Protracker 2.3 preset list help

[lost_lemming]

Why doesn't the presets list in PT 2.3 work?
The idea is you chose a floppy disk or a path on your HDD where a bunch of samples live and then you save it as ST-xx (any number) then you can call them up any time without having to use the annoying disk op.
But when loading a sample from the preset list it moans it can't do it and doesn't even say why

Did anyone ever get it to work?

Here's a cut and paste from the PT manual I found:

PRESET ED
---------
The preset editor is used for sorting and catalogueing your samples. All
samples for use with Protracker should be on disks called "ST-01" to
"ST-FF". When adding a disk to the presetlist, only these disks are
recognized.

Harddisk owners may want to add a directory. e.g. You've got a directory
called "Supersamples", and you want to use the samples on PT... Simple.
Assign "Supersamples" to ST-13 or whatever. In the box with "Disk:"
and ST-__ in it, enter ST-13. Now enter "DHX:supersamples" in the
path box and press "add path".

The path will be added as ST-13 in your presetlist, so everytime you need
a sample from ST-13, it will be loaded from "Supersamples" instead. Simple?

[Coagulus]

Weird. My HD always has 2.3b with working presetlist...

[lost_lemming]

OK
Do you find that some samples load and some don't? I can't figure out if it's a .raw or .iff thing cause it's so random if they load up or not, it might be a file size limit but I notice on disk op it will still load larger samples but will just cut the end off.

I couldn't get a HDD:samples folder to path into the preset list but I did manage to format a floppy and label it ST-01 and it worked but the same thing with some samples not loading. I then even tried renaming my CF reader ST-01 and even partitioned a new drive called ST-01 and both path'd into preset list but again some samples won't load it will just say "can't open file !"

about to give up. this is both on 2.3D and the last one 2.3F. I guess I'll just have to stick to disk op. Which is a scary thought because the amount of times it will auto toggle from load sample to load module when you're not noticing is game over if you actually go ahead and load a sample as a module. you're doomed.

I'm beginning to think the preset list was never fully completed to be usable, it never remembers saved preset lists each time you fire up PT

[Coagulus]

They all load fine here. Just to check you are assigning to ST-01: etc and not just ST-01 without the colon?

[VirtuaPointZero]

I also had this problem and found a solution, partly thanks to your post, so thought I'd share it in case it helps anyone else. Using disk op to load samples is a nightmare and resulted in me loading a sample as a module on many occasions, and ruining what I was working on. Using presets is a breath of fresh air. So here's how I made the preset list work:

First off, there was no PLST file in my ProTracker 2.3F folder so I copied a config file and renamed it PLST (got the config file from 2.3D as it also didn't exist in my 2.3F folder). But it still didn't work because ProTracker tries to write the preset list to ST:00, not your ProTracker folder. To get round this you can 'assign ST-00: HDD: Protracker_2.3F' (or wherever your folder is based). One way to do this is to hold down the right mouse button and left click on the dot next to NEWSHELL within ProTracker. Another way is to add it to your user startup (in WB, press right Amiga E, type ed s:user-startup) which saves you from doing the assign every time you boot up. So now, instead of writing to ST-00, it will write to your ProTracker folder.

In PSET-ED add a path to one of your sample folders, ie. 'PATH:' = HDD2:Samples/Bass and leave 'DISK:' as ST-01. This should load your samples into that disk. Click 'SAVE PLST' and it should work. However, there are two more issues to be aware of.

First is that you still need to assign ST-01 to your HDD2:Samples/Bass folder in the same way as the aforementioned ST-00 assign. So you could do that in NEWSHELL or better still, add another line to your user startup file (ie. assign ST-01: HDD2: Samples/Bass'.

Second is that the filename must be 15 characters max, including the file extension (if visible within the filename). I convert my PC samples to RAW format so they all have .RAW at the end of the name when I copy them over to the Amiga. So that uses 4 characters meaning the filename can only actually be 11 characters. Also, I don't think spaces are allowed.

I think this is why some of the OP's samples played and others don't, even though they appear to load into the preset list correctly. As well as this, they load and play correctly if using disk op. It must be something to do with ProTracker doing an exact match of what is visible in the preset list window (as only the first 15 characters are visible).

So what I ended up doing (after painstakingly renaming all of my samples which had a space or which were over 15 characters) was adding paths for all my sample folders to unique ST-xx disks, saving the PLST file, then adding the relevant assigns to the user startup. So that every time I boot up I don't need to do anything except click 'LOAD PLST'. No more loading samples using DISK OP

I have a list of the preset disk names so I don't forget what's what and so I can type a disk number into the preset list to show only those samples. I tried to organise the disk names in a way which is easy to remember, and which I could expand on with additional subfolders in future (as you can have ST-01 to ST-FF), eg.

st-01 = kicks
st-02 = snares
st-03 = hats
st-10 = bass
st-20 = fx
st-21 = fx/reverse
st-30 = synths
st-31 = synths/chip
st-40 = loops
etc.

I stumbled through this solution as I've only recently got back into using an Amiga so there may well be a better or easier way of achieving the same thing. But this worked for me and makes such a difference.

Hope this helps someone.