Lostdotfish wrote on 2025-04-03, 15:45:

Is there a known issue with PicoGUS and Doom in GUS mode? […]
Show full quote

Is there a known issue with PicoGUS and Doom in GUS mode?

Situation

I have a DOS 6.22 system with a YMF7xx card doing Soundblaster things and a GUS Max 1.8 doing Gravis music. They play together nicely and behave.
(Super Socket 7 VIA MVP3 Chipset - AMD K6-2+ @600MHz)

SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D0 T4 P320

I have acquired a PicoGUS.

I removed the real GUS and installed the PicoGUS. Set it to use port 240, DMA 1, and IRQ 5 and replaced ULTRAINIT with PIGUSINIT

The PicoGUS initialises. Warcraft 2 setup menu detects the GUS and music tests fine.

Doom (and Doom 2) 1.9 both hang when loading with

Copy code to clipboard

1GUS1
2GUS2
3  calling DMX_INIT

System locks and a hard reset is required.

I also tested MIDIDEMO from the ULTRASND directory - this works fine with my real GUS. The PicoGUS results in

Copy code to clipboard

1Error loading patch cymcrsh1: No response from DMA channel

Again, is this a known bug?

I was under the impression that this device had good GUS compatibility but so far it doesn't seem that way... or have I missed something in my configuration?

I don't believe playmidi works with picogus. I have the same DOOM behaviour with mine, although my gus pnp also doesn't behave properly...

Lostdotfish wrote on 2025-04-03, 15:45:

Is there a known issue with PicoGUS and Doom in GUS mode? […]
Show full quote

Is there a known issue with PicoGUS and Doom in GUS mode?

Situation

I have a DOS 6.22 system with a YMF7xx card doing Soundblaster things and a GUS Max 1.8 doing Gravis music. They play together nicely and behave.
(Super Socket 7 VIA MVP3 Chipset - AMD K6-2+ @600MHz)

SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D0 T4 P320

I have acquired a PicoGUS.

I removed the real GUS and installed the PicoGUS. Set it to use port 240, DMA 1, and IRQ 5 and replaced ULTRAINIT with PIGUSINIT

The PicoGUS initialises. Warcraft 2 setup menu detects the GUS and music tests fine.

Doom (and Doom 2) 1.9 both hang when loading with

Copy code to clipboard

1GUS1
2GUS2
3  calling DMX_INIT

System locks and a hard reset is required.

I also tested MIDIDEMO from the ULTRASND directory - this works fine with my real GUS. The PicoGUS results in

Copy code to clipboard

1Error loading patch cymcrsh1: No response from DMA channel

Again, is this a known bug?

I was under the impression that this device had good GUS compatibility but so far it doesn't seem that way... or have I missed something in my configuration?

Did you setup the C:\ULTRASND directory with the 4.11 version as directed in the PicoGUS setup guide? or are your GUS Max files still in there?

I'd say in general that slotting a PicoGUS into an existing multi-soundcard setup is inviting more teething problems, as there are a bunch more variables involved.

Shreddoc wrote on 2025-04-03, 21:35:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2025-04-03, 15:45:

Is there a known issue with PicoGUS and Doom in GUS mode? […]
Show full quote

Is there a known issue with PicoGUS and Doom in GUS mode?

Situation

I have a DOS 6.22 system with a YMF7xx card doing Soundblaster things and a GUS Max 1.8 doing Gravis music. They play together nicely and behave.
(Super Socket 7 VIA MVP3 Chipset - AMD K6-2+ @600MHz)

SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D0 T4 P320

I have acquired a PicoGUS.

I removed the real GUS and installed the PicoGUS. Set it to use port 240, DMA 1, and IRQ 5 and replaced ULTRAINIT with PIGUSINIT

The PicoGUS initialises. Warcraft 2 setup menu detects the GUS and music tests fine.

Doom (and Doom 2) 1.9 both hang when loading with

Copy code to clipboard

1GUS1
2GUS2
3  calling DMX_INIT

System locks and a hard reset is required.

I also tested MIDIDEMO from the ULTRASND directory - this works fine with my real GUS. The PicoGUS results in

Copy code to clipboard

1Error loading patch cymcrsh1: No response from DMA channel

Again, is this a known bug?

