GUS Daily Digest            Fri, 8 Apr 94  9:37 PST      Volume 12: Issue   8 

Today's Topics:
						  Adding RAM to GUS
						  AWE 32 information
					GUS & Carmen Sandiego Deluxe.
						 GUS & SB16 together?
				   GUS Daily Digest V12 #7 (3 msgs)
						   GUS questions...
						I second that motion!
						MIDI songs on Prince 2
					   New hrd-drv and GUS0041
						Number of MIDI voices
						 PatchMaker Question
					  Phat H Tran for President
						   Phat the Legend.
						  Ram Chips for GUS
							   Raptor!
						 Sierra 32bit drivers
					  Tech support addresses...
						  Where I Got My RAM
							X-Wing ports.
							 xwngsnds.zip

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: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 19:16:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Peter C. Chien Jr." <pchienjr@ocf.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: Adding RAM to GUS

I upgraded my GUS to 1 MEG using *100 nanosecond* chips (Samsung) from an 
old Trident 8900C video card.  At first, the setgus ram test failed my 
chips, but then when I put the slow chips in the first bank, and put GUS's
own faster NEC chips in the last bank, the ramtest passed.  So far, there 
has been no problems, and the sound sounds great.  So my suggestion to 
people with problems with Sanyo chip -- try swapping them in the banks 
with GUS's own stock RAM.  

Peter

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 14:52:57 -0500
From: ken@austin.ibm.com (Ken Goach IBM)
Subject: AWE 32 information

Public Image <scall@ccnet.com> wrote about seeing the SB AWE32
at Babbages.

Well, I have a press release from Creative Labs about the card.
I'm going to ftp it onto archive.epas.utoronto.ca today. The
file will be called awe32.txt. I thought I'd save everyone the
grief of having to wade through a CL press release in the
Digest. ;-)

I thought it was pretty cheesy how the list "4 Megabits" of ROM
on the card. Kinda misleading to your average uninformed consumer
if you asked me, but CL doesn't rate highly in my book anyway...

Ken

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 12:03:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mark Harrison <harrison@lclark.edu>
Subject: Re: GUS & Carmen Sandiego Deluxe.

On Thu, 7 Apr -1, GUS Server wrote:

> Date: Thu, 07 Apr 94 02:01:49 EST
> From: pcady@celestat.com
> Subject: GUS & Carmen SanDiego Deluxe.
> 
> New subscriber here. I'm having problems getting digitized sound out of
> Carmen Sandiego Deluxe.
> 
> MegaEm does great music, but no digitized sound at all.

I'm the one who added Carmen Sandiego to the G-List, but it's been many 
months since I've played the game.  Let me check my configuration out for 
the game and see if I did anything wierd.  But I don't believe I did.

Also, make sure you're using MT32 emulation and not SCC.

> SBOS does some digitized sound, then locks up.

SBOS never would work for me either.

> Latest versions of everything; No problems with any other game. Any
> suggestions? G-List says MegaEm should work.

Since it's been a while since I've played it, it's possible that I was 
using an older version of one of the programs and the newest version of 
MegaEm broke it?  It's about all I can think of for now.  Also, try 
changing you DMA's and IRQ's around.  I know DMA 1 cause Doom to do 
strange things on my computer.

I'll post another message if I find I had a strange setup to get it 
working.  Otherwise send me e-mail at: harrison@lclark.edu if you have 
any other questions.

Mark Harrison

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 12:41:25 -0400
From: Martin H Rogers <mrogers@afit.af.mil>
Subject: GUS & SB16 together?

Does anyone have experience trying to get the GUS and SB16 working
together? A local company is selling the Discovery 16 CD bundle for $299
and I was thinking about trying it, but only if I can keep my GUS. Any
advice on this idea in general or the Discovery 16 bundle in specific?
Thanks,
-Martin

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 17:02:59 -0400
From: ap641@cleveland.freenet.edu (Hank Leukart)
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V12 #7

In a previous message, Rath <cllym@ucdavis.edu> babbles...

