The linux DAW thread

[audiojunkie]

I have yet to get alien to successfully convert anything for me. “Last-ditch attempt” quite accurately describes at what point I would bother with alien.

Alien can only successfully convert packages that conform to the now extinct Linux Standards Base (LSB). Since no distros (including even Debian) are complying with the LSB anymore, alien becomes less and less useful each year that passes.

I suspect that if I got to that point of desperation, I’d compile from source and then convert to RPM with FPM so that I can easily remove the package from my system if it doesn’t work.

So yeah, I don’t have a lot of confidence in alien.

[glokraw]

Fat guy with cigar, at a Fortune 500 club meeting, chatting with associates:

"I've heard that the linux guys totally quit complying with the Linux Standards Base"

An associate replies, "That sounds like a matter for the committee"

Another fat guy then growls, "We ARRRRRHHH the committee".

[audiojunkie]

[farlukar]

Once upon a time I figured out this here to install copy the contents of a .deb file to your system and make a makeshift uninstaller files-to-delete-list:

Analogous to waveform:

Code: Select all

ar xv tracktion_download_manager_vX.X.X.deb
sudo tar xvf data.tar.xz -C /

Code: Select all

sudo rm -f /usr/bin/tracktion-download-manager /usr/share/applications/tracktion-download-manager.desktop /usr/share/doc/tracktion-download-manager/* /usr/share/doc/tracktion-download-manager /usr/share/pixmaps/tracktion-download-manager.png

Installing like this should work with any .deb package: just extract the data part to the root of your file system. You can make a list of files to uninstall if you extract the data in a temp directory and then

Code: Select all

find . -type f

YMMV, no system integration or other fancy stuff of course.

[audiojunkie]

Nice!

[Greenstorm33]

Hey Linux users, question for you. What performance do you usually see with Windows plugins running on Linux? Unfortunately I keep breaking my install so badly I can't fix it and having to reinstall, but at one point I had a couple of Arturia plugins running and it seemed like they were using about 3-4x the CPU they use on Windows. Mostly judging by how many voices I could play before getting underruns. Does that seem about right? This was in Bitwig with yabridge and JACK on the highest buffer size. I wanted to try Pipewire to see if that was any better but Bitwig doesn't show any inputs or outputs and I can't for the life of me figure out how to configure it (if anybody knows it would be appreciated!).

Edit: This is all done on the latest stable Linux Mint release with no special configuration (which may be part of the problem).

[audiojunkie]

No, this doesn’t sound right at all. There are some steps one must take to tune Linux. These aren’t difficult, but they must be done to get proper low latency. I recommend you try a distro like AVLinux to test and see Linux’s potential. Everything is already configured and prepared for you—including the WINE stuff. WINE is not an emulator. It is a native recreation of the Windows API layer, so there’s almost no loss in speed compared to Windows systems.

[Greenstorm33]

AV Linux is really the way to go, huh? I wasn't sure how good of an idea it is to run a distro maintained by one person which is why I was trying to get stuff to work on Mint. I guess I could install it and Mint side by side and use AV Linux just for music.

[audiojunkie]

It's not really a problem as long as it is maintained. Back when I started working with Linux Audio, the security audio distributions were in question, and it was unsure if any of them were going to be maintained. Several special audio distros were abandoned at that time. Even Ubuntu Studio was in question at the time. I personally determined that I didn't want to rely on a Linux distribution in order to do Linux Audio. That's why I taught myself to configure everything manually. However, times have changed. Everything is better for Linux now. GMaq has been providing fantastic support for his well received AV Linux distribution, and the Ubuntu Studio development team has been given a new (and better) lease on life. There is now LibraZik as a distro choice as well. Things are going great! So, I wouldn't worry about using a customized audio distro--it's going to work a lot better than the small tweaks I put into mine, because it is fully tuned for audio. GMaq can be found regularly on the LinuxMusicians forum as well, if you have any questions. He's very reachable. You can often find him on the Ardour forums as well. He's been steadily maintaining his custom distro for many years. I feel like it is a perfect place for beginners to get a feeling for what a well configured Linux system can do.

Edit: It can pretty much be the only system you'd need to use. I wouldn't worry about having dual-booted distros, unless you really want to. If AV Linux ever dies, there are still plenty of options, and you will have experience with Linux Audio and know what to expect. You'll be able to pick a distro of your choice and know when things are working as they should be or not, because you will have worked on a well tuned Linux audio distro in the first place, and will know what it can actually do when tuned correctly.

[farlukar]

Nota bene: currently yabridge will not work with wine 8 (and later 7 versions) so you might want to keep it back.

