Ultrasound Daily Digest     Tue, 14 Sep 93  0:46 MDT     Volume 6: Issue  13  

Today's Topics:
				Cascada's Hex Appeal / Memory Trouble 
						Disabling Doublespace
						 From a GUS owner...
					GUS available in Brisbane ???
		   MegaEM and Soundblaster support at the same time
					   MEGAEM problem w/ XWing
			 NT Drivers: Please tell me when (and if) ...
							  QUESTIONS
					The stereo MOD effect command
					Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #11
					Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #12
						  WGH3 and AIL--Help
			  Windows and grvsultr.386, idle CPU loading

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, 13 Sep 93 12:56:17 -0400
From: "Momentary language, sexual situations" <dantonio@magick.tay2.dec.com>
Subject: Re: Cascada's Hex Appeal / Memory Trouble 
Message-ID: <9309131656.AA23658@magick.tay2.dec.com>

> Has anyone managed to get Cascada's "Hex Appeal" demo to work? It requires

Yes, I got it to work by making a boot disk with NOTHING else but HIMEM.SYS
and 4DOS. And I can really say that it wasn't worth the effort and I'm
really disappointed in Cascada Demo Section for releasing such a thing.
It's bad enough that the damn thing won't run with a memory manager (as
someone else said, "I give it an F in 'playing with others'"), but then to
require all that memory free is totally bogus...

> ULTRINIT.SYS to install the GUS (1k) and we're already at

As I understand it ULTRINIT.SYS is ONLY so that things that require an SB
will "see" one when they install. Not really needed here.

> but I can't disable it to run on the non-compressed drive! It's there whatever
> I do to my autoexec's and config's. So I guess the question is, does anybody
> know how to disable doublespace, just to be able to use the computer without
> those 44k in base memory?

Get a real disk-compression utility that you can disable...I had to turn
off damn near everything, including anti-virus stuff. Made me wicked
nervous...

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

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 93 10:01:53 PDT
From: aktang@sdcc13.UCSD.EDU (Anthony Tang)
Subject: Disabling Doublespace
Message-ID: <9309131701.AA27357@sdcc13.UCSD.EDU>

> There is but one way to get rid of dblspace.  Use the command "format c:".
> 
> No, I am not kidding.  Welcome to DOS 6.0.
> 
> However, if you really do have some uncompressed space on your drive, I
> suppose you may be able to temporarily "lose" dblspace.bin, which DOS 6
> will load automatically if it is present.  Go the the uncompressed drive
> (H:, if you accepted the defaults), and do "dir /ah".  You should see,
> among other things, a hidden file called dblspace.bin.  UnHide/UnReadOnly
> it, then rename it to something else.  Now reboot.  You may be dblspace
> free at this point, but I am not positive.
> 
> For all the effort required to get it to run (I had to ditch a disk
> compressor, too, Stacker in my case), it SUCKS.  One Big Yawn, nothing
> new:  hum drum mod music, wiggly cubes, 3D starfields.  Watch CD2 instead,
> it's got all the same stuff, but better.
> 
> --
> Mike Batchelor      |
> mikebat@netcom.com  |                  This space for rent
> mikebat@qdeck.com   |
> 

There's an easier, and less severe way.  Just find a boot disk for
DOS 5.0, and boot off of it.  You DO have a boot disk for 5.0, don't
you?  :-)  (I have a boot disk for DOS 1.x!  Kind of useless, but
fun to laugh at)

And everyone's entitled to their own opinions, but I like the music
and general "choreography" of Hex Appeal better, while CD2 has
better effects.  

On a side note, will people stop sticking uuencoded files into the
digest?  (Aurgh)  Thanks.

-- 
Anthony Tang                Call The AANThill BBS!
AANT                    (619)550-8168
aktang@sdcc13.ucsd.edu          FidoNet (1:202/244)

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

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 93 08:22:18 -0700
From: paladin@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Robin Yang)
Subject: From a GUS owner...
Message-ID: <9309131522.AA10676@ucscb.UCSC.EDU>

I've had a GUS almost since they first came out and it's getting to the point
where I'm thinking of switching to a SB Pro.  I still think the GUS is a great
card and is better than a SB but emulation capabilities give me nothing but
headaches.  As has been proven time and again you can have the best hardware/
software in the world but if it isn't well supported then it don't mean jack.
The ultrasound has been out for a year now and we're *still* talking about
which games have native support instead of which ones don't.  Life sucks.

