GUS(4)

📦 version 11.0, in nixpkgs unstable

okay so bestie, this is the GUS(4) page from the Kernel Interfaces Manual, and it's giving audio-driver lore. We're doing this together, no cap. 🎧✨

🎀 NAME 🎀

gus — Gravis UltraSound/UltraSound MAX audio device driver. 💖

🌈 SYNOPSIS 🌈

gus0 at isa? port 0xPPP irq X drq Y drq2 Z
audio* at audiobus?

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

okay so the gus driver is the support bestie for the Gravis UltraSound (GUS) and GUS MAX audio cards. Both cards have on-board memory, and that memory is used for seamless playback of samples — yes, seamless, that's the word. ✨ They can play back 8- or 16-bit samples at up to 44.1kHz, and they can record 8-bit samples at up to 44.1kHz. The UltraSound MAX is a full-duplex sound device, and if it's configured with two DRQ channels it can be used for simultaneous playback and recording. 🎙️🔥

The I/O port base is jumper-selected, and may be chosen from 0x210-0x260 in steps of 0x10. (The normal setting is 0x220.) The GUS takes 16 ports at its base address and 8 ports at its base address + 0x100. 📍

The IRQ is software programmed, so you may select any IRQ from the set {3,5,7,9,11,12,15}. The DRQ lines are software programmed, and may be chosen from {1,3,5,6,7}. The drq2 field in the configuration file line specifies a second DRQ line for recording. If there is no drq2 field in the config file, the playback channel will be used for recording DMA and only half-duplex mode will be available. iykyk 🫶

The Gravis UltraSound MAX has an additional CODEC onboard which is addressed with four ports at an offset of 0x10C from the base ports (0x31C-0x36C). 🧚

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

  • audio(4) — the see-also bestie. Go read it. 💜

📚 REFERENCES 📚

The deep lore is Gravis UltraSound Low-Level Toolkit, Revision 2.01, 20 May 1993, published by Advanced Gravis and Forte Technologies. 🏛️

🌸 HISTORY 🌸

The gus device driver appeared in NetBSD 1.1. 👑

💀 BUGS 💀

  • The full-duplex features of the GUS MAX have not been fully tested, and full-duplex on the original GUS may not be possible at all. 😭 not fully tested is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
  • Only two voices on the GF1 synthesizer chip are used by this driver (for left and right channels). 🎛️
  • Manipulating the mixer while audio samples are playing can lead to device driver confusion (and maybe even a system panic). ⚠️ maybe even a system panic — do not play with that vibe.
  • Manipulating the mixer device seems to create pregnant system pauses, probably due to excessive interrupt masking. 😵‍💫
  • The joystick and MIDI port interfaces are not supported. no joystick, no MIDI, periodt.
⚠️ the bugs section is real: those device driver confusion / system panic / pregnant system pauses lines are straight-up caveats, bestie. Don't treat them as decor. 💅

mwah 💋 — source/version: Debian, date: June 22, 2005, page: GUS(4).

📦 where this page comes from