GUS Help
Contents of ULTRAHELP

This help file contains information on a number of topics related to the setup and operation of the Gravis UltraSound under Windows.

Driver Configuration

Driver Initialization File

Patch Caching

Performance Issues

Using the MIDI Port

Mixer Applet

Troubleshooting


Driver Configuration

The driver configuration dialog enables a user to customize different aspects of the UltraSound Windows driver.  Any items in the dialog that are changed will be saved in the Windows system.ini file when the OK button is pushed.  Therefore the next time Windows is started, the new selections will be in effect.  If you change any of the following items, you must restart Windows for the new selections to take effect: Base Port, DMA Channel, GF1 or MIDI IRQ, or Active Voices.  Changing the Patch Memory Options, or Mixer Functions will affect the current Windows session after the OK button is pressed.

Configuration Dialog Access

Hardware Configuration

Performance Options

Mixer Functions


Driver Initialization File

The driver initialization file, ultrasnd.ini, is used by the ultrasound driver to locate and identify patchfiles.

The first section in ultrasnd.ini is the Ultrasound section, which has a single entry, PatchDir.  This entry must contain the full path name to the directory containing the patches.  If the installation completed normally, the PatchDir entry will point to the MIDI sub directory of the UltraSound installation directory, e.g., PatchDir=\ULTRASND\midi\.  If the location of the patches changes, edit the PatchDir entry to point to the new location.

The second section is named Melodic Patches.  This section contains entries that associate General MIDI program changes with the patchfiles assigned to those changes.  Program changes are used in MIDI files to identify which instruments should be played in a particular MIDI sequence.  If a MIDI sequence contains a program change with a value of 0, the 0= entry in the Melodic Patches section will be used by the UltraSound driver to load the appropriate patch file.  Currently that entry is acpiano, so the acpiano.pat file would be used.  If additional patches are obtained, this section may need to be updated.  Consult the documentation that comes with the new patches for specific details.

The final section, Drum Patches, follows the same general logic as Melodic Patches  However, General MIDI drum patches are not assigned to program changes, but to key numbers on MIDI channel 10.  A further discussion of the Windows implementation of General MIDI can be found in the Windows User's Guide.


Patch Cacheing
Patch Caching

Patch caching is one of the distinguishing features of the Gravis UltraSound.  This mechanism enables the most efficient use of onboard patch memory, as a sequencer or other application only needs to load the patches required for a particular set of MIDI data.  It also allows a user to add additional sounds simply by obtaining new patchfiles.  Many applications already take advantage of this feature, including the Windows Media Player, PowerChords, and Midisoft Recording Session.

If, however, you have an application that does not use patch caching, you can load a subset of the General Midi set prior to running that application.  Please refer to the Windows User's Guide for information on the MIDI Mapper, and on playing MIDI files.  For those applications that do not utilize patch caching on the UltraSound, follow these three steps:

Enable the Conserve Memory option of the driver.  See the topic Performance Options for details.

Select the MIDI Mapper setup that corresponds to the amount of memory on your UltraSound board.

Load patches from the MIDI file that corresponds to the amount of memory on your UltraSound.

To revert to normal operation, select the Ultrasound setup in the MIDI Mapper.  The High Fidelity option of the driver may also be enabled; however, Conserve Memory is also compatible with patch cache "aware" applications.


Performance Issues

The user has the ability to change certain aspects of the UltraSound's performance via the performance options section of the driver configuration dialog.

One of these options affects the number of active voices used by the UltraSound to play MIDI and Wave files.  On 386SX class PC's, there may be a degradation in the playback quality of 16 bit/stereo/44.1 Khz Wave files if the number of active voices is not exactly equal to 14.  For optimum performance of MIDI sequencers and other applications that play MIDI data, we recommend that Active Voices be set between 20 and 28.

The second option affects the use of onboard patch memory. Choosing the option Conserve Memory effectively doubles the amount of memory available for patches, as the majority of the patches are created at a high resolution.  In general, there is no degradation in sound quality for choosing to load patchfiles at a lower resolution, as the UltraSound hardware always deals with the sound internally at a high resolution.


Troubleshooting

Some Programs Don't Play Any Sound, or Sounds are Missing

Windows Initialization Errors

Problems Playing MIDI and Wave Files


Mixer Applet

A mixer applet allows a user to control the mixer facilities of the UltraSound card, including input and output enable, and Wave and Midi playback volume.  These functions can also be controlled from the driver configuration dialog.  Changes made in a mixer applet only affect the current Windows session, while changes made in the dialog are also saved in the system.ini file.  This provides a means for the user to customize the default settings that will be used when Windows initializes.