>You know what?  I think Gravis should officially HIRE Phat Tran and PAY 
>HIM for all the work he's done for all the GUS users out there..

	I dunno, but I'll pay ANYONE who gets the GUS Sierra drivers
released before the end of the century. :)

--
RAPTOR:RAPTOR:RAPTOR:RAPTOR:RAPTOR:RAPTOR:RA |          Hank Leukart 
OR:RAPTOR:RAPTOR:RAPTOR:RAPTOR:RAPTOR:RAPTOR |  (ap641@cleveland.freenet.edu)
   Raptor.  It's here.  From Apogee/Cygnus.  | "Official" DOOM FAQ v5.5 Writer
ftp.uml.edu: /msdos/Games/Apogee/1raptor.zip |  FAQ by E-mail or "ftp.uwp.edu"

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 19:20:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V12 #7

> Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 01:46:30 -0400
> From: <stanis@io.org>
> Subject: Bought a GUS!
> 
> Problem 1 - Windows hangs when trying to record with any of the 
>             wave editors.                   
> 
> I don't really need to record in windows but It would be nice. 
> I can load a wave , play it and everything is fine it screws up
> only when I try to record. I tried both 8 and 16 bit dmas
>  ........hmmmmmmmmm , maybe I'm missing some windows files?
> I tried recording in dos using playfile and everything works fine.

James Tang had the same recording problems in Windows and came across
a solution a while back.  He found that he had the line

	DEVICE=VDMADX.386

in his system.ini.  On a stroke of intuition, he decided to change it
to

	DEVICE=*vdmad

and his recording problems went away.  Hopefully, that will solve your
problems.  If not, a reinstall of Windows has been known to do the trick
as well.

> Problem 2 - Can't use 16 bit dmas in Windows and use my modem at 
>             the same time.

This might be related to your recording problems.

> Problem 3 - Megaem is amazing BUT I only get MONO! 
> 
> I tried megaem with 2 games so far. Legend of Kyrandia "Hand of Fate"
> and Flashback. Both games give me awesome music with my 1 meg gus
> but I don't get (((( STEREO )))). I loaded everything properly 
> and DID NOT use the -mono switch in emuset.

All sound effects will be mono as Mega-Em only emulates the SB DAC,
which itself is mono.  MIDI music should be in stereo _if_ the score
uses the stereo panning controllers to position the instruments.  I'm
not sure if Mega-Em supports the default pan positions found in the
patches.

> Mini Problem 1 - The snare (and maybe some other drum sounds) is
>                screwed in dos playmidi.......sound like a
>                Rubbermaid commercial..(plastic container sound)

You need the PlayMIDI in gus0041.zip.  However, that PlayMIDI also
has a bug with stuck notes, so there should be even a newer release
soon.  It might be more prudent to wait for that one instead, if ftp
access is hard to come by for you.

> Mini Problem 2 - UltraClicks! in some trackers.
> 

Clicks are usually the tracker's fault.  There are many considerations
to keep in mind when handling the GUS' voices to avoid clicks, and not
all of them are mentioned in the SDK.

> I think The gus can't ramp it's volume fast enough when it has 
> lots of channels to process or maybe I need a faster computer. I only
> have a lowly 386 SX-16. Ultra Tracker doesn't give me clicks, but it 
> has clicks with the 18 channel song that it comes with called DarkForce.ult .

You computer's speed doesn't affect the speed of the GUS.  Since the CPU
does very little when playing MODs on the GUS, your CPU speed usually
isn't a factor in the sound quality.

Iplay11 is very click-free.  Another excellent (although not as spiffy-
looking) player is Metal025.

> Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 11:02:47 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Public Image <scall@ccnet.com>
> Subject: General MIDI xtals/GUS EMulators/SB AWE32
> 
> On the SB AWE32:
>   Saw the box yesterday at babbages.  Price: $330.  
>   Includes:
>       OPL3 Synth Chip
>       EMUxxxxx Synth Chip
>       512k (4 Megabits :) of RAM, expandable to 28 Megabytes
>       3 CD rom interfaces
>       MPU-401 "Smart Mode" Midi

Except that it still needs a 48kB emulator like Mega-Em for GM support.
But unlike Mega-Em, that emulator takes up 48kB of conventional memory
and can't be loaded high.

>       Don't know how much rom (1 meg at the most though)

1 MB is correct.

>       Socket for the waveblaster (req. for General Midi compat.)
>       Buncha bundled wares.
> 
> All in all, not worth it.

It's overpriced, IMO.

> Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 08:27:29 -0400
> From: tom@ksr.com
> Subject: Re: RAM for Gus?
> 
[...]
> that they have another brand and then later changed their mind.  I'm really
> pissed at them. Anyway, I'm curious as to which chip brands people have had
> success with and where they got them from.  52 bucks from Gravis is a little
> overpriced, I'd say.

I've successfully installed Nec and Kyocera DRAMs on GUSes, although
mixing them did give me some problems.  So, aside from brand, uniformity
in make and speed across the banks also seem to be important.

> Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 15:03:01 +0300
> From: tjakobs@mswe.dnet.ms.philips.nl (THEO_JAKOBS TEL.62667)
> Subject: Some Questions
> 
> Hi...
> 
> I have just recently bought SealTeam, but how do i get it to work with the
> Ail drivers?

I recally there being a Seal Team GUS patch that automates the process
of installing the GUS driver for you.  Check in the games directory
on the GUS archives.

> WingCommander Academy does have ail drivers (at least .adv files) but it doesn't
> work with the gravis ail drivers, could somebody tell me if it will work with
> the ail drivers??

I don't think the game will work with the standard GUS drivers.  It uses
some internal drivers of its own that specifically looks for SB/etc.
hardware.  The external drivers don't seem to be used for anything.

> How many SoundBoard Emulators are there for the GUS, the ones that i know are:
>        SoundBlaster  - SBOS+ Megaem(digitized voice)
>        MT32          - Megaem
>        SoundCanvas   - Megaem
> 
> But i've heard of a Emulator for the PAS16 as well...

The GUS doesn't have a PAS16 emulator, nor is one planned.

> If gravis is smart, they would also try to emulate the WaveBlaster, Why??...

The Waveblaster is already emulated by the GUS.  In fact, the GUS currently
emulates SW32, Maui, WavePower, etc.  All these cards fall under the
umbrella of "game GM" (MPU-401 interface, MIDI interpretor, and GM patch 
set).  The SoundCanvas emulation in Mega-Em is essentially GM emulation.

Phat.

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

Date: Fri, 08 Apr 94 15:06:49 +0300
From: Yossi Oren <LIOREN1@WEIZMANN.weizmann.ac.il>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V12 #7

>Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 13:46:51 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Rath <cllym@ucdavis.edu>
>Subject: Phat Tran
>
>You know what?  I think Gravis should officially HIRE Phat Tran and PAY
>HIM for all the work he's done for all the GUS users out there..
>
>What do you all think?
>
>Rath

This is a bit of ancient history, but Jayeson (he HAS a last name, right?),
the author of Mega-Em and, as it seems, the only guy who programs for AG,
was initially a private dude (working for Boeing, if I recall correctly)
and planned to release MegEm as shareware.  In fact, the earlier versions
times out after 10 minutes to make you register.  Gravis said "wow", bought
the guy and won a MAJOR selling point (IMean, before official MegEm endorsement
all they had was SBOS!).

Keep it up Phat,
Yossi "Something" Oren.

