Larry David wrote: > Hi - I'm a Mac user and musician. I'm thinking of switching to Linux > with my next laptop, and am wondering what people are using for audio/ > MIDI interfaces, and what software - DAW, plugins, softsynths, etc.?
I have a little Dell XPS 1210 which I recently got working for my modest little music studio. All the details were in this post to the FFADO list: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_name=496C1F6E.9080701%40troutpocket.org&forum_name=ffado-user Here it is in all its posterity: Well, I got it all working. I wanted to share my progress with everyone by editing the wiki but I don't have access to that. Here's what I did (in a nutshell): My Kit: Dell XPS M1210 laptop 1GB RAM Intel T5600 1.8GHz Core2Duo Intel 945GM Video controller Sigmatel 9220 internal audio controller Internal Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller http://tinyurl.com/clr43l EchoAudio Audiofire12 http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/FireWire/AudioFire12/index.php Ubuntu Studio 8.10 with RT (realtime) kernel Steps: 1. Install UbuntuStudio 8.10. 2. Install all updates via update manager 3. Install RT kernel ~$ sudo apt-get install linux-rt 4. Install ffado drivers and accompanying libraries In Synaptic Package Manager choose Settings/Repositories. In the Software Sources window choose the Third-Party Software tab. Add the following: deb http://www.ffado.org/apt gutsy contrib Reload your package manager and install the following: ffado-dbus-server ffado-mixer-qt4 ffado-tools jackd-firewire-driver libffado2 libffado2-dev (just in case) 5. Configure grub to boot RT kernel by default ~$ sudo vim /boot/grub/menu.lst edit the line: default 0 to say default 4 or whatever number (counting from 0) is your rt entry in the file. If you don't do this you have to manually choose it at boot every time. 6. Add yourself to the disk and audio groups. If the audio group doesn't already exist you can create it with the optional first command. ~$ sudo groupadd audio (optional step if audio group doesn't exist) ~$ sudo adduser <username> disk ~$ sudo adduser <username> audio 7. Adjust limits.conf to accommodate your RT kernel. ~$ sudo su -c 'echo @audio - rtprio 99 >> /etc/security/limits.conf' ~$ sudo su -c 'echo @audio - nice -19 >> /etc/security/limits.conf' ~$ sudo su -c 'echo @audio - memlock unlimited >> /etc/security/limits.conf' 8. Reboot to your RT kernel! After you system is up and running you'll have to start jackd. I recommend using qjackctl to do this as it has a patchbay manager. Make sure everything is plugged in and running then start qjackctl (found in Sound & Video/Audio Production/JACK Control) 9. You must install the raw1394 kernel module. Unfortunately my ability to get this to stick hasn't worked. No problem, just run the following short command after each boot: ~$ sudo modprobe raw1394 10. Here are the changes I made to the default jackd config by clicking Setup: Driver = firewire Realtime (checked) Priority = 70 Frames/Period = 64 Sample Rate = 48000 Periods/Buffer = 3 Port Maximum = 128 Interface = hw:0 Start Delay = 2 11. Click the Patchbay button. Click the New button and let it discover your port configurations itself. Mine showed System with 12 capture ports listed under Output and it showed System with 12 playback ports under Input. Select System in both windows and choose Connect. You may have to click the Activate though I don't really know exactly what that does. Click the start button and pray for no xruns. Following these exact steps I've been able to successfully record in Ardour for 30ish minutes without xruns or program errors. It may go longer but I haven't bothered trying yet. The big hurdle I encountered was outdated information on many websites. First of all, the Ricoh 1394 controller does not work with 8.04.1 RT kernel. It is working wonderfully with my 8.10 RT kernel. I hope someone can update the page at: http://subversion.ffado.org/wiki/HostControllers to show that success has been had with the Ricoh R5C832 1394 controller and perhaps reference this guide. Guides from which I shamelessly ripped off information: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudioPreparation http://www.ffado.org/?q=release/apt -Scott -- Ubuntu-Studio-users mailing list [email protected] Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-users
