Linux...anybody using it?

[Mr_Bumpy]

Thinking of trying out Linux on my laptop(not my main music rig) and wanted to know what people think about the os before I take the plunge...i have posted this topic on a pc based forum and the majority say go with Linux but they are prolly all pc nerds so I can't judge on that alone,I will be using props reason to so that has to work,I'm a complete Linux noob so some guidance is needed...is it worth it or am I off my rocker with this one

Linux Mint is the no.1 distro.
I'm getting into the Debian version.
But KDE is good.
Apart from the standard Gnome2 forks of Mate and Cinnamon.


Knoppix. Great.

FatDog64 is great. It only writes to the disk every half an hour when or when you tell it to. Lots of Linux systems get burned out by the constant writes to the disk.

You can use special sfs files in FatDog64 as you can in the normal Linux Puppy installs. They contain Ardour, Hydrogen, Audacity..etc.. all in a file less than a couple of hundred megabytes that can be called off your hd or kept on your usb disk.

Ubuntu (or Kubuntu) 12.04 (LTS) + KXStudio is a pretty nice setup, IMO. It routs all of the system audio through Jack, so everything audio-wise just works and communicates well together. Even Pulseaudio is configured as a Jack client. If you use Kubuntu (my preference), it is also quite easy to just remove pulseaudio altogether. WineASIO is also available in the KXStudio repository to get your Windows apps running at low latency. KXStudio keeps the audio software up-to-date, so you can stick with the LTS version of Ubuntu if you prefer a more stable setup.

[pc999]

What does the KXstudio install?

Do I keep my normal ubuntu/kubutu/xubuntu instal plus the studio stuff?

[glokraw]

What does the KXstudio install?

Do I keep my normal ubuntu/kubutu/xubuntu instal plus the studio stuff?

Not being a user of KX, I think it adds valuable apps, capabilities,
and configurations to the ubuntu in use. There are probably solutions
for using windows vsts, session saving/reloading, kernel enhancements,
and ease/accuracy of basic audio configurations.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=191
This is the KX forum here, called Disthro.

Maybe renaming it, KX-Disthro or similar, would be good for visibility.

[Mr_Bumpy]

What does the KXstudio install?

Do I keep my normal ubuntu/kubutu/xubuntu instal plus the studio stuff?

Pc999 is correct. KXStudio is a series of PPA's that you add on top of your existing Ubuntu install that provide audio software and settings. You can also pick and choose what you want. For example, KXStudio has its own desktop supporting Gnome2, KDE4 and XFCE4 environments, which will give your desktop a makeover if you choose to install it. In my case, I chose not to, since I really like how I have my KDE desktop configured.

[pc999]

Thanks for the info.

In the meantime I found how I can install UbuntuStudio (great distro btw) and then Unity*/KDE*/Gnome 3** and possible more (eg cinnamon, but I am not sure).

This way I can have the best of both worlds! Just choose your poison at log in.


*on the console type: sudo apt-get install U/K/Xubuntu-desktop

** this one you can get on the software center, I don't know why you cant get the others too(?)

[codec_spurt]

Lots of Linux systems get burned out by the constant writes to the disk.

Can't say I've noticed this.

Sorry, I worded that very poorly. What I meant was: USB sticks can get worn out early by the constant writing to the disk every few secs (check the flashing on your inbuilt led on your stick). Obviously, or not so obviously, one of the drawbacks of solid state type devices is a finite amount of writes before deterioration.

FatDog64 writes every half hour, to alleviate this problem. It can do this because it is loaded into a RAMDISK at start (at least on my system). Obviously should one have a power cut then any work you have not saved, will lose state and you will have lost it. That is why it has a nifty little button to 'Store to RAM', should you make any important changes you want immediately written.

If you make an important change and don't immediately back up and then lose power, you will have lost your work. This tends not to happen with other linux distros because they are constantly writing to disk (hence degrading life time of said device), that is assuming, you have a persistence file set up that is.

Then again, I have not noticed any degradation on some older distros. The whole theory might be a big tub of hogwash with a few grains of truth thrown in. But, in theory I suppose, there will come a point where the finite writes of a ssd type device are used up and then...

I'm talking about running distros off USB Sticks and SD cards.

Not sure if that explanation was any better, but, eh, I tried...

[seismic1]

Lots of Linux systems get burned out by the constant writes to the disk.

Can't say I've noticed this.

