GUS Daily Digest            Sat, 14 Jan 95 17:35 PST     Volume 18: Issue  13 

Today's Topics:
                         [fix] Doom2 problem
                    Band-In-A-Box w/ GUS (2 msgs)
                        Descent possible help
                              GUS & PAW
                       GUS Daily Digest V18 #12
                                 HB4
                      ISA bus speed and Gus Max
                           Lion King + GUS
                     MicroProse's X-COM -- help!
                          MIDI box w/o midi
                     NMI, Protected mode and such
                          No music in HELL!
      Play AudioCD from CDRom not directly connected to GUS Max

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, 14 Jan 1995 09:25:48 +0100 (GMT)
From: Keith Howell <kch@edgtech.demon.co.uk>
Subject: [fix] Doom2 problem

It was written in a previous digest

>From: hb@medio.mh.se (--- not set ---)
>Subject: Hi, gus problem
>
> Hi, I have a weird problem with my GUS. I bought it in jan-feb of 1992
>and it has served me well this far. But, when doom2 came it didn't quite 
>work as well as with doom. The F/X are distorted (sounds like krsssh)
>and I first thought it was something wrong with my settings

I had the same problem. Try getting the doom2 patch from one of the archive
sites.
-- 
,--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------.
| Keith Howell             | kch@edgtech.demon.co.uk                       |
`--------------------------+-----------------------------------------------'

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

Date: Fri, 13 Jan 95 13:37:15 EST
From: "Burns Fisher, VMS Development  13-Jan-1995 1336"
<fisher@skylab.enet.dec.com>
Subject: Re: Band-In-A-Box w/ GUS

>Hi:
>
>I'm considering buying Band In A Box to use with my GUS.  Does anyone
>have any advice or comments about how well this works with the GUS. 
>Is BIAB patch cache aware??  Will it even work?  

The BIAB which came out over the summer (?), which I think is V6, is NOT patch
cache aware.  However, when I called them, they said that they were working on

the problem and a new version would be out in the fall (of 1994) which had
patch 
caching working.  They suggested that I wait a while before I buy BIAB and
then 
call and ask them if the currently shipping version had the patch cache fix.

I have not yet done so.

If you call them, please let us know!

Burns

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

Date: Fri, 13 Jan 95 11:51:26 PST
From: "Rod Jones" <RMJONES@us.oracle.com>
Subject: Re: Band-In-A-Box w/ GUS

jasonr@Newbridge.COM (Jason Rusmisel) writes: 
 
> I'm considering buying Band In A Box to use with my GUS.  Does anyone 
> have any advice or comments about how well this works with the GUS. 
> Is BIAB patch cache aware??  Will it even work? 
 
Well the version I've got doesn't support patch caching. It works fine after 
I've used Patch Manager to preload everything, but it's still a chore. I spoke

to the distributors (PG Music?) soon after I got mine (about 12 months ago), 
and they indicated that future releases may be GUS compatible. So maybe the 
current version is OK. 
 
Rod

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

Date: Fri, 13 Jan 1995 16:46:44 -0500
From: arg2@po.cwru.edu (Adam Glick)
Subject: Descent possible help

i had that prob. with it hanging on a irritation mote on load when it was
near the end of the loading screen. it worked fine for w while then it went
like that on me. to fix it i had to recopy my ultrasnd dir. onto my drive.
(i.e. re install) this came from having propats installed and it couldn't
load all the patches into memory. perhaps this is your problem. if yoiu have
switched any patches switch them back and then try it.
-Adam
arg2@po.cwru.edu
              'A person who believes one thing will solve all their problems
               is a fool : they're twice the fool if they believe the thing
               that will fix their problems is money'

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

Date: Fri, 13 Jan 1995 21:18:03 -0600 (CST)
From: "David A. Rice" <dnrrice@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Subject: GUS & PAW
Message-ID: <Pine.A32.3.91.950113211701.116157A-100000@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu>

Hi . . . does the GUS in any of it's emulation modes work with 1942: Pacific
Air War?