+---+---+---+---------------------------------------------------+---+---+
| = | E |_|/|               Signature 1.31                      | V | ^ |
+---+---+---+---------------------------------------------------+---+---+
|Yossi Oren, Al-Daf Techno-Mercenaries, Rishon Le-Zion, Israel. Help    |
|TInternet EMail:LIOREN1@WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL     TT The people are T|
||Bitnet EMail:LIOREN1@WEIZMANN                      || with the Golan ||
||Drag yer damn objects around.  I've got work to do.|| Heights!       ||
+====================================================++================++

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

Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 07:56:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Shane Conder <saconder@olympus.net>
Subject: GUS questions...

Could someone tell me what the difference is between board revision 2.4
and 3.7?  Also, when bought new, how much memory does the GUS usually come
with?  

Someone may sell me a GUS with rev. 2.4 with 1meg on board.  

The person said the board was 1 year old.  

Would it be better to buy a new one, even if I get less memory, instead of
this older one?

Does Advanced Gravis have a trade in policy for upgrading to newer revisions?

What would be a good, fair price for the 2.4 board with 1meg?  If there is
a trade in policy, then it would be worth it, right?

If there isn't????

Shane  [saconder@sq.olympus.net]

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 16:59:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gunnar Swanson <gunnar@gibbs.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: I second that motion!

Fellow GUSers:

We the GUSing community do recognize the Honourable Phat H. Tran for the
wonderful help that he has provided us all at one time or another, single
handedly and without pay.

Therefore be it resolved

1.  That Phat H. Tran should receive formal recognition for his efforts.
2.  The affore mentioned recognition should be followed by a job offer 
	from, Advanced Gravis Inc.  
3.  So that he can be properly compensated for the work he has 
	done and is doing.
4.  Thank you Phat H. Tran!

Gunnar Swanson.

Thanks Phat!

Sincerely,

Gunnar Swanson


end.

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

Date: Thu, 07 Apr 94 09:13:31 EDT
From: Henrique 'Snoopy' Vianna <HVIANNA@brufpel.bitnet>
Subject: MIDI songs on Prince 2

Hello again!
 
Guys, I need some help to rip the songs of Prince of Persia 2.
I've been looking at the file MIDISND.DAT and I could figure out
that it contains standard MIDI files (there are MThd and MTrk
signatures). The file names are also included in this file, and
they have the (strange to me) .mff extension.
 
Does anybody have already extracted these songs, or know how to
do it, or would like to help me??
 
Many thanks.
Snoopy.
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henrique Avila Vianna                                   hvianna@brufpel.bitnet
Universidade Federal de Pelotas                         hvianna@vortex.ufrgs.br
Centro de Informatica            "Imagination is more important than knowledge"
96010-900  Pelotas, RS  BRAZIL                               - Albert Einstein

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 15:48:01 -0400
From: Hui Chi-Wai <a258huic@cdf.toronto.edu>
Subject: New hrd-drv and GUS0041

	Alright i'm getting a real headache with all the problems i'm getting.
i picked up a new quantum 540 to add to my current quantum 245.  Even before
this upgrade, i had some problems with the new gus41 installs.  During the
installs i sometimes have a busy signal (also says write) on all dma channels
on any irq i select.  Also if i do succesfully install the gus software i
definately get a dma error while trying to load patches for midi files using
playmidi (says something like "error loading patch such and such.  DMA channal
busy (conflict?)), but if i keep trying to load the midi file, eventually it
will load all the patches and play it without any sound distortion.  Playing
midi files in windows i have experienced no problems.  Also using inertia player
to play mods, mtm, s3m i have no problems either.  Oh the old version of 
playmidi for install 2.06a or 2.06l work fine all the time.  So what gives?
Is it the software that is buggy or is it my system/GUS that is buggy?

	Ok back to my hard drive ... i installed it and now playmidi for
gus41 doesn't work at all ... no patches for any midi file loads up to the
gus ... at least before the new drive it give loaded up a random percentage
of the need patches before pooping out.  now it is nothing.  also inertia
player is bugged out too ... the video will crash but the song keeps playing
as normal.  Before the new drive i thought it was just buggy software but now
i think it has more to do with software and hardware conflict.  Does anyone
have any suggestions/solutions to my problem???  I really want my gus in working
order with my system and new hard drive.