Sorry, I worded that very poorly. What I meant was: USB sticks can get worn out early by the constant writing to the disk every few secs (check the flashing on your inbuilt led on your stick). Obviously, or not so obviously, one of the drawbacks of solid state type devices is a finite amount of writes before deterioration.

FatDog64 writes every half hour, to alleviate this problem. It can do this because it is loaded into a RAMDISK at start (at least on my system). Obviously should one have a power cut then any work you have not saved, will lose state and you will have lost it. That is why it has a nifty little button to 'Store to RAM', should you make any important changes you want immediately written.

If you make an important change and don't immediately back up and then lose power, you will have lost your work. This tends not to happen with other linux distros because they are constantly writing to disk (hence degrading life time of said device), that is assuming, you have a persistence file set up that is.

Then again, I have not noticed any degradation on some older distros. The whole theory might be a big tub of hogwash with a few grains of truth thrown in. But, in theory I suppose, there will come a point where the finite writes of a ssd type device are used up and then...

I'm talking about running distros off USB Sticks and SD cards.

Not sure if that explanation was any better, but, eh, I tried...

Ok, that makes sense now. You can also alleviate the effects of the constant writes by putting a non-journalling (ext2) filesystem on your flash devices. I have a 2GB USB flash drive I have been using for over 4 years - still works. I just bought a 32GB PNY for £15 at Robert Dyas.

[glokraw]

In audio use with Studio 1337 usbstick, or Puppy Studio booted from CD,
I usually record the audio to a real hardisk anyway. I also have old
usbsticks that have yet to max-out the writes, and some are ext2 format,
just to aid that prospect.
Cheers

[codec_spurt]

Ok, that makes sense now. You can also alleviate the effects of the constant writes by putting a non-journalling (ext2) filesystem on your flash devices. I have a 2GB USB flash drive I have been using for over 4 years - still works. I just bought a 32GB PNY for £15 at Robert Dyas.

Ah, 'Journalling' - that was the word I wasn't looking for, but should have been.

I'm a real newbie at Linux - did my first install just over a year ago and got lulled into a false sense of security by Mint.

I've got an install of Linux Mint Maya - KDE Version - and am knocked out by it's stability - KDE was always a bit of a resource hog and crash happy - this one is a beauty. I got it running off a patriot xt flash drive and the speed is great - Like running it off a hard drive. I put it on a shitty little usb stick and found it unusable - the speed of the writes of your flash drive REALLY make a difference to usability. I got the Gnome/Mate/Cinnamon ready to go, but really this is such a beautiful desktop that I may hang around a while. I've already sorted out my best programs (Bleachbit for cleaning after installs) and updated the repositories. I got Nightingale and Audacious working superbly. No crashes.

This is the first KDE Desktop that hasn't given me gyp. I don't use it for music. That would just be silly. I tried out ALL the linux Audio distros -too much trouble. Winxp and 7 is where it is at. However. A bit of perspective is good. I love to load my songs in the playlists of my Linux players. There is a kind of disconnect I find valuable to quantify how good my music is..


</ramble>

<more ramble>

I mean to install the LMDE soon. That is the Linux Mint Debian Edition. It is a rolling release - meaning -for those that do not know - it will be constantly updated and will not become defunct and abandoned.
I know a lot of people say it is difficult, but I find Linux such a headf***, that it doesn't matter. I really like DreamLinux - a very Mac like interface.
Sadly it is discontinued. A beautiful distro. And also Knoppix. Another Debian beauty - what is it with this Debian thing?

The good thing with Linux Mint 13 - Maya - is that it is a LTS (Long Term Support) release. It is good to 2017. Mint is based on Ubuntu, but Debian also.

I got me a good looking desktop with all the eye candy and more of a mac. I got me the stability of Winxp. I know that the Mate/Cinnamon desktop is excellent and is getting more stable by the day. Yes. LMDE is my next project.
All under the guise of LINUX MINT 13 - MAYA. This is how you learn about Linux.

</more ramble>

cheers.

[codec_spurt]

A little trip down Linux lane:

Make sure you have a stable install of a KDE desktop environment.
I suggest Linux Mint 13 - Maya - KDE Version, of course.

Now, start up 'Amarok'.

Whether it is playing your files and songs, or listening to a radio station of your choice, it will automatically fire up the wikipedia equivalent of the string of your 'song'. Sometimes this is pertinent, sometimes it is just plain wrong. Very often there is no equivalent.

