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Any GUS plug n players out there?

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First post, by retro games 100

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I have just started testing my GUS PnP Pro 8mb revision 1 card.

I went in to "idiot mode" (which isn't too difficult for me), and thoughtlessly installed a pile of drivers & software DL'd from the net, thinking that I'd get so far with it, learn a few things from making some mistakes, and then have to start over again and do it properly.

Well, I was amazed at how far I got. Everthing appears to work except for:

I can't hear any music in DOS games. Eg, if I play the old DOS game "Heretic", and choose "ultrasound" for the music, I get no tunes! This is the case inside windows 98 "dos box" mode, or in "real" dos 7. In "real" dos 7, I can successfully get the play.exe application to play a midi file. Also in Heretic, I hear sound effects OK. Also, inside windows 98 I hear both midi and sound effects OK.

The manual says:

Before you run any DOS game from windows 95, you must run a special setup program to set the DOS environment variables for sound. You can do this in one of two ways -

Double-click the GUS prompt icon in your ultrasound plug & play program group. (Unforunately I can't find this icon.)

Or, in a dos box or in ms-dos mode, type SETGUS at the prompt. (Unforunately there doesn't appear to be any "setgus" application or batch file to run.)

(Please note that my autoexec.bat file does appear to contain highly relevant looking GUS initialization lines of code.)

Thanks a lot for any help! Best regards, Robert.

Reply 1 of 25, by Amigaz

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I never used the card in windows....think win95 is the highest version it works in.
For the sound to work in DOS you must:
Use the 2nd GUS install disk to install the DOS driver (in pure DOS)
Then you must install the GUS compatible patch set from the cd-rom

Reply 2 of 25, by retro games 100

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Amigaz wrote:
I never used the card in windows....think win95 is the highest version it works in. For the sound to work in DOS you must: Use t […]
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I never used the card in windows....think win95 is the highest version it works in.
For the sound to work in DOS you must:
Use the 2nd GUS install disk to install the DOS driver (in pure DOS)
Then you must install the GUS compatible patch set from the cd-rom

I have already performed both of these operations. 😀

Inside my autoexec.bat file, all of the GUS lines refer to c:\gravis\ultrasnd, yet the patch set was installed to c:\ultrapnp\midi

Any further comments most welcome! 😀

Reply 3 of 25, by Amigaz

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retro games 100 wrote:
I have already performed both of these operations. :happy: […]
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Amigaz wrote:
I never used the card in windows....think win95 is the highest version it works in. For the sound to work in DOS you must: Use t […]
Show full quote

I never used the card in windows....think win95 is the highest version it works in.
For the sound to work in DOS you must:
Use the 2nd GUS install disk to install the DOS driver (in pure DOS)
Then you must install the GUS compatible patch set from the cd-rom

I have already performed both of these operations. 😀

Inside my autoexec.bat file, all of the GUS lines refer to c:\gravis\ultrasnd, yet the patch set was installed to c:\ultrapnp\midi

Any further comments most welcome! 😀

you should have stuff in your config.sys also that initializes the card.
I dont recognize that other dir you are mentioning

did you do all this in pure dos?

Reply 4 of 25, by retro games 100

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Amigaz wrote:

you should have stuff in your config.sys also that initializes the card.
I dont recognize that other dir you are mentioning

did you do all this in pure dos?

To install the disk 2 for DOS driver, I used pure DOS. For the patches on the CD, I used Windows 98.

When I restart the PC in Dos7 mode, the GUS PnP appears to be initialized correctly, although the screen displays 2 messages saying that it has been initialized. Also, my config.sys file contains a DEVICE line regarding iwinit.exe

I've got an idea - I could copy-and-paste my auto & config files here, if you like.

Alternatively, please could you copy-and-paste your auto & config files, so that I can if I figure out which line(s) I may be missing, or which lines I need to amend?

Thanks a lot for any further assistance. 😀

Reply 5 of 25, by Amigaz

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retro games 100 wrote:
To install the disk 2 for DOS driver, I used pure DOS. For the patches on the CD, I used Windows 98. […]
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Amigaz wrote:

you should have stuff in your config.sys also that initializes the card.
I dont recognize that other dir you are mentioning

did you do all this in pure dos?

