GUS Daily Digest            Tue, 22 Feb 94  0:07         Volume 11: Issue  20 

Today's Topics:
			  .ini files: might have made it before....
							 CD audio-in
							Gabriel Knight
					  Gripes about new Playmidi
					   GUS Daily Digest V11 #16
					   GUS Daily Digest V11 #19
							  Gus in Oz
						   GUS OS/2 Drivers
				 How'd you setup Ultima Underword I?
					is sales@gravis.com working ?
						It's .RMI this time...
						Magasines & Gravis US
							 MOD Samples
					   Motherboard report (GUS)
							 New Ultramid

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: Mon, 21 FEB 94 12:40:30 BST
From: ERH6HALLS@CLUSTER.NORTH-LONDON.AC.UK
Subject: .ini files: might have made it before....

Date sent:  21-FEB-1994 12:38:49 

Simon says: It's a real mess but it's Fun!..  

Sorry if this got posted before, it was bounced back once, and then our mailer 
went on strike, so I have,nt had any digests recently....


>Subject: Emulators, drivers & .INI files...
>
>Date sent:  17-FEB-1994 16:55:16 
>
>Simon says: It's a real mess but it's Fun!..  
>
>Having been playing around with Megaem and the syndicate AIL drivers for a 
>while I'm getting more and more frustrated at trying create custom 
>configurations.. whatever I do I can't get the replacement patches to work in 
>X-Wing, and my attempts to change patches.ini for syndicate were a disaster.
>
>What I would like to know is, which .ini files are used by which driver in 
>which order? Does Megaem use ultrasnd.ini or ultramid.ini? How can I get my own 
>custom patches in syndicate? it woud seem that u can only use the GM set.. as 
>the only people using the 32bit drivers would have to have download access and 
>therefore probably have an ultrasnd.ini with Patch Banks, why does loadpats 
>only use the default GM set? It would only take a few more lines of code to 
>implement loading from other banks.....
>
>I only have 256k, I expect that is the X-wing problem, but an answer to the 
>AIL32 query would be most welcome.
>
>
>BTW, I think the car noise in the victory scene of syndicate is a *sample* not 
>a patch, I seem to remember hearing it under sbos, and when I played around 
>with the sound libraries in a sample editor....I could be wrong...?
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>mail to below unless its *really* good, then share it!
>
>Si.
>
|============================================================================|
|     _/_/_/_/  _/_/_/    _/    _/  |  Simon R.Hall  North London University |
|    _/        _/    _/  _/    _/  |  Dept.  of   Info. Science & Technology |
|   _/_/_/_/  _/_/_/    _/_/_/_/  |  JANET    :    erh6halls@uk.ac.unl.clstr |
|        _/  _/    _/  _/    _/  |  InterNet  :    erh6halls@clstr.unl.ac.uk |
| _/_/_/_/  _/    _/  _/    _/  |  ******   #include "witticisms.h"  ******* |
|============================================================================|

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 11:49:13 GMT
From: Clarke Brunt <CLARKE@lsl.co.uk>
Subject: Re: CD audio-in

>I have just connected my CDROM drive to my GUS, using the internal
>4-pin connector. Now, it seems that this input is mixed into the
>GUS output, without any control over it. That is, when I run the
>Gravis Mixer, clicking "Mute Line In" does not mute the CD-in.
>Also, the volume control has no effect on the sound from the CD.
>Is it really the case that this input is always mixed into the
>output, no matter what and without gain control?

Yes - that's the way it is on my GUS. Possibly some later GUS have a
more sophisticated mixer which might be able to control CD audio-in.
At least the Output Enable/Disable mutes the CD audio, along with
everything else.

Be the way - I recently acquired a Tosh 4101 CD drive, and surprisingly
the audio pins *match* the GUS. Even the spacing of the pins looks the
same. Unfortunately the only cable I could get had sockets slightly
closer together, so some slight pin-bending was required, anyway it
works!

