Apparently-To: john.smith@gravis.com


GUS Programmer's Digest     Wed, 30 Mar 94 18:09 PST     Volume 9: Issue  35  

Today's Topics:
                            FAQ and stuff
            RFD: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard reorganization
            Why should enitire sample be in a 256K bank??

Standard Info:
	- Meta-info about the GUS can be found at the end of the Digest.
	- Before you ask a question, please READ THE FAQ.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 29 Mar 94 21:39 EST
From: "Matthew E. Bernold" <MEB117@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: FAQ and stuff

Sorry about that last mailing.  I meant to send that to another alias I
have setup...that'll teach me to check who I'm sending things to...or
at least I HOPE it teaches me.  :-)

       Matthew E. Bernold             MEB117@PSUVM.PSU.EDU
         <<APOCALYPSE>>               meb117@wilbur.cac.psu.edu

------------------------------

Date: 29 Mar 1994 15:47:49 -0500
From: vincie@blaze.cs.jhu.edu (Michael Young Ko)
Subject: RFD: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard reorganization

Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc
The following RFD has been cross posted to news.annouce.newgroups, news.groups,
and comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard. Also, the follow up group will be the
news.groups.

Request For Discussion:

This is a formal Request For Discussion concerning the groups
comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard and the illegal group comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.GUS.
This RFD is to remove the groups comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.GUS and replace
comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard with the four following groups:
    comp.sys.ibm.pc.(hardware).soundcard.games
    comp.sys.ibm.pc.(hardware).soundcard.music
    comp.sys.ibm.pc.(hardware).soundcard.tech
    comp.sys.ibm.pc.(hardware).soundcard.advocacy

All of these groups will be unmoderated.

The purpose of having hardware in parentheses is the possible of placing
the soundcard group under the hardware hierarchy. This is mainly for
conforming to the other ibm pc hardware groups.

Charters for proposed groups:
   a) comp.sys.ibm.pc.(hardware).soundcard.games - Unmoderated discussion of
        using IBM-PC compatible games with a specific soundcard, resolving
        compatibility problems of a certain soundcard with a particular game,
        discussing campaigns at software groups to have more native
        soundcard support, questions if a particular game supports a certain
        soundcard, and questions on which soundcard is best for a particular
        game or all games in general.

   b) comp.sys.ibm.pc.(hardware).soundcard.music - Unmoderated discussion of
        software that plays back and record sound and music files, music
        formats such as WAV, VOC, MIDI, MOD, STM, 669, ULT, ROL, etc.,
        resolving problems with musical software, discussing which software
        or hardware is best for a particular musical or sound project, and 
	questions concerning sampling or sound patch making.

   c) comp.sys.ibm.pc.(hardware).soundcard.tech - Unmoderated discussion of
        questions concerning programming a particular soundcard, discussing
        hardware problems such as loss of sound from a particular channel,
        discussing the pros and cons of a particular sound generation scheme,
        questions on the compatibility of the soundcard to a particular
        computer type, operating system, and peripheral such as a CD-ROM
        drive, questions about the functionality of a particular soundcard,
        and resolving hardware problems.

   d) comp.sys.ibm.pc.(hardware).soundcard.advocacy - Unmoderated discussion
	of the pros and cons of soundcards in general. This discussion will
	possibly overlap some discussions on the other soundcard groups. Also
	reviews of soundcards and future opinions and tests of soundcards
	will be placed in this group to be discussed by the users. 

Justification:

        The sudden increase in the volume of messages posted to the group
        comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard has caused the suggestion of splitting the
        group to appear. Many users on the group have expressed interest
        in dividing the group because the topics listed on the group are
        varied tremendously. Having approximately 200+ new messages a day
	on this group is expensive to some users who must pay for the 
	receiving the usenet group based upon amount of information as well
	as paying for the amount of time needed to sort through all of the
	messages. Currently, a heated debate is present on the c.s.i.p.s
	group which is disrupting those users more interested in new software
	and problems. They have expressed concern that some are not able to 
        keep up with all of the traffic and decided that
        by splitting the group, this would allow them to read the messages
        relevant to their interests pertaining to their soundcard.

	The comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.GUS is unrecognized usenet group
	throughout many news servers. Therefore, to avoid confusion and to
	reorganize the entire soundcard group, this illegal group must be
	eliminated. Many GUS users are satisfied with removing this group
	and using the four above mentioned subgroups.
	
