Basic Amos Issues

[lordofchaos]

Thanks. Ok so something like this?

dir$="df0:gfx"
load iff"swirl16",1
spack 1 to 1
ppsave "swirl16",1

then

ppload"swirl16",1
unpack 1 to 1

EDIT: Looks to be working There's just one thing, with the modules depacking I don't mind the flashing on the borders from the decompression but it's a little jarring when presenting the pictures. Can I "Spack" the pictures and save them without the ppsave?

EDIT: Ok, I got it now, compressing the images with "Spack" and just using "save" with relevant bank number. Less compression than combining with "PPSAVE" but avoids the flashing.

Printing the AMOSPro manual out..Hope I have enough ink!

[Mrs Beanbag]

hmm, i'm pretty sure Powerpacker format supports not flashing on decompression as a parameter in the crunched file, but AMOS ppsave doesn't support changing it, however it should be possible, knowing which is the relevant byte, to change it manually in some other program.

[lordofchaos]

There's something really strange going on with my AMOSPro. I can successfully pack the MED modules with "PPsave", once they are saved I can load them back up again with the "PPload" command, so far so good. However after closing AMOS, closing WinUAE and returning, the modules no longer play. I can load them up with "PPload" but they refuse to play, that is to say I can use "MED PLAY" but no audio is heard despite the song being listed in bank 3?

I thought it must be some kind of disc corruption so I repacked all the modules again, after that I played them back in AMOS fine. Another reset and restart of WinUAE later the same issue returns. Mods not playing and often freezing the sytem, sending me to Guru land, even had a yellow screen after directly using the MED play command?..

I even ran a virus check on my system but nothing was detected. I also replaced my the AMOS files with backups just in case they had become corrupted. I`m really scratching my head here. It seems the process only works after doing it, but some time after the modules become non-playable?

Anybody have any ideas what can be causing this strange occurrence?

[Mrs Beanbag]

oh now wait a minute...

i have never actually tried to use Med files in AMOS, i had assumed they would work pretty much the same as Protracker mods but apparently not. According to the manual, the med bank is "not a data bank," presumably it copies the samples or some other data out to another location, why it does this i have no idea but the conclusion is "Med modules must be loaded anew each time that the program is run".

That means you can't save Med banks and load them in again with any AMOS commands at all. This is a real pain although it explains how you got such "good" compression ratio. Sample data rarely compresses very well.

Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

[lordofchaos]

Bugger! I thought that changing the powerpacker.library (newer version) may help? Drawing board it is. If all else fails I`ll try find a way to shorten the samples saving space.

[Mrs Beanbag]

maybe you could convert your mods to Protracker format? that would expand your options at any rate, since i have some tricks for compressing samples for that.

[lordofchaos]

I can try that, problem is though that I`m using very specific octamed commands that don't translate well into pro-tracker, and a few exploits that I`m not sure are compatible and could prove quite time consuming to convert. I`ll have to take a closer look at the song code.

[Samurai_Crow]

If you use the Protracker format, use the AMCAF versions of the commands because current versions of the AMOS music extension are buggy.

[lordofchaos]

Originally Posted by Samurai_Crow

If you use the Protracker format, use the AMCAF versions of the commands because current versions of the AMOS music extension are buggy.

Will do I`m going to convert MED into Protacker and see how well it comes out in the conversion process.

[Lonewolf10]

Originally Posted by Mrs Beanbag

According to the manual, the med bank is "not a data bank," presumably it copies the samples or some other data out to another location, why it does this i have no idea but the conclusion is "Med modules must be loaded anew each time that the program is run".

Can't you simply poke the banks header so that it thinks it is a data bank? Or did they use those flags in the header for something MED related?
I haven't looked at the AMOS bank header format in ages, but I know it can be slightly different dependant on the type of bank used.

Edit: Remember AMOS banks have to be an even length (e.g. 10402, 12000 etc.) or AMOS gets 'fussy'.

[lordofchaos]

I've given up for the moment Converting med modules into pro-tracker isn't the easiest thing to do, especially if your using lots of different/exotic commands.. Although I managed to convert Med To Protracker, lot's of the pitching was mangled along with other things and end result was awful.

It's so weird how AMOS can let me crunch the MED files with "PPsave" and have them playback fine, but after a re-start no longer work? Unfortunately there is no magic bullet it seems.

I've enclosed the ADF I`m using.

If you load the disk into Amos and load the"ChrunchMe.AMOS" program, it will load the Med file into bank 3 and crunch it, save it to disk, clear memory, load the packed file into bank 3 and play it back fine. If you then reset the Amiga and start up AMOS again, that file will no longer play.