Thanks


Dave Rice

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

Date: Sat, 14 Jan 95 18:02:22 +0200
From: Yossi Oren <LIOREN1@WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V18 #12

>According to Intel, the NMI procedure is part of the hardware spec. Boards
>that don't support it aren't really 100% PC compatible. As to why it's often
>left out, one can only assume lazy/cheap manufacturers. Since it was
originall
>used for memory parity and memory is perfect nowadays :-), there is no need
fo
>NMI so why bother? The same goes for non-parity memory, it's just cheaper and
>hey, memory doesn't fail anyway, right?
Ach, but there's a loophole here, men.  You see, Windows, being an
event-driven
environment (which means it doesn't do anything unless it's forced to do it,
but let's not ponder that point), harnesses the NMI procedure for needs of its
own.  I think it uses NMI to handle incoming MIDI streams, but it might use it
for incoming comm data which makes it worse, but anyway... even if you have
a MICROSOFT fucking Sound System and no NMI you won't be able to record MIDI
under Windows.  So it's a bit more critical than a hundred thousand whining
GUSsers, given that a critical mass of us doesn't even use Windows anyway.
Yossi.
PS You're OFFENDED by the word fucking?  Substitute "Barney the Dinosaur", OK?
PPS This is the official reason why the Ultrasound logo is gone from PlayMIDI:
    It's gone from the Ultrasound as well.  New GUSsers might know this but it
    came as news to me when I installed Alex's new GUSMAX (software v3.58)
    Seems the whole box and disk design has changed too - they're into the
    "beyond" look with spaced-out typing and thunderbolts and whatnot.  The
    new logo? "Ultrasound - We're for real".  Luvley.

|IN REAL LIFE:                                      |IN PHYSICAL REALITY:
|lioren1@weizmann.weizmann.ac.il                    |In level 03 Basic
|Gravis Ultrasound advocate, (a.k.a. "GUS idiot"),  |Training, Israeli
|Windows user and mercenary VB programmer.          |Defense Forces.

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

Date: Fri, 13 Jan 95 13:57:38 EST
From: jday@bank-banque-canada.ca (Jim Day)
Subject: HB4

>       Has anyone been able to get Harball 4 by accolade to work with 256k
>memory on a GUS?  I get an out of memory error, but the program does not
>specify if my GUS or my main memory is the one that is "full".  Is there a
>patch of some sort to get it to work with 256k?

>Thanks!



Peter, 
This probably doesn't help much but 
I've got a GUS MAX with 512K and HB4 CD works
fine.  Can you get to the setup screen or does it
crash right at the start?

If it crashes right at the start, then you probably don't
have enough FREE extended memory.  The game NEEDS 6 MEG XMS
+ about 590K of conventional.  If you can't get 6 meg free,
then HB4 come with a utility vm.bat which sets aside 6 meg
of HD space as virtual memory.  So it may not be your GUS
at all.

Let me know
Jim

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

Date: Sat, 14 Jan 1995 12:14:54 -0600 (CST)
From: Jerilyn Daniello <jerilyn@tenet.edu>
Subject: ISA bus speed and Gus Max

I recently replaced my Ultrasound with an Ultrasound Max, however, while 
the Ultrasound would work properly on my 486dx2-66 with the isa clock 
speed a division of 4, with the max I've found I had to lower it to a 
division of 6 and add a dram wait state to keep the max from locking up 
in dos.  Is there something wrong with the Gus Max?  The rest of my 
system is a little slower now just to keep it from crashing.

I'd hate to bring back the Gus Max, since I got it for $128 from Computer
City... 

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

Date: Fri, 28 Jan 94 13:28:07
From: Musicman@werple.mira.net.au
Subject: Lion King + GUS

In yesterdays digest someone was asking whether or not the GUS support in Lion
King works.
Well i have tried it and i can safely say it does!!

I also checked out Legend of Kyrandia III: Malcolms Revenue which i was amazed
to find
GUS/GUS Max support and it works well. 

