Adlib Tracker II - the official website

@subz3ro
Well, I'm not the one who named the file, it was in an archive of songs =P
255 bytes should work, since it's the max filename length on NTFS and the usual Linux file systems.
I can see how any bug relating to case sensitivity would be missed, since Windows and DOS are both case insensitive. Thanks for looking into it!

@FreeFull: You often use such naming conventions for song filenames? *LOL*
Anyway, there was a limit set for 80 chars for filename in SDL version line (never thought anybody would name songs like that, though), so I set it to maximum (255 chars) now. As for the case sensitivity-related issues, this needs some more analysis from Linux maintenance specialist (Insane/Altair), I have to ask him.

On Linux, AT2 refuses to load music files if the file extension is in uppercase, but works fine if it's lowercase. (The files get shown in the file selection dialog, but when selected and enter is pressed the dialog closes and nothing else happens)

Also, if the filename is too long, it won't show the extension in the file open dialog, and will refuse to open it either. An example filename with which this is a problem is:
(dlz-mind)-BBS INTRO Apollo-X Demo Resources Webpage, by Seffren-DF2 and Dalezy-DF2 (1999).amd

@subz3ro: Understood, no harm done. I think a good compromise is that the SYNTH! version is still up for download :)

Who knows, I might reimplement the feature some day. In an ideal situation AT2 would be used to help chip musicians out there to get some real OPL3 back in their productions without too much hassle.

@ijsf: I see I have to express myself in more words to overcome some confusion :) Main reason to remove it was the code merge between DOS/SDL version, and the fact that it was only done for DOS version, while I was not able to manage the new features involving classic MBOARD mode (and keybord in general) usage and test possible interferences with SYNTH! mode. Also, some UI space / shortcuts had to be handed over to NREC mode. That's why, you know :) But the user feedback was the trigger, and I was really getting sick of not able to answer questions why this-and-that on this feature :) I hope you don't mind too much, bro. Still, was hell of good effort from your side - and only one (ever) feature done for Open Source by somebody else. I wish there was more stuff like that :)

MidiSynth was pretty much a hack in order to use AT2 standalone acting as a synth with a DAW. Shame it has been removed, but I can understand why.

By the way.. I just built a AT2 PC setup with likely the best possible quality OPL3 out there. I'm running AT2 with a Yamaha YMF744 chip (AOpen AW744, PCI sound card) which, AFAIK, is one of the last OPL3-compatible chips ever made from Yamaha itself with possibly the best signal-to-noise ratio out there, as well as SPD-IF digital output. Works flawlessly and therefore seems like a perfect match for a high quality AT2 setup!

great, thanks. by the way, is there a key combination to fullscreen the sdl version under linux? Thanks!

@fede: There was some simplified use of MPU401 done as a feature (called MidiSynth mode) by one member a few years back, but it's been removed due to no good user feedback to it. However, you can try it with DOS version 2.3.52 which is still available in the Downloads section.

I just found out according to the revision history there is a MPU-401 mode in the dos version, but I can't seem to find how to activate it. I have my midi keyboard connected and working with other trackers, though. Thanks again!

is there a way to fullscreen the sdl version on linux? Thanks!

@Mephitus, this is the largest collection I know of: ftp://ftp.modland.com/pub/modules/Ad%20Lib/

where can one find a HVSC-like adlib music collection? does such exist? the music that comes with adtrack2 is great but i want more!

PS.. the cover of 'ghosts and stuff' by 'deadmau5' made by oxygenstar put a smile all over my face lol...

@d13f00l: Hmm, good point. Never thought of being necessary to set it for standalone player too. Will improve this in next version.

Ok - setting OPL_LATENCY in the INI file does work, but only for the tracker, not the player!

http://cookwithkevin.com/midi/
Having trouble with ADT2PLAY.EXE - Try an A2M file - it freaks out after a few seconds. Happens with two different sound cards with the hardware chip. It's win98 7.1 dos, but booted straight to dos.
If you do try it, please queue a sapi midi after to stop the horrible noise...

Hey guys, I made a subreddit for Adlib Tracker! There's nothing there yet, but with your help we could turn it into a nice place to post your best tracks and share your favourite FM tricks. Check it out: http://www.reddit.com/r/adtrack2/

Ok thanks for the info, i meant indeed the amount of actual used data in existing modules. I will take a look in the Song Variables window.