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

Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1993 14:19:30 +1000
From: Andrew Squire <asquire@gucis.cit.gu.edu.au>
Subject: GUS available in Brisbane ???
Message-ID: <199309140419.AA23830@gucis.cit.gu.edu.au>

Does anyone know where a GUS can be got in Brisbane, Aust.   The two stores that
I enquired at didn't know what I was talking about.  If not Brisbane, then 
Sydney would be okay.  I also saw in the Aust mag PC USER that they cost 
AUS$365.  Can this be true??!!  Has anybody in Aus bought one by mail from the
US and if so could I get the details please (price, where, duty(?) etc).

All help is very much appreciated and thanks in advance.

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

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 93 10:23:54 EST
From: "Bryan Cass" <bc%idx.com@sadye.EMBA.UVM.EDU>
Subject: MegaEM and Soundblaster support at the same time
Message-ID: <009727A88C661B80.242012BF@idx.com>

Is there a way to get MIDI music through MegaEM and digitized sound through
the GUS at the same time?  My Falcon 3.0 software will allow this configuration
but, as you know, MegaEM does not allow SBOS to be loaded when it is running.
(BTW, how *do* you unload SBOS - I get a "Keyboard Interrupt Hooked" message
with SBOS -F).  Am I stuck with using the PC speaker for digitized sounds
when I use MegaEM?

Bryan

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

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 93 07:33:15 -0700
From: osaki@viper.arc.nasa.gov (Robert Osaki)
Subject: MEGAEM problem w/ XWing
Message-ID: <9309131433.AA26011@viper.arc.nasa.gov>

Hello,
This is directed to Jayeson, and anyone else with Mega-Em.

I just registered Mega-Em, and I have a problem with Xwing that I kind of
noticed in the evaluation mode, but hoped it would go away when I registered.

My problem is that any time I select a target (either through "r", "t", "y",
or even button "2"), the game freezes for several seconds then continues.
This gets pretty annoying.  I'm using the latest version of Mega-Em (1.00)
with "emuset /sc" and with Xwing setup for General Midi.  I'm running
MS-DOS 6.0, on a 386/40mHz system.

Other than this, it works great, although digital effects would be nice ;-).

Does anyone else have this problem?  Is this a known bug?

Thanks,
Bob Osaki

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

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 93 9:17:47 CDT
From: wiegand@void.rtsg.mot.com (Robert Wiegand)
Subject: Re: NT Drivers: Please tell me when (and if) ...
Message-ID: <9309131417@midnight1>

> Date: Fri, 10 Sep 93 09:35:27 -0700
> From: Bob Beck <rbk@sequent.com>
> Subject: NT Drivers: Please tell me when (and if) ...
> Message-ID: <9309101635.AA22274@eng2.sequent.com>
> 
> If it's going to be a couple of months I can wait.  If not, I can't wait, and
> I'll replace my GUS with an SB of some sort since the NT drivers exist and I
> want sound (since I now run NT almost 100% of the time on my PC).  Can
> someone from Gravis please give me some idea of when (& if) there will be NT
> drivers?

You might as well just sell it now. We have been waiting for a year and
a half for OS/2 drivers and they still haven't even committed to doing them
much less promised a date. Don't expect NT drivers anytime soon.

Bob Wiegand

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

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1993 15:46:43 EST
From: MLOYER%A1.ORION.mrgate@krypton.gandalf.ca
Subject: QUESTIONS
Message-ID: <009727D5.A53C0340.11376@krypton.gandalf.ca>

From:   NAME: MIKE LOYER                    
	FUNC: 20496200 - Systems Test         
	TEL: 609-424-8700 5512                <MLOYER@A1@ORION>
To: MX%"ultrasound@dsd.es.com"@MRGATE@K@WPC

		  Hi Everyone,
		  
		  Just a few comments. The diffence in sound quality is so much
		  better in GEN MIDI than SB emulation. I was comparing the 2 with
		  the Fred Pharkas Demo. The SB emulation sounded tinnie or just
		  awful but the GEN MIDI using MEGAEM was just terrific. Do users
		  with FM boards have this option ? If they don't there really
		  missing out.
		  
