Noobie to Linux trying to configure interface/Jack

[Mark Swanson]

Ok, so I am trying to get Ubuntu Studio to show my interface, and get it set up right. right now, it seems quite daunting to me! I have two interfaces to use here, the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra and the simpler M-track. I have been working mainly with the Fast Track Ultra (FTU). My computer was recognizing it, but after shutting down and rebooting, now it can't find it at all. I must have messed something up.
I found a webpage that helped quite a bit, http://heikki.ketoharju.info/2013/03/li ... rackultra/ and I was able to get into Alsamixer and make the changes suggested there...but after a save a reboot now the computer doesn't see it.
There is a script mentioned on that page, I tried to run it and got errors "invalid device number" or some such thing.
It seems I am over my head, and the fact that I am so new to Linux and all of that doesn't help. It looks like i need to be helped along here, anyone want to jump in? Thanks in advance. I don't think I am as dumb as I sound.

[mevla]

I run an M-Audio 1010LT on Linux Mint 18 but that's a PCI card. Basically the problem seems to be that the changes you are making, which results in the audio working, are not made persistent and are lost when rebooting. If you describe what you do, it could be, possibly, possible to say how to make them persistent.

Cheers.

[Kott]

the first thing - view available usb devices:
>lsusb
and which cards recognized:
>cat /proc/asound/cards

I afaraid that all off-topic in this forum, maybe better to start conversation on https://linuxmusicians.com/ or ubuntu forums

[Mark Swanson]

I did indeed take the discussion over there. And I tried those commands, my system does not see the fast Track Ultra but it does see the M-Track, and that works. Thanks!

[chico.co.uk]

When you're done, recreate all the fun of configuring ALSA and JACK on Linux by sitting a calculus exam in the dark, while repeatedly poking yourself in the gonads with a rusty screwdriver

[mevla]

Actually, apart from adjusting low latency (installing a low latency kernel which is a 1-click operation (or just about) on Linux Mint) and installing the apps you want, there's not that much to do. Having a compatible audio interface helps a lot, of course. Latency adjustments are certainly also made in Windows and on Mac. In Linux that would be the buffer size, the scaling governor of the CPU, and checking if the interrupts are serviced in the priority you expect.

I don't think anyone buys a Windows/Mac machine from the store, plug it, adjust nothing at all in the OS, install all required DAW and plugins, and goes on to proceed with a 50-track orchestral score that will be easy to work with.

[fedexnman]

It's not hard . Just do some Google searches and make sure your audio interface and devices are compatible , you can get an Ubuntu or Mint install to behave similar to KXstudio or AVLinux in a matter of time it's faster than installing Windows10 OEM on a newly built computer . I always Google " UbuntuStudio Preparation " and follow there setup stuff and I'm good . I'm looking forward to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS in April , maybe make a dedicated Linux DAW and computer build .

[mevla]

I'm using Linux Mint since quite a few years now (14, 17, now 18 - version numbers, not years !) I did not need any special repository so far mostly because I use commercial software: Bitwig, Mixbus32C, u-he synths and plugins, DiscoDSP synths and sampler, OvertoneDSP audio plugins, Tracktion plugins and Biotek synth, Pianoteq and Waverazor, Loomer audio plugins and Strings, Redux and Glitch2.

Unless some of these guys blame jackd for being a culprit in some problem, it should be good as is for quite a while.

[Mark Swanson]

Thanks, I am slowly getting things figured out. I have everything working now, but panning in Waveform is not working. I think it has something to do with my interface configuration.

[chico.co.uk]

To be fair, my experience of trying to use audio software on Linux is something like eight years out of date. It wasn't much fun. But things get better. I spend too much time editing text files on bsd based systems 9-5 to want to do anything similar for fun.

[mevla]

If you're using emacs, then it's fun

All music I do is on Linux only, w/o any Windows software. See in the signature below for examples. I'm still learning, though.

[mevla]

Thanks, I am slowly getting things figured out. I have everything working now, but panning in Waveform is not working. I think it has something to do with my interface configuration.

If seen this recently. No stereo. It turned out that the audio interface has a mix capability that had to be turned off for each channel to be independent,

BTW, nice acoustic guitars !

[chico.co.uk]

Very much IMO, but in terms of operating systems best suited to running music production software, for home studios, the hierarchy, to my mind, is probably something like OSX, Windows, IOS, Linux, Android...

With the order of the last three being debatable. As in, do you swap Android and Linux? And leaving aside any hardware specific o/s, on anything like MPCs, or whatever.

I'm a big believer in round hole/round peg solutions, so when it comes to making music, my enthusiasm for building, troubleshooting and working in a Linux daw is broadly the same as my enthusiasm for buying a hovercraft, to drive to work.

[Mark Swanson]

Thanks for the help and the nice comments about my guitars, Mevia. I liked your tune, too! find me on Soundcloud too.

I have made really good progress today, I have the interface working and I know now that the panning trouble is in the device internal configuration. I played with it inside alsamixer and got panning to work on one channel but not the other, and I'll be damned if I can figure that out. if I try my simple two channel M-track interface everything works as it should. But not the Fast Track Ultra.
I also found that I cannot import an audio file into Waveform. If i drag in an MP3, it starts to render and gets to about 45% and stops, I am left with an empty track.