To install the disk 2 for DOS driver, I used pure DOS. For the patches on the CD, I used Windows 98.

When I restart the PC in Dos7 mode, the GUS PnP appears to be initialized correctly, although the screen displays 2 messages saying that it has been initialized. Also, my config.sys file contains a DEVICE line regarding iwinit.exe

I've got an idea - I could copy-and-paste my auto & config files here, if you like.

Alternatively, please could you copy-and-paste your auto & config files, so that I can if I figure out which line(s) I may be missing, or which lines I need to amend?

Thanks a lot for any further assistance. 😀

I think you must install the GUS compatible patch set in pure DOS
The rest looks correct without looking any further but please post your autoexec.bat and config.sys 😀
I messed up my box yesterday where I have a Gus PnP so I can't post mune 🙁 (It's a long story) but I think I'll have it up and running when I figure out where 32kb UMB memory went (???) 😵

Reply 6 of 25, by retro games 100

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Amigaz wrote:

I think you must install the GUS compatible patch set in pure DOS
The rest looks correct without looking any further but please post your autoexec.bat and config.sys 😀
I messed up my box yesterday where I have a Gus PnP so I can't post mune 🙁 (It's a long story) but I think I'll have it up and running when I figure out where 32kb UMB memory went (???) 😵

OK, I reinstalled the patch set from the CD, this time in pure DOS mode.

However, again, it prompted me to install this software to a "strange" directory called c:\ultrapnp. I am wondering if I am installing the correct software? (The cd install software calls this patch software "RAM support") I decided to override this default install directory, and change it to c:\gravis\ultrasnd (where everything else is).

(There is now a subfolder called "Midi" inside my c:\gravis\ultrasnd folder, and this midi folder contains patch files. These files are very approximately equal to about 30 to 60k each in size.)

After a reboot, I test the sound card, and everything appears to work. I get music in my old DOS games, both in windows 98 "dos box", and also in pure real dos 7.

But.....the music sounds a bit crappy, like it is coming from a cheap nasty music card, and not a top-of-the-range card. There are no problems with the music, it just sounds basic, dull, lifeless, not as groovy as a GUS Classic.

Obviously something is wrong, and it must be related to the patch file set up somehow.

Anyway, here are my auto / config files -

auto file -

@set INTERWAVE=C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\IW.INI
@set IWDIR=C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND
@C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\IWINIT.EXE
@C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\GETIWENV.EXE > C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\SETIWENV.BAT
@CALL C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\SETIWENV.BAT
@SET ULTRADIR=C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND

config file -

DEVICE=C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\IWINIT.EXE ID=GRV00001 INTERWAVE=C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\IW.INI

setiwenv.bat file -

SET ULTRASND=220,5,6,7,5
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T3

Phew, that's it! 😀

(Also, there is an interesting looking iw.ini file in the gravis ultrasnd directory that may hold some clues...)

Reply 7 of 25, by retro games 100

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I am wondering if I have been given the correct CD? (Please see 2nd photo)

I am using a GUS PnP Pro, with 8mb of extra RAM. But the CD doesn't mention the word Pro. Also, in the first photo, there's no mention of the word Pro on the manual.

Also, I can't find any installed software that will allow me to experiment with different patch sets.

Reply 8 of 25, by Amigaz

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The install should be fairly simple.
The cd looks just like mine.

So everything works except you think the digital part sounds cheesy when playing games that have native GUS drivers in DOS?

Reply 9 of 25, by retro games 100

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Amigaz wrote:

The install should be fairly simple.
The cd looks just like mine.

So everything works except you think the digital part sounds cheesy when playing games that have native GUS drivers in DOS?

I thought the music in duke nukem sounded low grade and cheesy when I selected gravis as the music card. I also tried a few other dos games, such as heretic demo, shadow warrior demo, hexen demo. The music all sounds "underwhelming". I wasn't impressed with any of it.

With my 1mb GUS classic, I use the "pro patches", and they sound better than everything I have so far tried on the PnP.

I'm sure I'm doing something wrong!