@ToriH: Don't know if I get your question in correct way.... as either you might want to know how much of this data is used in some of the existing modules you want to port/convert, or you want to hear some procedural description how to do this in any module. For the first case, I would refer you to Song Variables window, where this information is always visible. For the latter case, this is not possible to describe easy, but if you have some level of knowledge in Pascal, it's very easy to distinguish from the source code - just refer to procedures "count_order", "count_patterns" and "count_instruments".

@Darkhog: I suppose you are member Dariusz G. Jagielski from AT2 user group on FB, so all the related points/answers are already there....

Any chances for "proper" win32 port of adlib tracker? I mean with menus and easy interface, preferably similar to either FamiTracker or OpenMPT?

Hi, i'm trying to port the .a2m module format to a platform with just a limited amount of memory (for replaying only). For that i'm looking for a way to keep the module as compact as possible when saving i.e. put only in the data that is actually needed. For a number of structures this (like the macro_table) this is easy since it contains a length attribute, this already saves up to about half the expanded file size. Is there an easy way to determine the number of actual used data like instruments and instrument macros as well?

Btw: I think you did a very great job with this program!

your program is awesome!

@dave: Unfortunately for you, AdT2 is not supporting output for more than 1 port (Adlib). It also doesn't feature any MIDI control.

@Nic: Yeah, this is already known "bug" with the NUMPAD keys for effect row in ver.2.4.20/2.3.53. It's already fixed.
If it's so annoying that you can't wait for the final release, here are the beta versions for download (only replace proper package content with files included in the ZIP archive :)
DOS-version:
http://adlibtracker.net/files/adt2beta.zip
SDL-version:
http://adlibtracker.net/files/adt2sdl-beta.zip

Hi there just some random question I am wondering about right now: I bought 3 Soundblaster 16 (CT1740) and a PC with enough ISA ports a year ago. The stuff is laying around as I didn't have the time. Now I was just brainstorming about the hardware and what I can do with it. I was wondered if it is possible to add all the cards into one PC and control them with a tracker? Or do I have to make 3 PC builds and sync them? Can adlib tracker be controled by MIDI over gameport? Probably all n00b questions, but as long I dont have the space to get this stuff started, brainstorming and asking the Pros some questions is all I can do... greets, dave

@subz3ro: Hey! I'm having so much fun with this tracker that it's almost overwhelming, a stellar find for me. Having said that, I've been using the Adlib Tracker II SDL (Windows) ver. 2.4.20, and for some reason when I try to input the "0" effect (arpeggio) it doesn't type anything and goes down a line. BUT, if I just input a number on the 2nd or 3rd row of the effect column, the "default" effect is 0 and it's the only way I found to gain access to it. Not sure if it's a bug or working as intended, but anyway :) Cheers!

@cyandyedcyanide: Please send me your contact (mail, Facebook, ICQ) to my email address. I'd like to discuss more things with you, which is out of the scope for this message board :) Thanks.

Awesome, thanks! That was incredibly fast.
For the high-res screen modes, how about 100x37, 132x28 or 132x30? Those are fairly "standard" text modes with all 8x16 characters. I think there's a 160-column mode with 8x16 font too.

I also have some ideas for new features, if you don't mind. In fact, every time I use adtrack2 I always get all sorts of ideas for cool features, more so than musical ideas... But I always keep forgetting to write them down and ask you about it. Oh well, here are a few, let me know what you think of it :)
- For the new track reorder function, I think cut/copy/paste would be useful, like in the pattern reorder window.
- In the instrument remap and transpose windows you can select which parts to change (block/track/pattern/song). Would it be possible to add an option to apply it to one track in all patterns?
- In the instrument editor, I think a diagram of the current 4op mode in the screen corner would be useful, so you can quickly tell which operator you're editing. And maybe a shortcut key to go to the other "half" of the selected 4op instrument?

@cyandyedcyanide: Ok, got all your issues fixed. Please update with latest build of the program from Downloads section. Thanks for your valuable bugreport.
P.S. Changing text-mode screen font to anything lower than current 8x16 would completely cripple the look of the tracker, so unfortunately not.

or 132x60, even better, but I think you already said you didn't want to use an 8x8 font...

(and please excuse me misspelling your name...)