Anyway, it is good fun and a new way to experience music. It is such a simple idea, but it has amusing results.

When I listen to radio stations like http://hirschmilch.de/ that only play the cream of the best of the best... it is a really informative way to find out about bands and groups and producers you never heard of...


Anyway, try it. You might like it. Just thought I would share

[Nanakai]

Amarok was always my favorite. I also recommend everyone try it.

I'm not really up to date anymore. Are you still able to install the KDE libraries and run KDE programs in Gnome, or is this not possible with KDE 4? What about in Unity?

[codec_spurt]

Amarok was always my favorite. I also recommend everyone try it.

I'm not really up to date anymore. Are you still able to install the KDE libraries and run KDE programs in Gnome, or is this not possible with KDE 4? What about in Unity?

http://amarok.kde.org/wiki/FAQ

--------------------------------------------------
Can I use Amarok without KDE?
Amarok requires parts of kde to be installed to run, but will run fine in gnome or other desktop environments. For Amarok to run, kdelibs and kdebase-runtime need to be installed.
For some features to work correctly, such as the on-screen display, your window manager must be configured to support the relevant freedesktop.org standards.
------------------------------------------------------



http://www.jonathanmoeller.com/screed/?p=2465

----------------------------------------------
Install Amarok On Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat
Posted on December 8, 2010 by Jonathan Moeller

The default Rhythmbox music player that comes with Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat is pretty good, but some people need a higher level of performance out of their player software. Fortunately, it's quite easy to install the Amarok music player in Ubuntu. You need only go to a Terminal window and run this command:

sudo apt-get install amarok

apt-get will then install Amarok and all its dependencies. Amarok is designed to run in the KDE environment, and Ubuntu by default uses GNOME. Amarok can still run in Ubuntu, but it needs to download a lot of KDE stuff first - about 220 megs worth. This might take some time.

Once apt-get has finished install, you can run Amarok by going to your Applications menu, selecting Sound & Video, and then clicking on Amarok.

Note that Amarok requires a bunch of KDE desktop components running in the background, so if you're on a system with limited resources, you might want to use a lighter media player, or switch to Kubuntu entirely.
---------------------------------------------------


That info is a couple of years old, but I imagine it still holds good. Try it out.
As to Unity, I have no idea. I actively avoid it like the plague .


I quite often run KDE programs in Gnome environments and vice versa. Obviously, as preiviously stated, you will need to install the bare bones at least of that desktop environment for it to work.

I found Amarok to be very buggy on a Kubuntu install I did. It took me over 60 hours of work to get up and running. I even wrote a long essay on how I did it that I posted at the Kubuntu forum. In fact, as an aside, I still remember that it took me nearly as long to actually register on the Kubuntu forum - they even ask you general knowledge questions - about America! Bunch of weirdos..

Anyway, I got Amarok to work on Kubuntu, but Kubuntu, or rather that version of KDE was just too unstable, as was widely noted. Anyway, I shall not be using Kubuntu again.

I have to say though, that I am actually quite shocked at how stable this version of KDE is - I am talking about on Linux Mint 13 Maya. Even Amarok works, out of the box.

My two other top media players would be Audacious with all the lovely winamp like skins available, and the fork of the now abandoned Songbird - Nightingale. Audacious is small and perfect for just playing back stuff on basic songlists, Nightingale is a full on audio environment that rivals Foobar. In fact, check out Foobnix too, that is pretty nifty also.

http://www.foobnix.com/?lang=en

There are dozens and dozens of media players out there for Linux. These three cover all the bases for me.

[codec_spurt]

This is a guide for total noobs to install Linux.

I will teach you how to make a Live CD to run Linux and automatically connect to the internet and have programs to make music on...



First, find your distro.
A distro is just a distribution of Linux in whatever flavour it comes in.
Some are more geared to the server or mathematics, others for security, some for Audio .

http://distrowatch.com is an excellent place to start.

Do you want a basic windows type install or a more Audio specific type?
If you want a windows like environment then I would suggest Linux Mint.
If you want more Audio related stuff then check out one of these:

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=artistx
http://artistx.org/blog/

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distri ... untustudio
http://ubuntustudio.org/tour/audio/

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=avlinux
http://www.bandshed.net/AVLinux.html

All of these give you a pretty good base for making music. Don't quote me, but I would imagine that they give you the excellent Hydrogen drum machine, Ardour, Jack etc...
Plus more. If it exists for Linux, then they will be built into these Audio specific distros...