In my "Midi" patches folder, what are your patch files sizes - approximately? Mine are all 64k or less, apart from 5 files which are larger.

Thanks a lot.

Reply 10 of 25, by Amigaz

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retro games 100 wrote:
I thought the music in duke nukem sounded low grade and cheesy when I selected gravis as the music card. I also tried a few oth […]
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Amigaz wrote:

The install should be fairly simple.
The cd looks just like mine.

So everything works except you think the digital part sounds cheesy when playing games that have native GUS drivers in DOS?

I thought the music in duke nukem sounded low grade and cheesy when I selected gravis as the music card. I also tried a few other dos games, such as heretic demo, shadow warrior demo, hexen demo. The music all sounds "underwhelming". I wasn't impressed with any of it.

With my 1mb GUS classic, I use the "pro patches", and they sound better than everything I have so far tried on the PnP.

I'm sure I'm doing something wrong!

In my "Midi" patches folder, what are your patch files sizes - approximately? Mine are all 64k or less, apart from 5 files which are larger.

Thanks a lot.

don't compare with the pro patches since they don't sound the same.
The patches the PnP use in DOS sound the same as on a classic/Max/Ace etc
I wish my machine was working so I could check these things
I almost went nuts yesterday when I worked with it...
I installed win95 on it after that I only had 32kb of UMB memory...so I thought win95 messed something up so I threw in DOS6.22...still the same..arggh
So either one of my PnP cards have stolen the UMB memory, my mobo is dying or something...I had to put the PC aside and give it another go later

Reply 11 of 25, by retro games 100

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Amigaz wrote:

don't compare with the pro patches since they don't sound the same.
The patches the PnP use in DOS sound the same as on a classic/Max/Ace etc

Whoa! I did not know this! I have only used a gus classic with the pro patches, never with the original patches!

So, is there any way I can upgrade/improve the default PnP DOS music patches? Can I simply overwrite them with the gus classic pro patches?

I noticed on this website -

ftp://ftp.gravis.com/Public/Sound/Drivers/PlugNPlay/

that there is a zip packge called -

GIPC111.ZIP

There's an associated text file there too, explaining something about a "GUS InterWave Patch Converter"

Also, I noticed on the gravis CD, inside a subfolder called "Mids", there is a mididemo batch file which plays some midi tunes. 2 of the 3 patch files found inside this "Mids" subfolder are quite large; about 400+ kb each. The music sounds very good!

I hope you get you gus pnp "back online"! 😁

Best regards, Robert.

Reply 12 of 25, by retro games 100

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My GUS cd only has the basic patch set, nothing else. It doesn't have the 4mb "gsfull4m.fff" patch set for instance. My cd must be an early version which didn't include it - my board is revision 1 after all.

Does anyone have some interesting patch sets for the GUS PnP?

Thanks. 😀

Reply 13 of 25, by Amigaz

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Here's my autoexec.bat and config.sys GUS lines

Config.sys:

DEVICE=C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\IWINIT.EXE ID=GRV00001 INTERWAVE=C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\IW.INI

Autoexec.bat:

@REM ===== Gravis initialization (1.3) =====
@SET INTERWAVE=C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\IW.INI
@SET IWDIR=C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND
@C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\IWINIT.EXE
@C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\GETIWENV.EXE > C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\SETIWENV.BAT
@CALL C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND\SETIWENV.BAT
@SET ULTRADIR=C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASND
@REM ===== Gravis initialization ends =====

Here's what my C:\GRAVIS\ULTRASOUND dir. contains

eeae7922400045.gif

I didn't bother with showing any other lines since I feel they have no importance in your case.
Seems like your setup is fine, don't know why your sound is cheesy....we're talking midi music from the mid 90's here...remember that 😉

Reply 14 of 25, by retro games 100

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Thanks Amigaz! 😀 I hope your GUS PnP machine is well again! 😀

BTW, please can you roughly describe the contents of your Midi patch file subfolder? For example, what are the approximate sizes of your patch files...are most of them approx. 30K to 60K in size?

