--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/FAQ	Wed Jun 04 13:44:05 2003 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
+XMMS-SID - Frequently Asked (and other) Questions
+=================================================
+
+- So what IS the SID and/or what are SID-tunes?
+- Where to get SID tunes?
+- Why isn't the sub-song control window skinnable?
+- When using XMMS-SID with the OpenGL Spectrum Analyzer,
+- Can I make my own SIDs??? How??
+- XMMS-SID plays some tune badly!
+- Do I really need to use the song-position patch?
+- How do I use the song-position patch?
+
+
+>---
+
+Q: So what IS the SID and/or what are SID-tunes?
+
+A: SID is abbreviation for the sound chip that was used in many
+   of the old 8-bit home computers manufactured by Commodore Inc.
+   in 1980's. Best known of those was the Commodore 64 home computer
+   (aka C64 or CBM64, also known as VIC-64 in some countries).
+
+   The Sound Interface Device (SID), designed by Bob Yannes, was
+   one of the most advanced sound chips at the time.
+   It's capabilities surpassed all of the other chips on the 8-bit
+   home computer market and even most of the ones used in arcade
+   game systems. Thousands of games were produced for C=64 in
+   1980's and beginning of 1990's, many of them having excellent
+   musical score.
+
+   Best of those tunes are still regarded to be legendary,
+   such as songs by Martin Galway (for games Arkanoid, Green Beret,
+   Yie Ar Kung Fu 1 & 2, Parallax...), Rob Hubbard (Commando, Auf
+   Wiedersehen Monty, Monty on the Run, Warhawk, Sanxion, Delta...),
+   Ben Daglish (Jack the Nipper 1&2, Way of the Tiger, Cobra, Avenger)
+   and numerous other famous composers. Some of them quit their
+   composing quickly after the 8-bit period, but some are still
+   working in the computer music business. (Including Maniacs of
+   Noise, Chris Huelsbeck, Richard Joseph and ex. MON member
+   Charles Deenen who worked with Fallout 1 & 2's musical score)
+
+   Today, years after the 'decline' of 8-bit computers, many composers
+   (mainly from C64 demoscene) continue to compose tunes for SID and
+   get most amazing things out of it -- things that the designers of
+   the SID would have never believed.
+
+   For example: SID has only three sound channels, but there are tunes
+   that use special techniques to "multiplex" them to sound like four
+   or even six channels. Also these three channels are "limited" to
+   synthesized sounds, kind like the FM sounds produced by old Sound
+   Blaster cards on PC. But again, using a certain 'bug' in SID chip,
+   composers were able to push the limits farther ... Martin Galway's
+   very famous piece on Arkanoid game was the "first" (later it has
+   been proven that Chris Huelsbeck's Bad Cat was the first but was
+   released later) to feature DIGITIZED SAMPLES like speech, etc.
+
+   ...
+
+   So this is the story in short. The "SID tunes" are usually understood
+   to be the files that contain the C64 machine code and data that plays
+   the music. SID players (or emulators) are programs that emulate the
+   SID chip capabilities and other parts of C64 hardware to produce
+   almost authentic re-creation of the original music. SID-files (aka
+   SID tunes) can be created by ripping the music routines and data from
+   some game or just composing the music with some editor.
+
+   XMMS-SID is interface for one of those emulators, libSIDPlay by
+   Michael Schwendt.
+
+
+>---
+
+Q: Where to get SID tunes?
+
+A: There are many collections of SID tunes on the Internet, but
+   probably the best one and best known one is the High Voltage
+   SID Collection aka HVSC.
+
+   It is available at: http://hvsc.c64.org/
+
+   HVSC contains the tunes ripped from all legendary C64 games,
+   loaders, etc. And more. There are over 15,000 tunes in the
+   HVSC version 4.0 and more are coming. HVSC also contains the
+   STIL database (SID Tune Information List) that contains lots
+   of information about many of the tunes included in HVSC.
+   XMMS-SID supports the STIL database and info about the playing
+   tune can be viewed with the "XMMS fileinfo" window (CTRL+3).
+   STIL information can contain comments from composers, notice
+   if the tune is a cover and historically interesting facts
+   about games, etc...
+
+>---
+
+Q: Why isn't the sub-song control window skinnable?
+
+A: Because the XMMS's code for skins is not exported to
+   plugins. And besides, you would need new skin(s) anyway.
+
+   Things would be overly complicated if I added a skin support
+   and I'm not interested, at least for now.
+
+>---
+
+Q: When using XMMS-SID with the OpenGL Spectrum Analyzer,
+   the sound becomes distorted!
+
+A: This is a known problem and occurs usually with NVidia
+   cards and drivers. It is not directly related to XMMS-SID.