	My system is a 486dx2/50 intel with 8 megs ram, ati wonder xl 1meg
card (before the wonder 24 came out).  Ami bios with a motherboard that has
opti chips on it (but i don't think that that is the problem), two 3.5 floppy
drives (had also i 5.25 but i took that out now to see if it fixes thing, which
it didn't), the two quantum drives, 256 cache on board (also on the two hrd drv)
 .. i think that's about it.  I have dos6.2, qemm7.03 and norton speeddrive
(disk caching instead of smartdrv) currently on my system (had more stuff like
stacker, ndos, etc before the new drive but i thought i'd clean everything out
and maybe would have solved my GUS conflict/problem but it didn't ... actually
seems to be worse now).

	Please, i am getting very desperate!!! i cannot live without my gus!!!
any help would be appreciated.  Stuff like how would i go about diagnosing my
problems and how to sort it out (tried to use ndiags for norton util to find
conflicts but found none).  Could it be bad dram? (doubt it though since the
patches do play correctly through windows and also mods/mtm run in dos with
inertia play), could it be not enough juice for all my hardware?, could it
be i got a bad gus and need it fixed?  could it be my 245 drv since it does some
heat calibration on the read/write head (friend told my my drive does that since
it clicks regularily) ... i'm going on and on to see if any of this makes sense
to someone and not leave anything out that might be the problem that i don't
know :) ... ok i guess that's it .... HELP!!!! :(

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

Date: Thu, 07 Apr 94 09:08:08 EDT
From: Henrique 'Snoopy' Vianna <HVIANNA@brufpel.bitnet>
Subject: Number of MIDI voices

Hi!
 
I'd like to know how many voices PLAYMIDI uses and whether I can
change its default or not. Within Windows I'm using only 22 voices
enabled, but I have some .MID files that will need all the 32 voices;
in this case, I go to the driver setup and increase the number of
active voices. How about PLAYMIDI?
 
Thanks in advance,
Snoopy.
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henrique Avila Vianna                                   hvianna@brufpel.bitnet
Universidade Federal de Pelotas                         hvianna@vortex.ufrgs.br
Centro de Informatica            "Imagination is more important than knowledge"
96010-900  Pelotas, RS  BRAZIL                               - Albert Einstein

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 16:50:03 MST
From: "Dean C. Johnson" <JOHNSODC@caedm.et.byu.edu>
Subject: PatchMaker Question

I am planning to buy a GUS MAX when it comes out, but I'm curious 
about something.  I don't know much about pathes.  With PathMaker 
or PatchMaker-Lite, will I be able to make a patch of myself saying a 
sentence like "Hey You!", or coughing, or sneezing?  (this is what 
"SampleStore" of the Maui and Rio are supposed to do, right?)

I would really like to know.
Thanks in advance!

-Dean

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

Date: Thu, 07 Apr 94 15:32:09 EDT
From: danloh@MIT.EDU
Subject: Phat H Tran for President

That just about says it all... He's a pretty cool guy.

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

Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 06:41:06 +0800 (WST)
From: Roderick Nasir DAVID <ruffus@tartarus.uwa.edu.au>
Subject: Phat the Legend.

yeah, Hats off to Mr Phat Tran too. Thou art truely a GUS legend
for allentience and tolerence he has got here, and specially
on the Usenet ;)

Cheers Mate,

Nas

-- 
* Seeya on the Groove Train! | "Missy? Would ya mind my rod please??    "   *
*                    _+-_|\  |         Rex Hunt.                            *
*                   /      \ |   Nasir David at the...                      *   
* Perth , W.A ----> +_.--._/ |   University Of Western Australia.           *

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

Date: Fri, 08 Apr 94 02:55:21 EDT
From: ronhall@aol.com
Subject: Ram Chips for GUS

Some people have been asking what chips people are using in their GUS that
work, I am currently using NEC chips which have worked flawlessly since day
1.

