GUS Daily Digest            Wed, 15 Feb 95  9:37 PST     Volume 19: Issue  15 

Today's Topics:
                           Diamond and GUS
                            Diamond ending
                         Focal Point 3D audio
                        GUS and Lemmings_3 CD
                  GUS Daily Digest V19 #14 (3 msgs)
                                 help
                          Is my GUS stuffed?
                      LUCASFILM SCREWS US AGAIN.
                      MED/OCtaMED Player for GUS
                 pentium mb/chip sets known good/bad?
                    Phillips CM206 CD-ROM & GusMax
                         Re. Win'95 probs...
              response to GUS digest of 14 February 1995
                        ST:A Final Unity works
                        Subject: BAD DMA Read?

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, 14 Feb 1995 17:58:41 EST
From: "Joseph R. Granto" <GLOCK@chip.cba.ufl.edu>
Subject: Re: Diamond and GUS

I have a v2.4 GUS w/1MB and a Diamond Speedstar 24X (1MB ISA video).  
I have not run into any problems with the two.  WC3 runs fine, sound 
is fine, everything is fine.


 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Granto                                      GLOCK@chip.cba.ufl.edu

"When the going gets tough, the tough get a GLOCK!"
    --Guns & Ammo
"Don't clock'em, GLOCK'em!"
    --Miami Dade police officer
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 13:12:00 +0100
From: A.PAUW@elsevier.nl
Subject: Diamond ending

Wondering why my question about the Diamond and GUS combination
got in a second digest without my knowing, I must thank all the
people from whom I got a reply. About 20 people responded saying
they had no incompatibility problems. Thanks guys!

Albert
a.pauw@elsevier.nl

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

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 23:31:31 -0500 (EST)
From: Dan <dan@bepcp.bowker.com>
Subject: Focal Point 3D audio

 It appears there's a common misconception here that the '3d audio' done
on the GUS with Focal Point's technology is -hardware- in the GUS. It's
not. Gravis licensed _software_ algorithms from Focal Point. 

 The whole deal with the contractual violations probably has alot to do
with one thing: the owners of the FP 3D technology are probably hurting
for money right now (3D audio has really turned out to be a bit of a 'so
what' thing for PC audio since the only practical use of it is for VR, and
if you're going to spend $1-6k on a head mounted display you're probably
going to purchase a sound device on the same level) and this simple breach
of contract by Gravis (almost certainly inadvertent) is a simple way to
milk a dead cow. 

 The only 'special' thing about Gravis' license of Focal Point's 3d 
technology was that no one else licensed it, unlike competing 
technologies like SRS and Qsound. Like other technologies, Focal 
Point could be implemented on any number of cards easily. If the AMD 
Interwave is backwards-compatible with the GUS, it will run things for 
the GUS that use the technology, since Focal Point is just software on 
the GUS like any other software.

- Dan Nicholson

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

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 95 13:03:21 PST
From: sharon@netlabs.com (Sharon Hopkins)
Subject: GUS and Lemmings_3 CD

Has anyone succeeded in getting soundeffects to work with Lemmings3? 
If I choose GUS for the soundcard I get music but no effects.  (No little
lemming "oh no's" or explosions or any of that good stuff.)  It also
runs veeeeeerrrrrryyyyyyy slooooooowwwwllllyyyyyyyy.  The intro movie is
painfully slow, scene changes are slow, etc.

On the other hand, if I choose SB for the soundcard, and run sbos, the
game is much faster on scene changes, etc., and I get both sound and the
audio effects (though the effects are choppy and get broken up).  The
little intro movie also runs at a watchable speed, but with cheesy music.

(The game music is straight of the cd, so that's the same whichever
sound I choose.)

I even tried megaem, with the result of a very fast but sound-free intro,
and a game with music but no FX.

Any suggestions/comments/ideas?

(My GUS is just set up with whatever the usual defaults are for IRQ, etc.,
and most other stuff seems to run with no problems.)

Thanks,

--Sharon Hopkins
  sharon@netlabs.com

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

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 17:27:48 -0500 (EST)
From: Buddy <cs3mh3dn@escher.dcss.McMaster.CA>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V19 #14

> From: Desolation <decko@u.washington.edu>
> Subject: BAD DMA Read?
> 
> I just upgraded my chip to a AMD DX2-80.   When I went to go try out my 
> GUS with it, the digital sounds are spitting up at me (like in Doom or 
> Descent, the music works but the digital sounds are flipping out).  I ran 
> the setup in the Ultrasound directory and did the diagnostics and under 
> the Sound Blaster test it gave me a "bad dma read failure" or something 
> to that effect.  Anyone encounter this or know how to fix it?