Reply 15 of 25, by Amigaz

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retro games 100 wrote:

Thanks Amigaz! 😀 I hope your GUS PnP machine is well again! 😀

BTW, please can you roughly describe the contents of your Midi patch file subfolder? For example, what are the approximate sizes of your patch files...are most of them approx. 30K to 60K in size?

They are roughly between 2k up to 65k in size
The midi patch dir has 195 files and is 8,912,896 byrs in size according to my DOS file manager

Reply 16 of 25, by retro games 100

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Amigaz wrote:

Seems like your setup is fine, don't know why your sound is cheesy....we're talking midi music from the mid 90's here...remember that 😉

Hehehe! But please note: my GUS Classic (with the 1.61 prolite patch files) sounds really good. If I listen to the same midi tune, from within a dos game such as duke nukem, using my gus pnp pro card, then the quality is noticeably inferior.

Thus, my main question is this -

When you use the GUS PnP Pro in "GUS classic mode" for DOS games compatibility, does the sound card use its built-in 512k RAM to store and use the "GUS classic" patches? If you are running a DOS game using a windows 98 "dos box", will the sound card not take advantage of *any* of the extra added RAM banks? If this is correct, will the GUS PnP Pro always sound inferior to a GUS Classic card with 1MB of RAM, when playing DOS games?

BTW ... Happy new year! 😁

Reply 17 of 25, by Amigaz

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retro games 100 wrote:
Hehehe! But please note: my GUS Classic (with the 1.61 prolite patch files) sounds really good. If I listen to the same midi t […]
Show full quote
Amigaz wrote:

Seems like your setup is fine, don't know why your sound is cheesy....we're talking midi music from the mid 90's here...remember that 😉

Hehehe! But please note: my GUS Classic (with the 1.61 prolite patch files) sounds really good. If I listen to the same midi tune, from within a dos game such as duke nukem, using my gus pnp pro card, then the quality is noticeably inferior.

Thus, my main question is this -

When you use the GUS PnP Pro in "GUS classic mode" for DOS games compatibility, does the sound card use its built-in 512k RAM to store and use the "GUS classic" patches? If you are running a DOS game using a windows 98 "dos box", will the sound card not take advantage of *any* of the extra added RAM banks? If this is correct, will the GUS PnP Pro always sound inferior to a GUS Classic card with 1MB of RAM, when playing DOS games?

BTW ... Happy new year! 😁

Don't know, never used a GUS in windows
I play my DOS games in pure DOS always...don't think I've ever played a game in a DOS box in Windows before

Reply 18 of 25, by retro games 100

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Amigaz wrote:
retro games 100 wrote:

Thanks Amigaz! 😀 I hope your GUS PnP machine is well again! 😀

BTW, please can you roughly describe the contents of your Midi patch file subfolder? For example, what are the approximate sizes of your patch files...are most of them approx. 30K to 60K in size?

They are roughly between 2k up to 65k in size
The midi patch dir has 195 files and is 8,912,896 byrs in size according to my DOS file manager

Interesting! I have 191 patch files, and 1 ini file. Size on disk: just 5.25MB. I wonder if I have an inferior patch files set? Do you know where I can download an 'improved' patch file set, so that I can retest my DOS games with the gus pnp pro card please?

Thanks very much for any further words of retro wisdom! 😀

Reply 19 of 25, by Amigaz

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retro games 100 wrote:
Amigaz wrote:
retro games 100 wrote:

Thanks Amigaz! 😀 I hope your GUS PnP machine is well again! 😀

BTW, please can you roughly describe the contents of your Midi patch file subfolder? For example, what are the approximate sizes of your patch files...are most of them approx. 30K to 60K in size?

They are roughly between 2k up to 65k in size
The midi patch dir has 195 files and is 8,912,896 byrs in size according to my DOS file manager

Interesting! I have 191 patch files, and 1 ini file. Size on disk: just 5.25MB. I wonder if I have an inferior patch files set? Do you know where I can download an 'improved' patch file set, so that I can retest my DOS games with the gus pnp pro card please?

Thanks very much for any further words of retro wisdom! 😀

hmm..how big is the SETRAM.EXE in your SETUP dir on your GUS PnP cd?