I was under the impression that this device had good GUS compatibility but so far it doesn't seem that way... or have I missed something in my configuration?

Did you setup the C:\ULTRASND directory with the 4.11 version as directed in the PicoGUS setup guide? or are your GUS Max files still in there?

I'd say in general that slotting a PicoGUS into an existing multi-soundcard setup is inviting more teething problems, as there are a bunch more variables involved.

I already use 4.11 with the Max and I removed the additional card during initial setup and testing of the PicoGUS.

I believe it's a known issue...

DMA support is spotty at best.

Linoleum wrote on 2025-04-03, 15:01:

Mr.Hunt wrote on 2025-04-03, 14:51:

Hi! It's my configuration autoexec.bat […]
Show full quote

NeoG_ wrote on 2025-04-02, 09:05:

I am using the PicoGUS along side 2 other sound cards (ESS 1869F ISA and SoundBlaster Live! CT4830 PCI) and everything seems to work as long as everything stays out of the way of each other resources wise. EG I don't initialise the Live! card in DOS mode and make sure there are no IRQ/DMA/Port conflicts between the two ISA cards.

I did see the ESS SOLO1 thread you mentioned and it seemed to be an issue where the card was autoconfiguring to resources that were undesirable and that required a specific fix.

What does your resource map look like? What have you got in your Autoexec.bat file to initialise the PicoGUS and the AWE64? (include the init programs as well as the variables)

Hi! It's my configuration autoexec.bat

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H1 P300 E620 J200 F398 T6
SET ULTRASND=240,3,3,7,7
SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0

unisound.com /C1 /V80 /VL80 /VC80
pgusinit.exe

I use F398 for CQM, because on 388 i have OPL3

I don't believe your sound blaster dma and high dma should be the same... High DMA is generally 5 or a higher number.

I did not have any issues with this configuration for SB. I only have trouble on PicoGUS 2.2 😀

Lostdotfish wrote on 2025-04-04, 05:51:

I already use 4.11 with the Max and I removed the additional card during initial setup and testing of the PicoGUS. […]
Show full quote

Shreddoc wrote on 2025-04-03, 21:35:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2025-04-03, 15:45:

Is there a known issue with PicoGUS and Doom in GUS mode? […]
Show full quote

Is there a known issue with PicoGUS and Doom in GUS mode?

Situation

I have a DOS 6.22 system with a YMF7xx card doing Soundblaster things and a GUS Max 1.8 doing Gravis music. They play together nicely and behave.
(Super Socket 7 VIA MVP3 Chipset - AMD K6-2+ @600MHz)

SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D0 T4 P320

I have acquired a PicoGUS.

I removed the real GUS and installed the PicoGUS. Set it to use port 240, DMA 1, and IRQ 5 and replaced ULTRAINIT with PIGUSINIT

The PicoGUS initialises. Warcraft 2 setup menu detects the GUS and music tests fine.

Doom (and Doom 2) 1.9 both hang when loading with

Copy code to clipboard

1GUS1
2GUS2
3  calling DMX_INIT

System locks and a hard reset is required.

I also tested MIDIDEMO from the ULTRASND directory - this works fine with my real GUS. The PicoGUS results in

Copy code to clipboard

1Error loading patch cymcrsh1: No response from DMA channel

Again, is this a known bug?

I was under the impression that this device had good GUS compatibility but so far it doesn't seem that way... or have I missed something in my configuration?

Did you setup the C:\ULTRASND directory with the 4.11 version as directed in the PicoGUS setup guide? or are your GUS Max files still in there?

I'd say in general that slotting a PicoGUS into an existing multi-soundcard setup is inviting more teething problems, as there are a bunch more variables involved.

I already use 4.11 with the Max and I removed the additional card during initial setup and testing of the PicoGUS.

I believe it's a known issue...

DMA support is spotty at best.

Perhaps you have a faulty card, or perhaps it's some other incompatibility in your system, either hardware or software. It's hard to say without the results of broader testing to isolate the cause. In my experience (I've been building these things for a few years now), there are few users who have issues using the PicoGUS with Doom or with DMA support in general. The vast majority of users report great success. In the early days there were some major issues with Doom and DMA, but that was a long time ago, many versions back. All that said, this is a perpetual beta project. Some incompatibilities do exist.