@subzer0: Whoa, you replied already! Didn't see that...

With 4op tracks I just select two 2op instruments, as usual, and playing some notes in the instrument editor works normally. But entering notes in a pattern seems broken, the right track works correctly but the left track always picks instrument 01.
This used to work like a year or so ago, I think it broke in an update somewhere around the summer.

The VESA modes seem useless to me.. Even with 1000mhz and a seriously fast graphics card and write-combining cache it's really slow. Can't you make it use 132x30 text mode instead?

Just noticed something else.. Better post it before I forget! If you jump back/forward with +/- keys while playing, the next pattern doesn't start on row 0 but somewhere between 3-8 instead.

@cyandyedcyanide: Thanks for feedback. Indeed there is UI problem with ~xy command in 2nd effect column. Must fix that. As for the 4op issue - I didn't notice anything like that... can you be more specific what you are doing and how is the behavior changed compared to previous version??? For 4op tracks you have to select 2 instruments (with Space) in Instrument Control panel, I hope you know that.
As for the high-res screen modes, this is supposed to work exactly as it is (screen port within 90x30). If you want higher screen resolution, you have to use VESA and text-mode emualtion instead (screen_mode being 4 or 5), but be aware this requires pretty much CPU power.

Hey :)

Latest updates add some amazing features, especially alt-shift to toggle upper tracks is extremely useful (I've been meaning to ask you about this but never did so...). Great work, thanks!
The track rearranging seems useful too but I think it does exactly the opposite of what I'd expect it to.

I did notice some bugs too:
- 4op note entry seems broken, left track always picks instrument 01 now.
- fine vibrato effect (~xy) breaks the UI. Not since the latest version, it's been like that for as long as I can remember.
- the new high-res screen modes don't seem to work, it's still the same 90x30 resolution but half the program is off-screen now?
And for some reason, adtrack2 crashes on startup now when I boot with UMBPCI+XMGR. Doesn't happen with HIMEMX+JEMM386... But then that might just be my PC since I upgraded adtrack2 right after installing a new mainboard and some other stuff.

Yo folks! I would like to ask YOU - who have already encountered crashes with DOS version 2.3.53 - please re-download build from 01-07-2015 (already updated in Downloads section), try continue your work with this one and leave some feedback about it (if crashes appear no more, or they still do, ... etc.). For me it looks like I've finally found the root cause of these crashes so I made a fix (I was not able to reproduce past crashes anymore), but this can be only me. Thanks in advance ;)

@naku: Already fixed with today's builds of DOS/SDL version. Please re-download the program package. Thanks.

please help, in the instrument editor i can't make the ADSR PREViEW window go off to edit the parameters behind that window as panning, feedback, fine tune, etc. I have the version 2.3.53 and running on a libretto 50ct

@Ivan: Ok. Updated official version too. Please send me some contact (mail, ICQ, facebook) to you on my email address. I would be grateful to have you as beta-tester for following releases of DOS version - you have some really specific equipment out there :)

beta works great ;) thanks and merry christmas

@Ivan: Didn't notice it on my P233.... Please try with this beta if it still suffers from slowdowns.... and let me know asap. Thanks.
http://adlibtracker.net/files/adt2beta.zip

Hooray for the new version ;) but in all seriousness I found that if you load one of the new diode ma modules (for example samsara), press f5 to play it and after a moment press esc, it starts to play a little bit slower. Is that normal?

As I don't know what is the correct "timing" there in your country for presents under Christmas tree, I released Xmas versions today. Have fun guys, and see you in year 2015 - hopefully with some more releases of AT2 :)

@pulselooper: Well then, maybe 16MB is really way too less for new versions of AT2. In any case, please run it with "/debug" parameter and say me what is written in the debug log.

I only use 32mb model libretto 70t. TOSHIBA LIBRETTOS SUCK! 120mhz is not enough and the bass is weak. plus, using an adapter all the time destroy the output jack.

@Pulselooper: It's strange, there are quite many Libretto 70CT users, so I don't suppose all of them are having only the 32MB model. I can't help you more over this message board, as I don't have this notebook so can't remotely analyze your setup. If you have Facebook account, I would recommend you to join the AT2 User Group (web-link is in the Contact & Links section) and raise a question there. I'm quite sure somebody there will be able to help you.