Ultrasound Daily Digest Fri May 14 00:07 Volume 3: Issue 44
Today's Topics:
16-bit daugtherboard
CD-ROM pass-thru cable?
cd playing through
E-Mail server for epas
GUS Review
mail-FTP
MIDI Q
new SBOS and where is it available?
Possible PLAYMIDI problem
SBOS 2.06B
Some more Mids ...
Soyo/SiS motherboard and GUS
Vmap
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, 13 May 1993 18:44:24 -0700
From: Eric N. Liao <liaoe@aero.org>
Subject: 16-bit daugtherboard
Message-ID: <199305140144.AA01218@aerospace.aero.org>
I also suspect that the Windows drivers will need reworking for the 16-bit
daughterboard. After all, support for 16-bit recording and data compression
(a-law, u-law) isn't currently present with the GUS Windows 3.1 drivers.
As far as "the same as used on the Turtle Beach Multisound", does this mean
the recording daugtherboard will have a DSP chip, and not fixed-function
chips to perform compression/decompression? Perhaps something in the way of
the SB-16's ASP chip?
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 93 10:44:48 PDT
From: cs64sbg@sdcc8.UCSD.EDU (Anthony Tang)
Subject: CD-ROM pass-thru cable?
Message-ID: <9305131744.AA10727@sdcc8.UCSD.EDU>
To the people who are wondering about CD-ROM pass-thru cables for
their CD-ROM drives to the GUS CD-in. This is what I did, and it
works fine. (I have a Texel, if that matters, but it shouldn't)
First, the one important thing you need to worry about with the
cable is that the CD-ROM connection side is correct. The other side
doesn't matter too much, because it should be easily modifiable.
(Don't be scared. No soldering, here!) I got the PAS-16 connector,
myself, but again, just make sure the CD-ROM end is correct for your
model of CD-ROM. (I bought my CD-ROM from a local store in San
Francisco, and they were ncie enough to give me the little cable for
free on request. Try asking the place you bought it from for one.
Hopefully they're nice)
Anyway, with the CD-IN on the GUS, I believe the pins are:
o o o o
L G G R
Left, Ground, Ground, Right.
Now, examine your cable. Most likely, it will only have one wire
each for Left, Ground, and Right. Now, look at the Soundcard
connector side. It should look like an oversized jumper with 4 or 5
connections. You should also notice where each wire is going, and
which wire is which. (They should be color coded, red=right,
white=left, black=ground. I think... Please correct) You will find
that these wires snap in and out quite easily. (Just be careful not
to snap the plastic connector, too) All you need to do is snap the
wires around to match the GUS connector. (This should make sense if
you see the connector... It's actually quite simple. I only needed
to move one of the wires, and it just takes a second.) The worst
thing you could do is connect Left and Right backwards, or Left to
ground, or something like that. Check the colors to be sure you're
right before you power up. I don't know what harm connecting left
or right to ground would do, but better safe than blown up, eh?
hehe.
Someone might consider making this a FAQ, if it isn't already. A
lot of people have been asking... (which would, by definition make
it a FAQ, right?)
Anthony Tang
aktang@sdcc13.ucsd.edu
Or, for the lazy typist: aktang@ucsd.edu
BTW: To Dave DeBry. You're gonna warn us when the digest goes
down, right? (So 100s of news articles don't pop up asking what
happened.. :-)
------------------------------
Date: 13 May 1993 05:42:44 -0500 (EST)
From: STU_JABIRCHE@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU
Subject: cd playing through
Message-ID: <01GY46BRQN8Y8YJSUN@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU>
In response to Vince (hopefully), I have a portable CD player plugged into
the line in jack on my gus. My gus line out is plugged into my SBPro line in.
My SBPro line out is plugged into my Stereo's auxilliary jack. Everyhing works
well. One thing I'd like to ask you nifty coders out there is if it would be
possible to make a small program that just turned on the line in from the dos
prompt. I got rid of SBOS because I have a SBPro, but I had to reinstall the
whole schmeal just to turn on my line in. Any takers? sbos -l seems sort of
an overkill, doesn't it?
-=Marc=-
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 93 08:46:02 EDT
From: sbm@pt.com (Steve McGowan)
Subject: E-Mail server for epas
Message-ID: <9305131246.AA18102@pt.com>
Chris (chrisw@leland.stanford.edu) was talking about sending files that he
uploaded to epas to people that don't have ftp access (like me). I came across
a mail server that solved the problem for me.
Sending the mail:
>From: <your e-mail address>
>To: mail-server@nike.rz.uni-konstanz.de
>send help
>index gus
Returns directions on how to use the mail server "send help"
and list of all the gus files on epas "index gus".
