SB/GUS coexistence Freqently Asked Questions

 SB/GUS coexistence Freqently Asked Questions, Version 1.0

by Tobin M. Creek (tmcreek@eos.ncsu.edu)

This FAQ will cover some important topics in SB/GUS coexistence in the same

machine.  All of the following should apply to the GUS and any SB compatible

board, such as a PAS-*, Logitech Soundman, Aztech Sound Galaxy, and maybe

even the Aria boards.

I have been running an SBPro with my GUS since I bought the GUS in November

of 1991.  I also ran an SB 2.0 with it for a time, but the SBPro is so

much nicer because of the mixer (more on that later).

All of the above boards will be referred to as simply SB for the rest of this

document.

Section 1.  Installation/Hardware setup.

Section 2.  DOS coexistence.

Section 3.  Windows setup for multiple soundcards.

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Section 1: Installation/Hardware setup.

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There are several things to keep in mind when doing this part.

1.    Keep the GUS and the SB compatible close together so that connecting the

      two is easy.

2.    Keep both cards far away from very "active" boards, such as video,

      hard drive controllers, ethernet boards, etc.  Also, some modems have

      been known to cause interference in soundboard outputs, but this is

      rare.  You may have to play with the placement in the case a little

      depending on how many slots you have and which boards (if any) cause

      noise.

3.    Since the GUS mixer is not as advanced as some, such as the SBPro,

      SB16 and PAS boards, make sure that you can connect any other devices

      to the SB compatible card's mixer.  You may want volume control over

      things like a CD-ROM and such.

        Since some SB programs are hard coded for the SB defaults, Port 220,

DMA 1, and Int 7, this is where I would recommend setting up your SB board.

Int 5 is also pretty acceptable.  Note: If you have three COM ports, set

the third to Int 2/9.  This leave Int 5 free for either the SB or GUS.  Also,

if you have a jumper for DMA sharing (SB 2.0, SBPro, and SB16), enable it.

        The GUS allows many possible base addresses.  If you have nothing

else at Port 240, put the GUS there.  All of the other parameters are

software settable, so play with these if you need to.  I managed all of the

defaults: GF1 Int 11, Midi Int 7, DMA 7.

NOTE TO ADAPTEC SCSI HARD DRIVE CONTROLLER USERS:  Move the Adaptec to Int 12,

to that you can save Int 11 for the GUS.  Also, put the GUS at Port 210. With

my Adaptec 1522, my HD would not BOOT with the GUS at Port 240.  It works at

Port 230, 250, and 260, but some auto-detection routines (most notably the

software and demos written by Renaissance) will munge the Adaptec registers

in the process, causing the hard drive to lock on the next access.

Now, as far as getting output from both cards, it's time to break out the

soldering iron and make a 1/8" stereo to 1/8" stereo cable.  I made mine

about 6" long, because the boards are right next to each other in the case.

Now plug the GUS line out into the SB's line in.  This only works if you

have a SBPro or 16, or a PAS (not sure about the others).  The board must

be able to mix the line in with the board's output.  The original SB does

not allow this.  Better get an amp with 2 inputs :).

[end section 1]

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Section 2: DOS coexistance.

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Very few little things are required to get the boards to work happily

together in DOS.  First, make sure you insert a line in your autoexec.bat

that will enable the mixer on your SB compatible board.  Something like this:

SBP-SET /m:15 /line:15    (NOTE: This is for an SBPro.)

This will pipe the GUS's output through your SB.  Then, you connect the SB's

output to an amp or a pair of speakers.  Rememeber: some programs may reset

the SB's mixer.  One that comes to mind is Future Crew's UNREAL demo.

Second, once per power-up (not every reboot or reset), you must load and

unload SBOS to allow the GUS AdLib registers to "float".   Otherwise, some

games (depending on the detection routines they use) will not detect the SB.

Write a small batch file called SBFIX that does this:

***Sample SBFIX batch file***

@echo off

sbosdrv

loadsbos

loadsbos -f

ultrinit

Sometimes, the extra ultrinit is not necessary, othertimes it is.  It depends

on which version of the software you have, which SB or compatible you are

using, and which game you are about to run.  Leaving it in won't hurt

anything.                                            

As an aside, don't try to run SBOS with games.  Most will use an auto-detect

routine and try to write to part of one card and part of the other.  This 

will make most games crash, because both the GUS and SB will try to use DMA 1

(this doesn't apply if you have an SB 1.0 or 1.5 which don't do DMA).

Games that are set up as AdLib will work fine with SBOS installed, becuase 

they won't do DMA.

[end Section 2]

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Section 3: Windows setup.

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Windows 3.1 lists its MCI devices under the [drivers] section of the

system.ini file found in the \windows directory.  Wave drivers are listed as

WAVE, WAVE1, etc.  Same for MIDI and AUX extries.  The driver listed with no

number is the primary driver, the one that Windows will send the system event

sounds to.  Primary drivers are often the only drivers used by applications.

Sound Recorder that comes with Windows will only use the primary wave device.

Some applications, such as Turtle Beach Wave, will allow you to select

a device for both record and playback.

The number of combinations of drivers in this section is such that I can't

discuss them all.  Instead, I will give a few things to look out for when

installing two soundcards under Windows.

1.      Unless you want to hear FM midis or you have an external synth that you

        want to listen to midis through, set the GUS up as MIDI, and all other

        drivers as some type of secondary.

2.      The SBPro and SB16 mixers will not function correctly unless they are

        installed as AUX.  The GUS mixer doesn't mind being secondary, so set

        it up as AUX1.

3.      Make sure you have the correct MIDI Mapper config file (MIDIMAP.CFG

        under \windows\system) installed if you want the GUS to play midis.

        You can check by looking under the MIDI Mapper applet on the Control

        Panel.  Same goes if you want the SB to play midis.  If you use the

        MIDI Mapper to look at all of the settings for the SB, you can add

        these as a new patch config to the GUS midi mapper.  This way, by

        running the Control Panel and changing configs, you can get both the

        GUS and SB to play midi (great for converting SB'ers :)  ).

4.      MCS Stereo's built-in mixer will not function if the SB's wave device

        is not primary.  If you make it primary, the MCS mixer will function

        properly.

[end section 3]

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Afterword:

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That's about all I have to say about this.  I would like to ask that anyone

running a PAS or some other type of SB compatible alongside a GUS drop me a

line and tell me what type of things they ran into while setting them up to

run together.  That way, I can update this FAQ if necessary to include other

types of SB compatible cards.  Also, if you have expiriences with other 

problems, let me know so I can add them to the FAQ.

My email address is: tmcreek@eos.ncsu.edu or creek-tm@aza.csc.ncsu.edu.

These should be valid for the next year and a half or so until I get the hell

out of engineering school.