StriderTR wrote on 2025-08-31, 21:16:

I assume I know the answers, but, I just want to confirm.

In GUS mode, everything works great, except Fasttracker 2, but I assume that's a RAM limitation on larger modules. Smaller ones work. FT2 shows 1023K available. Is that using some of the 2MB storage since a Pico only has 264KB of SRAM?

The PicoGUS uses the external PSRAM chip to store GUS sample data yes. The last version of FT2 (2.09) has faulty GUS support, so make sure you are using 2.08 (or the new 2.10+ modern releases) and also yes modules larger than 1MB will not fit inside GUS memory. Impulse Tracker can auto downgrade 16-bit samples to 8-bit which can help some >1MB mods fit.

StriderTR wrote on 2025-08-31, 21:16:

In Sound Blaster mode, can't get FT2 to work at all, not sure why, it just crashes when you play anything.

Not sure about this one, I can use FT2 in SB mode on firmware version 3.2.0 without crashes. Could potentially be irq/dma/address config issues.

StriderTR wrote on 2025-08-31, 21:16:

DN3D needs 16-bit DMA and also wont work in this mode (no sound FX). Works great in GUS! Assume it's the lack of 16-bit DMA.

DN3D always asks for a 16-bit DMA but ignores it if you select 8-bit mixing, any 16-bit DMA value will work when 8-bit mixing is selected (I just set it as 5). Also set the card type to "Sound blaster 2.0", 8 voices, Mono, 22Khz.

I'm having trouble with the PicoGUS 2.0 I just received and also having a Sound Blaster Live! in the same system.

My specs:
Asus MEB-VM
Sound Blaster Live! PCI
PicoGUS 2.0
ULTRASND set to 240,3,3,5,5
BLASTER set to 220,7,1

When I got the PicoGUS initially I just had the PicoGUS alone in the system alone and worked fine, but I needed sound in Windows 98 so I put in my SBLive card, installed the drivers, and found that the PicoGUS no longer worked correctly.
I tried DoomII and Duke3d. On both games the music worked fine, but was slow to initiate. The sound effects would not initialize for either game though. I tried switching the GUS port but when I do pgusinit /gusport 240 nothing would happen and I moved the jumper to DMA 3 which didn't help. So, is it not possible two have two cards with the PicoGUS or is some setting of mine wrong?

Edit: I ran in pure DOS mode and the soundfx initialized fine. Would be nice to have it work in Windows98 too, but I realize PicoGUS was designed for DOS.

Isstanar wrote on 2025-09-06, 23:09:

I'm having trouble with the PicoGUS 2.0 I just received and also having a Sound Blaster Live! in the same system.

Since you have a mixed non-PnP and PnP/PCI system, you should go into the bios and remove the PicoGUS's IRQ and DMA from the PnP assignment pool so windows doesn't try and assign any devices to the same values. Then check if the Live! drivers you installed have SB16 emulation enabled and de-conflict the IRQ/DMA if you want to keep it, or disable it entirely and just rely on the PicoGUS.

The PicoGUS does work in windows but you need to make sure the mode is set before windows loads and you try to install the drivers for that mode. I also wouldn't recommend trying to dynamically switch modes while in windows, just stick to one mode as DOS doesn't care if a hardware device is not responding unless you try to run a piece of software that needs it. Windows drivers may interact with the hardware device at any time and act unpredictably if the hardware device doesn't respond.

If you aren't installing any windows drivers and are just using DOS software that directly accesses the hardware it should be OK (but still need to make sure all IRQ and DMAs are clear). E.G. if you have your parallel port enabled it will use IRQ 7 which is the same as the PicoGUS.

Isstanar wrote on 2025-09-06, 23:09:

ULTRASND set to 240,3,3,5,5
BLASTER set to 220,7,1

Side note, the PicoGUS can only occupy one IRQ and DMA as set on the card jumpers. The ULTRASND and BLASTER variables need to reflect that. EG if your PicoGUS is on IRQ7 and DMA1 ULTRASND would be "240,1,1,7,7" and BLASTER would be "A220 I7 D1 T3" respectively.

NeoG_ wrote on 2025-09-07, 00:42:

Since you have a mixed non-PnP and PnP/PCI system, you should go into the bios and remove the PicoGUS's IRQ and DMA from the PnP […]
Show full quote

Isstanar wrote on 2025-09-06, 23:09:

I'm having trouble with the PicoGUS 2.0 I just received and also having a Sound Blaster Live! in the same system.