[Mrs Beanbag]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf10

Can't you simply poke the banks header so that it thinks it is a data bank? Or did they use those flags in the header for something MED related?
I haven't looked at the AMOS bank header format in ages, but I know it can be slightly different dependant on the type of bank used.

Edit: Remember AMOS banks have to be an even length (e.g. 10402, 12000 etc.) or AMOS gets 'fussy'.

The manual really isn't very clear, but I presume what it means by "not a data bank" in this case, is that when you load a Med file the bank doesn't completely contain all the data needed to play the music, some of it is loaded elsewhere (probably the samples, which need to be in Chip RAM while the patterns do not) that the programmer doesn't have direct access to. I presume there IS some way to get at it, i might investigate, but the bottom line is, when you save the AMOS bank (crunched or otherwise) it doesn't save everything, so when you load it back it is not complete.

Presumably the reason it works when you save it and load it in again is that although you have overwritten the AMOS bank with the loaded version, the rest of the data that it needs is still in memory in the same place as before. But when you reset, boom it's gone!

Please could you check the length of the music bank against the actual size of the Med file.

Load the Med file into two different banks (using "Med Load") and compare the contents of each.

edit: well i have confirmed this by looking in the AMOS music extension source code, it should be possible to add an extra instruction into the Music extension to allow one to re-relocate the module after loading with ppload. But it also makes me suspect that the whole thing leaks memory like crazy.

[lordofchaos]

I took a snapshot in AMOS, loaded Med file in two separate banks. The file length seems to be at odds with the file bank size?

Originally Posted by Mrs Beanbag

well i have confirmed this by looking in the AMOS music extension source code, it should be possible to add an extra instruction into the Music extension to allow one to re-relocate the module after loading with ppload. But it also makes me suspect that the whole thing leaks memory like crazy.

That sounds promising, would it be difficult to do? Seems like quite a lot of work just to get a packed med module to work. Would be cool of course

[Mrs Beanbag]

i shouldn't worry about 8 extra bytes, the Med Load command seems to add it on for some reason i can't fathom but it won't affect anything else. i wanted to see the difference between the contents of the two banks (not just the difference in length) but having looked at the source code and the documentation for Medplayer.library (google translated from Polish!) i don't think it's necessary anymore.

i would like you to see if all the memory is freed up when you delete the banks though, because i suspect it is not. do this before loading a Med file, then erase the bank and do it again:

print "fast: ";fast free
print "chip: ";chip free

Now. it is possible to use library functions directly using AMOS. so try this:

track load "music.med",5
lib open 1,"medplayer.library"
dreg(0)=0
result=lib call(1,-30)
if result <> 0
   areg(0)=start(5)
   result=lib call(1,-102)
   areg(0)=start(5)
   dreg(0)=0
   result=lib call(1,-42)
   wait key
   result=lib call(1,-54)
else
   print "error opening medplayer.library"
end if

yes i really did mean "track load" - top tip - all that command does is load a raw binary file into a chip memory data bank! (and sets the bank name to "Tracker "!)

[lordofchaos]

Originally Posted by Mrs Beanbag

print "fast: ";fast free
print "chip: ";chip free

Now. it is possible to use library functions directly using AMOS. so try this:
[code]
track load "music.med",5
lib open 1,"medplayer.library" - This line returns syntax error
dreg(0)=0
result=lib call(1,-30)
if result <> 0
areg(0)=start(5)
result=lib call(1,-102)
areg(0)=start(5)
dreg(0)=0
result=lib call(1,-42)
wait key
result=lib call(1,-54)
else
print "error opening medplayer.library"
end if

I have copied out the code but the line in bold returns syntax error.

[Mrs Beanbag]

OH sorry i missed the version parameter. just leave it zero

lib open 1,"medplayer.library", 0

[lordofchaos]

Ah ok. Now this is happening "ELSE without If"

[Mrs Beanbag]

sorry again i forgot how to code in AMOS for a moment and you caught my code before i edited it. there shouldn't be a "then" at the end of the "if" line. one of AMOS's little eccentricities.

[lordofchaos]

That's ok, lot's of this stuff is alien to me! Well the program runs. Loads the song into bank 5 and is listed as tracker in memory bank. It also brings up"error opening medplayer.library".

If I use "track play 5" the borders flash but no audio can be heard.

[Mrs Beanbag]

yes it won't play as a protracker mod because it isn't one! we are only using track load because it's an easy way to load any file into a bank.

hmm... hang on

i've done another total stupid. it should be "if result=0" not "if result <>0"