Re: SID player for VICE
By: Andreas Kohlbach to All on Thu Apr 21 2022 12:09 pm

> XPost: comp.emulators.cbm
>
> From my last Debian installation I remember there was a standalone SID
> player coming with the VICE emulator. On the new installation I also
> installed VICE, but cannot find the executable (and cannot remember its
> file name from the previous installation.
>
> Is this player still shipped with VICE (on Linux)? What's its name then?
>
> F'up2 comp.emulators.cbm
> --
> Andreas

This post prompted me to look. Yes, in fact, there is one: vsid, on Debian 11.

I played with vsid for a few minutes .. I'm not sure this would replace
sidplayer for me, it seems to like to crash a lot.

On Wed, 08 Jun 2022 20:15:16 +1200, Chance Platt wrote:
>
> Re: SID player for VICE
> By: Andreas Kohlbach to All on Thu Apr 21 2022 12:09 pm
>
> > XPost: comp.emulators.cbm
> >
> > From my last Debian installation I remember there was a standalone SID
> > player coming with the VICE emulator. On the new installation I also
> > installed VICE, but cannot find the executable (and cannot remember its
> > file name from the previous installation.
> >
> > Is this player still shipped with VICE (on Linux)? What's its name then?
>
> This post prompted me to look. Yes, in fact, there is one: vsid, on Debian 11.
>
> I played with vsid for a few minutes .. I'm not sure this would replace
> sidplayer for me, it seems to like to crash a lot.

Was using it for a while now, and by chance just yesterday it crashed
once.

Just noticing if I start with a certain song it crashes every time. If I
play a different song first and then the other it doesn't crash.

One question (not to start a new thread). I set the VIC-II settings to
PAL, as as an European I am used 50Hz. But some SIDS insist on playing
in NTSC (60Hz). Cannot find if the VIC-II settings are ignored, or for
what reason some songs "rush through", others not.
--
Andreas

Re: Re: SID player for VICE
By: Andreas Kohlbach to Chance Platt on Thu Jun 09 2022 03:34 pm

> On Wed, 08 Jun 2022 20:15:16 +1200, Chance Platt wrote:
>
> > Re: SID player for VICE
> > By: Andreas Kohlbach to All on Thu Apr 21 2022 12:09 pm
>
> > > XPost: comp.emulators.cbm
>
> > > From my last Debian installation I remember there was a standalone SID
> player coming with the VICE emulator. On the new installation I also
> talled VICE, but cannot find the executable (and cannot
> > > remember its file name from the previous installation.
>
> > > Is this player still shipped with VICE (on Linux)? What's its name
> then?
>
> > This post prompted me to look. Yes, in fact, there is one: vsid, on Debian
> 11.
>
> > I played with vsid for a few minutes .. I'm not sure this would replace
> sidplayer for me, it seems to like to crash a lot.
>
> Was using it for a while now, and by chance just yesterday it crashed
> once.
>
> Just noticing if I start with a certain song it crashes every time. If I
> play a different song first and then the other it doesn't crash.
>
> One question (not to start a new thread). I set the VIC-II settings to
> PAL, as as an European I am used 50Hz. But some SIDS insist on playing
> in NTSC (60Hz). Cannot find if the VIC-II settings are ignored, or for
> what reason some songs "rush through", others not.

I don't know what I'm doing to make mine crash, but it's worked for a good
while for me in the last few minutes replying to your post. I really like the
interface.

The reason why some rush through and others not is that the original intent,
which machine the song was developed on, is included in the file. So the
players emulate the "correct" speed for each song individually.

I've wanted for some years to go through my disks and copy down the SIDs I had,
the way I remember them. I'm from the US, so mine were all fixed for NTSC, and
the experience of them is different than the more accurate files people trade
around.

So, first, in the menus, Settings -> Settings, set the default model you want
(PAL).

Then, in Settings menu again, click "Override PSID settings". That will force
the player to play with your default settings and ignore the values in the PSID
files.

On Mon, 13 Jun 2022 15:39:57 +1200, Chance Platt wrote:
>
> Re: Re: SID player for VICE
> By: Andreas Kohlbach to Chance Platt on Thu Jun 09 2022 03:34 pm
>
> > Was using it for a while now, and by chance just yesterday it crashed
> > once.
> >
> > Just noticing if I start with a certain song it crashes every time. If I
> > play a different song first and then the other it doesn't crash.
> >
> > One question (not to start a new thread). I set the VIC-II settings to
> > PAL, as as an European I am used 50Hz. But some SIDS insist on playing
> > in NTSC (60Hz). Cannot find if the VIC-II settings are ignored, or for
> > what reason some songs "rush through", others not.
>
> I don't know what I'm doing to make mine crash, but it's worked for a good
> while for me in the last few minutes replying to your post. I really like the
> interface.

After further investigation those files crashing VSID play only if
another file is playing and you start the otherwise crashing file without
stopping the first.

One which I can reproduce crashing every time (but playing using the
method above) is Armalyte which I also have on my SID web page at
<http://www.ankman.de/commodore-64-sid-music/>. If you find the time
please get this and see if it crashes your player too but plays when
already playing a different file without stopping it.

> The reason why some rush through and others not is that the original intent,
> which machine the song was developed on, is included in the file. So the
> players emulate the "correct" speed for each song individually.
>
> I've wanted for some years to go through my disks and copy down the SIDs I had,
> the way I remember them. I'm from the US, so mine were all fixed for NTSC, and
> the experience of them is different than the more accurate files people trade
> around.

Well on the Commodore 64 back in the day you usually could not
choose. You got an NTSC version in North America and a PAL version almost
elsewhere. So depending on where you were and what game you played, it
might slowed down or sped up with no way to control it other than
reprogram the program or replace the VIC-II chip.

> So, first, in the menus, Settings -> Settings, set the default model you want
> (PAL).
>
> Then, in Settings menu again, click "Override PSID settings". That will force
> the player to play with your default settings and ignore the values in the PSID
> files.

That did it! Thanks so much.

The vicerc file now also has the line--

PSIDKeepEnv=1

which seems to do this.
--
Andreas

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