Cya

Anthony

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

Date: Fri, 13 Jan 1995 17:43:51 -0800 (PST)
From: "Peter C. Chien Jr." <pchienjr@ocf.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: MicroProse's X-COM -- help!

The setup for this game has the UltraSound listed for sound effects, but 
only lists SB and Roland for music.  (I select SB).  Then I run SBOS, but 
only get sound effects out of the game.  How do I get music as well?
I tried mega-em, but of course, being the incompatible with 
protected-mode game procrastinated only good for old games emulator it 
is, it crashed.  Of course.

-Peter

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

Date: Fri, 13 Jan 1995 11:43:53 -0600 (CST)
From: Jarrod Loewen <jloewen@cc.UManitoba.CA>
Subject: MIDI box w/o midi

Hey GUS[Max] freaks!
   We've recently seen a discussion on homemade midi boxes to plug into the
GUS.  I understand the box from Gravis supports duel joysticks.  Does anyone
have any info regarding making my own duel joybar port for the GUS?

TIA!
--jj
 


    Jarrod J. Loewen             Computer  Services
  jloewen@umanitoba.ca         University of Manitoba         "ObQuote"

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

Date: Fri, 13 Jan 1995 16:16:26 -0600 (CST)
From: CRAIGK@ACS.TAMU.EDU
Subject: NMI, Protected mode and such

Well, the motherboard may not be "100% compatible" without NMI, but I can't 
remember the last time SBOS actually worked with a game.  With almost 
everyone using protected mode for games, and relatively few supporting 
the GUS natively,  I really don't care whether my next motherboard comes
with NMI, but I do care whether I have to continue to rely on SBOS, or
for that matter the present version of Megaem.  Checking software shelves
has shown me that Doom, and Wing Commander III are anamolous as far as
GUS support goes.  I hope that changes, and it looks like it is slowly.
So until a lot more people start supporting the  GUS, SBOS is obsolete
as far as I am concerned.  

On an unrelated note, has anyone gotten The Making of Wing Commander III
cdrom to work?  It skips really badly.  I have a revision 2.4 GUS,
3.57 software. 486dx2 66, 8mb, adaptec 1522, Toshiba 5201 3.4 speed cdrom
drive.  I suspect it is the windows drivers, it runs smoothly if I get rid
of the windows ultrasound drivers.  It skips very regularly, as though 
Windows is task switching back and forth.
Craig   

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

Date: Sat, 14 Jan 1995 14:56:25 +0100
From: SIMEN LOKEN HAAGENRUD <SIMENLHA@sofus.hiof.no>
Subject: No music in HELL!

Hi folks.

I've got some problems with Hell, if you know what I mean (not THE 
Hell, but with the game Hell, of course). I can't get any music in 
the game with my gus. If I choose SB+Roland I get music, but the 
soundeffects and speech is VERY bad. I kinds of jumps. So that is not 
an option. Anyway, the game do have a gus-choice in the setup. But it 
doesn't seem like the midi-music is intepreted with GUS.

Anyone else got the same problem? And do anyone know of a solution?

Simen Haagenrud
Viking
Real

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

Date: Fri, 13 Jan 1995 23:12:54 -0500 (EST)
From: Via AIR <CS105135@Sol.YorkU.CA>
Subject: Play AudioCD from CDRom not directly connected to GUS Max

Hi,
I've recently purchased the Ultrasound Max card and so I'm new to
this digest.  My question is this... I want to buy a CDRom very soon and
I want it to be SCSI2 to be used with my Adaptec controller.  Will I be
able to play Audio CDs from a CDRom not connected to my sound card?  To my
understanding, I cannot connect a SCSI drive to the sound card.(?)
I am new to both sound cards and CDRoms so please excuse my
ignorance.  I've sent two requests to the tech@gravis.com with no response..
so I'd appreciate any feedback.
Thanks.
Sylvester.

PS-Can the Ultrasound Max play both music and effects on Ultima8?  I can't
   seem to configure it to.  I could only get music using the patch for U8.

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

End of GUS Daily Digest V18 #13
*******************************
