Rayzoon Technologies LLC

[drjee]

Hi,

previously (before 3.5) it was possible to set the jamstix data folder to any folder. Now, after the upgrade, jamsticks created a new folder "data" inside the folder which I selected as data folder (maybe, because it was not named data, but it did not hurt 3.3 and any version before).

Is there a method to define the data folder, since the setting in the ini-file is ignored and I did not find a respective registry entry?
It would be good if JS would allow the old method (any folder name allowed, since I have separate folders for the vst and the data and a folder structure like this: "D:\Sound Library\Jamstix\data" does not make much sense when "data" is the only folder inside Jamstix. What is more: all my installed paks and edited kits are no more present. Now I would need to manually compare the folders and copy the contents which is missing into the data folder. A lot of work. So please, restore the old way, why force the data subfolder?

And one second thing: before it was possible to get jamstix to work without install, i.e. copy a backup of the vst files to the vst folder, load jamstix and then point it to the library folder and the key file. This does seem to work no more. At least energyxt is crashing when you try to load jamstix without the data folder being present (in teh expected location). I really liked the old way much more! If this is not going to change again I am thinking of reverting to 3.3.

cheers, drjee

[Ralph [RZ]]

I'll give you some more info so you can make 3.5 work for you:

The installer creates the file sllink.txt in Documents\Jamstix3. If you manually install JS3 w/o installer, you must create this file manually. It's content is simply the name of the main Jamstix folder (not plugin folder). For example: e:\jamstix3

The old 'DataPath' from JS 3.3, which was set in jamstix3.ini, is no longer used. The reason is that all new support files for 3.5 are in the Jamstix folder (i.e. e:\jamstix3), which must have the DATA folder (no renaming) in it. We did this to keep the plugin folder very clean with just jamstix3.dll and audioM8.dll.

So to summarize, JS is now spread as follows:

[DOCUMENTS\JAMSTIX3]
- sllink.txt file - (editable) specifies Jamstix folder location
- jamstix3.ini - (editable) as before but DATAPATH is NOT used
- log files
- temp files

[PLUGIN FOLDER]
(i.e. c:\myplugins\)
- jamstix3.dll
- audioM8.dll

[JAMSTIX FOLDER]
(i.e. e:\jamstix3]
- code support files
- license key file
- readme-type files
- DATA subfolder (not renameable)

I hope you can see that this change was necessary to accommodate the new dual mode (32-bit, 64-bit) architecture, allowing the same Jamstix folder on the same machine to be used by both DLL types. It also cleaned up the plugin folder and avoided registry use (for XPLAT conformity).

If you need to change the Jamstix folder location, simply move the whole folder (not just the DATA subfolder) to the desired location and then edit sllink.txt in Documents\Jamstix3 to that new location.

Let me know if I can assist any further.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[DarkStar]

^^^^
It would be good to include those details in the User Manual, for reference.

[drjee]

Hi,

thanks for the given info, this is helpful. I just want to make sure that everything is right now:

1. In my VST-folder I now just have:
audioM8.dll (latest version)
jamstix3.dll (latest version)
Is that ok? (I would prefer the jamstix.ini to be there and use it for the definition of the data dir as it used to be. reasons: see below)

2. In my documents-folder I got (in addition to what you listed):
a) a subfolder named "revisions" with a file named "_GmF3EMImyvmIQjV1CiXsrY872BOjNI_0.j2d" inside. Is this needed?
b) additional to jamstix3.ini also js3.ini (with the latter also defining the dll and the data path). The dll path btw seems to be wrong since it is set to the same folder in which data is located. Do I need this file? Why again another ini to set the data path? And what is the dll path which is set here used for?
c) a file named "kit.js3gui". Do I need this?
d) a file named "js2_bar.mid". Do I need this?
e) a file named "host_comp.dat". Do I need this?