To retreive the zone 66 demo I sent:
>From: <your e-mail address>
>To: mail-server@nike.rz.uni-konstanz.de
>begin
>mail <your e-mail address>
>uuencode
>send gus/game/0zone66.zip
>send gus/game/0zone66g.zip
>end
For 0zone66.zip I received 23 split (64K), uuencoded e-mail messages that
I stripped out the header, concatonated together, uudecoded, and
finally unzipped. It worked and I don't need to bug anybody to send me
stuff.
The mail server also has linux and BSD386 sources and OS2 applications.
Good Luck Steve.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 93 21:00:27 WET DST
From: "R.A.Kelly" <R.A.Kelly@sequent.cc.hull.ac.uk>
Subject: GUS Review
Message-ID: <9305132014.AA21083@orca.es.com>
Nice to see the Ultrasound thrashing the opposition in this month's PC
Format soundcard review. I hope game publishers see it and take note!
Well we can hope anyway :-)
R.Kelly
no interesting sig.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 1993 13:09 GMT+0100
From: RTHI%BTMA74@se.alcbel.be
Subject: mail-FTP
Message-ID: <01GY4M353POW8WWOCP@btmv56>
1. mail-FTP
I have no possibility to FTP all those GUS goodies you guys write about from
GUS FTP sites. I am living and working in Belgium (a small country in Europe)
and I would like to know if there is a mail-FTP server I can contact to do the
job for me.
2. GUS users in Europe
I feel exactly like the Italian guy complaining that he could not get any GUS
support in Europe. I send my registration card to Logitech in Switzerland but
until now...no news. Can somebody tell me how to contact Gravis in Europe.
Cheers, Roland.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 93 23:07:22 EDT
From: Peter G.N. Scheyen <scheyen@csd.uwo.ca>
Subject: MIDI Q
Message-ID: <9305140307.AA02632@mccarthy.csd.uwo.ca>
First off, I'm not really a midi expert (yet :-) so I hope I get my
terminology right. What midi controllers are supported by the GUS?
I know that chorus and reverb (is that the same as tremolo?) are not.
I can seem to get pitch wheel, mod wheel, volume, velocity, and a few
others to work, but I cannot seem to get the rest to work (for example,
key/channel aftertouch).
Thanks,
Pete
scheyen@csd.uwo.ca
------------------------------
Date: 13 May 1993 11:13:18 -0600 (MDT)
From: "Keith J. Ball" <BALLK@ZENO.MSCD.EDU>
Subject: new SBOS and where is it available?
Message-ID: <01GY4HW3JL7M96WHI0@ZENO.MSCD.EDU>
Is there a newer version of SBOS than 2.04?
If so where is it available?
I can't seem to find it even though I seen several references to 2.06.
Thanks,
Keith
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 1993 16:38:28 -0600 (MDT)
From: MASON@CC.SNOW.EDU
Subject: Possible PLAYMIDI problem
Message-ID: <930513163828.20207425@CC.SNOW.EDU>
I'm not sure if I have a problem with my GUS or with PLAYMIDI. Anyway, my
problem is when I use PLAYMIDI to play a midi file I sometimes get a graphic
representation that a note should be playing but I don't hear any sound. This
is always the case when I play the midi file LATINDNC.MID which came with the
Gravis distribution disks.
Across the bottom when PLAYMIDI is running, you
have the label "Midi Notes" with various numbers. When the song LATINDNC.MID
starts to play I get a few lines that display above the number 10 however no
sound is played. After about 2 to 3 seconds, other lines apear above the lower
numbers and I do here those sounds.
I have noticed this on various other midi files I have played.
Has anyone else noticed this problem. I would appreciate if someone could try
it on their GUS and let me know how it works for you. It would be nice to know
it isn't a hardware problem with my card.
Thanks in advance,
Marlin Mason
MASON@CC.SNOW.EDU
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 93 20:19 PDT
From: Jason Lin <IZZYVU9@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU>
Subject: SBOS 2.06B
Message-ID: <9305140320.AA00892@orca.es.com>
I just downloaded the latest version of SBOS, 2.06B. However, my computer wil
hang whenever I attempt to load it high. I have tried both DOS's loadhigh and
QEMM's loadhi, but none of them works. Other versions of SBOS can be loaded
high without problems. Help will be appreciated..
------------------------------
Date: 13 May 1993 19:02:46 PST
From: chrisw <chrisw@leland.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Some more Mids ...
Message-ID: <9305140208.AA20032@leland.Stanford.EDU>
Just posted the following on epas. To the non ftp people: I may post
this stuff out by Email tommorrow or I may wait a while until I've got
a bit more to go with it.
*** warfilm.txt ***
Well, it's not much, I know, but thought I might as well post it.
