A New Adventure - Ubuntu Studio or AVLinux?

[TalismanRich]

A while back, my son gave me an old computer that his work was no longer using. These were designed to boom from a LAN, so there was no hard drive. It's got an I5-6200 processor, so it doesn't qualify for Win 11, plus I don't have a Windows license. There's 8GB of RAM, so that's fine.

To get up and running, I sprung for a 500gb SSD, and will install a Linux based OS designed for AV work. It looks like there are two options, Ubuntu Studio and AV-Linux. I've already downloaded the Ubuntu ISO and am using my Rufus installer to make the boot USB drive. I've got a Reaper license, so my goal will be to get my Tascam 16x08 connected with JACK and try out a bit of recording.

Is anyone using one of these two distros for recording? How tricky is it to get JACK configured? I haven't seen a lot of info, but I'm sure if I dig around something will pop up.

 

[DM60]

I have fooled with Ubuntu, but that was many moons ago. I do know that the Tascam will support 16 channels OOTB. At least when I tried it last time it did.

I tend to stick with Ubuntu only because I have used it. Can't say the other distro is good or bad. I tend to think they are all pretty much the same with some tweaks here or there and your "network" for information/tweaks.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

I'm dabbling with Ubuntu Studio for my daily driver but leaving my air-gapped DAW-only device on Win 7. So far, it's working fine for the audio stuff. Reaper runs fine, no issues with Jack

But I haven't tried an external interface yet.

Historically, my CLI-only Ubuntu laptop has never had issues with my lexicon interface tho, so I think generally support for outboard hardware like that is pretty good these days

 

[TalismanRich]

So far, it's been a bit of a bust. I can't get the Wifi to activate. No Wifi, no updates to Reaper, no drivers if needed and no file sharing via the network. There's no ethernet connector so no wired connection. That's an big issue for me. I want to be able to browse the net if I need to. I also need to be able to share files, put on Google Drive or Dropbox, etc.

I've tried several paths, going to take a break and do some more investigating tomorrow.


AVLinux is Debian based, and doesn't use KDE. I'll download the ISO and put it on the USB drive if I can't get this thing worked out.

 

[ecc83]

Rich, there is a guy called Folderol over at soundonsound.com who is a musician and something of a Linux guru. I loaned him my NI KA6 interface some years ago and. FYI it worked so well he bought one. Very nice chap, we met for a pint.

Have fun,
Dave.

 

[TalismanRich]

For all the hype about how we should all switch to Linux and ditch Win 11, it's not so easy.

I have converted computers from Win 7 to 10, and then 11. I have 4 computers running 11 right now (two with unsupported CPUs), and haven't lost a bit of data, all of the hardware works, and other than a few programs that won't run, things have been pretty much seamless. No command line gibberish to enter.

Yesterday, I spent a good 6 hours trying to troubleshoot a common piece of hardware (Qualcom QCA9377 wifi adapter). The system sees the hardware. rfkill shows it's all unblocked. nmcli shows it good. But it shows the wifi as "disconnected".

I can't log into github to update things since I can't connect to anything. I can download to my Windows computer, put it on a flash drive and then hope I have the right driver. That's really user friendly! How do I run "wget -N -t 5 -T 10 https://github.com/UbuntuForums/wireless-info/raw/master/wireless-info &amp;&amp;<br> chmod +x wireless-info &amp;&amp;<br> ./wireless-info" when there's no way to connect to Github? Connect to the internet to fix a probem where there's no internet!!!

I think today's task might be to install AVLinux and see if that works. Maybe the Debian system will work better. We'll leave Studio for the next free computer I get.

To be continued:

 

[ecc83]

I had re-installed both XP and W7 on desktops several times (cos I was stupid and crashed them!) but when I tried to upgrade a rather nifty AMD 3G 6core PC from 7 to 10 I simple could not do it. The main problem was I could not download an ISO of W10, Ms kept blocking me. I eventually paid some guys on the net 17 quid to take over my PC and do it. They did! Took a stressful hour but all went coolio. I had fitted a virgin 1TB SSD with just about only W7 on it so there was none of my data they could filtch. That was all on an air gapped, powered off laptop.

Talk to Folderol! Bit of a LINUX legend it seems...

Dave.

 

[TalismanRich]

The problem with this is that it's a hardware/Linux issue and I know others who use Linux daily.

I've got both AVLinux and Win 10 22H2 ISOs. I've live booted AV Linux and the Enlightenment desktop is a rather odd layout, quite unlike Mint or Ubuntu. Its worse than Win11 in hiding system controls. I have Mint running on an old machine downstairs, so I'm not unfamiliar with Linux installs. I haven't been able to get into any setup for the WiFi connection on AV Linux. Trying to do a full configuration with command lines is not for the faint of heart.

I think I might just install WIn10 to confirm that the Wifi is indeed working, although when I looked at the system info in AV Linux, it correctly shows the Qualcom 9377 card information and an Intel driver. I could also download Mint which I'm more familiar with.

But this is the type of obscure stuff that keeps Linux from going mainstream. My brother goes on about how MS updates take so long when his Linux updates in a few minutes. I don't have an issue. I start updates when I don't need the computer. Start the process, then go down to fix breakfast, watch the news, take a shower and head out for a round of golf. When I get home I reboot if necessary and all is good.

 

[TalismanRich]

FWIW, it appears that there is a windows license in the BIOS. I'll see what I find with Win10.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

I installed AV Linux experimentally on a couple of older laptops. It worked well enough, though I didn't get too deep into using it. It had no trouble using the onboard Wi-Fi. I didn't like the command line style of doing things, especially installing software. There was an app to help with that, but it was only marginally better.

