jan 1994 14:33:07 -0500 (EST)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V10 #8

> Date: Sat, 8 Jan 94 00:59 WET
> From: marius@io.org (Marius)
> Subject: GUS + OPEN SEASON
> 
> Hey guys, wondering if anybody figured out how to get GUS to work with Police
> Quest 4 (OPEN SEASON). I tried the sierra drivers but they wouldn't work. I
> guess PQ4 uses those 32bit drivers that people keep complaining about and that
> we still don't have for the GUS. Well, OK. I also tried SBOS 3.7b2 and MEGAEM
> v2.02 (or whatever is newest) and no luck with both. The game just jumps out
> with error messages. HELP!

The new Sierra protected mode games will, for now, only work with the GUS
in Windows.  You also need to preload the patches (see Ultrahelp Patch
Caching for more info) for the games as they don't support patch caching
(kindly ask Sierra to support patch caching in their Windows games to
make life easier on GUS users).

Everybody is waiting impatiently for the new 32-bit drivers Forte are
working on.

> Date: Fri, 07 Jan 1994 15:27:47 EST
> From: mkalisia@electrical.watstar.uwaterloo.ca
> Subject: GUS + Sound Canvas
> 
> A buddy of mine has a Roland Sound Canvas and he just possibly might buy a GUS
> but what he wants to know is whether he can get the two to work simultaneously.
> Specifically, can you have a GUS playing any digital sounds (like SB in Megaem)
> and having the Sound Canvas MIDI passed on to the actual Sound Canvas through
> the MIDI port on the GUS. Also, is the external MIDI part of the GUS MPU-401
> compatible? What we want to do is run games with Sound Effects going on the GUS
> and the MIDI music on the REAL Sound Canvas.

Yes, they'll co-exist.  Most games that output digital sound through a DAC
ask for an SB DAC, which the GUS must emulate.  Only a few games will
output digital sounds through the GUS using its native mode (eg. DOOM).
The external MIDI port on the GUS isn't MPU-401 compatible.

> Date: Fri, 7 Jan 94 16:22:00 PST
> From: Scott Bobo <scott@mothra.rose.hp.com>
> Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V10 #7
> 
> For those of you who haven't seen it, the January issue of Computer Gaming
> World has, in it's letters column, a couple of replies to CGW's review of
> soundcards.  Both letters were critical of CGW's results, which were not
[...]
> Nice letter, Phat.  I thought you made all the right points.  I'm going to
> write a letter to CGW in response to their response, quting heavily from
> their editorial.  It'll be fun.

Now, that's the spirit! :)

> Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 08:15:50 -0500
> From: "Michael Grant Wilson" <Mcq@oti.on.ca>
> Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V9 #17
>
[Mod4Win problems deleted] 
> 
> btw, I've got a (lowly) 386DX/33 and if I run mod4win at 16-bit 44KHz mono
> it tells me it's using 97% CPU (ughh!). If I drop back to 22Khz, the usage
> goes down to about 30%. *sigh*.

Well, that's software mixing for ya!  There's only one MOD player for
Windows that properly uses the GUS' hardware called MODUS.  It imposes
negligible CPU load while playing an 8-channel MOD in stereo at 44.1 kHz
and 16-bit interpolation.  Unfortunately, the widely available version 
has to kill the GUS' MIDI and WAV Windows drivers to get to the GUS' 
hardware (after you use MODUS, you can't play MIDs or WAVs without 
restarting Windows).  Fortunately, this problem is being addressed.

> Date: Fri, 7 Jan 94 14:20:52 EST
> From: Dan Liszewski <liszewsk@lf.hp.com>
> Subject: new win drvr: waves but no midi
> 
> Michael Scholten <michael@apanix.apana.org.au> wrote :
> 
> > A few digests ago I read of some peoples problems with the new Windows
> > drivers where they couldn't get _any_ midi sounds.  Unfortunately I have
> > not read a 'fix' yet  ...
> 
> I had the same problem but now I'm embarassed having found out what I was
> doing wrong:  In haste I copied _everything_ from the .zip into
> \ultrasnd\windows - the problem was that the new ultrasnd.ini needed to
> be in \ultrasnd.

Also, remember to edit the PatchDir field in the [Ultrasound] section of
ultrasnd.ini (the copy in /ultrasnd, not /ultrasnd/windows) to point
to your /ultrasnd/midi directory.  Patch Man uses this field to locate
the patches.

> Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 22:01:37 -0700 (MST)
> From: Keith McIntyre-ELlis <kmellis@santafe.edu>
> Subject: SBOS ver. 3.7 on EPAS?
> 
> Hello fellow GUSers:
> 
> Anybody know if the new SBOS is on epas? I haven't been able to find it
> anywhere. (Of course, it would have to be in the submit dir, since nothing
> seems to have been moved out of there since november...)

There's a gravis.bbs subdir in the sumbit directory.  Look for the new
SBOS there.  

> Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 18:52:42 -0800 (PST)
> From: swartz@sfu.ca
> Subject: What are these files for?
> 
>    1.  I have installed the software on disks 2.06a.  There is
>        now a `mysterious' subdirectory (ISFYZQVO.TWJ) on my hard
>        drive; it contains a single file, SWAPFILE.HDR, of 18800
[...]
>        .PAT files, etc.)  My guess is that it is a `temp' file
>        created by the installation program in 2.06a.  Is it?  May
>        it safely be erased, or is it in fact a file needed by the
>        Ultrasound software?