Shreddoc wrote on 2025-04-04, 09:03:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2025-04-04, 05:51:

I already use 4.11 with the Max and I removed the additional card during initial setup and testing of the PicoGUS. […]
Show full quote

Shreddoc wrote on 2025-04-03, 21:35:

Did you setup the C:\ULTRASND directory with the 4.11 version as directed in the PicoGUS setup guide? or are your GUS Max files still in there?

I'd say in general that slotting a PicoGUS into an existing multi-soundcard setup is inviting more teething problems, as there are a bunch more variables involved.

I already use 4.11 with the Max and I removed the additional card during initial setup and testing of the PicoGUS.

I believe it's a known issue...

DMA support is spotty at best.

Perhaps you have a faulty card, or perhaps it's some other incompatibility in your system, either hardware or software. It's hard to say without the results of broader testing to isolate the cause. In my experience (I've been building these things for a few years now), there are few users who have issues using the PicoGUS with Doom or with DMA support in general. The vast majority of users report great success. In the early days there were some major issues with Doom and DMA, but that was a long time ago, many versions back. All that said, this is a perpetual beta project. Some incompatibilities do exist.

Fairly sure it's DMA bug related...

I'll pull the card and try it in my 440TX board when I get a bit of time.

Warcraft 2 works fine in GUS mode, so I know the card works.

Your Super Socket 7 VIA MVP3 motherboard has an exclamation mark on the compatibility page of the PicoGUS wiki, mentioning that there is a DMA problem with games like DOOM. (It also states that the real GUS has the same problems, so it is sort of accurately emulating …)
So it may well be possible that you are affected by that and that your PicoGUS is working as expected.

digistorm wrote on 2025-04-04, 18:32:

Your Super Socket 7 VIA MVP3 motherboard has an exclamation mark on the compatibility page of the PicoGUS wiki, mentioning that there is a DMA problem with games like DOOM. (It also states that the real GUS has the same problems, so it is sort of accurately emulating …)
So it may well be possible that you are affected by that and that your PicoGUS is working as expected.

My real GUS does not have any problems with my board.

Lostdotfish wrote on 2025-04-04, 19:10:

digistorm wrote on 2025-04-04, 18:32:

Your Super Socket 7 VIA MVP3 motherboard has an exclamation mark on the compatibility page of the PicoGUS wiki, mentioning that there is a DMA problem with games like DOOM. (It also states that the real GUS has the same problems, so it is sort of accurately emulating …)
So it may well be possible that you are affected by that and that your PicoGUS is working as expected.

My real GUS does not have any problems with my board.

You need to understand that the original device is the original device, and emulation is emulation and it will not be 100 percent compatible with the original device.

Mr.Hunt wrote on 2025-04-07, 09:33:

Lostdotfish wrote on 2025-04-04, 19:10:

digistorm wrote on 2025-04-04, 18:32:

Your Super Socket 7 VIA MVP3 motherboard has an exclamation mark on the compatibility page of the PicoGUS wiki, mentioning that there is a DMA problem with games like DOOM. (It also states that the real GUS has the same problems, so it is sort of accurately emulating …)
So it may well be possible that you are affected by that and that your PicoGUS is working as expected.

My real GUS does not have any problems with my board.

You need to understand that the original device is the original device, and emulation is emulation and it will not be 100 percent compatible with the original device.

My comment was in reply to digistorm suggesting the issue relates to a known bug with real hardware.

Anyway - I've opened an issue on the github page as I can reliably replicate the issue on the hardware in question and the issue is fixed by swapping out to a different chipset and CPU (430TX and Pentium 200 MMX), using the same installation of MS DOS 6.22.

TLDR - there are still game breaking DMA bugs in PicoGUS on some systems.

All fair and well, but you still seem to have missed the point that the creator of this product explicitly mentions on his compatibility page that that chipset does not work well with DMA. So of course you can open an issue on GitHub, but maybe you should temper your expectations on this one.

Linoleum wrote on 2025-03-30, 15:10:

Distemper wrote on 2025-03-30, 14:30:

MJay99 wrote on 2025-03-23, 12:01:

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 )

yes, there is ULTRADIR=C:\ULTRASND and all the stuff there, I've downloaded from PicoGUS github wiki.