		  I did run into a problem though. I few digest's back someone
		  talked about out of tune music when using MEGAEM and the /SC
		  option. I also ran into this problem with a SIERRA game called The
		  Secret of the Lost Rain Forest. This game is GEN MIDI compatible
		  but when the first game screen starts there is a low rumble like a
		  jet waiting to take off and the some of the sounds are out of tune.
		  The Demo of Fred Pharkas is also from SIERRA and GEN MIDI but
		  everything sounds great. I checked the dates of the drivers for
		  both and they both have the same creation dates. I thought GEN MIDI
		  standardized the patch locations.
		  
		  
		  mike

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

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 93 14:49:04 EDT
From: pccmoddan@aol.com
Subject: The stereo MOD effect command
Message-ID: <9309131449.tn122293@aol.com>

Andre Jakobs (tjakobs@mswe.dnet.ms.philips.nl) writes:

>I was wondering, isn't it possible to use a new effect in the mods...
This new effect should be stereo, why not use a effect like volume, but then
for stereo, should be great...
In GUSMOD you can set the stereo by using the cursors, but why not letting it
done by the composers.... Then it really got a new dimension...<

Time to let everyone in on a little known fact: Dual Module Player supports a
panning command in the newer versions (I know v2.60 and up support it, can't
remember what version it began with though). It is my hope that this command
will be adapted by all programmers writing MOD players, as it's easy to use,
and doesn't interfere with playing the MODs in other players. The
implementation is as follows:

ProTracker Effect 8 is the command. It is entered into the 3 digit effects
column, and it works like this:
840 = centered (mono) 
880= totally left
800= totally right

And of course you can use inbetween numbers like 820 (semi-right) and 870
(semi-far left). I may have left and right confused, but it's easy enough to
find out :)

This is the best possible implementation of a panning command because almost
no MOD player implements ProTracker command 8 for it's original purpose
(which I've never actually found out!). Now if Zwerg Zack would implement
this command in ZZPlay or Otto would get perfect GUS support in DMP my life
would be complete. :)

- Dan Nicholson

Btw - I will try to get some of the latest KLF MOD releases up on EPAS, as
these all support the panning command (and they're damn good music too :)

 ------------------------------------
	   The Levisionet Group
	Aural Landscape Specialists
 ------------------------------------
Dan Nicholson, Director of Dev.
InterNet: pccmoddan@aol.com
		  moddan@bowker.com
 ------------------------------------
553 Thoreau Terrace, Union, NJ 07083
 908-688-0708 * levisionet@aol.com
 ------------------------------------

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

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 93 9:23:53 BST
From: james@maths.exeter.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #11
Message-ID: <228.9309130823@maths.exeter.ac.uk>

Ultrasound Server wrote

> Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1993 09:40:09 -0500 (CDT)
> From: bentlema@cda.mrs.umn.edu (Mark A. Bentley )
> Subject: WTL v.s. FM Synth
> Message-ID: <9309111440.AA01375@cda.mrs.umn.edu>
> 
> I'm going to buy a sound card soon, and am curious to what people think
> gives better quality sound: Wave Table Lookup or FM synthesis?

In the arena of soundcards, the wave table ones seem to give better results.
If you got a pro music synth module that used FM though, it would probably
sound better than a wave table soundcard.

People on the gravis ultrasound email list arent really the right people to 
ask this question though.  We mostly have a wavetable-only card which does a
very poor FM emulation as well.
-- 
James Andrews, Computer Development Officer, Exeter University Maths Dept

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

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1993 11:32:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #12
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309131127.A14958-c100000@sciborg>

> Date: Sun, 12 Sep 93 14:20:11 -0700
> From: winston@Cadence.COM (Winston S Worrell)
> Subject: 808Drums 727Drums and the like
> Message-ID: <9309122120.AA29137@cds653>
> 
> Do I have to edit the ultrasnd .ini or something.
> Before people say - read the README I did and
> it says nothing on how to get the new patches into
> the GUS.
>

Yes, you have to edit ultrasnd.ini, and then reboot windows.  For percs,
you can add new lines below 35 and above 90-something so that you don't
have to replace any of the standard patches (provided you aren't going
to add more than will fit in the 0-34 and 90-something-127 slots). 

> 
> Date: Sun, 12 Sep 93 1:18:59 PDT
> From: mikebat@netcom.com (Mike Batchelor)
> Subject: Hex Appeal
> Message-ID: <9309120818.AA23901@netcom2.netcom.com>
> 
> However, if you really do have some uncompressed space on your drive, I
> suppose you may be able to temporarily "lose" dblspace.bin, which DOS 6
> will load automatically if it is present.  Go the the uncompressed drive
> (H:, if you accepted the defaults), and do "dir /ah".  You should see,
> among other things, a hidden file called dblspace.bin.  UnHide/UnReadOnly
> it, then rename it to something else.  Now reboot.  You may be dblspace
> free at this point, but I am not positive.
>

Before you do this, make sure you put a copy of command.com on the first
uncompressed drive.
 