I had this problem too. It turned out that it was because I had the DMA 
speed set at 8mhz. I had to change it to 4 mhz to get rid of the 'bad DMA 
compare' message...

> From: gt0074b@prism.gatech.edu > Subject: MIDI port is the same 
> 
> In a post by someone who had problems with a joystick 'Y' adapter, it was 
> mentioned that the GUS and Sound bastard's MIDI pins on the game port 
> are different.  This is NOT true.  With the correct opto-isolator, a MIDI
> interface box will work on the GUS and the SB, as well as just about any
> other sound card with a game port. 
> Also, 4-button joysticks work fine with MK2. 
> 

Sorry, I was just repeating something someone else had said about why a
midi box for the SB would NOT work on the GUS. I was told that the pins
used for transmission were different...And believe me, a midi box for the
SB does NOT work on the GUS, at least not _all_ of them... I've never tried
my midi box on a Sound Bastard so I do not know if the reverse is true or
not. 
As far as the 4-button controller being used with MKII, the question was 
whether or not '2' 4-button controllers could be used. I don't think this 
is possible since buttons 3 and 4 on the 4 button controllers correspond 
to buttons 1 and 2 on joystick 2 when plugged into a single game port. If 
you try to use 2 of these controllers, wouldn't you end up with 
duplication of ALL buttons?


Kevin

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

Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 01:08:06 -0330
From: acameron@europa.cs.mun.ca (Aaron Cameron)
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V19 #14

>Date: Mon, 13 Feb 1995 18:27:43 -0500 (EST)
>From: Scott D Hansma <sh6k+@andrew.cmu.edu>
>Subject: Ultrasound Experience
>
>I know this question has probably been asked a lot, but I just
>subscribed a few days ago. Anyway, how can I get the Ultrasound
>experience CD? I would prefer it to be as close to free as possible... :)

According to an add in the Jan 1995 issue of PC-Gamer...  call
1-800-663-8558.  I don't know if this is their office line (sure wish it was
available for tech support if it is), or what, but call and say you're
looking for the CD.  I posted this a while ago, anybody tried it and seen if
it's for real or not?  I've never called myself, as I got the Experience
demo on a demo cd on a mag.  Hop this help, anyway.

Cheers,
AC

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

Date: Wed, 15 Feb 95 10:42:42 MET
From: Herman Dullink <csg669@wing.rug.nl>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V19 #14

> From: epyle@alliant.backbone.uoknor.edu (Eric Pyle)
> Subject: AMD Interwave spec, response...
 ..
> Addressing the 16meg of RAM/ROM... I hope it is 16/meg of RAM
> PLUS 16meg of ROM...  My guess is that the ROM could be an external
> upgrade chip, with quality instruments already on it.  Great idea
> to combine the two (AWE32 does this?). 16 meg should satisfy our
> sampling hunger for a while (and it can't be cheap...16 * $30.. you
> add it... I don't want to)
I think that the chip has a 24-bit address bus (like a 286 or 386sx), so
it can address 16Mb of total memory, part ROM, part RAM, whatever you like.
The only difference between a ROM chip and a RAM chip, is that the ROM chip
doesn't has a WR (write) line :-).
It isn't impossible to place a ROM on a GUS(MAX), but I rather use that
address space for more RAM.

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

Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 15:52:59 +0100
From: Ronny Solstad <ronnyso@ifi.uio.no>
Subject: help

I have a problem that I hope there is someone who can
help me with. The sound on my card is to loud, so it gets
very noisy. When I am running windows I can correct this
problem by using the Gus-mixer for windows and turn down the
volume. When i do this it works fine. When I use SBOS I
also can adjust the volume by using the -v option. But other
than this the sound is very noisy. So i was hoping that someone 
could tell me how to turn down the volume when I am running from 
DOS.
If you do know anything PLEASE tell me.

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

Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 10:20:11 +1000 (GMT+1000)
From: MICHAEL PAUL DANIEL <mdanie@wilbur.mbark.swin.oz.au>
Subject: Is my GUS stuffed?