[edit]
Woopsie, I missed the latest release

The yabridge 5.0.3 binaries up on the GitHub releases page (and in the yabridge-bin AUR package) now work again with every Wine version after Wine 5.7, including 7.21, 7.22, and the 8.0 release candidates. All workarounds for Wine 7.21 and 7.22 have been reverted. See Wine bug #53912 for more information.

[Greenstorm33]

Thanks for the tips all! AV Linux does seem quite nice and I definitely want to give it a try. I will say that after installing Ubuntu Studio on Mint my winVST performance is much closer to Windows even with JACK at a low buffer size. AV Linux is probably even better though

[glokraw]

You can install a second linux on an external drive. having both Ubuntu Studio and AVLinux is a nice combo. AVLinux has locked wine to a working version, to minimize people having a bad upgrade.
You can back up your loaded .wine folder and re-use it after new installs.

As to comparative performance vs windoze, I've long forgotten any frame of reference. It's all
much faster than I am. I may get a cheap used win 10 box to do some firmware upgrades this summer. Maybe all the microsoft joys will come back to me

[GaryG]

You can install a second linux on an external drive. having both Ubuntu Studio and AVLinux is a nice combo.

Do you find the performance ok from separate drive? Guessing accessing programs a little slower but all ok once actually running? I guess you'd just have the os on the drive, still using the PC/laptops drive for audio files?

Also is anyone dual booting with Win11? I got a little lost about the state of Secure Boot/UEFI etc, whether Linux is supporting it yet.

[audiojunkie]

A USB 3 external drive, using the latest technology should be plenty fast for this. Technology is nothing like even 10 years ago. Check out this:

https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/ar ... atisUSB3.0?

What is USB 3.0?
USB 3.0 (aka USB 3) is a specific generation of USB ports. The main difference between USB versions is their transfer rate (speed) and how many connector pins they have. USB 3.0 ports have 9 pins and have a transfer rate of 5 Gbit/s, but 3.1 versions have 10 Gbit/s. While not technically a USB 3 port, the USB-C connector supports USB versions 3.1 and 3.2 and can connect to USB 3 ports with the correct cable or adapter.

Are 3.0 USB ports backward compatible?
USB connections are backwards compatible. That means older versions will work with new versions, but they’ll only work at their original speed. For example, if you connect a USB 2 hard drive to a USB 3 port, the transfer rate will be USB 2 speeds. Or, if you use an adapter to connect a USB 3 hard drive to a USB-C port, the transfer rate will be at USB 3 speeds. You can go the other way around, too. That means connecting a USB 3 hard drive to a USB 2 port will work, but only at the USB 2 speeds.

USB-C (3.1, 3.2, Thunderbolt 3 enabled)
USB-C (3.1, 3.2, not Thunderbolt enabled)
USB 3.1 (SuperSpeed+)
USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed)
USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed)
USB 1.1 (Full-Speed)
USB 1.0 (Low-Speed)
What’s different about USB-C?
USB 1, 2, and 3 connectors are all similar, but the USB-C connector is unique. USB-C has more contact pins which increases bandwidth and charging capabilities. Paired with the right cable or adapter it can be used at 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2 speeds. Another unique feature of USB-C is that it can be Thunderbolt 3 enabled, which supports connections to Thunderbolt 3 enabled devices. If your computer is Thunderbolt 3 enabled, that means the USB-C connector can still be used for USB speeds, but also Thunderbolt 3 connections and speeds. You’ll just need the correct Thunderbolt 3 cable or adapter. Learn more about What Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C Mean to Musicians and Engineers.

————————

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/what- ... musicians/

What Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C Mean to Musicians and Engineers

TLDR — USB 3.1 Gen 2 tops out at 10 Gbit/s

There is plenty of bandwidth available, and things just get faster and better year after year.

Edit: Most popular distros support UEFI and Safeboot too.

[glokraw]

You can install a second linux on an external drive. having both Ubuntu Studio and AVLinux is a nice combo.

Do you find the performance ok from separate drive? Guessing accessing programs a little slower but all ok once actually running? I guess you'd just have the os on the drive, still using the PC/laptops drive for audio files?

Also is anyone dual booting with Win11? I got a little lost about the state of Secure Boot/UEFI etc, whether Linux is supporting it yet.

My usb AVLinux drive settings in qjackctl are 44,100 rate,128 frames/period and 2 periods/buffer.
The /etc/security/limits.conf priority is 95, and on qjackctl panel, the priority is 76. (I read once where the qjackctl setting was said to be without effect under the hood, but I keep it for blind luck...

I use the same settings on ssd and internal drives, and don't notice a difference booting and using usb. I gave up dualbooting on the same drive years ago, after one two many fiascos. I'd let win 11 be king of it's own asylum. And I don't trust GRUB with more than one MBR anymore.

I sleep better, and reinstall when _ I _ decide to, not when random coder failures force the issue.
Cheers