Protracker and chip ram

[whitebird]

Hello,

When I load a module with protracker it goes in chipram by default. How make it load in fastram?

When a module is in chipram, it should use less CPU power because the samples can be played through the use of DMA (however with some CPU processing) but chip ram is not big enough for some modules.

[Leffmann]

I don't think ProTracker ever supported this. If you're not dependent on PT then try Octamed, it can put all data in fastram, and is probably a more solid and competent tracker than PT.

[Samurai_Crow]

Leffmann is right. Even the non-mixed MED modules would "scatter load" the data so that only the samples were in Chip RAM and the rest were not.

[daxb]

With 2MB chip and some fastram all protracker modules should fit (load) into chipram. If you haven`t 2MB chip, then upgrade. If you just want to playback protracker modules use a modplayer like HippoPlayer.

[whitebird]

OK, thank you for your replies.

I have 2MB of chipram the problem is that with WB3.9, 256 display eats some chip RAM and you have only 1.2MB left.

[daxb]

You can start Portracker direct if you like to get the max. chipram free. There is no WB needed to launch first. For example I use KeyPressed (Aminet) to launch (just hold a key at boot time) some Software like Protracker.

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by whitebird

OK, thank you for your replies.

I have 2MB of chipram the problem is that with WB3.9, 256 display eats some chip RAM and you have only 1.2MB left.

Tips:
- Don't use Workbench.
- Use FBlit so you load the WB garbage into Fast RAM instead.

[RiP]

I have the same problem too, wish PT could use Fast RAM too =/

[daxb]

If you want to use Protracker then start it without startup-sequence to get all the chipram available. If you just want to play PT mods from WB then use a mod player that can use fastram to load the mods.

[RiP]

Thanks for reply, OctaMED solved the problem

[8bitbubsy]

Pfft, that's not a real solution to the problem. The real solution is to conserve as much chipmem as possible in Workbench, by installing hacks like FBlit/FText, like Akira pointed out. Also don't use a wallpaper with loads of bitplanes/colors, and eventually use screenmodes with 4-8 colors. It's worth it in the end. Being able to load those big .mods in PT (and other trackers) is a much bigger gain then spicing up your already outdated desktop system in my opinion, but we're all different.

Anyways, the samples need to be in chipmem so that Paula can get data from DMA. It's the samples that take up the most space, not the rest. A .mod without samples is 1084+(numPatterns*1024) long, and numPatterns can be anywhere from 1 to 64 (or 100 in PT2.1x+). E.g. a standard .mod with 100 patterns is just 103kB(+samples), and most modules have WAY fewer patterns than that.

[BastyCDGS]

Originally Posted by whitebird

When I load a module with protracker it goes in chipram by default. How make it load in fastram?

When a module is in chipram, it should use less CPU power because the samples can be played through the use of DMA (however with some CPU processing) but chip ram is not big enough for some modules.

In order to give a good reply to this, it would be good to know what is your goal? Is it just simple playback of those modules? Or do you want to edit them, too?

The reason why I ask is that in the former case there are way a lot more possibilities. You could use HippoPlayer (if I remember recorrectly, it supported playbkack from Fast RAM).
There are also trackers which can utilize Fast RAM.

Also, are you using emulation or real Amiga? If emulation, you can just use 32-bit chipram or simply boost to 8MB. If real Amiga, which one and what configuration?

Anyway, the absolute maximum you can get is create a special disk for ProTracker and using tools like add21k (removes one bitplane from WB screen), start protracker with Run <NIL: >NIL: and endcli afterwards.

Also don't forget the fact, that a lot of trackers and module players load the module in one chunk of memory. So also consider largest free memory block. Modules often fail to load because of this due to fragmented memory.

I have written long time ago a command line ProTracker/NoiseTracker/SoundTracker player, which loads all non-sample data to fast RAM, if available and allocates one chunk of memory for each sample instead, allowing to load large modules with fragmented chip memory.

If you are interested in this, I can release it publically.
Player runs on stock A500 with KS1.2+. Is command line based and supports wait for end song, pitch/speed changing and stuff like master volume.

[BastyCDGS]

Originally Posted by whitebird

OK, thank you for your replies.

I have 2MB of chipram the problem is that with WB3.9, 256 display eats some chip RAM and you have only 1.2MB left.

Sorry, did notice this too late.
If you use a real Amiga, you could boot without executing startup-sequence and cd into ProTracker dir and run it. Hold both mouse buttons pressed after rebooting / turning on the computer.

You can also create a startup menu by editing S:Startup-Sequence which runs ProTracker directly or only if you hold left mouse button pressed while booting. Include execution of add21k and alike as explained in my previous post.

Should give you almost 2MB free of chip.

[BastyCDGS]

Just for information.

I released the mentioned mod player just on Aminet, feel free to download. Includes Devpac source.

http://aminet.net/package/mus/play/cdgs_bastyplayer

Maybe it will help the chip RAM issue a little bit.

If you have questions or trouble with the player, just ask...