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1 XMMS-SID - Frequently Asked (and other) Questions
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2 =================================================
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3
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4 - So what IS the SID and/or what are SID-tunes?
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5 - Where to get SID tunes?
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6 - Why isn't the sub-song control window skinnable?
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7 - When using XMMS-SID with the OpenGL Spectrum Analyzer,
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8 - Can I make my own SIDs??? How??
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9 - XMMS-SID plays some tune badly!
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10 - Do I really need to use the song-position patch?
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11 - How do I use the song-position patch?
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12
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13
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14 >---
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15
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16 Q: So what IS the SID and/or what are SID-tunes?
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17
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18 A: SID is abbreviation for the sound chip that was used in many
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19 of the old 8-bit home computers manufactured by Commodore Inc.
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20 in 1980's. Best known of those was the Commodore 64 home computer
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21 (aka C64 or CBM64, also known as VIC-64 in some countries).
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22
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23 The Sound Interface Device (SID), designed by Bob Yannes, was
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24 one of the most advanced sound chips at the time.
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25 It's capabilities surpassed all of the other chips on the 8-bit
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26 home computer market and even most of the ones used in arcade
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27 game systems. Thousands of games were produced for C=64 in
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28 1980's and beginning of 1990's, many of them having excellent
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29 musical score.
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30
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31 Best of those tunes are still regarded to be legendary,
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32 such as songs by Martin Galway (for games Arkanoid, Green Beret,
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33 Yie Ar Kung Fu 1 & 2, Parallax...), Rob Hubbard (Commando, Auf
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34 Wiedersehen Monty, Monty on the Run, Warhawk, Sanxion, Delta...),
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35 Ben Daglish (Jack the Nipper 1&2, Way of the Tiger, Cobra, Avenger)
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36 and numerous other famous composers. Some of them quit their
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37 composing quickly after the 8-bit period, but some are still
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38 working in the computer music business. (Including Maniacs of
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39 Noise, Chris Huelsbeck, Richard Joseph and ex. MON member
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40 Charles Deenen who worked with Fallout 1 & 2's musical score)
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41
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42 Today, years after the 'decline' of 8-bit computers, many composers
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43 (mainly from C64 demoscene) continue to compose tunes for SID and
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44 get most amazing things out of it -- things that the designers of
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45 the SID would have never believed.
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46
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47 For example: SID has only three sound channels, but there are tunes
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48 that use special techniques to "multiplex" them to sound like four
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49 or even six channels. Also these three channels are "limited" to
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50 synthesized sounds, kind like the FM sounds produced by old Sound
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51 Blaster cards on PC. But again, using a certain 'bug' in SID chip,
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52 composers were able to push the limits farther ... Martin Galway's
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53 very famous piece on Arkanoid game was the "first" (later it has
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54 been proven that Chris Huelsbeck's Bad Cat was the first but was
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55 released later) to feature DIGITIZED SAMPLES like speech, etc.
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56
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57 ...
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58
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59 So this is the story in short. The "SID tunes" are usually understood
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60 to be the files that contain the C64 machine code and data that plays
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61 the music. SID players (or emulators) are programs that emulate the
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62 SID chip capabilities and other parts of C64 hardware to produce
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63 almost authentic re-creation of the original music. SID-files (aka
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64 SID tunes) can be created by ripping the music routines and data from
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65 some game or just composing the music with some editor.
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66
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67 XMMS-SID is interface for one of those emulators, libSIDPlay by
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68 Michael Schwendt.
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69
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70
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71 >---
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72
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73 Q: Where to get SID tunes?
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74
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75 A: There are many collections of SID tunes on the Internet, but
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76 probably the best one and best known one is the High Voltage
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77 SID Collection aka HVSC.
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78
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79 It is available at: http://hvsc.c64.org/
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80
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81 HVSC contains the tunes ripped from all legendary C64 games,
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82 loaders, etc. And more. There are over 15,000 tunes in the
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83 HVSC version 4.0 and more are coming. HVSC also contains the
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84 STIL database (SID Tune Information List) that contains lots
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85 of information about many of the tunes included in HVSC.