Configuration Dialog Access

To access the driver configuration dialog, locate and execute the Windows Control Panel, usually found in the Main program group.  Select and execute the Drivers Applet.  If the UltraSound driver has been installed, there will be an entry in the Installed Drivers list box named Ultra Wave and Midi Synth.  Activate the configuration dialog by double clicking the left mouse button on the Ultra Wave and Midi Synth entry.


Hardware Configuration

There are four items at the top of the configuration dialog pertaining to hardware setup: Base Port, DMA Channel, GF1 IRQ, and MIDI IRQ.  The Base Port must be set to the same I/O address that is set on the UltraSound board, which is factory preset to 220 Hex.  The DMA Channel and IRQ selections are software programmable, and thus may be set to any of the available options, as long as there is not a conflict with another adapter in your system.  Also note that the GF1 IRQ, which is the primary interrupt for operation of the UltraSound, and the MIDI IRQ, may be set to the same interrupt number.


Performance Options

These options allow a user to alter certain aspects of the UltraSound's performance.

Active Voices

Patch Memory Options


Mixer Functions

Mixer functions allow a user to modify the state of the inputs, output, and playback volumes of the UltraSound.

Simply click on the appropriate check box to enable the Microphone and Line inputs.  Click on the Output Enable to simultaneously enable the amplified and non amplified outputs.  Note that any combination of inputs is possible, i.e., you are not excluded from simultaneously enabling the Microphone and Line inputs.

The scroll bars allow you to adjust the playback volumes of both WAV and MIDI files.


patchfiles
Patchfiles contain the sound data used by the driver to play MIDI notes.


setup
The setup screen is visible when you first open the MIDI Mapper in the Windows Control Panel.  For applications that are not aware of patch caching, select the Name appropriate for your card.  For example, select Ultra 256K, if you have 256K of DRAM on your card.  Select the setup Ultrasound for apps that are aware of patch caching.


loadgm
The MIDI files used for this purpose are load256.mid, load512.mid, and load1024.mid.


Active Voices

The valid range of active voices is 14 to 32.  There are always two voices reserved for playback of stereo wave files, thus the number of voices available for MIDI is two less than the number of active voices chosen.  For a discussion of the significance of selecting a certain number of voices, see the topic Performance Issues.  Note: if the number of active voices is changed, you must restart Windows for the change to take effect.


Patch Memory Options

The second performance option pertains to the utilization of onboard memory for storing patches.  A user may load patches at their original resolution by choosing High Fidelity, or at a lower resolution by selecting Conserve Memory.  Selecting the Conserve Memory option will generally allow more patches to be loaded.  See the topic Performance Issues for additional information regarding this option.


Windows Initialization Errors

An error occurred in the grvsultr.386 driver ...

Make certain that the line, device=grvsultr.386, is in the [386enh] section of system.ini.  Also ensure that the grvsultr.386 file is in the \windows\system directory.  If not, copy grvsultr.386 into the \windows\system directory from the \windows sub directory where your UltraSound software was installed, e.g.: copy \ultrasnd\windows\grvsultr.386 \windows\system.

The Ultrasound driver requires enhanced mode Windows to run.

The current driver only supports enhanced mode Windows 3.1.  Check the Windows User's Guide to ensure your computer meets the requirements of enhanced mode Windows.

The Ultrasound driver cannot be initialized because of a DRAM failure, or an I/O address conflict

During Windows initialization, the driver was unable to validate the UltraSound hardware.  Exit Windows and execute setgus.exe in the UltraSound installation directory.  This diagnostic tool will verify that your hardware settings are correct, and report any hardware failures.

The following initialization file cannot be opened...\xxx\ultrasnd.ini

The driver needs a file named ultrasnd.ini to initialize itself for playback of MIDI files.  This file should exist in the directory in which you installed the UltraSound software.  Take the following steps to correct this problem:

Exit Windows.

Set the DOS environment variable ULTRADIR to the UltraSound installation directory, e.g.: ULTRADIR=C:\ULTRASND.

Verify that the ultrasnd.ini file does exist in the UltraSound installation directory.

Restart Windows.

The following patch file cannot be opened: xxx.pat

During initialization, the driver scans the ultrasnd.ini file to get the names of the patchfiles that will be used to play MIDI data.  Two problems could cause this error message to appear:

The PatchDir entry in the [Ultrasound] section of ultrasnd.ini does not point to a directory containing all of the Patchfiles listed in the [Melodic Patches] and [Drum Patches] sections of ultrasnd.ini.

The patch file listed in the error message, xxx.pat, has been misspelled, or it does not exist.

Three options are presented when this error occurs, Retry, Ignore, and Abort.

Pressing Retry will cause the driver to continue scanning subsequent patch names, and continue to report errors.

Pressing Ignore causes the driver to continue scanning, but not report further errors.

Pressing Abort causes the driver to skip the rest of the MIDI initialization.