> For all the effort required to get it to run (I had to ditch a disk
> compressor, too, Stacker in my case), it SUCKS.  One Big Yawn, nothing
> new:  hum drum mod music, wiggly cubes, 3D starfields.  Watch CD2 instead,
> it's got all the same stuff, but better.

I thought hex appeal was quite good, but short.  The watery-wavering effect
at the credits was neat.  Sorta like U2's Mysterious Ways (? not a U2 fan)
video.

> Date: Sun, 12 Sep 93 15:52:54 +0300
> From: tjakobs@mswe.dnet.ms.philips.nl (THEO_JAKOBS TEL.62667)
> Subject: New feature for mods??
> Message-ID: <9309121252.AA10769@muxgw1.ms.philips.nl>
> 
> Hi....
> 
> I was wondering, isn't it possible to use a new effect in the mods...
> This new effect should be stereo, why not use a effect like volume, but then
> for stereo, should be great...
> In GUSMOD you can set the stereo by using the cursors, but why not letting it
> done by the composers.... Then it really got a new dimension...

I think that Ultra Tracker and Farandole (32 and 16 channel trackers for the
GUS, respectively) already support panning.

> Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1993 23:09:54 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Don Munsil <dmunsil@netcom.com>
> Subject: Seal Team seems to support GUS
> Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309122354.A6098-b100000@netcom>
> 
> BTW, I remember Phat or someone saying that the new SimCity Classic
> package included GUS support, as well as SimFarm. Are you sure? They didn't
> say so on the box.
>

The readme for the game says that Maxis will try to get Miles drivers for
new cards as they come in.  There are already GUS drivers for the game on
the Gravis BBS, and the Maxis tech support will even help you install them.
So, if you have a copy of the game without GUS support, call up Maxis to
see if they'll mail the GUS drivers to you.  
 
> Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1993 22:18:06 -0400 (EDT)
> From: CWSMART@delphi.com
> Subject: Volume control for Midi files
> Message-ID: <01H2VKMM7PG290NOA2@delphi.com>
> 
> I notice a very wide range of volume levels on downloaded midi files.
> Some are so weak that they are hard to hear; while others hurt the ears.
> If you setup for weak ones and then hit a loud one you can damage small
> speakers.  Is there a way to correct the volume level for future playings.

The MIDs that play softly were sequenced for synths that have linear volume
response.  The GUS, unfortunately, has a log volume curve, so linear volumes
will play very quietly and out of proportion to each other on the GUS.  
You can use VMAP to convert the linear volumes in MIDs to log volumes for the
GUS.

Phat.

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

Date: Mon, 13 Sep 93 10:13:50 EDT
From: Alan Weisberg <weisberg@pr.cyanamid.com>
Subject: WGH3 and AIL--Help
Message-ID: <9309131413.AA27939@orca.es.com>

I'm running ultramid 1.02.  I've tried the soundblaster and
soundcanvas set-up options.  The midi-music intro works and
sounds great, but the program hangs my system as soon as it
tries to play a digitized (.voc) sound.  The game runs fine
if I configure it to use only music and no digitized sound.

I'm using the default card set up which seems to run 
everything else I've tried.

If anyone has gotten WGH3 to work with both the music and
digitized sounds, please e-mail me so that I can try to
figure out where I've gone astray.

Alan
weisberg@pr.cyanamid.com

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

Date: Tue, 14 Sep 93 11:02:24 +1000
From: davep@zenobia.phys.unsw.EDU.AU (David Perry)
Subject: Windows and grvsultr.386, idle CPU loading
Message-ID: <9309140102.AA09975@zenobia.phys.unsw.EDU.AU>

Why does the idle loading of my 486-66 report 8% loading with the
ultrasound enabled? Could the drivers be that bad? or is there some
ill-configured option on my machine?

Dave

_____________________

David R Perry (VK2TDP) Sydney Australia
  Communications and Networks Unit
  University of New South Wales 
  Tel: 061-(02) 697-2926
  Internet(AARNet): D.Perry@unsw.EDU.AU

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

End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #13
*************************************