Since you have a mixed non-PnP and PnP/PCI system, you should go into the bios and remove the PicoGUS's IRQ and DMA from the PnP assignment pool so windows doesn't try and assign any devices to the same values. Then check if the Live! drivers you installed have SB16 emulation enabled and de-conflict the IRQ/DMA if you want to keep it, or disable it entirely and just rely on the PicoGUS.

The PicoGUS does work in windows but you need to make sure the mode is set before windows loads and you try to install the drivers for that mode. I also wouldn't recommend trying to dynamically switch modes while in windows, just stick to one mode as DOS doesn't care if a hardware device is not responding unless you try to run a piece of software that needs it. Windows drivers may interact with the hardware device at any time and act unpredictably if the hardware device doesn't respond.

If you aren't installing any windows drivers and are just using DOS software that directly accesses the hardware it should be OK (but still need to make sure all IRQ and DMAs are clear). E.G. if you have your parallel port enabled it will use IRQ 7 which is the same as the PicoGUS.

Isstanar wrote on 2025-09-06, 23:09:

ULTRASND set to 240,3,3,5,5
BLASTER set to 220,7,1

Side note, the PicoGUS can only occupy one IRQ and DMA as set on the card jumpers. The ULTRASND and BLASTER variables need to reflect that. EG if your PicoGUS is on IRQ7 and DMA1 ULTRASND would be "240,1,1,7,7" and BLASTER would be "A220 I7 D1 T3" respectively.

Thank you! That's what I needed to know and I got it working now. I reserved DMA 3 in the bios, corrected the blaster settings, and now I got things working. I didn't install the dos drivers yet for the Live! but that's the next step so I can leave the picoGUS on GUS mode. I actually knew to disable all the extra serial and parallel ports at least, but I'm starting to remember all these little details now from the past.

Are there windows drivers for PicoGUS? Because I couldn't find anything beyond that it was DOS only.

Isstanar wrote on 2025-09-07, 15:44:

Are there windows drivers for PicoGUS? Because I couldn't find anything beyond that it was DOS only.

There aren't any windows drivers specific to the PicoGUS - What does work (MPU, Adlib, SB, CDROM.. not sure about GUS) uses the built in windows drivers. But since it's a non PnP card it has to be manually added with add new hardware and the resources manually assigned same as you would with the real hardware. Using the windows MPU driver, it will insist on taking IRQ9 as well but auto assignment should de-conflict that on the next boot and it works as a simple MIDI port on 330 without the card also having IRQ9.

When I come to order one from Serdashop, should I add any additional GM/GS or LAPC bundles?

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-09-10, 09:27:

When I come to order one from Serdashop, should I add any additional GM/GS or LAPC bundles?

Yes.

badmojo wrote on 2025-09-10, 11:35:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-09-10, 09:27:

When I come to order one from Serdashop, should I add any additional GM/GS or LAPC bundles?

Yes.

I know that my PicoGUS pairs very nicely with the X2GS that I'd purchased a couple of years before. Right now the PicoGUS is set up purely as a MPU-401 device alongside my Vortex 2 sound card for Sound Blaster compatibility; I've also run it alongside an AWE 64 to get a bug-free MPU-401 that works well with TIE Fighter.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-09-10, 09:27:

When I come to order one from Serdashop, should I add any additional GM/GS or LAPC bundles?

I ordered mine with the 3.5" front display and a WP32 McCake. I have been very happy with the WP32 hanging off the wavetable header, especially for MT32 games. Now with GeneralUser GS 2.0+ the GM side is also much more SC-55 like and works well with games. The front display seemed cool at first and was useful for troubleshooting but now it's been on there for a bit I don't think it suits the aesthetic of most systems it would go in to.

I've started messing around with PC/104 boards (have 2 based on Geode GX1/ Cyrix Media GX) and would love to use a PicoGUS with them! I found some listings for people selling one-off productions, which all seem to be sold out now.

This project on GitHub seems promising ( https://github.com/UzixLS/picogus104 ), and uploads smoothly to PCBWay (awaiting audit). Has anyone tried using this project this way?

Has anyone tried or have had success simultaneously using a USB mouse and CD-ROM emulation through a powered USB hub? I have tried with a couple of modern USB hubs but do not currently have a 1.1 hub to test with. I have been able to use the mouse functionality through one of my two modern hubs but neither would detect the USB sticks as a CD-ROM. Both work just fine when plugged in directly to the Picogus.