GUS Daily Digest            Thu, 27 Jan 94  0:07         Volume 10: Issue  27 

Today's Topics:
						   about rev level
						 Convert Pat to WAV?
							  DRAM Speed
			  Fixing up Megaem patches to get decent SFX
				Flight Simulator has its wings clipped
		  Greetings and Hello's and Problems that Are Fixed
					   GUS Daily Digest V10 #26
							   IndyCar
						  MicroProse support
							 S3M and ULT
						   SANYO 256x4 DIPS
					  SBOS & MEGAEM help wanted
							 Voice Assist
						   want to buy gus
	   Yesterday's OPTi chipset explanation. (for Dave Roberts)

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: Tue, 25 Jan 1994 01:46:00 GMT
From: thomas@hammer.hacktic.nl (Thomas van Kuipers)
Subject: about rev level

>: There are only minor differences between the latest released GUS 
>: revision (3.4) and the older 2.4 revision.  The main changes have been
>: in the reduced chip count and altered board layout which do not affect 
>: the functioning of the card much.  
>: Phat.
>
>The new SDK stats there a boards comming/avaiable with w revision level
>higher then that (v3.6 and v3.7) Which have some extra io registers and
>a software enable/disable joystick switch. There was also a mention
>of baord with adjustable line-out levels.
>
>So Whats the game GRAVIS ??

The software enable/disable for the joystick is already present in 3.4 
GUSes.  The ones after 3.4 will have some extra line mixer functions (but
nothing revolution), and nothing else as far as I know.

Phat.

---------

The new SDK stats there a boards comming/avaiable with w revision level
higher then that (v3.6 and v3.7) Which have some extra io registers and
a software enable/disable joystick switch. There was also a mention
of baord with adjustable line-out levels.

So Whats the game GRAVIS ??

STanley

-------

I heard that MIDI was changed since rev 2.4? Is this so? I also heard it 
shouldn't work good at 2.4?

Bye,

BTW: usenet message as reference


<-------------------------------------------------------------------->
 Thomas van Kuipers    Email: thomas@hammer.hacktic.nl
 De Wadden 49          Examenyear of HighSchool (6 VWO)
 3524 AG Utrecht       Important: Computers, Math, Women and Music!
 Telephone: +31 30 884235         Netherlands (in Europe)
<-------------------------------------------------------------------->

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

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 11:33:41 GMT
From: Clarke Brunt <CLARKE@lsl.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Convert Pat to WAV?

>Is there any way to convert PAT files into WAV files?  I am interested because
>I would like to use my GUS to sample sounds and then put them up on my Maui
>card.  Or, is there any documentation on the make-up of PAT files?

I don't know the answer to the actual question, but sampling with your GUS
does not produce PAT files anyway. It will produce WAV, or SND, or whatever
the recording software decides on, but certainly not PAT unless it is
processed subsequently.

I think the patch format is in the SDK (gusdk201.zip?), and it certainly
contains the raw wave data once headers etc. have been skipped.

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

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 13:27:46 -0600 (CST)
From: Joe Cheng <jcheng@post.its.mcw.edu>
Subject: DRAM Speed

One quick question about dram speeds, the guy at CompUSA said that it 
takes about 15 minutes for you to ground by holding onto the chassis, 
unless you have a 'special' grounding circuit, and that improper handling 
of the dram will decrease the speed of it.  Any verifications?

Joe

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

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 1994 13:03:41 +1030 (CST)
From: Gavin <SCARMAN@hfrd.dsto.gov.au>
Subject: Re: Fixing up Megaem patches to get decent SFX

>..some details of the process, how do you find the sounds inside the SB file..

In the game directory there will usually be a file that has all the sfx in it, 
some games like Epic pinball have obvious names like 'sfx1.pin', others have 
weird names. Some games put all the resources in one big file eg. doom.wad, and 
others put them in individual files eg. sound1.dat,sound2.dat,etc. They are 
usually obvious, but that doesn't matter. 

The point is you often wont know by the filename, so what you do is run 
something like cooledit. Load a likely sfx file as a 'raw' file, usually 
8bit/11025Hz. Now mark a block and play it (turn the volume down first!). It's 
all trial and error really, however you do get to 'recognise' sfx from other 
data by it's 'shape'. I suggest you start with Epic Pinball's sfx?.pin files to 
get an idea.

To turn it into a patch - just save the marked envelope containing the 
individual sfx as a raw data file. Then using a patch editor like patch.exe (I 
haven't used pmlite yet), load the raw file, set your root note, and save the 
patch!