I've got a rev 2.4 gus with 1 meg of ram on it, over hte last couple of
days the gus has started locking up programs that try to use it, and when
i do a DRAM test with setgus it gives a DRAM failure at some point.  I've
tried swapping memory around with other chips I have, but to no avail.  At
one stage when I ran a DRAM test it crashed the computer with an off board
parity error.  I've noticedd that the GF1 chip was running fairly warm,
could it be stuffed?  My computer's a DX2/66 overclocked to a DX2/80, and
the bus speed is ATBUS/6 so I don;t think the bus is running too fast for
it.  ANyone have any sugggestions as to what the problem is?  I hope I
don't have to buy a new GUS, since they're about $280 over here :(

Michael Daniel...
  (Missing his GUS :~( 

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

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 95 15:01:44 CST
From: Steve Sesterhenn <sesterhs@Janus-ccm.zenithe.com>
Subject: LUCASFILM SCREWS US AGAIN.

     Hey all,

     I was just at Egghead software here in the Chicago area... they have
     what looks to be an authentic shrink-wrapped packaging of the Dark
     Forces game.  Looks incredible.  They are offering some free stuff if
     you order now, by the way.

     Anyway, of course I checked the box to see if it had GUS support.
     GUESS WHAT?  Gravis Ultrasound is NOT LISTED.  Of course, Sound
     Bastard and compatibles, including the AWEful32 are.  I am hoping that
     this is just a pre-release box, and the actual game includes GUS
     support.  I would highly recommend that everyone who wants Dark Forces
     to have native GUS support to CALL OR WRITE LucusArts and tell them
     your feelings on this matter.  Sorry, don't have any numbers or
     addresses now, but I will post them as soon as I do.

     This is VERY important as the game runs in protected mode, and Mega-Em
     thus will not be able to save the day as it did with Tie Fighter.


     Steve

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

Date: Wed, 15 Feb 95 11:24:59 GMT
From: hickinl@VNET.IBM.COM
Subject: MED/OCtaMED Player for GUS

To whoever was asking about a MED player,

MED support on the PC is pretty slim but I use MIKMOD 2.0 which attempts
to play MED's but the support is a bit scratchy. You can get MIKMOD from
all the usual sites, try hornet in the /demos/music/programs/trackers dir.

Regards,

Lee Hickin.
IBM Portsmouth UK Limited. <---> hickinl@vnet.ibm.com
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
OS2 - Everything you wanted from windows but were afraid to try..........
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 15 Feb 95 09:11:46 EST
From: catena@arrcee.enet.dec.com
Subject: pentium mb/chip sets known good/bad?

Is there a list or does anyone have experience with pentium p90 motherboards
known to be good or bad with the gus? I'm thinking of upgrading and would 
prefer to improve my chances at GUS russian roulette .

thanks,

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

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 13:55:09 +0000
From: William Beckner <wbeckner@darkstar.rsa.lib.il.us>
Subject: Phillips CM206 CD-ROM & GusMax

I've been away from the 'list' for a while, so if this has been asked 
before, just flame away! :)

I've recently installed a Phillips CM206 CD-ROM drive (it has it's own 
controller).  Also, I have a GusMax w/1MB RAM, and running the version 
3.59 software.  The problem I'm having is (in Windows for Workgroups) 
whenever I attempt to play an .AVI file, the sound coming out of the Max is 
choppy.  I did install the most recent version of Video for Windows 
(1.109 I think).  Has anyone else run across this problem?  If so, what 
did you do to get smooth playback? 

Thanks!

  ===========================================================================
  William Beckner - System Manager/SysAdmin   wbeckner@darkstar.rsa.lib.il.us
  Resource Sharing Alliance                   Ph : (309) 694-5513
  of West Central Illinois, Inc.              FAX: (309) 694-5297
  East Peoria, IL (USA)  61635-0001     
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
          "The computer is mightier than the pen, the sword,
           and usually, the programmer."
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
            If this stuff worked, you wouldn't need me.
  ===========================================================================

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

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 95 20:29 GMT
From: tbone@cix.compulink.co.uk (Chris Totten)
Subject: Re. Win'95 probs...

