Release notes for the Linux Sound Driver 1.99.7
-----------------------------------------------

******** THIS IS A ALPHA TEST RELEASE ********
which means that there can be lot of untested things. In theory
there is a risk that this driver causes some trouble to your system.
You should not use this driver before backing up your disks.




Welcome to use the Gravis UltraSound driver for Linux. This
driver still supports the same cards than version 1.0c 
(SoundBlaster, SB Pro, Pro Audio Spectrum 16 and AdLib). 
In addition there is rather limited support for MPU-401
(and compatible) midi cards. Also the OPL-3 synthesizer
of the SB Pro and PAS16 cards is now supported in the 4 OP
modes.
Most of the features of the /dev/sequencer device file are
available just for GUS owners. 

The SoundBlaster 16 and SB 16 ASP cards are not supported.
They could work in mono mode with speeds < 22 kHz. 
The OPL-3 chicp of the SB 16 should work (without problems?).
Is there anybody willing to implement the SB 16 support 
(have the SB 16 and the SDK for it)?


This is the first version of the driver which has almost
all of the features which I have planned to include into
version 2.0. Some features are still missing and some ones
doesn't work.


Compatibility with the earlier versions
---------------------------------------

The ioctl() interface has changed completely since version 1.0c. All
programs using this driver must be at least recompiled. 
The snd-util-1.99.6 package contains some utilities for this version.

The version 1.0c and earlier used a 'nonportable' ioctl calling scheme
where the input argument was passed by value and the output value was
returned as the functional return. For example setting the speed of
/dev/dsp were done as the following:

	int actual_speed;
	actual_speed = ioctl(fd, SOUND_PCM_WRITE_RATE, 44100);

After version 1.99.0 this must be done as the following:

	int actual_speed = 44100;
	ioctl(fd, SOUND_PCM_WRITE_RATE, &actual_speed);

If you have an application written for the version 1.0, you should search
for the strings SNDCTL_ and SOUND_ and to check the parameters. 

Since the this version will support more than one synthesizer devices
at the same time, the ioctl(SNDCTL_FM_LOAD_INSTR) is obsolete. In addition
there is some new fields which must be initialized. Look at the sbiset.c in
the snd-util-1.99.6 package for further info.

The GUS patch format has changed since the version 1.99.3. You have to
use latest versions of the programs in the sound/gustest directory. In
addition the version 0.4g of the Adagio package supports this format.

New features
------------

There is also some changes which make this version more usable than
the version 1.0c.

- /dev/dsp and /dev/audio

The DMA buffering is now little bit more intelligent than earlier. The
buffer size is selected run-time so that a buffer holds data for 0.5 to
1.0 seconds of recording or playback. This makes recording more comfortable
than with version 1.0. With the previous version there was sometimes more
than 10 seconds of delay before the driver returned the first input byte.

There is also support for more than one digitized voice devices. The device
files /dev/dsp1 and /dev/audio1 (minor 19 and 20) are available with PAS16. 
The /dev/dsp (/dev/audio) is connected to the PCM circuit of the PAS16 itself 
and the /dev/dsp1 (/dev/audio1) to the SB emulation of PAS16 card. Two
dsp/audio devices are available also if you have combination of SB and GUS.
With GUS and PAS16 you will have even three dsp/audio devices. These devices
can be used independently and can be active at the same time (3 channels
at the same time propably don't work).

The dsp/audio support of PAS16 should be much cleaner now since the
constant clicking sound between the DMA blocks (about once per second) has
been eliminated.

The stereo playback of GUS doesn't work perfectly. There is lot of 
clicking in the output.

- /dev/mixer

No changes.

There is no mixer for the GUS yet.

- /dev/sequencer

This part has the most changes. Mostly to support the rich
features of the Gravis UltraSound. There is also the support
for the OPL-3 synthesizer chip.

- /dev/sndstat

This is a new devicefile for debugging purposes. A better place for
it is in the /proc -directory but I was just too lazy to implement it
properly. The /dev/sndstat (major 14, minor 6) is a file which returns
info about the current configuration (see the example below). If you
send me a error/problem report, please include a printout from this 
device to your message (cat /dev/sndstat).

------ cut here --- cat /dev/sndstat example --------
Sound Driver:1.99.7 (Fri Jul 9 17:01:47 GMT 1993 root@lucifer.savolai.fi)
Config options: 0x00000d4b

Major number: 14
HW config: 
Type 4: Gravis Ultrasound  at 0x210 irq 15 drq 6
Type 3: ProAudioSpectrum  at 0x388 irq 10 drq 3
Type 2: SoundBlaster  at 0x220 irq 7 drq 1
Type 1: AdLib  at 0x388 irq 0 drq 0

PCM devices:
00: Gravis UltraSound
01: Pro Audio Spectrum
02: SoundBlaster 2.0

Synth devices:
00: Gravis UltraSound
01: Yamaha OPL-3

Midi devices:
00: Gravis UltraSound
01: Pro Audio Spectrum

Mixer(s) installed
------ cut here ---- End of Example -----------


Known bugs
----------

- There is clicking during stereo playback to /dev/dsp with GUS.
- There is extra notes when playing tocatta.mid with the mp program 
  of Adagio 0.4i.
- It's not possible to open /dev/dsp (or /dev/audio) while the 
  /dev/sequencer is open for output and GUS is the only soundcard
  installed. It's possible if /dev/dsp is opened before /dev/sequencer
  but at this time the GUS is not available for access via /dev/sequencer.
  This is a limitation of the driver.
