The linux DAW thread

[glokraw]

This was a major PITA to setup... still experimental, but it's getting better It's installed on a bootable usb drive, so I can use it on my desktop or my laptop, or any computer that boots it.


I can actually get a lower latency on linux (1.33 ms), but that doesn't mean a thing, because the cpu load is much higher.

Hi, does your qjackctl panel have realtime enabled, and with a priority of 89?
Great to see you have an E-mu card working, I have an 0404 PCI waiting for alsa 1.16,
although it looks like it is supported now in 1.15. By then, I'll have a modern computer
to use it with. You can use synaptic to remove un-needed apps, the less linux needs to clean up, and check on, the better it will run. Last night I installed 20 or so audio apps, and deleted over 600 megs of things I never use, many I never heard of.
Cheers

[umd]

This was a major PITA to setup... still experimental, but it's getting better It's installed on a bootable usb drive, so I can use it on my desktop or my laptop, or any computer that boots it.


I can actually get a lower latency on linux (1.33 ms), but that doesn't mean a thing, because the cpu load is much higher.

Hi, does your qjackctl panel have realtime enabled, and with a priority of 89?
Great to see you have an E-mu card working, I have an 0404 PCI waiting for alsa 1.16,
although it looks like it is supported now in 1.15. Bt then, I'll have a modern computer
to use it with. You can use synaptic to remove un-needed apps, the less linux needs to clean up, and check on, the better it will run. Last night I installed 20 or so audio apps, and deleted over 600 megs of things I never use, many I never heard of Cheers

Hi!
Yes, it's the rt kernel, but the priority is set to default (scroll the pic to the right, qjackctl's panel settings are there too).

[glokraw]

This was a major PITA to setup... still experimental, but it's getting better It's installed on a bootable usb drive, so I can use it on my desktop or my laptop, or any computer that boots it.


I can actually get a lower latency on linux (1.33 ms), but that doesn't mean a thing, because the cpu load is much higher.

Hi, does your qjackctl panel have realtime enabled, and with a priority of 89?
Great to see you have an E-mu card working, I have an 0404 PCI waiting for alsa 1.16,
although it looks like it is supported now in 1.15. Bt then, I'll have a modern computer
to use it with. You can use synaptic to remove un-needed apps, the less linux needs to clean up, and check on, the better it will run. Last night I installed 20 or so audio apps, and deleted over 600 megs of things I never use, many I never heard of Cheers

Hi!
Yes, it's the rt kernel, but the priority is set to default (scroll the pic to the right, qjackctl's panel settings are there too).

My concern is that the default may be too low, resulting in lower performance. Enabling
realtime at the highest priority makes a huge difference. Can you verify the default setting value) See if anything like this is in your /etc


sudo nano /etc/security/limits.conf

###
@audio - rtprio 100
@audio - nice -20
@audio - memlock 452192
###

Cheers

[umd]

Hi! Yes, I had that set to, but nice was -10. I will try it with -20.

Thanks
[[]]'s

[pw]

Ok, I am just about to set up a dual boot with XP for audio and Ubuntu for everything else.

Now, I am sticking with XP for audio at the moment due to soundcard incompatibility (MOTU 828 is my main audio interface) and I am just really getting into Live 7. But, seeing as I am increasingly moving over to open source for everything, I will start messing with audio on Linux as well (I have a USB soundcard that i'll try with XT2 and some other Linux apps).

My Question - Ubuntu or Ubuntu Studio? is the core kernel different in these two?

If not, I'd rather go for normal Ubuntu and install audio apps as I need them.

thanks.

[umd]

Ubuntu studio... it's ready to go

Otherwise you'll have to install and tweak some stuff. Just select the audio stuff in the installation, if you don't need the rest.

Also, jackdmp seems to perform better than jackd on multi-processor machines (at least on mine does).

http://www.grame.fr/~letz/jackdmp.html

[pw]

Ubuntu studio... it's ready to go

Otherwise you'll have to install and tweak some stuff. Just select the audio stuff in the installation, if you don't need the rest.

Also, jackdmp seems to perform better than jackd on multi-processor machines (at least on mine does).

http://www.grame.fr/~letz/jackdmp.html

Hi, thanks.

Please clarify though: "ready to go" because it comes with audio applications (synths, sequencers, etc), or "ready to go" because of other, more critical and performance related features - like kernel performance, etc.

