AMPlayer: Frequently asked questions

The following are some of the more frequently asked questions we get asked. Please look below for the answer to any queries you have before contacting us with a bug report. Thanks.

• I've installed AMPlayer 1.33, but the frontend keeps loading the old version of the module.
• I've installed everything, but AMPlayer doesn't produce any sound!
• I use a different frontend and that loads an old version of AMPlayer. What should I do?
• This version of AMPlayer plays the music at the wrong speed. Why?
• This version of AMPlayer sounds worse than previous versions. Why?
• Is there a 32-bit version of AMPlayer that works on Iyonix?

Q: I've installed AMPlayer 1.33, but the frontend keeps loading the old version of the module.

A: You probably haven't installed the new version of the frontend.

Q: I've installed everything, but AMPlayer doesn't produce any sound!

A: There are several possible reasons for this.

You might have SharedSound loaded in a machine that only supports 8 bit sound.

If this is the case, then current versions of SharedSound (around 0.59 at the time of writing) do not support operation on an 8 bit only machine. This will manifest itself by AMPlayer 'stalling' and becoming unresponsive. To cure this, either buy a 16 bit sound upgrade, or kill the SharedSound module off. On RISC OS 4 this may be achieved by *UNPLUG SharedSound.

SharedSound may have become confused, or been knocked out of its position as the claimant of the sound system.

If this is the case, then try *RMReinit SharedSound or *RMKill SharedSound before you first run AMPlayer in a session. If this solves it, then some other program is grabbing the sound system. Prime candidates for this are old versions of Replay or old versions of the Flash player. The latest version of Replay can be found here on the Warm Silence Software Ltd site for use with their Sound PlugIn software.

Q: I use a different frontend and that loads an old version of AMPlayer. What should I do?

A: Check the web for a new version of the frontend. If there isn't one, then contact the authors and tell them to talk to us.

Q: This version of AMPlayer plays the music at the wrong speed. Why?

A: Something has changed the system sample rate and SharedSound has failed to recognise it. This is a bug with certain versions of SharedSound, such as the one in ROM in RISC OS 4. To fix this, either *RMReinit SharedSound and *RMReinit AMPlayer when it happens, or load a different version of SharedSound. Watch the RISC OS Ltd site, because hopefully a new version will be appearing there shortly that should fix the bug.

Q: This version of AMPlayer sounds worse than previous versions. Why?

A: This version of AMPlayer adds support for SharedSound. This is a mechanism for allowing multiple sound producing applications to coexist and to generate/mix sound at the same time. This is a Good Thing^(TM).

Unfortunately, this means that as different applications may want to generate samples at different rates, someone has to lose out. SharedSound therefore never changes the sample rate that the system runs at it. This can mean that while everything wants a high sample rate, it actually gets the default low one. This is a Bad Thing^(TM).

The best thing to do is to set the sound system rate to a suitably high value to start with. The following command will set a 44.1KHz system sample rate on standard RISC PCs:

SYS"XSound_SampleRate",3,20

Q: Is there a 32-bit version of AMPlayer that works on Iyonix?

A: Yes, there is an unofficial one created by Peter Naulls. It is available here