	There was also concern about where this group should be located, under
        the comp.syd.ibm.pc hierarchy or comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware hierarchy. 
	Most are flexible with the location of these groups. It is a matter 
	which is better in terms of an organizational point of view. By
        placing these groups under the hardware hierarchy, these groups will 
	be seven levels deep. Also, by leaving the split groups under the
	comp.sys.ibm.pc hierarchy, the transition would be less disrupting. 

Rationale:

        The idea of spliting the group was tossed around the c.s.i.p.s
	group many times. However, no action was ever taken. It is hoped
	that finally with the dramatic increase in messages, that this
	reorganization would make the group more efficient and easier to
	use. Questions had to be raised about add another group, a
	c.s.i.p.soundcard.GUS group which would handle all topics 
	specific to the Gravis Ultrasound card. Presently, a majority of
	messages on the group is concerned with this card. Now with the
	a 100 message increase because of a heated debate (flame war?)
	the rational users want the group to be split. This eventually let to
        a group discussion about splitting up the soundcard group based upon
        the particular cards discussed, such as the Ultrasound, Soundblaster,
        Pro Audio Spectrum, etc. However, further discussion revealed that a
        majority thought that such a split would be short term due to the
        possibility of an unexpected loss of interest in a particular product.
        Therefore, because of the prospect of new soundcards being released
        that would increase the number of messages to the group, the prospect
        of more pc users of becoming involved in the multimedia revolution,
        and the steadily increase in messages in this group, it was decided
        that the group should be split based upon the topics mentioned above.

        The games group was chosen because a great number of posts on the
        soundcard group are concerned with how to use a particular soundcard
        with a particular game and what soundcard is best to use with game.
        Many users were concerned that the group was overrun with posts
        concerning how to get a particular game to work with a particular
        soundcard. They had to try to sift through the 200+ message a day
        to look for non-game compatibility messages. Therefore,
        the music group was also chosen because the other large part of
        message is related to the production of music. These include what
        programs can use a particular music format, and what programs exist
        to create programs. Also, in this group is the topic of sounds
        such as digitizing sound bytes and songs. A separate group was not
        created because many of the problems and solutions concerning
        recording or playing back sounds is related to the music production
        scene. The tech section was chosen because many users occasionally
        have questions about the technical aspect of soundcard, such as
        the pros and cons on how a soundcard generates sounds. Also,
        any hardware problems and compatibility would be discussed. But
        most importantly, the advocacy group would handle the bulk of the
	soundcard debate and keep it away from those more concerned
	with games or music. Such a split would try to evenly distribute the
	messages throughout the sub groups. Most agree that sorting through
	50+ is cheaper and less time-consuming.

Schedule:

        These proposals have been discussed informally in the comp.sys.ibm.
        pc.soundcard group for the past five  weeks. I have decided to write
        the RFD to have the group split. I have been keeping count of
        the number of users in favor and against the proposal. Because of
        the vast majority of those in favor of splitting the group, I  have
        made the RFD request. The posting of this RFD will begin the
        discussion period lasting 21 days. The discussion will take
        place in news.groups. Do not vote on this RFD now.

        After the 21 days and/or there are no unresolvable points, a
        formal Call For Votes will be announced.


Michael Ko
-- 
 / ...the chances of getting picked up by another/     The Invincible      \
/ ship within those thirty seconds are 2 to the   /    vincie@cs.jhu.edu     \
\ power of 276709 to one against." - From The    \ Computer Science Depart. /
 \ Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - D. Adams   \ Johns Hopkins University/

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 30 Mar 1994 11:18:35 SAT
From: "Michael Patricios" <PATRICIO@odie.ee.wits.ac.za>
Subject: Why should enitire sample be in a 256K bank??

OK, so I got my GUS. Great card. Then I wrote a MOD player for it. It 
was a MUCH easier to do than with my old SB pro! OK fine. Then I read 
in the SDK dox that a sample has to be totally in a 256K bank of 
memory, ie: it should not cross the boundary. BUT!!!!!!! I tried 
uploading samples to GUS DRAM in all sorts of positions, crossing 
256K boundaries etc.. The samples played fine, sample looping worked 
fine (it just occured to me that I forgot to test volume ramping, but 
I bet it will probably be fine too). What was the reason then for this 
restriction (256K boundary) which is stated explicitly in the SDK 
several times, but NO reasons given for it????
Anyone?
Tnx in advance.
Michael.
patricio@odie.ee.wits.ac.za

------------------------------

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