One week later and looots of tries of different configurations, absolutely no music in no games. I have also noticed I can not flash the PicoGUS, as it says "card is not in the flashing mode" or so... it is very, very frustrating. For me PicoGUS seems to be a piece of useless junk.

Welp... When it works, pretty much everyone that got their hands on it thinks it the best project in the hobby by far... So lets get to work! Can you provide full system specs, autoexec & config?

Thank you so much for trying to help!

I did solve the issue I had, so I post here why it didn't work first for me, so may be it gonna help someone else.

So it seems, during my trials and errors, at one point my pc hanged up when there were some files read from the ULTASND\MIDI directory. So I suppose I've use the reset button and the folder got corrupted. Somehow I came up with an idea I needed to run DOS Scandisk, which fixed the folder, deleting all the content. Therefore, I have just overwritten the whole ULTRASND folder with the content from PicoGUS site, and right after that it worked just fine!

Afterall, the PicoGUS IS a cool card, you just need to be more careful with the settings 😉 and may be run Scandisk after your PC hangs.

snipe3687 wrote on 2025-03-29, 23:36:

ah y0u beat me to it! I have a PC/104 PicoGus 2.0 as well, I just haven't posted it yet. it's standard PC/104 size which is 90mm x 96mm I believe. if anyone is interested let me know.

I'm interested! I have several PC/104 systems and sound would be a big upgrade.

Doc

DrDoc wrote on 2025-04-08, 12:46:

snipe3687 wrote on 2025-03-29, 23:36:

ah y0u beat me to it! I have a PC/104 PicoGus 2.0 as well, I just haven't posted it yet. it's standard PC/104 size which is 90mm x 96mm I believe. if anyone is interested let me know.

I'm interested! I have several PC/104 systems and sound would be a big upgrade.

Doc

no problem, let me clean up the BOM and I will post it to github.

This may be a bit of a noob question but is it possible in a system with a real isa pnp sound blaster card (vibra 16 in my case) to use the SB mode on the picogus instead while both cards are in the system?

Currently I have tried to do that by disabling the pnp sound blaster via uni sound, then running pgusinit to enable the pgus sb mode. Things look good at the dos prompt, no errors when doing all of that, but then if I try to run a game, pcm playback such as the gunshots in Wolfenstein 3d instantly lock up the system.

The main reason why I want to use sb mode despite having a real sb card, is that there are a handful of games (mainly early 90s stuff) that give me issues with the vibra 16, like no sound, or oddly pitched down sound, and it would be nice if the pgus sb mode could be my bandaid for better compatibility with those titles.

dukeofurl wrote on 2025-04-09, 15:01:

This may be a bit of a noob question but is it possible in a system with a real isa pnp sound blaster card (vibra 16 in my case) to use the SB mode on the picogus instead while both cards are in the system?

Try setting the PNP to a non 0x220 port, like 0x240 (assuming you also have different irq and dma for both cards as well)
Then you use either by just pointing the game at the different resources and both can be active at the same time.

Does the blaster variable need to match the irq/dma on the pgus hardware jumpers, or are the jumpers only applicable for the ultrasnd variable?

dukeofurl wrote on 2025-04-09, 15:22:

Does the blaster variable need to match the irq/dma on the pgus hardware jumpers, or are the jumpers only applicable for the ultrasnd variable?

yeah it should match

dukeofurl wrote on 2025-04-09, 15:01:

This may be a bit of a noob question but is it possible in a system with a real isa pnp sound blaster card (vibra 16 in my case) to use the SB mode on the picogus instead while both cards are in the system?

I think to do this safely you would need to make sure the PNP card is set to different IRQ/DMA/Port than the PicoGUS to guarantee there's no conflicts even if the Vibra 16 seems "disabled". FM on 388 doesn't conflict so that is fine.

NeoG_ wrote on 2025-04-11, 13:36:

dukeofurl wrote on 2025-04-09, 15:01:

This may be a bit of a noob question but is it possible in a system with a real isa pnp sound blaster card (vibra 16 in my case) to use the SB mode on the picogus instead while both cards are in the system?

I think to do this safely you would need to make sure the PNP card is set to different IRQ/DMA/Port than the PicoGUS to guarantee there's no conflicts even if the Vibra 16 seems "disabled". FM on 388 doesn't conflict so that is fine.

Thanks, I've successfully got it working now.