Anyway, it's kind of background music for any slow paced war movie
eg. when the hero of the story finds that his best friend has been
reduced to a red pulpy mess by the nasty enemy. (Now don't get any
wrong ideas - they're JUST FRIENDS. This is the army, after all)
And yes, it was written on the GUS.
*** evcounts.mid ***
The usual, run of the mill Everything Counts song by Depeche Mode.
This is a modification of the file sequenced by Wes Santee
(santeew@cs.uoregon.edu).
It's not really finished but it's about as far as I can go
without access to the original song. Someone else is welcome to
continue the fine tradition of theft and creativity.
It's got a few bits that aren't exactly in the original, but I don't
think I went too far out of style.
Chris.
P.S. About the terribly complicated moulded midi box: perhaps they could
just provde instructions on how to make a cardboard one out of all the
spare packaging the GUS comes in.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 1993 09:25:29 -0500
From: regius@mickey.cc.utexas.edu (no clue)
Subject: Soyo/SiS motherboard and GUS
Message-ID: <9305131425.AA06787@qt.cs.utexas.edu>
This is an answer to Mr. Marc Rouleau's post on list of working
motherboards and the SiS chips (sort of)
* Soyo SY-020P2 (486DX/SX 25/33/50 motherboard) [I use a DX2/66 on it]
Chipset (only 1 chip visible :) 85C460 (manufacturer SiS)
Configuration very similar to Mr. Rouleau's sample board
except that this board has 2 sockets (each for the DX and
the SX), but none of them a ZIF. I don't know if the P24T's
will work. (if you really need more info, mail me :)
* As far as I can tell the 16-bit DMA works fine with my GUS
* I had/still have some problems, but am not sure about the
cause. For all I know the problem(s) is caused by my HD
controller (Promise DC-4030VL VLbus IDE caching controller)
Problems: if I turn on the 32-bit data transfer on the
controller I won't be able to use SBOS (it loads
but produces no sound)
gusmod buzzes (very annoying)
^_^ regius ^_^
--
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 93 13:48:02 EDT
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Vmap
Message-ID: <9305131748.AA29583@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
> Date: Wed, 12 May 93 3:14:02 CDT
> From: cowles@hydra.convex.com (John Cowles)
> Subject: VMAP and GMOS Velocity mapping
> Message-ID: <9305120814.AA04341@hydra.convex.com>
>
> Please don't forget the volume controller (7) and the expression
> controller (11). VMAP currently ignores these (which is a problem). A GS Init
> sets volume to 100, and expression to 127, so even though a midifile does
> not need to have an explicit volume setting inside it, there is an implicit
> one due to the default GS setting. VMAP assumes that the volume and
> expression settings are always equal to 127!
>
Vmap adjusts the volume controller only when it comes across an explicit
control change 7. The default volume of 127 is an assumption of the
MIDI driver for the GUS.
Vmap does indeed ignore the expression controller because, frankly, I
didn't know it existed. :)
> Finding the actual volume can be quite complex, even on a synth with
> linear volume curves. For example, if I set the volume controller to
> 100, the expression controller to 100 and then output a note with a
> velocity of 100, I will actually have a note with an absolute velocity
> of .7890625 * .7890625 * .7890625 of max - about 62! [ 128 * (101/128)**3 - 1 ]
The task of finding the absolute volume from the volume controller,
expression controller, and key velocity is handled by the MIDI driver.
Vmap only concerns itself with the individual factors.
>
> In defense of Mr. Tran (the author of VMAP), this becomes much more complex
> when the velocity curves are logarithmic!
>
Actually, it can be quite easy. Just multiply the linear controller and
velocities, and then do a log transform on the product. It would be
much harder to log transform the controller values and velocities and
then try to compute the absolute volume.
Thanks for your comments. Vmap was just a quick hack, so I'm sure it
can be better. I'll see about working on it a bit more, but I do
hope that Gravis/Forte will make the driver do the linearization for
us all, obviating the need for Vmap.
Phat.
------------------------------
Date: (null)
From: (null)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 93 16:32:35 +0200
From: odd_oden@linnea.gih.no (oden odd@1ae)
Message-ID: <9305131432.AA25346@linnea>
I've tried a long time to make decent samples on my GUS, but no matter
what I try, there's always NOISE! Here's what I've done:
1) I've moved the soundcard as far away from the other hardware in the
computer as I can; it is now in the bottom of the case.
2) I've moved my VGA-card almost to the top.
3) I've moved the inner wires so that they are not in contact with the GUS.
But all I get is... Noise.
I've tried to sample without conecting anything to the GUS: No line in
no line out, and no microphone. Now THIS at least should prevent any
noise being produced at all.
But all I get is... Noise.
And, you know what I see when I search my samplefiles, recorded with
silence? I see ONE bit being shifted at level zero, all the time:
------------------------------
End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V3 #44
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