choose a distribution that matches your hardware

What other apps and distros do you use to round out your studio?

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wurlycat
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choose a distribution that matches your hardware

Post by wurlycat »

Hi all,
I started reading the wiki linux musicians and and I found a lot of useful information.
Now I would like to ask some advice on how to choose the distribution to install on my system depending on the hardware available to me and my needs.
I know it will be difficult to find a solution that works immediately, out of the box. However, at least at the beginning, I would try to minimize interventions and attempts to do to get a system that will enable me to make some elementary operations.
The first thing I'd like to do is connect my PC via a MIDI interface to a master keyboard and my two expander and, for example, record a midi track playing on the keyboard, and after that listen to what was recorded and add a second track using the keyboard while the first is playing. This may seem trivial, but for me would be a good starting point.
After that I would like to save the expander preset to a file on PC sending the sysex via midi, record the output on a file adding voice etc. but this maybe in a second step.
I intend to use a multiboot so as to have a distribution optimized for the production audio and one for all other uses in such a way that there are no conflicts or delays due to unnecessary processes which occupy the cpus.
I'll stay tuned if anyone had any good advice on how to get started :D
Thanks for your patience

Here the hardware that I have:
Motherboard: ASUS M4A77T
Processor: 4x AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 965 Processor
Memory: 4GB DDR3 1800
Graphic adapter : GeForce 210/PCIe/SSE2/3DNOW!
Hard Disk 1 : CORSAIR SSD SATA 3 120 GB
Hard Disk 2 : ATA Maxtor 6V250F0
DVD writer: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-109
CD writer : PLEXTOR CD-R PX-W4824A
Sound Card: ECHO Mia MIDI
USB-MIDI Adapter : M-AUDIO Midisport 2x2 Anniversary Edition

and the expanders:
Korg M1 R EX
Roland SC880

Master Keybord is a a Roland PC 200 Mk2
tux99
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Re: choose a distribution that matches your hardware

Post by tux99 »

Your hardware is relatively old so any distro should work fine on it.

What Linux distros have you been using up to know, which ones are you accustomed to, if any?

I have similar hardware (AMD Phenom II X4 with a Nvidia GT 520 and a Midisport 4x4 and a 2x2 and some external rack synths) and I use Centos 6 (for stability and long term support, I hate constant OS upgrades) with my own additional repository where I have built up a nice collection of Audio software ( http://pkgrepo.linuxtech.net/el6/ ), but if you are a Linux novice then Centos is probably not for you.
varpa
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Re: choose a distribution that matches your hardware

Post by varpa »

I think main issue is not which distribution supports your hardware per se, but rather I suggest picking a distribution which is already optimized for audio work. For example, AVLinux, Ubuntu+kxstudio, Dream studio, others will all be much, much better than starting from a general distribution. These are optimized for audio work and have collected lots of audio software so you don't have to track it down (and compile) it. These will also tend to have the best hardware support for audio hardware too. Most distros can be run from DVD so you can test before you install. Also, you really only need 15-20 GB to install a distro so it is possible to set up multiple partitions for different distros to try out several in a muti-boot setup. (put your music data on a separate partition which can be accessed by any of the systems).
tux99
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Re: choose a distribution that matches your hardware

Post by tux99 »

varpa wrote:For example, AVLinux, Ubuntu+kxstudio, Dream studio, others will all be much, much better than starting from a general distribution.
They make it easier for beginners, but for someone with Linux experience any distro is fine as you can do exactly the same with any distro.
Personally I prefer a generic established distro as a base, as I can be sure that the distro will be around for many years to come. Specialised audio distros are usually one-man projects, so they come and go, it's hard to rely on them long-term.
varpa wrote:These are optimized for audio work and have collected lots of audio software so you don't have to track it down (and compile) it. These will also tend to have the best hardware support for audio hardware too.
Hardware support won't be better as that is handled by the kernel and most distros build their kernels with full hardware support enabled anyway. All other optimizations can be applied to any other distro too, if you know what you are doing (i.e. have some prior Linux experience).

I'm not saying that specialised audio distros are pointless, they do have their use, primarily for Linux novices or to check out the available audio software without having to install it manually one by one.
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wurlycat
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Re: choose a distribution that matches your hardware

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tux99 wrote: What Linux distros have you been using up to know, which ones are you accustomed to, if any?
on my PC I'm using Ubuntu 12.10 but I can not get used to unity. I would try to install Linux Mint for everyday use.
I think I'm a total beginner with regard to Linux even if I'm using it for three years now to surf the internet, write documents, listen to music etc.
I tried several times to install Ubuntu Studio two years ago for music production but in the end I gave up. Even following some guides could not properly configure my system and Jack most of the time not worked properly. The master keyboard did not appear among MIDI devices and in the logs I only saw gusts of XRUN. I thought it was a problem due to my hardware or the fact that I were using the 64-bit version but I'm not sure.
I tried last year also a live version of AV Linux but the sound card was not seen by the OS for which I was not able to perform any test. At that time I did not have the USB-MIDI adapter and even the expander but only the echo MIA midi.
I might try one of the distributions listed in the wiki http://wiki.linuxmusicians.com/doku.php ... a_distro_s, for example KXStudio and see what happens
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Re: choose a distribution that matches your hardware

Post by tux99 »

wurlycat wrote:I might try one of the distributions listed in the wiki http://wiki.linuxmusicians.com/doku.php ... a_distro_s, for example KXStudio and see what happens
Yes, if you are used to Ubuntu then give KXStudio a go, since it's based on Ubuntu it should be suitable for you.
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Re: choose a distribution that matches your hardware

Post by varpa »

Agreed, that any distro can be made to work well with linux audio. However, why do I want to go through that every time? If you want to do audio you'll save a lot of set up time starting from a linux audio distro. As far as general use goes, most audio distros will work just fine. Nearly all are based on some mainstream distro, so just fire up a package manager and install whatever you want from the main distro repositories. Particularly for a newby you'll be able to become productive much more quickly with an audio-oriented distro. So what if my current audio distro ceases development. No problem, I'll switch to another one.
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wurlycat
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Re: choose a distribution that matches your hardware

Post by wurlycat »

tux99 wrote:
wurlycat wrote:I might try one of the distributions listed in the wiki http://wiki.linuxmusicians.com/doku.php ... a_distro_s, for example KXStudio and see what happens
Yes, if you are used to Ubuntu then give KXStudio a go, since it's based on Ubuntu it should be suitable for you.

I've installed KXStudio from the live DVD iso for 64bit but I've found that I can not hear anything through the headphones.

I've posted my issue here:
http://www.linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic ... 216#p38216.

After some attempts I don't know what to do :(
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