Yes, it's a temp file, and yes, it can be removed.

>    2.  I have obtained and unzipped the files for SBOS37b.  Among
>        these files is one named "SBOSDRV.SYS".  Previously, when
>        I have used .SYS files I have installed them by putting
>        their names in the CONFIG.SYS file.  There is nothing in
>        the accompanying README file about SBOSDRV.SYS.  Is it a
>        companion file to SBOSDRV.EXE?  What, exactly, is it used
>        for and how?

I don't have SBOSDRV.SYS in the SBOS 3.7 that I DLed.  I only have
the SBOSDRV.EXE and LOADSBOS.EXE (as well as the *.SBS and *.CFG 
files). 

>    3.  I seem to recall someone writing that it is safe to remove
> 
>            device=C:\ULTRASND\ultrinit.sys ultrasnd=.......
> 
>        so long as one has
> 
>            SET ULTRASND=...[customized as the case may be] ......
>            C:\ULTRASND\ultrinit.exe
> 
>        in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  Can someone confirm that this
>        is so?  Is the device command in the CONFIG.SYS file
>        placed there by the installation of 2.06a or is it a
>        remnant of an earlier installation?

It still gets placed there by the new installation programs, but it's
not needed.

Phat.

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

Date: Sat, 08 Jan 1994 19:09:43 GMT
From: Clarke Brunt <CLARKE@lsl.co.uk>
Subject: Patch Maker Lite and new drivers

Here's my few remarks after installing Patch Maker Lite and new Windows
drivers from pmak110.zip.

No great problems - one whinge about an error in grvsultr.386 while
installing the new drivers, but I carried on anyway and all was well.
As people have said, the sound if very quiet until you use the new
mixer to set it up to full volume.

I tried deleting the entire [ultrasnd.drv] section from system.ini
and then setting up the driver again to see exactly what the new
entries are. sample_dma has gone, with codec_dma appearing instead.
The mixer and volume related stuff has gone (see later), and some
entries now have yes/no values rather than 1/0.

The new mixer writes its settings to ultramix.ini in \ultrasnd.
As people have complained, the settings of whether to enable line-in
and mic are NOT honoured when windows restarts - they are always on.
I think this is a bug in ultrasnd.drv - I have hex dumped it and it
seems to contain all the write strings as though it is looking for
the entries in ultramix.ini, but it just doesn't work. The previous
driver (the one from gus0035.zip) had some enable/disable controls
in the driver setup dialog.

I wondered if I could write a quick program myself to turn the inputs
off (without invoking the mixer), but I just don't know how to do it.
AUX devices (as in windows call AuxGetNumDevs) seem to be the thing,
but what message or whatever do you have to send to the AUX device
to switch the inputs, or is this not the way it is done?

Does anyone know if Patch Maker Lite is using some nifty new features
of the drivers to play the patch without saving it to disk? I don't
think that I would know how to do this using the Windows API.

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

Date: Sun, 9 Jan 1994 09:42:18 +1030 (DST)
From: Michael Scholten <michael@apanix.apana.org.au>
Subject: Thanks Dan

Who needs tech support when we've got this digest?

Thanks very much to Dan for his solution to my problems with the new GUS
drivers.  Seems I'm not the only one who's gets over-excited.

Cheers,

Michael :)

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

Date: Sat, 8 Jan 1994 10:40:08 -0700 (MST)
From: Keith McIntyre-ELlis <kmellis@santafe.edu>
Subject: Windows CRASH on record!

Hello fellow GUSers,

Well, once again we have a posting about Windows crashes on recording:

marcel@tophat.cdh.cdc.com (Marcel Schoffelmeer) writes:

> Hi Gussers,
>
> Does any one of you experience Windows 3.1 crashes when 
> trying to record with the GUS from line in?
> The moment I press the record button in either Goldwave or
> Cooledit (great programs by the way) Windows turns into 
> a black screen where reseting the PC is the only way out.
> At DOS level, recording with PLAYFILE is no problem!

Marcel- I have posted two similar queries to the digest about this
problem, AND have discussed it with a Gravis Tech. In addition,
there have been at least two or three similar postings in this digest
from others with this problem, AND at least another similar posting
on the Gravis support forum on Compuserve. NO ONE has any answers.

*** GRAVIS: PLEASE FIGURE THIS ONE OUT! *** The amount of complaints
about this problem now indicate to me that it is not altogether
that rare...

Here's what I know (and have previously posted on the digest): A clean
reinstall of Windows cured the problem. However, when I started adding
the various doodads that make up my particular configuration, the problem
reappeared. When I then restored the CLEAN WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI files the
problem persisted! This indicates an altered file, or a replaced driver, or
something. I have not identified this yet. I stated that I would go through
and painstakingly do everything in tiny little steps so that I could pinpoint
the problem- but I haven't been very energetic. So I have not been able to
record in Windows. Could it be my SVGA drivers? My comm driver? A corrupt
true-type font (they say that one of these can cause all sorts of strange
problems...)? A BWCC driver? Who knows? I sure don't.

Good luck.

-Keith (kmellis@santafe.edu)

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

End of GUS Daily Digest V10 #9
******************************