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 94 19:12:37 GMT
From: nguyen@eerie.fr (NGUYEN Francois                   )
Subject: Gabriel Knight

Hi all, 
My mailhost was down and I missed a few days of gus list.
Does anyone found a good way to run Gabriel Knight on the gus?
Some told to run it under windows in a previous post
Some other said there will soon be a 32 bit driver

Thanxs
Francois
	'

							 \|/
							(o o)
		   _____________oOO__(_)__OOo_______________
				Francois Nguyen: nguyen@eerie.fr

 

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 12:14:55 -0800 (PST)
From: mikebat@netcom.com (Mike Batchelor)
Subject: Gripes about new Playmidi

Got the gus0040.zip last night, and I am not at all pleased with the new
playmidi.exe.

First of all, the background color is hideous.  Please, Gravis, go back to
the black background, or let us choose a background color.

But that's a minor quibble.  On to the major stuff:

1.  Having owned a GUS for a year and a half, all my MIDIs are converted
over to log volume.  Now the default is linear volume.  I must use a
switch to get the same volume response as the older version.  Of course,
attempts to convert the MIDs back to linear volume give less than
acceptable results.

2.  Numerous MIDI files that play fine with the 2.06a playmidi produce no
sound at all with the new version.  The -debug and -verbose switches show
that events are going by, but no sound comes out.  Chase.mid is a notable
example.

3.  The -umid option seems to be useless, especially for MIDIs with custom
patches, because it will now read the ultramid.ini, allowing no
customization (easily).  Furthermore, no graphical display is given in
this mode.

4.  Really major BUG:  detune values in the .cfg file are ignored, as are
the volume values.  With the old playmidi, I could adjust a particular
patch by editing a .cfg file, and add the volume and detune values, like
this:

1 acpiano.pat 80 -24

This plays it at 80% normal volume, and detunes one octave.  No matter what,
it is played with no detuning, and normal volume.  I've verified that it
does read the .cfg file, because I can change patch names and hear the
results.

So, for the majority of the MIDI files I keep, the new playmidi produces
no sound, or poorer sound, compared to the 2.06a playmidi.

Boo hiss.

But thanks for fixing the keyboard int problem in the new playfile.  That
was pretty annoying.


-- 
Mike Batchelor      | UseLinuxUseLinuxUseLinuxUseLinuxUseLinuxUseLinuxUseLinux
mikebat@netcom.com  | xuniLesUxuniLesUxuniLesUxuniLesUxuniLesUxuniLesUxuniLesU

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 94 10:04:06 +0200
From: gavin@concave.cs.wits.ac.za (Gavin Saul Bergheim)
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V11 #16

how do I unsubscribe ???

Thanks Gavin
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------      Gavin Bergheim                                
gavin@concave.cs.wits.ac.za
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 13:31:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V11 #19

> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 94 17:15:53 +0000
> From: eeyjsfa@unicorn.ccc.nottingham.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V11 #18
> 
> I wish Gravis would be a little more active in promoting their excelent
> soundcards in the UK. Yesterday I looked through all of the PC games
> magazines latest issues and none of them contained Ultrasound adverts, but
> what was worse, only a very tiny minoroty of reviews of games which support
> the gravis directly actualy mention the fact. 

So _write_ to the magazines and tell them that, as a GUS user, they
are doing you a disservice by not accurately reporting when a game
does or does not support the GUS.

> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 94 14:22:00 MST
> From: Juggler <IH23@UTEP.BITNET>
> Subject: MOD Samples
> 
> Does anyone know of any FTP sites where I can locate tons of sample
> files (SAM) for making MODs?? Thanks.

Grab John Capps' Patch Making Reference which is an excellent resource
guide for people looking for samples.  Although the reference is
mainly geared towards MIDI patch making, the tips on obtaining and
converting samples to WAVs also apply to MOD composing.  I'd love to
see more MODs (ULTs, FARs) use the many 16-bit samples on the 
archives.

> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 1994 10:44:57 -0800 (PST)
> From: Chicken In a Biscuit <yaga@u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Well, it still doesn't work!
> 
> OK, I finally got around to manually editing my autoexec.bat and 
> config.sys files to recognize the GUS.  However, megaem and ultramid will 
> now work even though my  variables are correct (I think).