 

[TalismanRich]

I'm with you BSG. The Enlightenment desktop is not a great system unless you just want to restrict stuff and only use a few programs. Maybe they chose it because it uses fewer resources.

So, for testing, I installed Win10 22H2. I'm typing this on the computer. The wifi doesn't seem to support 5gHz, so I'm logged into the 2.4 profile, but it's working. That's the most positive thing. The second interesting thing is that the BIOS has a license, so Win 10 activated upon install. I guess I see if it gives any improvement over my old I5-4460 system, but I really don't need a portable Win setup. I've got my 12th Gen I7 laptop if I needed it.

Enough hacking around for now. I think I'll set this aside for the night and watch some TV. I have a basketball game to watch at 7:15. Tomorrow or Friday, we'll dive back into Ubuntu Studio.

 

[DM60]

My computer experimentation days have been over for several years, that is why I have been reluctant to back and work with it again. I have a hard enough time learning how to record. Getting into hardware synths and deep diving into music theory, doesn't leave much brain capacity.

Windows may be crap, but it is crap I know. But I want to thank you for reminding me why I haven't gone back for another Linux go.

 

[TalismanRich]

DM, I need something to occupy my time, since we had almost 5 inches of snow and the high today was about 30 degrees. I won't be playing golf for a while, more snow and cold is on the way. This thing has been sitting in the corner for about a year, so might as well see if it's useful or not. Had it been dead, I could have pulled the RAM and sent it to the recycle pile.

A friend called me 2 nights ago and he's got two computers to give me. He upgraded with Win11. We'll see what he's got now. I bumped up one of his old Dell desktops that he paid about $2000 for many years ago. Pentium4, hard drive and a whole 2 MEGABYTES of ram. I put in an SSD, added 2 more MB, and loaded WinXP, so now I can run my old Diablo and Warcraft games, and the old Photoshop 3.5 that I bought a few decades ago. It will even run my Lotus Smartsuite 2000! Ooooooo

I'm just not recording a lot right now. It's more of a "Pick up the guitar and practice" mode.

 

[DM60]

Funny, up here north of you a few miles. The last snow was pretty easy to clear. It was the best snow for using a blowing machine ever. One pass and it was clear. Took me about 10 minutes.

But I really do understand. I am experimenting with music more than I am composing. That is the way I practice, I am not very good at any instrument, but can do guitar, bass and keyboards well enough for my ideas. Now deeper into the music theory and the synths! (keeping myself active)

 

[TAE]

In lieu of the unicorns have you considered doing a hackintosh?

 

[TalismanRich]

I played with MacOS years ago. I've got an old PPC Mac somewhere downstairs (I need to nuke the drive and send it off to the recycle place). I wasn't as comfortable with Mac system as I am with Windows.

So far, of the Linux distros I've played with, Mint has been my favorite. It operates pretty seemlessly, and I rarely have had to go into the command line mode to do what I want. The reason I went down the path I did is because these distros are supposed to be geared towards audio/visual production.

FWIW, Windows has run pretty much flawlessly for me over the past 10+ years. Had I not been given this free hardware, I wouldn't be doing this whole project, but if you don't look around, you never know what you're missing, right?

As an update, I've got the WiFi issue sorted. I ran updates, and 704 MB later, everything is up to date. I've installed Reaper 7.55 and tested a couple of projects. Reverb IRs worked. I haven't tried any extensive projects with non-Reaper plug-ins. Next step is to test connecting the Tascam interface.

 

[TAE]

I played with MacOS years ago. I've got an old PPC Mac somewhere downstairs (I need to nuke the drive and send it off to the recycle place). I wasn't as comfortable with Mac system as I am with Windows.

So far, of the Linux distros I've played with, Mint has been my favorite. It operates pretty seemlessly, and I rarely have had to go into the command line mode to do what I want. The reason I went down the path I did is because these distros are supposed to be geared towards audio/visual production.

FWIW, Windows has run pretty much flawlessly for me over the past 10+ years. Had I not been given this free hardware, I wouldn't be doing this whole project, but if you don't look around, you never know what you're missing, right?

As an update, I've got the WiFi issue sorted. I ran updates, and 704 MB later, everything is up to date. I've installed Reaper 7.55 and tested a couple of projects. Reverb IRs worked. I haven't tried any extensive projects with non-Reaper plug-ins. Next step is to test connecting the Tascam interface.

Yes I like me windows and use it everyday for work and stuff... I have embraced IOS and Apple too over the last 10 years! It's a little weird system when you have been windows for so long but I get by with it. Love my iPhone and iPad...have a 27" iMac out in the "studio" ( a garage with no drywall ) Someday Ima gonna get that fixed...

 

[TalismanRich]

Its a bit funny, I was in the basement going through old boxes and putting stuff on some new shelving. Three of the items that I pulled out were an Atari ST, monitor and 20MB SCSI hard drive. I got it dirt cheap but never really spent a lot of time using it. I was still using my 8bit Atari and TI computer. The others were an Apple ][+ and a Laser 128 (an Apple ][e/][c clone). It's hard to believe how long I have been playing with these things (45 years!).

Now that this laptop is running, and Reaper is working, I need to hook up a spare 27" monitor and the Tascam. This puny 15" screen with 1366x768 really gets full when I launch Reaper. I can't show both the mixer and the transport control. I'm spoiled by the 32" screen that is on my machine downstairs. That won't happen until the weekend. I've got things to do tomorrw which will take most of the day.