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MOD Player for PC XT : Mod Master

F

FreddyV

Experienced Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2020
Messages
439
Hi,

Probably most of you have seen my Post on Vogons, I do another one here just in case :)

I released the Version 1.0 of my 8088 (and more) .MOD Player.

I started it as a challenge, to see if I could have my old player working on a 8088. (I developepd the first version for this player in 1993)

Then, I improved it more and more, to add .XM Support, 16Bit Mixing and support for file format and devices build recently.
OPL3LPT, CMSLPT, Tandy with .VGM Files.

Mod Master can also compress the partition and limit the max number of channels played:
It is then possible to play Onward (DOPE Demo 28 Channels MOD) on a 8086 at 8MHz, on the Sound Blaster.
It can also use a Gravis Ultrasound on a 8088.

On an IBM 5150, it is working at 12KHz (and more, depending on the file) for a 4 Channels .MOD, using a Sound Blaster.

For the one that does not know my Youtube Channel, you can see Mod Master playing music on various hardware here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVsC0SYt-0oc … 4NWOXQPw/videos

To Download it, you can go there:

Mod Master XT 1.0 Released : Play .MOD, .XM and .VGM on a 8088 4MHz \ VOGONS

www.vogons.org www.vogons.org

I would love to see more video with it on youtube, as most of the Video showing PC XT only show games, and Planet X3 :)

FreddyV
 
By sound blaster do you mean an original sound blaster or pro or ??? I used your software years ago, before I found modtracker. Very nice to see this project is still alive. God I miss the BBS days! :D

About to get this Compaq Portables' keyboard working --- machine seems very healthy. I have a few options for sound cards, why I ask. I was about to use a Pro Audio Spectrum 16 as its pretty reliable in 8 bit operation besides the cdrom controller, and has thunderboard support. Which means stereo sound blaster pro support if i remember correctly. Or is it mono for Pro emulation, I forget. Either way it should work LOL. Have a few options why I am asking which would be best (XT 12khz wise).
 
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twolazy said:
By sound blaster do you mean an original sound blaster or pro or ??? I used your software years ago, before I found modtracker. Very nice to see this project is still alive. God I miss the BBS days! :D

About to get this Compaq Portables' keyboard working --- machine seems very healthy. I have a few options for sound cards, why I ask. I was about to use a Pro Audio Spectrum 16 as its pretty reliable in 8 bit operation besides the cdrom controller, and has thunderboard support. Which means stereo sound blaster pro support if i remember correctly. Or is it mono for Pro emulation, I forget. Either way it should work LOL. Have a few options why I am asking which would be best (XT 12khz wise).
Click to expand...
Hi,
Excellent you used Mod Master long ago, It was not really popular at that time, because of Cubic player and so on, and it did not support .XM

I enhanced Mod master a lot : Huge optimisation, support of SB16 and Gravis on 8088, support of OPLLPT, CMSLPT, Tandy...
So, 16Bit mixing is also possible, on the XT and any Sound Blaster 16 card can be installed thanks to UniSound.
Plus the bonus of speed increase thanks to the signed buffer support of the SB16.
 
FreddyV said:
Hi, LPT DAC is Mono only
Click to expand...
It would be great to have this feature, maybe for Mod Master 2.x. Are there any plans for this? Alternatively, could the source code be released?

This is Modplay Pro with 2 LPT DACs:


Unfortunately, Modplay Pro only supports .MOD and it is limited to 4 channels.

And below, your Mod Master XT running on my Juko XT, with 1 LPT DAC:


Thanks.
 
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Hey @FreddyV,

Best wishes for 2026, with particular success for the PicoMEM 2 that you're currently working on!

I have a request regarding Mod Master XT on a Tandy 1000 TL/2. I'm unable to use IRQ 3 for a Sound Blaster 2.0 CT1350B (with DSP 2_02, which supports DMA 1 sharing with the Tandy DAC). I have IRQ 3 and DMA 1 properly set in the SET BLASTER command (and via jumpers on the card, including DMA sharing), but no matter what, Mod Master XT reports at startup that it detects the Sound Blaster 2.0 on IRQ 7, and in the graphical interface options, I can only select IRQ 7.