Corrective actions:

Edit the ultrasnd.ini file and correct any errors in the PatchDir entry.  An example follows:

[Ultrasound]

PatchDir=\ULTRASND\midi\

Check the spelling and existence of the patch file identified in the error message.  Note that the file extension, .pat, is not included:

[Melodic Patches]

0=acpiano

.

.

.

[Drum Patches]

27=highq

.

.

.


Other Errors
Problems Playing MIDI and Wave Files

No sound when playing MIDI files, or instruments seem to be missing

Solutions:

Make certain that the Ultrasound setup in the MIDI Mapper is selected.  If the Ultrasound setup is missing:

Make a backup copy of \windows\system\midimap.cfg

Copy \ultrasnd\windows\midimap.cfg to \windows\system

Set the MIDI Vol scroll bar to the far right.  This scroll bar can be found in the mixer functions section of the driver configuration dialog.

Pause or stop playing the MIDI file, stop any wave file that is playing, and restart the MIDI file.  The wave file may then be restarted.

Some games or applications that use the multimedia features of Windows 3.1 fail to pre-load instruments into the UltraSound's DRAM.  To use these programs with your UltraSound card, follow the instructions under the topic on patch caching.

Volume increases after pausing and restarting some MIDI files using the Media Player

Explanation:

The Media Player only sends MIDI controller messages the first time a MIDI file begins to play.  Since the MIDI controller messages that affect volume are not sent when playback is resumed, a default volume is used, and this may be louder than the composer intended.  This is a bug in the Microsoft Media Player.

On 386SX class PC's, other tasks or programs seem to run more slowly while playing MIDI files in the background

Explanation:

The higher quality of the UltraSound's wave table synthesis method for playing MIDI data requires slightly more utilization of system resources than a low quality technique such as FM synthesis.  Also the current UltraSound driver runs in 386 enhanced mode Windows only.  This mode is generally better suited for a 386DX PC and above.

If you have installed Windows for Workgroups, note that your PC may require a memory upgrade to regain the performance that you had with a standard Windows installation.  Windows for Workgroups provides the option to disable resource sharing, which will regain some of the lost performance.  See the Windows for Workgroups User's Guide for additional information.

No sound when playing Wave files

Solutions:

Set the Wave Vol scroll bar to the far right.  This scroll bar can be found in the mixer functions section of the driver configuration dialog.

Advanced Gravis does not recommend installing two audio cards in your PC.  However, if another audio card is installed, check that the UltraSound is set up as the first Wave device in system.ini.  The [drivers] section of system.ini should have the following line:

WAVE=ultrasnd.drv

Other audio cards will be designated as WAVE1, WAVE2, etc.

Some Wave files seem to contain unexpected pauses and clicks

Explanation:

See the following topic: Performance Issues.

386SX class machines are unable to play AVI files from Video for Windows without pauses in the audio.


Using the MIDI Port

The Windows drivers for the Gravis UltraSound fully support its MIDI IN and MIDI OUT capabilities.  This allows you to play MIDI files through an external synthesizer, and to use a keyboard in conjunction with a sequencer program to record your performance.

In order to use the UltraSound's MIDI OUT Port you will have to edit a setup in the MIDI Mapper.  Run the MIDI Mapper from the Control Panel and edit the Ultrasound Setup.  Touch here to get an idea of what you're likely to see.  Now determine which MIDI channels you want to play through the MIDI Port.  Select the UltraSound MIDI Output Port entry in the Port Name section for channels that should play through the MIDI Port.  The setup screen should now look similar to this screen, where channel 1 has been changed to UltraSound MIDI Output Port.  If the UltraSound MIDI Output Port entry does not exist, please review the software installation instructions.  When you are finished making changes, simply select the OK button and the new setup will take effect.

Appropriate software is required to use the UltraSound's MIDI IN Port.  Two examples of programs that provide MIDI IN capabilities are Power Chords and Midisoft Recording Session.  See the directions for these and other similar programs for setup information.  If either of these programs report that no MIDI Input device is installed, please review the UltraSound software installation instructions.


MIDI Mapper Setup Screen


Original MIDI Mapper Setup Screen


GM Specification
General MIDI is a specification that provides a high degree of device independence for the playback of MIDI files.  Therefore, MIDI files that were authored according to the GM specification using a particular synthesizer will sound similar on other synthesizers.


Custom Setups
Three custom MIDI Mapper setups are provided for this purpose: Ultra 256K, Ultra 512K, and Ultra 1024K.


Load Patches
The patches can be loaded by playing the appropriate file using the Windows Media Player, or loaded directly by using the Patch Manager, a Windows application included with the UltraSound.


No Sound
Some Programs Don't Play Any Sound, or Sounds are Missing

Programs that utilize the multimedia features of Windows 3.1 do so by playing Wave and MIDI files.  Refer to the previous topic: Problems Playing MIDI and Wave Files for help with a program that doesn't play any sound.