Let me also make a remark. Imo, it is not such a good idea to define the data path in a file ("sllink.txt") which is located in the users folder, because it is a global setting which is not user-specific. What is more: what happens if I (for security reasons) log in as a different (non-admin) user which does not have access to that folder? The better place would be the VST-DIR of the dll. Of course, in the case of 32 and 64 bit versions you would need two files to define the path, but it is much better and maybe even more flexible since I could use (as it always was possible in the past) different data folders for different versions of Jamstix (and thus continue to use V3.3 for 32 bit projects and V3.5 for 64 bit projects).

3. In the folder defined as data folder I have now:
a) a folder named "bin" with "audioM8.c32" and "jamstix3.c32" inside. Is that right?
b) the data subfolder
c) (additional to what you named) the following files of which I do not know if the are placed right here or if they should be moved to the data subfolder (or be deleted):
- jamstix3.dll (delete it since it already sits in the VST-folder where it belongs to?)
- jamstix3.def (needed? To be moved to data?)
- js3sl32.rtxc (needed? To be moved to data?)
- key.txt (needed? To be moved to data?)
- PakInst.exe (needed? To be moved to data?)
- peaks.cch (needed? To be moved to data?)

And is there something missing?

I know this, is a lot to check for you but I need this information to have a clean installer (and it was the V3.5 installer which was messing my structure). Thanks in advance for your care.

I a final question: Is it just my host which is faulty or did you remove the dialog to point jamstix to a missing licence key file and data folder. This was very useful in the past, since it allowed moving jamstix to new computer without installing it with the installer. It would be great to see this work again.

Cheers, drjee

[drjee]

ps: do you want my updated mapping files for battery and kontakt (factory lib and abbey road drums)? I updated those for midi only use.

[Ralph [RZ]]

1. Yes, that's correct

2.
a) 'Revisions' contains stored revisions of songs (for your own installer use an empty folder)
b) that js3.ini is no longer used in V3.5
c) this file is created by JS whenever it loads a kit (not needed for your own installer)
d) those are MIDI export files, not needed for JS to function (not needed for your own installer)
e) this is a safety file for host/JS project load/save. Gets created/modified anytime you load/save a project with JS. (not needed for your own installer)

3.
a) correct (not needed for your own installer)
c)
- jamstix3.dll (delete it since it already sits in the VST-folder where it belongs to?) YES
- jamstix3.def (needed? To be moved to data?) CAN BE DELETED
- js3sl32.rtxc (needed? To be moved to data?) REQUIRED FILE
- key.txt (needed? To be moved to data?) CAN BE DELETED
- PakInst.exe (needed? To be moved to data?) REQUIRED FILE
- peaks.cch (needed? To be moved to data?) CAN BE DELETED


Missing license message is still there and shown in all hosts we tested with.
Data folder search dialog was removed in V3.5 but a message should be shown in a white screen

And, yes, any updated mapping files would be great. Thank you!
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[drjee]

Hi Ralph,

I updated the download files for the mappings:
- http://www.power-xs.net/download/JS3_Abbey_Road_Drums.zip
- http://www.power-xs.net/download/JS3_Battery.zip
- http://www.power-xs.net/download/JS3_Kontakt.zip

and thanks for taking the time to answer. but are you sure about js3.ini?
it says VERSION=3.5.0 and is updated whenever I load Jamstix

What is more I realized there is a bug in the kit management. previously one could have subfolders. Now, subfolders are show on the same level as their mother folders (which are shown empty). I guess this is not intended. Or are we now lomited to 1 level only? This would be a step back.

cheers, drjee

[drjee]

ps: the problem with setting the data folder in a file in the documents folders occurs as i expected it. JS does not load (V-stack) or crashes (Energy xt) when switching the user. Therefore I suggest:
1. Store the data folder info in the vst folder (and, of course, when using 32 and 64 in both folders)
2. Reimplement the missing data folder dialog

cheers, drjee

[Ralph [RZ]]

Thanks, drjee, we'll definitely look at that. For now, please manually place sllink.txt and jamstix3.ini in the other users's doc folders.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com