KXStudio installation saga

Unofficial support for the KXStudio Linux distribution and applications.
More info at http://kxstudio.linuxaudio.org/

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steevc
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KXStudio installation saga

Post by steevc »

Firstly, I have installed KX before, back when it was a dedicated ISO based on Ubuntu 10.04 (I think), but I didn't actually use it much back then as it didn't seem quite ready for me. I've since been getting by with standard Kubuntu, but felt I was missing out on some of the cool new stuff. I want a dedicated system optimised for audio. I'll be dual-booting with the existing system as the rest of the family need that to be working. Don't have a second PC that's up to the job.

I'm using my old PC based around an Asus board with AMD64x2. This may have been causing issues as I couldn't boot the Ubuntu Studio install from a flash drive. It wouldn't quite fit on a 2GB drive, so I used a bigger one, but the PC just wouldn't recognise it as bootable. I suspect that the board may not support FAT32 for booting.

So I tried the Net-boot ISO http://kxstudio.sourceforge.net/Documen ... tu:Install

That went pretty smoothly. I followed the steps on that page, then moved onto http://kxstudio.sourceforge.net/Documen ... tu:Upgrade

I installed the XFCE package as a change from KDE plus the audio meta package. I rebooted and got.... a blank screen, with a mouse pointer :( This was just before bed last night, so I didn't investigate too far. Any pointers on what I can do to get logged in?

Steve
Sounds - http://soundcloud.com/steevc
Debut Album - https://steevcmusic.bandcamp.com/
Blog - https://peakd.com/@steevc/posts
Recording via M-Audio FastTrack Pro and Zoom H4. Got Korg nanoKONTROL and Zoom G3X plus Roland TD-07 drums

steevc
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Posts: 251
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 7:05 pm
Location: Bedfordshire, UK
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Re: KXStudio installation saga

Post by steevc »

Ctrl-Alt-F1 wasn't working, so booted to recovery mode and got that to fix the packages. Then it booted properly.

So now I have a shiny new desktop to play with. Installed nvidia to use my screens properly.

Main issue is a distinct lack of any sound. The volume control complains that pulseaudio is not running. I assume it should be.

BTW the kxstudio site has been down this evening.

Steve
Sounds - http://soundcloud.com/steevc
Debut Album - https://steevcmusic.bandcamp.com/
Blog - https://peakd.com/@steevc/posts
Recording via M-Audio FastTrack Pro and Zoom H4. Got Korg nanoKONTROL and Zoom G3X plus Roland TD-07 drums

steevc
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Posts: 251
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 7:05 pm
Location: Bedfordshire, UK
Contact:

Re: KXStudio installation saga

Post by steevc »

falkTX wrote:
steevc wrote:Main issue is a distinct lack of any sound. The volume control complains that pulseaudio is not running. I assume it should be.
Do NOT use the regular sound mixer in Unity or XFCE, it's useless for JACK operation.
Use 'volti', 'qamix', 'kmix' or even 'alsamixer' (cli tool).
I tried using alsamixer and mudita (for the Delta) to turn everything up, but didn't hear anything. I tried the built-in sound and the Delta in Cadence with no result. It's a bit of a reminder of the old days of Linux when you had to mess around just to get sound working. I haven't had that problem in a while, although there are issues with multiple users when certain apps (e.g. Flash) seem to hog the sound. That won't be an issue on this install as I intend to keep it single user.

Are there some basic things I can check to see if sound should be working?

My other question for now is what kernel is recommended for audio work these days? You list low latency and realtime kernels on http://kxstudio.sourceforge.net/Documen ... tu:Upgrade. I noticed that Cadence had a warning sign next to the kernel version, which I assume means it's not optimal. Perhaps that page needs a little more information on why you would choose one kernel over another.

The wiki says that realtime should not be needed in most cases http://wiki.linuxmusicians.com/doku.php ... the_kernel. So is low latency the way to go?
falkTX wrote:
steevc wrote:BTW the kxstudio site has been down this evening.
All sourceforge based websites are down, I have no idea what's going on...
Back again now :)

Steve
Sounds - http://soundcloud.com/steevc
Debut Album - https://steevcmusic.bandcamp.com/
Blog - https://peakd.com/@steevc/posts
Recording via M-Audio FastTrack Pro and Zoom H4. Got Korg nanoKONTROL and Zoom G3X plus Roland TD-07 drums

steevc
Established Member
Posts: 251
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 7:05 pm
Location: Bedfordshire, UK
Contact:

Re: KXStudio installation saga

Post by steevc »

Okay, I was being dumb. It was a combination of muted outputs and me removing a vital part of the audio wiring recently. Sound is working perfectly :)

Now I can get on with some experimenting. I have a track to record that I need to start on. I look forward to making use of all the cool tools.

Thanks for your help. Just did a quick demo after playing around with Guitarix. Some good sounds in there.

http://soundcloud.com/steevc/rockout

Steve
Sounds - http://soundcloud.com/steevc
Debut Album - https://steevcmusic.bandcamp.com/
Blog - https://peakd.com/@steevc/posts
Recording via M-Audio FastTrack Pro and Zoom H4. Got Korg nanoKONTROL and Zoom G3X plus Roland TD-07 drums

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