You could also, if you desired, try something like Fatdog64. This is one of my favourite distros as it loads into Ram and takes advantage of all that Ram, being a true 64bit OS. I just upgraded my laptop to 8Gb, but Fatdog64 ran beautifully on 4Gb.
Anyway, there is something called an .sfs file. It is like a type of image that can be loaded once the OS is loaded and it will give you extra functionality. There is an Audio .sfs file for Fatdog64. Fatdog64 btw is a variation on Puppy - one of the top 10 distros in the world, known for working on the oldest hardware.

If you want it to load into Ram, you have to make some changes in the config file, but that is beyond the scope of this little toot.

Loading this .sfs file will give you pretty much the same functionality that the other distros have - if it exists for Linux and it is Audio, then it can be loaded from here. Again, a quick change to the config file and this file can be loaded at boot by default into Ram.

There are four options there.


Second, check your distro.

I use HashCalc - it is free and works perfectly. I spent a long time searching for a good md5 checker. It runs in windows. But you shall be burning your cd/dvds in windows too. More of that later.

Actually, let's tackle that now.
You can check md5 sums in linux and you can burn too, but if you are like me, then you will find it difficult. And when you burn cd/dvds in linux you tend to make coasters rather than cds. Some distros do it right, but most are crap - use windows to check your sums and burn your cd/dvds - you will not be sorry.

The purpose of checking your distro is this: You want to match up the md5 or sha1 sum to see if what you downloaded matches with the bits and bytes on your hd. In other words, did you get some kind of corruption? Now this is rare but it does happen. I downloaded a distro three or four times once and every time it came back that the md5 hash did not match. I emailed the maker of the distro and he said thanks to me for pointing out that HE got the hash check wrong. But then again, I have dl'd stuff and it appeared all fine on my hd, but the hashes were different. If I had burned a LiveCD/DVD of this install I would have had major problems and not known why.

This is a very simple step to take. Do not overlook it. You just drag your .iso file that you dl'd of your chosen distro into the top bar (file location field) of HashCalc. Give it a minute to work it out - DVDs take longer than CDs. Then in the text file where you stored the md5 or sha1 signature, you paste your result from HashCalc next to it. For example:


This is the md5 of Linux Mint 64 bit edition:
2d84f671ad77a8019dfa6e1d00572d82

If your download is not corrupted, when you paste the result from HashCalc, it will look like this:

2d84f671ad77a8019dfa6e1d00572d82
2d84f671ad77a8019dfa6e1d00572d82

Any discrepancies between those, then you got a bad file. Dump it. Download again.

This will hardly ever happen. But it does happen. So check.

Oh and while we are on the subject of checking. Just because you got a good download
does not mean you have got a good burn of the cd/dvd.

Almost all distros give you the option of checking your burned media against a pre-defined database table of md5 hashes for individual files on your os install.

Use this. Just because you got a perfect download, does not mean you made a perfect burn.

Which leads on nicely to the third point.


Thirdly, use an imaging/burning software you can trust to make your Live CD/DVD.
I use ImgBurn - http://www.imgburn.com/

I suggest you use it too. It never fails to give perfect burns every time. And it is free. You might think you know about burning software, but until you know about ImgBurn, you are most probably ignorant. This program is the mutts nuts. Nothing compares to it when it comes to perfect burns every time without fail.

Only use another program if you really know what you are doing. I guarantee you, this program will give you ONE HUNDRED PERCENT perfect burns every time. Just make sure that you pick the option to do the slowest burn every time, i.e. if your cd burner can work at 2x speed, use that. This reduces errors. Really.

Once you dl and install ImgBurn, you should be able to right click on your selected .iso file and select 'Open with ImgBurn', then you just click burn. Could not be simpler.


Fourth step:
When the image is burned. Reboot your computer with the Live CD/DVD still inserted.
Make sure you can boot from cd from the bios. If you can't then it is a simple step to select this option. Some bios's make you select this every time (hello dell), but nearly every other you can just make this option and forget about it.

Try the F12 or F1 or Esc key to access your bios. Check with the manufacturer of your mobo (motherboard) to see how to make changes here.

Your live cd boots - you select the 'check cd install' option. A few minutes later you are in a Linux os and a whole new world of beauty.



That's it.