>how do you work out which number patches to replace (is it anything to do with
>the SYSEX: messages Mega-em prints up

I corresponded with Jason, author of Megaem, about doing this but he felt in 
general most people wouldn't be bothered doing this, though before he started 
with Gravis he had plans to create a log file.

Anyway, the only way I know to work out what patch is what, is to note down the 
sound that plays when a sfx happens, then look in your ultramid.ini for that 
sound, then change it to your new patch. Be careful to try to keep your new 
patches to smaller in size that the one you are replacing. You will also need to 
set up a ultramid.ini for each game - a pain but you only have to do it once.
 
If you still need help let me know. BTW is there many people interested in this?

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

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 94 21:00:27 GMT
From: Steve Andrews <stevea@hpbrb175.uksr.hp.com>
Subject: Flight Simulator has its wings clipped

Please help,
	  I got my GUS a few weeks ago, together with the Gravis GamePad, one
	of the reasons for getting it was to stop the kids beating the hell 
	out of my keyboard etc. Everything works just fine with one exception
	which is that the GamePad does not work with Microsofts Flight
	Simulator Ver5.0, all the other games are fine.  If I can fix this
	I can get back to programming my GUS, I am using Visual Basic, has
	anybody else tries this ?

	Thanks very much for your help
	Steve Andrews

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

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 94 15:34:00 +0000
From: da930908@mcis.messiah.edu
Subject: Greetings and Hello's and Problems that Are Fixed

Hello and good morning to all you GUS users out there... Just a few interesting
things I've found to work, and not work, and some stuff that Advanced Gravis
has done to make my life a living hell for a year... (Well, it's fixed now,
but you'll see...)

Point 1:
--------
This may be just a tad bit late, but the DOOM music AND sound works just fine
with my GUS... Change your Ultrinit lines to read the following:

device=ultrinint.sys 5,1,7,5

and


ultrinit.exe 5,1,7,5

This looks like you'd get a conflict of IRQ's, but remember that the first
two are DMA channels (not IRQ'S) and can't conflict.  5 and 7 I chose as the
GUS and SB/MIDI IRQ's because in most computers, including mine, they are
handled by the Default Handlers and probably will have little or no conflict
with anything whatsoever.

The DMA channel is set to 5, because... well... that brings me to point 2!

Point 2:
--------
I don't know what you people are talking about when you say your OPTi chipsets
have a faulty 80C206 chip, because my OPTi motherboard, with a nice 80C206
chip sitting right in the middle of it, works just fine with a 16bit DMA
channel on the GUS.  Could be OPTi fixed it or something, because it is a
brand new computer.

Point 3:
--------
This is the kicker.

Ever since I got my Ultrasound card, in it's nice new box, with it's nice red
flashy board, I had problems with my SB/MIDI IRQ.  SETGUS always gave me
stupid errors like "Failed Test" or whatever.  But it worked fine in MOST
applications.  Anything it didn't work in I just blew off as an error in
SBOS or something.  But then I got a few new games, and SBOS just stopped
PERIOD.  Flat-out didn't even get detected by the games.  I got pissed.  You
never saw anyone change interrupts and addresses so often........

Well, after satisfactorily proving to myself that it was NOT a problem with
my interrupts, I turned to the card itself.  I carefully examined the card
to see if there was some sort of hardware problem that had eluded me for so
long.  And guess what I saw...

Seems that Advanced Gravis's techniques for installing chips onto the
Ultrasound board are a bit faulty.  Pin 1 on one of the chips (dunno which one,
it was below the DRAM) was OUT OF THE SOCKET! Good thing it was a socketed chip
and not a permanent connection.  Imagine my joy and jubilation when I popped
out the chip, straightend the pin, popped it back in, and VOILA! all my stuff
worked.

So, if you know someone with a GUS that is flaky, tell 'em to check their chips
REAL carefully.

(P.S. on Point 3: I forgot to mention that with the faulty chip the GUS would
work in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM in Windows... That's what really got me pissed
off.)

