I saw similar behaviour with my PicoGUS 1.1. Tried several (previously working) firmware versions with corresponding pgusinit - no success.
As I could not resolve the issue that way, I installed another Pi Pico and everything worked again.

I know that is not an option with PicoGUS 2.0.

As I'm not that experienced with the Pi Pico yet, I cannot tell if the other Pico is damaged in some way.
Is there some recommended way that I could check the Pico?

I cleaned the picogus contacts and that seems to have done the trick. I'm up and running now 😁

dukeofurl wrote on 2025-02-15, 19:10:

I cleaned the picogus contacts and that seems to have done the trick. I'm up and running now 😁

... yes, it's about contacts, the card was not inserted firmly first time. Was in the same boat with load of bricks fallen out until realized that.

honest question, why are these cards so sensitive? I posted on here a while ago about one of my projects using the PicoGus not working and I've had NUMEROUS cards I've put together by hand just not work right away until I reflowed solder. I've since switched to just having the chips soldered on by JLC but it's a bit disappointing because every other project I do with fine pitch solder almost always works with no issues. is this just inherent to the device or is there something that can be improved on (besides my soldering skills I guess) to make it more reliable?
P.S. I still haven't got my project to work. I've just shelved it for the time being.

snipe3687 wrote on 2025-02-17, 13:08:

honest question, why are these cards so sensitive? I posted on here a while ago about one of my projects using the PicoGus not working and I've had NUMEROUS cards I've put together by hand just not work right away until I reflowed solder. I've since switched to just having the chips soldered on by JLC but it's a bit disappointing because every other project I do with fine pitch solder almost always works with no issues. is this just inherent to the device or is there something that can be improved on (besides my soldering skills I guess) to make it more reliable?
P.S. I still haven't got my project to work. I've just shelved it for the time being.

What board finish did you pick at JLCPCB?
If it's HASL, I've heard you really should thoroughly clean the board with IPA prior to working on it, as there's some sort of coating prohibiting proper solder flow.

Not had that issue myself, but I've heard it a couple of times.
Might be a good habit in any case, even for other PCB finishes.

Daniël Oosterhuis wrote on 2025-02-18, 07:45:

What board finish did you pick at JLCPCB? If it's HASL, I've heard you really should thoroughly clean the board with IPA prior t […]
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snipe3687 wrote on 2025-02-17, 13:08:

honest question, why are these cards so sensitive? I posted on here a while ago about one of my projects using the PicoGus not working and I've had NUMEROUS cards I've put together by hand just not work right away until I reflowed solder. I've since switched to just having the chips soldered on by JLC but it's a bit disappointing because every other project I do with fine pitch solder almost always works with no issues. is this just inherent to the device or is there something that can be improved on (besides my soldering skills I guess) to make it more reliable?
P.S. I still haven't got my project to work. I've just shelved it for the time being.

What board finish did you pick at JLCPCB?
If it's HASL, I've heard you really should thoroughly clean the board with IPA prior to working on it, as there's some sort of coating prohibiting proper solder flow.

Not had that issue myself, but I've heard it a couple of times.
Might be a good habit in any case, even for other PCB finishes.

Interesting, do you think ENIG would have the same issue? I usually get HASL for prototype devices and ENIG for the final version. Maybe I’ll grab a fresh HASL board and run it through my ultrasonic cleaner. Thanks for the tip!
Also, do you think my traces too thin? The ones between the RP2040 and the logic chips are 0.2mm but the he ones to the ISA bus are 0.127mm. That’s the only other difference I’ve seen between some of mine and others.

Now that pgusinit can save settings for the card, could it be possible to have two picogus cards in the same machine?
I was thinking of configuring one card to mpu mode and save settings, then remove card and insert second card and configue and save it to gus mode.
Has anyone tried?

:edit, works like a charm 💪
Only problem is how to route sound, since picogus has no input 😕

Kekkula wrote on 2025-03-01, 11:45:

Now that pgusinit can save settings for the card, could it be possible to have two picogus cards in the same machine? I was thin […]
Show full quote

Now that pgusinit can save settings for the card, could it be possible to have two picogus cards in the same machine?
I was thinking of configuring one card to mpu mode and save settings, then remove card and insert second card and configue and save it to gus mode.
Has anyone tried?

:edit, works like a charm 💪
Only problem is how to route sound, since picogus has no input 😕

Don't mix on any internal card. Use an external mixer that lets you easily adjust the level of each channel. If you don't need professional level gear, they've gotten very inexpensive.

https://www.amazon.com/4-Channel-Wireless-Str … t/dp/B0CM6VK5QQ

Can PicoGUS run a McCake and external midi device simultaneously? If I connect the external midi connector to an SC-55 will it work alongside the MT32 emulation on the McCake?

Lostdotfish wrote on 2025-03-02, 09:26:

Can PicoGUS run a McCake and external midi device simultaneously? If I connect the external midi connector to an SC-55 will it work alongside the MT32 emulation on the McCake?

Yep, I run that exact setup. The McCake will continue working. So you'll need to mute the daughter board MIDI channel if you are using the PicoGUS for sound effects as well.

I have my setup paired with a SB16, so I'm not using any audio output from the PicoGUS if I'm using an external module.

Hello,

I am running my 386 system at 13 MHz Isa. Any experience whether the picogus will work with that speed?

Thank you

Can anyone help me?