Now after playing about with your Live CD, you will want to make a persistent install on usb stick. A persistent install saves your settings like you would have on a hard drive. When you switch off a live cd, your settings are lost. (Great for surfing pr()n and hiding it from mum/wife, not so great otherwise ).


You may even like linux so much that you decide to install on your hard drive.
See Dedoimedo for this.

http://www.dedoimedo.com/

He will hold your hand through multi-boots of six or seven os's. Windows, Linux, you name it... Or just explain how to do one properly next to your usual windows install.


Some installs are easier than others to do, whether it be to usb stick or to hd. But, you must back up your data...

I use this for Linux - windows back up programs do not work:

http://redobackup.org/

But you could figure out CloneZilla - works just as well.

For windows, use Macrium or Paragon or ToDo, or whatever works for you.

ReDo is a fully fledged Linux Distro in it's own right. It has GParted for partioning disks and DiskUtility for formatting and checking. You can even connect to the internet with it!



Ok, this was just an off the cuff little toot for all you noobs out there hoping to get going with Linux. I'm going to get some breakfast now, and the cheese and spinach omelette is looking mighty good to me right now....

As usual, please feel free to correct and ameliorate.




Cheers.

[MachFront]

A few months back I wished to explore Linux more in-depth. Decided to dual-boot. Basically, I figured I'd use my tweaked XP for music stuffs and Linux for the rest of the day to day whatevers...

Now, my machine is a house of cards and I don't dare mess with anything for fear of losing it all.

Dual booting sounded real nice... but now it boots to Mint by default unless I sit there slavishly to make sure to select XP.
I have to redirect it to XP because Gnome 3 had(still has?) some weird-ass graphic issue with... ermm... something I can't recall.. AMD processors perhaps? Don't remember anymore. A flash or flicker every couple of minutes. Really, really annoying.
No prob. I'd just uninstall Mint.
Well, it just so happened I'd rescued a co-workers ancient laptop and, being in the midst of this, decided I'd dual-boot with Linux there as well (Xubuntu). So...to see what may occur to my own machine (and since the state of this laptop wasn't of great import to the person), I uninstalled Linux... the computer would no longer boot. I read and read and read until I'd screamed more than any person on the face of the planet has screamed. The solutions existed if I recall.. weird and odd and difficult and far beyond me. That's what I get.
So...I've never touched my own machine.
When I'm able (as in, can afford to), I'll back up everything to an external and wipe my computer and start over with XP.
I dig Linux, but if I use it in the future, it will be on a dedicated machine.

[codec_spurt]

I have to redirect it to XP because Gnome 3 had(still has?) some weird-ass graphic issue with... ermm... something I can't recall.. AMD processors perhaps? Don't remember anymore. A flash or flicker every couple of minutes.

Linux on the whole prefers nVidia to AMD/ATI.

For example on my laptop, if I do not install the latest catalyst (ati/amd) drivers, my compo runs 5-10 degrees hotter.

But that is mild, not having the latest drivers can cause the problems you mentioned.
Though it could be something else.

Look here:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?client=o ... el=suggest

Linux these days works better with nVidia than ATI/AMD.

Install the latest catalyst drivers and these problems should be resolved.
The reason they don't come with most distros is because they are proprietary.
But then again, some top distros do provide them, i.e. PCLinuxOs.

The first thing I do when I set up a new machine is put on the ati catalyst drivers. It lowers the temperature of the machine by a significant amount. To check the temperature of your machine, go to the terminal or konsole and type in 'sensors', I think it is. If it is installed it will give you the temp of your cpu and gfx card. If it is not installed it will tell you how to install it.

Sudo apt-get install lm-sensors for mint I think it is. But don't quote me on that.
Don't use that. That is just a general idea

See here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2780

Once you install the Ati/amd catalyst drivers you will have to reboot your machine.
Then you type in 'fglrxinfo' into the terminal/konsole and it will confirm for you that you are indeed running the ati/amd catalyst drivers and tell you what gfx card you have.

You might very well have to start from scratch. That is linux. I have installed and re-installed many times just to get a base working system. But if you start again from scratch, make sure you install the catalyst ati/amd drivers as a priority.

Your problem is a very common one.

Then again, maybe the problem you had is nothing to do with what I have mentioned.
But I think most people would advise that you install the propriatery drivers before you go further in regard to troubleshooting.

I am a noob so don't take what I say with confidence.

You can play about with Linux all you like, just install it to a USB Stick instead of your hd, and you should be fine. Back up your hd of course, before doing this.


cheers.