I'm still using build 224, but it works fine with the GUS (like I said 
once before...). There are a still problems with the mixer and 
balance/volume, but generally most things work. Still waiting for 324 :(

// tbone

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

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 95 15:10:05 CST
From: Steve Sesterhenn <sesterhs@Janus-ccm.zenithe.com>
Subject: response to GUS digest of 14 February 1995

     Hey all,
     
     In response to this person's post:
     
     >thanks for the specs...  This card looks like it can easily
                                    ^^^^
     The Interwave is not a CARD, it is a CHIP, a very advanced chip.  I 
     sent away for AMD's info on it as someone suggested and got it 
     yesterday.  The booklet is basically aimed towards potential sound 
     card produces who might use AMD's Interwave chip as their base.  It 
     also describes how it will emulate various standards, using various 
     software API's to emulate the GUS and Roland.  It also says the 
     Interwave is compatible with Sound-bastard using a program called 
     "SBOS" or Sound Board Operating System.  Sound familiar?
     
     The booklet doesn't appear to mention anything about RAM but does days 
     it will address DRAM.
     
     I will post more later from the booklet (quotes) tomorrow when I 
     remember to bring it to work.
     
     >   Hopefully it is reasonably priced... With AMD involved, they
     >should be.  I am hoping $200 starting price... I wouldn't pay more
     >than that...
     
     Yeah, but other people would.... they're used to over-priced 
     sound-bastard's and AWEful32's!
     
     By the way, ever notice how "Creative" Labs made a fortune off of 
     someone else's creative idea? (AdLib's original synthesize card).
     And now they are making even more off Gravis' idea with their 
     "original" AWEful32.... ironic how "Creative" Labs doesn't appear very 
     creative at all......
     
     Keep on GUSsing,
     
     Steve

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

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 1995 13:10:43 -0600
From: a0193522@dlep1.itg.ti.com (Michael Murphy)
Subject: ST:A Final Unity works

Andre Arseneault <eaa2582@Umoncton.CA> wrote

>Hi gussers,
>
>To all who have tried the Final Unity Demo, I have managed to get 
>sound with "sbos -o3" or "sbos -o4".  The sound was a bit choppy but I 
>think this is due to my system lacking memory ( only 4 Megs ).  I have an 
>Ultrasound Max.  Tried it with Maxsbos but sound was played too slow.  
>Looks to be an awesome game and I hope the final version has NATIVE 
>ULTRASOUND SUPPORT.
>
I also was able to get the demo to work using the sbos -o3 option.  More
memory does NOT help, 16 Mb of RAM on my PC(486DX2/50).  Also, make
sure you are not using the default interrupt of 11.  I am using DMA 3,
IRQ 5.

-Murph

 ---------------------------------------------------------
Michael Murphy
Texas Instruments, Inc.
(214) 575-3810
m_murphy@dlep1.itg.ti.com

Any humor in the above document is "emoticon-free" and not harmful to the
environment.
"Happy Fun Ball may stick to certain types of skin."

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

Date: Tue, 14 Feb 95 14:08:35 MST
From: dchow@stu.athabascau.ca (Donald Chow)
Subject: Re: Subject: BAD DMA Read?

> From: Desolation <decko@u.washington.edu>
> Subject: BAD DMA Read?
> 
> I just upgraded my chip to a AMD DX2-80.   When I went to go try out my 
> GUS with it, the digital sounds are spitting up at me (like in Doom or 
> Descent, the music works but the digital sounds are flipping out).  I ran 
> the setup in the Ultrasound directory and did the diagnostics and under 
> the Sound Blaster test it gave me a "bad dma read failure" or something 
> to that effect.  Anyone encounter this or know how to fix it?
> 
> decko@u.washington.edu
> 
  You may have forgot to re-configure your CMOS settings for the new CPU.
You may need to adjust the CLK/x one up, like CLK/2 -> CLK/3
  Or, your motherboard has problems with the DMA channel you have selected
for the GUS, (some cannot handle 'HIGH' or 16-bit DMA channels: 5-7) so
pick a lower one, 1-3

Don

 
-- 
     Donald Chow   dchow@a.stu.athabascau.ca   bf298@freenet.carleton.ca
            :  F u s i o n - Grafk Design: GATB and X-Phile  :
      I was put on this Earth for a number of reasons, right now, I'm
                    so far behind, I'll live forever.

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

End of GUS Daily Digest V19 #15
*******************************