I am having a strange problem with the wonderful PicoGUS 2.0 I purchased last year. I was using and enjoying it greatly till I had to open up the computer to solve an unrelated problem that required me to remove every ISA card from my machine including the PicoGUS

Now, when I plug the PicoGUS in any of the ISA slots, the PC won't give me any video. If I remove it, I get video.

I have tried everything, changing and trying every available ISA slot... Using another VGA card. (both ISA and PCI)... Clear CMOS, changing stuff in the BIOS, even tested on another PC, and I have concluded it is the PicoGUS that is causing this weird problem.

At this point, I also tried, flashing the latest firmware using the USB-B micro port from my main PC, but to no avail.

The Blinkenlight lights up when booting too, but alas, no video...

Mastran wrote on 2025-03-18, 00:17:

Can anyone help me?

Sounds like a resource conflict. Since your system has PCI does the BIOS allow you reserve IRQ and DMA to the ISA slots?
What resources are you trying to use on the picogus?
Do you have a post code card to see if the PC is infact booting (also can show if its stuck on a code)
Are you down to just the video card and the picogus?

Pickle wrote on 2025-03-18, 01:53:

Sounds like a resource conflict. Since your system has PCI does the BIOS allow you reserve IRQ and DMA to the ISA slots? What re […]
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Mastran wrote on 2025-03-18, 00:17:

Can anyone help me?

Sounds like a resource conflict. Since your system has PCI does the BIOS allow you reserve IRQ and DMA to the ISA slots?
What resources are you trying to use on the picogus?
Do you have a post code card to see if the PC is infact booting (also can show if its stuck on a code)
Are you down to just the video card and the picogus?

Hello, thanks for your input.

The PC boots and works perfectly, it boots and can be used.
The PicoGUS is set on IRQ7 and DMA 3, what it was when it worked.

Following your idea:

-Removed every card from system except the PCI VGA card (RIVA 128z) and PicoGUS of course.
-Went to the BIOS (motherboard it's a PCChips m571) and setted every DMA and IRQ to be reserved for ISA slots, except for one IRQ for PCI (for the VGA card), also enabled "assign IRQ to VGA"

Also tried with a regular Trident ISA card, same results.

There is no question about it. Something is seriously wrong with my PicoGUS... maybe physically? The card is pristine tough.

Still nothing, with the PicoGus installed there is no video at all.

are you sure the PC is running with the picogus installed (reason post code card would help). Does the pc speaker beep normally?
Any of the chips feel hot on the pico when you boot? Does the fan stop on the power supply?
if its not a resource than maybe its shorting somewhere...

Hi everyone! I need some help with PicoGUS 2.0 running in pure DOS 6.22.

pgusinit detects and shows resources just fine, and I got FX sounds in all the games. But I got absolutely no General MIDI, MPU-401 or Ultra Gus music in any games 🙁

Some games like Duke Nukem 3D detect PicoGUS for music, a yellow lamp on PicoGUS is blinking, but no sound can be heard. Some games like Heroes2 are freezing up trying to autodetect or configure music card manually.

PicoGUS is the only sound card in the system, running at Port 240 , IRQ 5 and DMA 1. MB ABit AB-PB4 with ALi M1489/87 (FinALi-486 PCI Chipset) Chipset

Distemper wrote on 2025-03-23, 10:40:

pgusinit detects and shows resources just fine, and I got FX sounds in all the games. But I got absolutely no General MIDI, MPU-401 or Ultra Gus music in any games 🙁

Just a basic verification: Is there an e.g. ULTRADIR=C:\ULTRASND variable set and pointing to the gus software directory containing the midi patches?
(from: https://github.com/polpo/picogus/wiki/Configu … ng-your-PicoGUS )

Pickle wrote on 2025-03-20, 01:06:

are you sure the PC is running with the picogus installed (reason post code card would help). Does the pc speaker beep normally?
Any of the chips feel hot on the pico when you boot? Does the fan stop on the power supply?
if its not a resource than maybe its shorting somewhere...

Sadly I have no POST card, but I am sure the PicoGUS is the problem, since I tried but some other PCs I have around and the problem is the same. No video...

I just installed my brand new PicoGUS 2.0 together with the WP32 McCake Wavetable board and it's simply amazing under DOS.
The only problem so far is to get this setup working with SB2.0 Emulation under Windows 3.11.
I tried SB1.5 and SB2.0 (old and new) drivers but as soon as I start a MIDI playback, the system just freezes.

Windows sounds work fine with the SB1.5 driver but also crashes the system when I use SB2.0 drivers.

Anyone else or am I doing something wrong?

uniQ wrote on 2025-03-25, 14:23:

I just installed my brand new PicoGUS 2.0 together with the WP32 McCake Wavetable board and it's simply amazing under DOS. The o […]
Show full quote

I just installed my brand new PicoGUS 2.0 together with the WP32 McCake Wavetable board and it's simply amazing under DOS.
The only problem so far is to get this setup working with SB2.0 Emulation under Windows 3.11.
I tried SB1.5 and SB2.0 (old and new) drivers but as soon as I start a MIDI playback, the system just freezes.

Windows sounds work fine with the SB1.5 driver but also crashes the system when I use SB2.0 drivers.

Anyone else or am I doing something wrong?

The short answer is that PicoGUS has been developed to work with DOS software.

Windows compatibility for PicoGUS's different modes varies, and that is entirely to be expected.