90% of my work in linux will be using MySQL/Apache/php, internet browsing, and open office. At the moment, I just need to test the waters for audio, and want to make sure that "lower level components" are optimal, and install audio software as I need it.

[umd]

Please clarify though: "ready to go" because it comes with audio applications (synths, sequencers, etc), or "ready to go" because of other, more critical and performance related features - like kernel performance, etc.

Actually, both, but I meant the performance related features, such as the kernel, and scheduling of priorities for audio, etc... (really, go for ubuntu studio). As I said, I would only add jackdmp to it, as it seems to perform better.

As for the audio apps bundled, I haven't tried them yet, as I am runnings my windows stuff with wine, so you tell me later :p

[pw]

thanks.

And, how about hard drive file system? All my hard drives are currently NTFS. Should I reformat them all to FAT32 (a couple of 100GB partitions, and a couple of 40 GB partitions)?

[umd]

Imho, it's not worth doing so. fat32 is more prone to data loss, has a reachable size limit, and since ubuntu can handle ntfs... :p

[pw]

Imho, it's not worth doing so. fat32 is more prone to data loss, has a reachable size limit, and since ubuntu can handle ntfs... :p

thanks, I didn't think it worked with NTFS. Does Ubuntu Studio also ships with the instant messaging and PC-phone apps, and open office?

And, any special difficulties with the ubuntu studio installation? I have burnt the disk now, but it doesn;t seem to work as a live CD like the normal ubuntu can, so I can't test it out.

[umd]

I don't know if it comes with any IM software, but you can install it later with the synaptic package manager. open office is included yes.

Studio comes with a text mode installer, but don't worry, it's pretty straightforward... If you're a newbie, i'd recommend having a hard drive for it only, to avoid accidental data deletion.

[SE_Newbie]

thanks.

And, how about hard drive file system? All my hard drives are currently NTFS. Should I reformat them all to FAT32 (a couple of 100GB partitions, and a couple of 40 GB partitions)?

I am using Dreamlinux which, like ubuntu is debian based, and it supports NTFS-3g, allowing you to read and write to your NTFS drives/partitions. If it will not do that by default, you may have to edit the fstab file in the /etc directory. The entry should appear similar to below:

Code: Select all

/dev/hdb1     /mnt/hd1/1     ntfs-3g rw,uid=0,gid=8,umask=0002     0     2

This example came from the fstab file in Dyne:Bolic which I am using right now, but it should be close, if a little different.

To break the entry down, the first part is how linux sees the drive, the second part is where you can locate it, the third part is the file system type along with selected options, and im not sure what the fourth part is so i just leave it alone.

If you cannot mount or write to your ntfs drive, some distros that support read/write ntfs-3g still do not activate it by default. If an entry similar to that above contains "ntfs" (not "ntfs-3g") and "ro" (not "rw"), then you need to change those settings and save the file. after that, either reboot or open a terminal and type "

Code: Select all

mount -a

[SE_Newbie]

hey... I've been considering checking out linux on my computer, but the only thing holding me back is MIDI...
I use USB midi interfaces (Edirol and M-audio), but also could hook my UF5 up without an interface... How difficult is it to get Midi working? (for a total linux n00b)

While I cannot help with the MIDI specifically, I can give this general advice to a total linux noob. My advice is to either get a second hard drive, or repartition the windows drive (a second hard drive is the more pleasant option in my opinion), install linux to the new drive/partition and it will install grub to "dual boot" giving you the choice to boot windows or linux. Linux can, unlike windows boot from a secondary hard drive.

If you are uncomfortable with installing an OS you might not like then you can also locate and download a liveCD, I am using DreamLinux multimedia edition, based on debian etch and will install all programs in debian's etch distribution as well. There may be a later version of dreamlinux that may be based on an unstable version of debian. You can install this to a hard drive if you like it.

You might want to try Dyne:bolic too. D:B doesnt install but can be "docked" to a hard drive, even a windows drive. just boot it up, navigate to the /mnt/cd1 directory, locate the dyne folder and copy it to the C:\ directory of your windows drive. You will still need the cd to boot up into D:B but it will spit out the cd after prompting you to use the dock.

[umd]

I never had any problems with midi interfaces, all my usb midi controllers have worked straight away.