Did you set your ULTRADIR variable?

Phat.

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 18:12:44 +0800 (WST)
From: Roderick Nasir DAVID <ruffus@tartarus.uwa.edu.au>
Subject: Gus in Oz

You can get the Gravis at $349 at Alternative Software in West
Australia. 

Their Address is 324 Charles St
		 North Perth 6006
		 Tel: (09) 227 6669
		 Fax: (09) 227 5911
	
		Ask for Nazir

They also supply a 'update' disk with each ultrasound because the
ones currently in Australia are rev 2.4 . The disks they contain
are 2.06a, but they do not contain megaem (VERY important as
we here know <g>). So they give a disk with Megaem and some
other utilities such as they New OS/2 drivers etc etc.

Hope that helps.

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 94 13:54:31 -0500
From: "Momentary language, sexual situations" <dantonio@tay2.dec.com>
Subject: Re: GUS OS/2 Drivers

> I have found that the OS/2 MMPM drivers recently uploaded to
> ftp.cdrom.com basically require the MMPM CSD patch to be installed
> prior to the driver installation. The CSD can also be found on
> ftp.cdrom.com as mmpmcs.dsk in the ibm directory.

I found this to be true also (Robert Manley verified it for his driver). I
also found I had to reboot after installing the CSD; for some reason, it
wasn't obvious to me and I tried to install the drivers without much
success. After rebooting, all went perfectly.

I have noticed that sometimes the sound get "behind." For example, a window
will open and a second later, I'll hear the noise!

DDA

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 94 21:34:48 -0500
From: gkmaier%crlvax.dnet@crl.mobil.com
Subject: How'd you setup Ultima Underword I?

(hope this isn't a faq)

Do you have any advice for playing Ultima Underworld I with the GUS?
Using Megaem, the music sounds great but the sounds aren't right,
for example when I land a blow during a fight, a piano key plays.
Using SBOS, the situation is kind of opposite.

If you have any suggestions, please let me know at the address
below.

Thanks,
Greg
gkmaier@crl.mobil.com
"Gleek gleek is a kooky guy..."

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 11:43:22 -0600 (CST)
From: a18819@itesocci.gdl.iteso.mx (Rodriguez Jacinto Andres Luis)
Subject: is sales@gravis.com working ?

Hi,

 I am very interested in the GUS card and I saw the address sales@gravis.com
as the right one to submit questions about getting a GUS and information
about how to get it here in Mexico. I have already sent 2 emails but I have
received no response. Does anybody know if the address is still working or
there is other way to contact them ?

Thank you.
-- 

	  ___________
	/    ________\              Andres L. Rodriguez
   /     |______  _____         Ingenieria Electronica
__/              \/      \      I.T.E.S.O.
____|         _____________\    Guadalajara, Mexico
_____|       |   ___  ___
_______|     |  |    0    \     INTERNET: A18819@itesocci.gdl.iteso.mx
 _______|    |  |          _\   BITNET  : A18819@iteso
  _______|   |  |         |
   _______|  |  |         |
	_______| |  | ________|
						   
		   "En tanto permanezca el mundo no acabara
						  la fama y la gloria de MEXICO-TENOCHTITLAN"

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 13:24:47 -0400 (AST)
From: Jurassic Mark <markus@Info.UMoncton.ca>
Subject: It's .RMI this time...

GUS day people,

	Now that I put the request for a XMI->MID, I found another format 
which I'd like to convert and play under DOS.  It's .RMI files.  Can play 
them under Windows, but nowhere else.  Any converters out there?