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86 XMMS-SID supports the STIL database and info about the playing
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87 tune can be viewed with the "XMMS fileinfo" window (CTRL+3).
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88 STIL information can contain comments from composers, notice
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89 if the tune is a cover and historically interesting facts
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90 about games, etc...
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91
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92 >---
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93
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94 Q: Why isn't the sub-song control window skinnable?
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95
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96 A: Because the XMMS's code for skins is not exported to
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97 plugins. And besides, you would need new skin(s) anyway.
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98
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99 Things would be overly complicated if I added a skin support
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100 and I'm not interested, at least for now.
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101
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102 >---
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103
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104 Q: When using XMMS-SID with the OpenGL Spectrum Analyzer,
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105 the sound becomes distorted!
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106
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107 A: This is a known problem and occurs usually with NVidia
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108 cards and drivers. It is not directly related to XMMS-SID.
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109
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110 With certain combinations of hardware, this problem presents
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111 itself with all input-plugins (mp3, mod, ogg..) of XMMS.
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112
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113 Workaround: Upgrade or downgrade your NVidia drivers.
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114 Try lowering your systemload. Close some unnecessary
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115 CPU-consuming applications. Buy faster hardware.
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116
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117 >---
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118
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119 Q: Can I make my own SIDs??? How??
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120
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121 A: Yes you can. You need a real C64 or emulator like VICE and
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122 a composing program. There are many available, I know only
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123 few of them:
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124
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125 - JCH's editor
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126 - Cybertracker (http://noname.c64.org/)
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127 - GoatTracker (http://www.covertbitops.cjb.net/)
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128
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129 Some of the mentioned tools can be found from Lemon's
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130 collection which is an excellent place to look for info
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131 on games and other Commodore-related software.
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132 The URL is: http://www.lemon64.com/
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133 You should also check http://www.c64.com/
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134
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135 Besides the above, you'll need some skill in using the
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136 programs and hardware, understanding of music in some
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137 level and good ideas for tunes. :)
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138
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139 Rest of that is out of the scope of this document,
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140 please don't ask me about this.
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141
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142 >---
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143
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144 Q: XMMS-SID plays some tune badly!
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145
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146 A: Please read file "README.bugreport". In general this
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147 might be a bug in SIDPlay-library or some other component.
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148 Or it might be in XMMS-SID. Report and I'll see what
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149 can be done.
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150
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151 >---
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152
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153 Q: Do I really need to use the song-position patch?
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154 I would like to have my XMMS as it is.
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155
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156 A: No, you don't need to use it or patch XMMS. There is
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157 now an alternative available, although it only covers
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158 XMMS-SID (no other plugins, like the patch).
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159
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160 This new sub-song control window is imitated from SIDAmp.
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161
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162 The new sub-song-selector is used automagically if
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163 you have NOT patched the XMMS. If you have patched it,
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164 then the patch will be used instead.
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165
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166 >---
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167
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168 Q: How do I use the song-position patch?
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169
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170 A: Apply the patch to XMMS, configure and (re)compile,
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171 install. Configure and compile XMMS-SID, install.
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172
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173 XMMS-SID automagically detects a patched XMMS and uses the
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174 extended features. (See also the previous questions)
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175
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176 Patching
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177 ========
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178 Short instructions of patching XMMS for the uninitiated ;-)
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179 (Substitute the XMMS version 1.2.5 with the appropriate version)
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180
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181 1) Unpack the XMMS source distribution:
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182
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183 tar -xzvf xmms-1.2.5.tar.gz
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184
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185 2) cd xmms-1.2.5
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186
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187 3) Patch the XMMS (with the selected patch file)
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188
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189 patch -p1 < /some/where/xmms-songpos.patch
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190
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191 4) If the patch succeeded (no failures, no .rej files), you
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192 can now compile and install the XMMS. (Read through XMMS
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193 documentation how to do it if you don't know)
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194
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195 If some part of the patch does not succeed, you may need
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196 to fix it by hand. Or you could just not use the patch :)
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197
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198
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199 If you patched and recompiled XMMS _after_ you had already used
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200 XMMS-SID, you need to re-compile XMMS-SID too to make it use the
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201 patch features!
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202
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203 >---
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