Ron

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

Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 11:29:40 -0400
From: Eugene Philip Mahendranath <eugster@wam.umd.edu>
Subject: Raptor!

Hiya,

I was surprised to NOT see anyone comment on Apogee's newest game--
Raptor: Call of the Shadows yet.  Then I saw it wasn't on Epas, so I took
the time to upload it for those of you who haven't seen it yet.  There's 
three files: raptor---the full 1.9 meg file
		 raptor_a
		&
		 raptor_b---for those of you who need to transport it on a floppy

In case you don't know, the game is made by Apogee and Cygnus Software.  It
unzips to a little over 5 megs on your hard drive.  The game is best compared
to a Wing Commander meets Galactix meets Zone 66 type game.  If you want
an arcade-like game with great graphics, then this is for you.  While I was
playing the game, I started pounding on my CNTRL key like I was in arcade
or something.  Well, anyways, the best part of the game is it has GUS
support.  (About stinkin' time Apogee!).  The music and sound effects are
kinda Doom-like.  Up to 8 channels for sound effects.  You know, I think
Apogee should pay me for this advertising.  Anyways, I think it's one of the
best shareware games out there (only second to Doom).  Hope you enjoy it.

			--Eugene Mahendranath
			  eugster@wam.umd.edu

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
		THIS SPACE FOR RENT
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 18:08:19 +0300 (EDT)
From: Jani Forssell <janif@mdata.fi>
Subject: Sierra 32bit drivers

So, does anyone know, what's the current state of the GUS drivers for new
32bit Sierra games?

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 12:02:02 +0800 (PST)
From: Francis Li <fli@nermal.santarosa.edu>
Subject: Tech support addresses...

Sorry to be asking what is probably a very common question, but: What are
the addresses for Gravis' tech support? tech@gravis.com or something?  My
Gravis Analog Joystick finally died playing Raptor...

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 15:59:05 EDT
From: David Steinberg <desteinb@tews16.cs.hh.ab.com>
Subject: Where I Got My RAM

I bought NEC 256x4-80 DRAM from The Chip Merchant, (619) 268-4774.
They offer their best "reseller" prices for COD cash or MO only.
Their latest ad shows 5.20 each, but its probably more like 5.40
in small quantities. Anyway, they seem to work just fine in my
V3.4 GUS.
--
David Steinberg             Allen-Bradley Company AGTE
steinberg@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com      Cleveland, Ohio

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

Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 14:05:00 EDT
From: Hal Black <sylk@mik.uky.edu>
Subject: X-Wing ports.

> Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 16:03:57 +0200
> From: Nils Pedersen <nilspe@ifi.uio.no>
> Subject: XWING from Lukas Art
> 
> I have problems with XWing. I just can't get the speech to work.
> I'm using SBOS ver. 3.7B2 with no options, and my GUS is set up
> on port 240 (DMA = 1, IRQ = 7, the rest is standard). I have spoken
> with some friends and they have no problem, but they have 220 as base 
> adress. I hope some one can help me with this problem, I'm getting
> sick of the AdLib-sound(s).
> 
> Nils Pedersen (nilspe@ifi.uio.no)
> 
> Thanks..!!
This is a bug in X-Wing.  Even with a real SoundBlaster, the only port that
will supply digital sound is 220.

-- 
| sylk@mik.uky.edu | hwblac00@ukpr.uky.edu | Entitlements kill |
(tastefully short signature)

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

Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 00:24:01 +0300
From: Petri Lammi <plammi@utu.fi>
Subject: xwngsnds.zip

Hi,

Can anybody give a pointer to the file xwngsnds.zip. Doesn't seem to be 
on epas or any of the mirrors any more.

Thanks,

Petri

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

End of GUS Daily Digest V12 #8
******************************