I have no IRQ or DMA collision issues in games. For example, in Prince of Persia v1.3, I can choose Sound Blaster 2.0 or Tandy 3-voice + Tandy DAC, and it works perfectly. I also use XDC player to play videos encoded for Tandy graphics mode 160x200x16, and that works perfectly too. The problem is only in Mod Master XT: as soon as I try to play a MOD with Sound Blaster 2.0 on IRQ 3, it freezes.

If I switch the IRQ to 7 on the Sound Blaster 2.0 card and in the SET BLASTER command, then it works in Mod Master XT for both the Sound Blaster 2.0 and the Tandy DAC, but on the other hand, it no longer works in games like Prince of Persia v1.3 (the game freezes due to the collision between the Sound Blaster 2.0's IRQ 7/DMA 1 and the Tandy DAC).

Is it possible to use IRQ 3 in Mod Master XT?

Thank you.
 
stairwaytoretro said:
Hey @FreddyV,

Best wishes for 2026, with particular success for the PicoMEM 2 that you're currently working on!

I have a request regarding Mod Master XT on a Tandy 1000 TL/2. I'm unable to use IRQ 3 for a Sound Blaster 2.0 CT1350B (with DSP 2_02, which supports DMA 1 sharing with the Tandy DAC). I have IRQ 3 and DMA 1 properly set in the SET BLASTER command (and via jumpers on the card, including DMA sharing), but no matter what, Mod Master XT reports at startup that it detects the Sound Blaster 2.0 on IRQ 7, and in the graphical interface options, I can only select IRQ 7.

I have no IRQ or DMA collision issues in games. For example, in Prince of Persia v1.3, I can choose Sound Blaster 2.0 or Tandy 3-voice + Tandy DAC, and it works perfectly. I also use XDC player to play videos encoded for Tandy graphics mode 160x200x16, and that works perfectly too. The problem is only in Mod Master XT: as soon as I try to play a MOD with Sound Blaster 2.0 on IRQ 3, it freezes.

If I switch the IRQ to 7 on the Sound Blaster 2.0 card and in the SET BLASTER command, then it works in Mod Master XT for both the Sound Blaster 2.0 and the Tandy DAC, but on the other hand, it no longer works in games like Prince of Persia v1.3 (the game freezes due to the collision between the Sound Blaster 2.0's IRQ 7/DMA 1 and the Tandy DAC).

Is it possible to use IRQ 3 in Mod Master XT?

Thank you.
Click to expand...
Hi,

Mod Master XT use the blaster variable for IRQ
 
charlysan said:
It would be great to have this feature, maybe for Mod Master 2.x. Are there any plans for this? Alternatively, could the source code be released?

This is Modplay Pro with 2 LPT DACs:


Unfortunately, Modplay Pro only supports .MOD and it is limited to 4 channels.

And below, your Mod Master XT running on my Juko XT, with 1 LPT DAC:


Thanks.
Click to expand...
Hi,

Thanks, PicoMEM 2 is progressing, slow but progressing :)

Mod Master XT source is already available at GitHub, since years.
 
Open the file mmxt.ini, and make sure its set to use IRQ=3. If not add that as a line.

Adversely you can use syntax on the executable,

mmxt.exe /irq:3
 
Give me a couple days, super busy, I have to boot up my Compaq Portable. I had issues as well with irq7 and moved it to 3. Been over a year since I fired it up. Swear there was an ini file.

Does the command line syntax work as I remember?
 
twolazy said:
Give me a couple days, super busy, I have to boot up my Compaq Portable. I had issues as well with irq7 and moved it to 3. Been over a year since I fired it up. Swear there was an ini file.

Does the command line syntax work as I remember?
Click to expand...
The exe file is modm.exe for me. /irq:3 doesn't do anything, modmxt still claims the irq is 7.
 
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