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Installation and Activation

ElkTracker installs like any other PortMaster-style port: unzip it onto your SD card and it appears in your launcher. You can open the app, explore every screen, and build a project without activating anything. Activation is only needed to save, load, or export your work.

Installing on device

  1. Download the latest ElkTracker.zip from your dashboard or the releases page.

  2. Extract — place the contents so the folder structure on your SD card is:

    /roms/ports/ElkTracker.sh
/roms/ports/elktracker/elktracker

  3. Boot — start your device. ElkTracker appears in the Ports section of your launcher.

On first launch the app creates its data directories (projects/, samples/, wavetables/, exports/) inside the port folder, writes a starter wavetable (BASIC-MORPH.wav), and generates a small demo project so there's something to play with immediately. If no gamepad mapping exists yet, the button-mapping wizard opens automatically before anything else.

What works before you activate

Everything except saving and file export is open from the first boot: browsing every screen, building a full song, auditioning instruments, editing samples. Unlicensed rows are marked [UNLICENSED] on the Project screen.

Autosave on quit (to AUTOSAVED.elk) also only runs when licensed. An unlicensed session's work doesn't persist between launches.

Activation

On every boot, ElkTracker writes a file called elktracker.id to your data root. This is your device's unique code. To unlock the full version:

  1. Go to elktracker.io/activate on any device with a browser.
  2. Log in with your purchase email.
  3. Upload the elktracker.id file from your SD card (in the folder you installed to).
  4. Download elktracker.lic and copy it into the same folder as the binary.
  5. Reboot, or go to Settings → ACTIVATE, press A to open the Activate screen, then press A again on CHECK FOR LICENSE FILE to load it without rebooting.

The Activate screen shows your licence status (LICENSED TO <name> or UNLICENSED) and your device code, in case you need to copy it manually.

Next →

Tracker Basics