polpo wrote on 2025-05-18, 06:19:

Here is a look into the next feature I am working on - CD-ROM emulation. It emulates a Panasonic CD interface (cdmke.sys is the driver for DOS and it also works in Windows) and the speed is just over a 2x CD-ROM drive. The CD-ROM emulation currently runs in Sound Blaster mode with CD audio, SB DSP, and FM synth all mixed together. The game MechWarrior 2 has been my main test bed because of the intro FMV, which stresses data transfer and SB audio, and then in-game it has redbook CD audio with SB sound effects.
Here's a video on my Bluesky profile: https://bsky.app/profile/polpo.org/post/3lpge6jccm222

Again like most things I couldn't have done it alone: yyzkevin wrote the underlying MKE CD-rom interface emulation, and wbcbz7 got rppicomidi's mass storage speed improvements for tinyusb working well enough for me to use.

I just saw this over on github and got really excited!

Picked up a PicoGUS 2.0 a few weeks back for use in my DOS 6.22 rig, and LOVE it.

This feature will be huge IMHO. CD-ROM emulation in DOS is something so many people want. Sure, you can do it, but I've always opted for a real drive, it's just easier. Now, having that external storage option for your image emulation? It's a game changer built into an already awesome card....wicked cool!

Huge thanks to all involved!

I just want to provide an update for anyone who may also have this issue and for the creator to know about possible conflict.

My picogus is paired with a SPEA Media-FX (Ensoniq soundscape s-2000). I have disabled SB emulation on the Ensoniq card so the only thing that it does is Joystick support, Wavetable synth, and port 534 wave/sound support for games that specifically support it.

IN DOS:

When I run the picogus in SB mode, there are absolutely no issues with games like Doom and Tie Fighter.

When I run the Picogus in GUS mode, after a while games will freeze and the system locks up. Funny thing, the MPU-401 keeps running though despite the system locking up.

Also when I have the Pigogus in GUS mode, the joystick port on the Soundscape goes wonky and drifts. As soon as I put the PicoGUS in SB mode, it stops this behaviour.

The Soundscape Midi port is set to 320. I'm wondering if there is some kind of DMA or port conflict going on somewhere (possibly joystick?), but the Soundscape uses DMA 0 and the PICO Gus uses DMA 1, and the freezing happened even when I disabled the joystick port in Sndscape.ini. Seems like they're not jiving with each other somehow though. Something in the GUS mode is causing a conflict which leads to the freezing. It usually runs the game for 10 minutes before freezing. Strangely no issues at all when in SB mode.

CPU: Pentium 3 1000mhz 100fsb (socket 370 cpu on a slotkit in a Slot 1 mobo)
Mobo: ASUS P2B rev 1.10 (Intel 440bx chipset)
RAM: 512MB PC133 (2-2-2 100mhz fsb)
GPU: Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Storage: IDE to SD card adaptor (Disabled in BIOS when I'm in DOS), 8gb IDE HDD partitioned into (x2 2gb Fat16 partitions for DOS)
OS: Dos 6.22 on IDE HDD. Win 98 SE on SD card
Optical: Generic IDE optical drive (DVD ROM)
PSU: EVGA 450watt

(My autoexec.bat has the ultrasound set as such:)
SET ULTRASND=240,1,1,5,5
SET ULTRADIR=C:\ULTRASND

Hi, i am having an issue in a 486 motherboard, picogus orange light is always on when the pc turns on and software says picogus not detected. Any ideas what means?

polpo wrote on 2025-05-18, 06:19:

Here is a look into the next feature I am working on - CD-ROM emulation. It emulates a Panasonic CD interface (cdmke.sys is the driver for DOS and it also works in Windows) and the speed is just over a 2x CD-ROM drive. The CD-ROM emulation currently runs in Sound Blaster mode with CD audio, SB DSP, and FM synth all mixed together. The game MechWarrior 2 has been my main test bed because of the intro FMV, which stresses data transfer and SB audio, and then in-game it has redbook CD audio with SB sound effects.
Here's a video on my Bluesky profile: https://bsky.app/profile/polpo.org/post/3lpge6jccm222

Again like most things I couldn't have done it alone: yyzkevin wrote the underlying MKE CD-rom interface emulation, and wbcbz7 got rppicomidi's mass storage speed improvements for tinyusb working well enough for me to use.

I really hope this is a 1.x/2.x common feature because it would be really nice to have 😀

Omarkoman wrote on 2025-05-19, 23:44:

Hi, i am having an issue in a 486 motherboard, picogus orange light is always on when the pc turns on and software says picogus not detected. Any ideas what means?

Did you try updating the firmware using the USB port?

Go here: https://github.com/polpo/picogus/releases/tag/v2.2.0 and download the 2.2.0 zip file.

Take the card out of your 486, turn on your modern PC and log into windows. With the PICOGUS in hand, Hold down the black button on the bottom of the PICOGUS while plugging the micro-usb into your PC. When the directory appears, copy/drag over "picogus.uf2" and this will update the firmware. The card will turn itself off. Give it a good 1-2 minutes (to be safe) then unplug the USB.

Re-insert PICOGUS into 486 ISA slot, turn on old PC.

If your motherboard has PCI slots Make sure you go into your bios and assign IRQs and DMA's to ISA (ie; IRQ 5 and DMA 1).

You may have to assign the specific slot the GUS is in to IRQ 5 in the bios. Make sure the pins on the card are also set to IRQ 5.