+
+   With certain combinations of hardware, this problem presents
+   itself with all input-plugins (mp3, mod, ogg..) of XMMS.
+
+   Workaround: Upgrade or downgrade your NVidia drivers.
+   Try lowering your systemload. Close some unnecessary
+   CPU-consuming applications. Buy faster hardware.
+
+>---
+
+Q: Can I make my own SIDs??? How??
+
+A: Yes you can. You need a real C64 or emulator like VICE and
+   a composing program. There are many available, I know only
+   few of them:
+
+   - JCH's editor
+   - Cybertracker (http://noname.c64.org/)
+   - GoatTracker (http://www.covertbitops.cjb.net/)
+
+   Some of the mentioned tools can be found from Lemon's
+   collection  which is an excellent place to look for info
+   on games and other Commodore-related software.
+   The URL is: http://www.lemon64.com/
+   You should also check http://www.c64.com/
+
+   Besides the above, you'll need some skill in using the
+   programs and hardware, understanding of music in some
+   level and good ideas for tunes. :)
+
+   Rest of that is out of the scope of this document,
+   please don't ask me about this.
+
+>---
+
+Q: XMMS-SID plays some tune badly!
+
+A: Please read file "README.bugreport". In general this
+   might be a bug in SIDPlay-library or some other component.
+   Or it might be in XMMS-SID. Report and I'll see what
+   can be done.
+
+>---
+
+Q: Do I really need to use the song-position patch?
+   I would like to have my XMMS as it is.
+
+A: No, you don't need to use it or patch XMMS. There is
+   now an alternative available, although it only covers
+   XMMS-SID (no other plugins, like the patch).
+
+   This new sub-song control window is imitated from SIDAmp.
+
+   The new sub-song-selector is used automagically if
+   you have NOT patched the XMMS. If you have patched it,
+   then the patch will be used instead.
+
+>---
+
+Q: How do I use the song-position patch?
+
+A: Apply the patch to XMMS, configure and (re)compile,
+   install. Configure and compile XMMS-SID, install.
+
+XMMS-SID automagically detects a patched XMMS and uses the
+extended features. (See also the previous questions)
+
+Patching
+========
+Short instructions of patching XMMS for the uninitiated ;-)
+(Substitute the XMMS version 1.2.5 with the appropriate version)
+
+1) Unpack the XMMS source distribution:
+
+	tar -xzvf xmms-1.2.5.tar.gz
+
+2) cd xmms-1.2.5
+
+3) Patch the XMMS (with the selected patch file)
+
+   patch -p1 < /some/where/xmms-songpos.patch
+
+4) If the patch succeeded (no failures, no .rej files), you
+   can now compile and install the XMMS. (Read through XMMS
+   documentation how to do it if you don't know)
+
+   If some part of the patch does not succeed, you may need
+   to fix it by hand. Or you could just not use the patch :)
+
+
+If you patched and recompiled XMMS _after_ you had already used
+XMMS-SID, you need to re-compile XMMS-SID too to make it use the
+patch features!
+
+>---

--- a/README.songpos	Tue Jun 03 11:30:01 2003 +0000
+++ /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-Introduction
-============
-The XMMS-SID plugin will work much better if you install the song
-position patch ("xmms-songpos.patch*") which makes it possible for
-the plugin to use the position slider to choose subtunes. 
-
-It also patches some other plugins (like MikMod plugin) for
-improved features. Additionally, the patch for XMMS 1.2.5
-has a dirty hack fix 
-
-Patching
-========
-Short instructions of patching XMMS for the uninitiated ;-)
-
-(Substitute the 1.2.5 version number with the appropriate version)
-
-1) Unpack the XMMS source distribution:
-
-	tar -xzvf xmms-1.2.5.tar.gz
-
-2) cd xmms-1.2.5
-
-3) Choose appropriate patch:
-   If you have XMMS version 1.2.0-1.2.3, choose patch version 1.2.2
-   With 1.2.4 and later, choose patch version 1.2.5!
-
-4) Patch the XMMS (with the selected patch file)
-
-   patch -p1 < /some/where/xmms-songpos.patch.1.2.5
-
-5) If the patch succeeded (no failures, no .rej files), you
-   can now compile and install the XMMS. (Read through XMMS
-   documentation how to do it if you don't already know)
-
-   If some part of the patch does not succeed, you may need
-   to fix it by hand. Or you could just not use the patch :)
-
-   (See the TODO-file for what I have planned to remedy this patch with!)
-
-
-NOTICE
-======
-If you patched and recompiled XMMS _after_ you had already used
-XMMS-SID, you need to re-compile XMMS-SID too to make it use the
-patch features!
-