--Dave Arcuri
--aka Buzz the Punman

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

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 94 10:07:33 EST
From: gman@empress.com (Gordon Man)
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V10 #26

> 
> Date: Tue, 25 Jan 94 13:49:57 MST
> From: tschmidt@pefs1.micron.com (Tom Schmidt)
> Subject: Re: GUS DRAM problems
> 
> This is a list of vendors that make JEDEC standard 256Kx4 Fast Pagemode
> DRAMs.  I am not saying that all of these will work in the GUS because the
> timing and power consumption of every vendors design is slightly different.
> Nor have I personally tested each of these vendors in the GUS.  If anyone has
> pros or cons about any of these vendors, or knows of additional vendors parts
> that work with the GUS, please post them to the digest or E-mail me so that
> we can update this list and get it into the FAQ.
> 
> This is only a cross reference list that I put together with a little research
> into various DRAM data books and the IC Master 1993 master selection guide.
> For simplicity, I am leaving the speed grade designation off (a -10, -8, -7,
> or -6 extention at the end of the part number).
> 
> Manufacturer      Part Numbers of 256Kx4 Fast Pagemode DRAMs
> --------------------  ------------------------------------------
> Motorola      MCM514256AP

I got the above DRAM from my old 286 motherboard. The exact print on
the chip is:
	MCM514256AP70
	JAPAN ZZZZZ 9211
When I run the GUS DRAM test, the first bank passed but the rest are
'bad'. The test of each 'bad' bank runs until it reaches around 80K.
I guess I did not put it backward. :)

Someone in the last posting mentioned that the GUS DRAM test should
not be trusted. Is that true? I don't believe all three banks are bad.
I can accept they are not compatible. Did any one use the above DRAM?
Success or fail? Please help. Thanks.

-- 
			*
			|
			|
			o
			  <<|>>
			 =======
		   OOOOOOOOOOO
			 =======
			  <<|>>
			   |H|
			   |H|
			   |H|   *
			   |H|  _|_
			   |H|  |||      Gordon Man - Empress Software Inc.
			   |H| _|||_     email : gman@empress.com
	 /****\      |||H||G Man|            utzoo!empress!gman
	(      )    ||||H|| | | |    voice : (416) 513-8888
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||  fax   : (416) 513-1668

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

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 1994 00:13:02 -0500
From: David A Denis <denis@acsu.buffalo.edu>
Subject: IndyCar

I jope this isn't a repeat question, but I can't get SBOS or MegaEm to work
with IndyCar racing.  It asks for a music card and I have tried Roland 32
and the Sound Canvas/MIDI option.  But it asks for te the port and the
default is 330.  I tried switching it.  SBOS doesn't work either.  I load
the game with these in and it reboots my computer.  The game has .DLL and .ADV
files.  Is that th the sign for Miles Drivers?  I don't have those and haven't
really messed with them.  Any ideas?
Dave
PS-I got Xwing working good, with Megaem, but why are there no noises for the
exploding Tie Fighters?
Sorry for all the questions, but I have been away from my computer for a few weeks
weeks, and am now getting back into all the stuff I had,.

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

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 12:07:11 +0100
From: Jo H&var Slangsvold <JOHS@dhhalden.no>
Subject: MicroProse support

Some time ago, we got some negative responses from MicroProse 
and their answers about native support of the GUS.  This made me a  
<little> bit upset, and didn't want to believe it.  I wrote to them 
yesterday, and got a reply very quickly. Read on:
>>To:       microprose@aol.com
>>Subject:  I just 
>>Date:     Tue, 25 Jan 1994 20:37:52
>>
>>wonder:
>>    Is it anything good I, as a Gravis Ultraound owner, can expect 
>>from you at MicroProse in the near future?  
>>A half year ago, some rumour kept going about MicroProse and 
>>GUS-support.  In that moment we thought that MicroProse had five 
>>or six, or so' titles ready to ship with GUS-support.  This was a `bit' 
>><grin> wrong, since today we haven't got a single title from you 
>>including native support.  
>>  What about this year?  Do we have something to look forward to?
>>    Like Fleetdefender and F1GP II with native GUS-support :)
>>    
>>I really love playing your games, but would love to hear them also!
>>
>>Jo Haavar Slangsvold

>To: johs@dhhalden.no
>Date: Tue, 25 Jan 94 18:31:33 EST
>Subject: Re: I just
>
>Hi Jo,
>
>We are currently looking into the card and plan to support it natively 
>some time in the future, possibly by the end of this year.
>Best,
>Brian/MicroProse
>

I can't remember the name of the MicroProse-representative shouting
at us with his negative replay, but I hope he has quit!  Hope this 
replay is near the thruth.  I'm looking forward to the autumn, and hope 
that Brian is a person we can trust.

Jo Haavar Slangsvold

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

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 1994 13:12:35 +1030 (CST)
From: Gavin <SCARMAN@hfrd.dsto.gov.au>
Subject: Re: S3M and ULT

S3M- scream tracker 3 file, sorta like 8 ch MOD with higher sampling rate, 
created by Future Crew, you can play em, but you can't make em.