		 Marc Y. Paulin - Jurassic Mark (Usenet) - J-Mark (IRC)
			  Graduating CS student in search of a job...
   - markus@clement.info.umoncton.ca (Talk 'n Mail) - (506)856-9518 -
 Inertia Player Beta Tester - Author of the G-List for Ultrasound owners

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 10:23:31 +0000 (GMT)
From: Toby <T.W.Nichols@hertfordshire.ac.uk>
Subject: Magasines & Gravis US

 -----------------------------
> 
> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 94 17:15:53 +0000
> From: eeyjsfa@unicorn.ccc.nottingham.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V11 #18
> 
> I wish Gravis would be a little more active in promoting their excelent
> soundcards in the UK. Yesterday I looked through all of the PC games
> magazines latest issues and none of them contained Ultrasound adverts, but
> what was worse, only a very tiny minoroty of reviews of games which support
> the gravis directly actualy mention the fact. 

I have noticed this and it really annoys me. Reading the review of Doom 
in PCFormat they said "The music and sound effects are great... oh and 
they are 3D on an Ultrasound" Wow the GUS gets half a line mention. The 
3D effects make such a difference. They should have devoted at least a 
paragraph saying how much it adds to the atmosphere and realism!.
> 
> For example, in one of the magazines there is a checkbox at the end of each
> review deatailing the hardware requirements - they never fail to mention
> when a game has SB / Adlib support, but they do not mention gravis support
> ever! Even with games like Doom that are virtualy unplayable without one!
> ;-)
:->
They never mentioned it with pinball fantasies and that has some of the 
best GUS music and effects yet.
> 
> The ultrasound deserves to be the top soundcard in the UK - Unfortunately
> if the UK games magazine readers persist in thinking that nothing supports
> the gravis, it will become a legendary failure.
> 
I reckon that there is a certain ammount of back handers going on. Gravis 
would have to pay a magasine to get them to promote it more. Why do I 
think this? Well I notice that when the writers actually mention the GUS 
they have nothing but praise for it but they never actually promote it. 
eg. "Do I get a GUS of a sound wave32?" they say "the GUS is a top 
card... GET A SW32 or SB16" I suspect they all have a GUS in their 
computers at home but are not going to upset creastive labs and orchid.

# | \        /  ~~|~~ /~~~\ !   !      {} ............................ | #
* <  \  /\  / /~\ |   |     |---|  /\  {} Pessimism? It'll never work. > *
# |   \/  \/  \_/ |   \___/ !   ! /~~\ {} ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | #

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

Date: Tue, 22 Feb 1994 10:36:32 +1030 (CST)
From: Gavin Scarman <SCARMAN@hfrd.dsto.gov.au>
Subject: Re: MOD Samples

This should be in the musicians digest but ..

>Does anyone know of any FTP sites where I can locate tons of sample
>files (SAM) for making MODs??

1/ If you use ultratracker 1.5 you can extract the samples from the GUS patches 
with a utility file that comes with it. But if you want to use these samples 
with 8 bit trackers then you will also need SOX to convert from 16 to 8 bit.

2/ Get the file patinf23.zip (think the name's right) from epas, John Capps has 
a list of sites where to go for samples.

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 94 21:30:05 -0500
From: liaor@churchst.ccs.itd.umich.edu
Subject: Motherboard report (GUS)

I just upgraded from an ISA-486 motherboard (SiS 85C401/402 chipset, AMI
BIOS) to a VLB-486 motherboar d(SIS 85C461 chipset, AMI BIOS)

Whereas my old SiS 85C401/402 supported all functions of the GUS (16-bit
DMA, NMI for SBOS), my new SiS 85C461 does NOT support the NMI (SBOS says
"NMI disabled for this PC" or something like that)

I'm not sure why SiS would "downgrade" I/O functionality.
Anyway, it's possible it could be the peripheral controller.
My old motherboard had an SiS 82C206 peripheral controller.
My new one has an SiS 82C207 controller...maybe that's the culprit.

MEGAEM, ULTRAMID, Win drivers, DMP, etc. seem to work alright, so it's
not a total loss.  (Incidentally, the 85C461 supports VESA DPMS for 
EPA Energy Star compliance.)

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

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 14:16:44 -0600 (CST)
From: Jonathan Paul Quick <jpq0042@tamsun.tamu.edu>
Subject: New Ultramid



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

End of GUS Daily Digest V11 #20
*******************************
