Ubuntustudio-controls is dead right now (won't start and when started
in a terminal as root crashes) and lacked a lot of features in
any case. It has been suggested that we work on the code to do what needs
to be done and then write the GUI afterwards to tie all these things
together. There are a few ways we can do this:
1) write each function as a separate script (python seems to be the common
thread here) and gather them together later.
2) Write one script with a CLI menu to try out things.
3) Write one script where CL arguments select functions.
We could even start with 1) and then combine them to 2) or 3). The GUI
would call the procedures already there.
However, before we do that, we need to have a spec of what things this
application should do. We should also decide how each feature should be
accessed. Some features would be used only for original system setup and
could be accessed from the settings or system menu. Other things might get
changed any number of times during one session and would be better
accessed from the systray.
So first is setup:
System setup:
realtime access?
swappiness?
Check audio card for irq conflicts?
Check system for hyperthreading turned off.
user should be told they can use bios or
-controls can disable second thread on all cores
CPU governor
I am not sure what to do with this one. On a
desktop it may be best to just set performance
all the time. The CPU in my testing seems to
run cooler when all the cores are the same speed.
My cores have always been 10 deg below max running
temp even with performance. When the system is
idle The temp seems to be about the same as
ondemand at idle. One might even infer that the
power demand can not be much more if the heat
generated is similar. Needs more testing if
someone has a laptop with an i5 or i7 (the i5
seems to be a better audio CPU) and can see
what the battery life difference is with the
two governors that would help.
Len has forgotten other system settings for audio, but
there seems to be less need for them now than in the past.
(I have run at jack set -p16 for hours with no xruns)
Session setup:
user's choice of audio backend... what is going to start
when the session starts.
user's choice of jack server (1, 2, dbus)
Jack's default settings
An automated way of finding the cards:
lowest latency (lowest jack will start with)
highest latency
If 2 or 3 frames works best (3 for HDA)
Will pulse be used? (what other options can be auto set
up?)
should it be started after jackd?
do we need to manually add jack sink?
What utilities shold we start in the systray?
default audio IF.
Is there a way we can make this not show in pulse?
I personally would like to set pulse not to see
ALSA and only see jack. But, other people will
want other setups.
My brain is already going foggy :)
The settings we might change "on the fly" depending on what
we are doing.
Latency
cpu governor
pulse to jack bridge
background services (on/off) (which ones)
audio/midi connections
It would be nice to include a Pulse patch bay
levels... a universal mixer?
Things we may want to monitor.
DSP usage
CPU usage
memory
temperature
CPU speed
Is this all? ... probably not. Is it too much? Could be. Would it be all
one application? I don't think so... personally I see at least 3, but
would probably use 5 (some being startup scripts run at session start).
Is this official? No, it is just some ideas. I also hope I am showing some
of the problems we may have ;) and some of the division into units we
might have. These are important as they show what privilages are needed
for different things. No one wants to be typing a password for minor
changes and we don't want to leave an application running in userspace the
whole session with root access either.
Anyway, I would like to see a wiki set up for this with these or some
other logical divisions. I am sure I have left a lot out as well.
--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net
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