ULT - UltraTracker file, 32 channel MOD like, designed specifically for the GUS, 
bloody good really.

Demo site? - wasp.eng.ufl.edu /pub/msdos/demos

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

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 14:41:40 -0500 (EST)
From: BR8878%ALBNYVMS.bitnet@UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU
Subject: SANYO 256x4 DIPS

I moved said Sanyo DIPS over from my Trident SVGA card, and strangely
enough, 3 of the four passed just fine, and one failed.  The three also
produce sound just fine on my GUS, no pops even when full at 512k with 2
good sanyo's.  Any 2 of those three work, but the fourth just fails.  Now,
on my video card they work just great.  So who knows what's up.  Maybe
sanyo's quality control isn't up to snuff?

	 Oh, and tremstr.pat was on the 2.06L disks, should I upload it to epas
again?
-Josh

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

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 94 11:44:03 GMT
From: Jonathan Horden <jrh@Harston.CV.COM>
Subject: SBOS & MEGAEM help wanted

I've just shelled out for an new 486, with a 1Mb GUS. While I'm very
impressed with sounds produced through windows programs (midi-played etc),
I'm having some problems using SBOS and MEGAEM.

In particular, using MEGAEM with Xwing works great with the music, but the
digitised speech just gets garbled.

With SBOS and Serpent Isle, the music is, well, naff, and speech is again
garbled (I've tried using all the -o & -x switches to no avail).

So the question is, should I know about some magic switch or setting that
will sort it all out, or have I got to put up with what I've got ?
All DMA, IRQ etc settings are default.

Thanks.

Jon 

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

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 23:14:48 -0500 (EST)
From: bpage@infi.net (Bob Page)
Subject: Re: Voice Assist

David A Denis <denis@acsu.buffalo.edu>
wrote:

>I borrowed Voice Assist from my roomate, and get can't  get it to work.  It
>is
>for wINDOWs so I thought it would work fine.  But, I click on it, and it
>says SB card neeeded.  I try to install th e SB drivers adn it won't work
>at 220 and 7 IRQ.  Its like it won't rwecognize it at all.  Any ideas on how
>to
>get it to
>run?  Sorry for the typos, I can't backspace for some reason.  Having it
>fixed tomorrow.
>Dave

I uploaded to EPAS last week a Voice Assist demo that specifies that it is
written as an "all soundcards version".  This is the demo that is contained on
the Borland C++ 4.0 CD.  I would reccommend contacting Creative Labs about
an all soundcards version of Voice Assist.  I had absolutely no problem with
installing and using the demo and have played around with it a couple of
times since with no problems.  I wouldn't be suprised if you found out that
your room-mate has a SB specific version of Voice Assist.

BTW, someone just pointed out to me that the demo I uploaded last week is no
longer on EPAS.  Did it get lost in the shuffle?  If so, I can re-upload it
if anyone wants it.


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

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

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 94 00:06:06 EET
From: kallek@jybox.jyu.fi (Kalle Kivist|)
Subject: want to buy gus

As the subject says, I want to buy an ultrasound card. I will pay all the
shipping expenses also. 100$ for 256k card and 110$ for 1meg. Send offers
to kallek@jybox.jyu.fi

-- Kalle Kivist| (kallek@jybox.jyu.fi)

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

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 1994 17:40:44 MST
From: "Dean C. Johnson" <JOHNSODC@caedm.et.byu.edu>
Subject: Re: Yesterday's OPTi chipset explanation. (for Dave Roberts)

Yesterday Dave Roberts did an excellent job clearing up the 
motherboard incompatibility problem. (realy the UMC 82C206 
problem)

I tried to FTP to theoris.rz.uni-konstanz.de get the file gus0013.zip 
that explains how to fix the problem by soldering a resistor to the 
mother board.  I get a *UNKOWN USER NAME* error though.  I'm 
used *anonymous* as my user name and either *anonymous* or my 
e-mail address as my password.  Why can't I log on?  Does any one 
know?

I avoided buying an OPTi chipset motherboard, so I got a UMC one.  I 
could not have done worse. AAARRGHH! 

Is the fix that is described in the above mentioned file just as valid for 
UMC chipset motherboards as OPTi chipset motherboards that use 
that UMC 82C206 chip?

Yesterdays post mentioned checking to see if the NMI is disabled. 
(?? Non-Maskable Interrupt ??)  How do I check this, how could this be 
a problem , and is it reverseable?

I don't think these specific questions have been asked before.
Thanks.

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

End of GUS Daily Digest V10 #27
*******************************
