What distros are you using?

[Chipfryer]

Happy Mondays peeps.

Linux Mint 12 is running fine, and I've started recording finally. (Breathes a sigh of relief).
However I am still getting that dreaded Mouse Freeze problem, and one which I've found that others in numbers face too. Really annoying.....
Basically I'm asking what you are using for a distro, and if you've faced any problems that the system below would, or might have problems with please?

Many thanks
Chippy


Kernel:
Linux 3.2.0-23-realtime x86_64

Hardware:

processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 42
model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU B950 @ 2.10GHz
stepping : 7
microcode : 0x1b
cpu MHz : 2100.000
cache size : 2048 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 0
initial apicid : 0
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 13
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave lahf_lm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dts
bogomips : 4190.39
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 42
model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU B950 @ 2.10GHz
stepping : 7
microcode : 0x1b
cpu MHz : 2100.000
cache size : 2048 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 1
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 2
initial apicid : 2
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 13
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx rdtscp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt tsc_deadline_timer xsave lahf_lm arat epb xsaveopt pln pts dts
bogomips : 4190.46

[English Guy]

I was using Bodhi, but just put Crunchbang on my studio laptop. Looking good but yet to do a proper project with it.

[billybob]

Tango Studio using Gnome2 - rock solid !

[Nachei]

Puppy Studio 3.3.

[English Guy]

hmmm I don't think anyone here will take this thread seriously...

????

[tux99]

Centos 6.4 with additional packages from my own AV software repo.

[Chipfryer]

Thanks for the replies peeps. I think it would be very interesting to get the low down on what people use and why, especially experiences.
I did notice Studio 1337 which has some hype attached to it, but read elsewhere it is really Puppy Studio?????
Downloading Puppy as mentioned too, for a test run.

Thanks again folks
Chippy

[Chipfryer]

I'm pretty pleased with Tango Studio. Works great from the Live CD, lower emmissions and so on.
Whatever is wrong with mint, and I suspect it is something to do with video hardware drivers, it isn't present in Tango.
Thought I'd let you know.
Have a great week
Chipfryer

[krakenfury]

Happy Mondays peeps.

Linux Mint 12 is running fine, and I've started recording finally. (Breathes a sigh of relief).
However I am still getting that dreaded Mouse Freeze problem, and one which I've found that others in numbers face too. Really annoying.....
Basically I'm asking what you are using for a distro, and if you've faced any problems that the system below would, or might have problems with please?

Many thanks
Chippy


Kernel:
Linux 3.2.0-23-realtime x86_64

What is this mouse freeze problem? Can you ctrl-alt-f(1-6) to a terminal or are you still helpless? If you are then your kernel might be the culprit. A Linux kernel 3.6 is the one to shoot for with regard to the bug of which I will mention. The bug is fixed in version 3.8, but backported to 3.6. Unfortunately, I don't have links to anything substantial. I hunted some stuff down weeks ago when I was distro-hopping and ran into total system freezes with #! and Debian Wheezy, but the system that I found the pertinate forum posts on was abandoned long ago, and try as I might, I never found them again.

Once I was aware of the problem, I compiled the latest stable kernel from kernel.org and met with great success at stopping the freeze problem. However, the systems I configured in this way didn't stick for other reasons, so I settled on Linux Mint 14 because I could do everything I wanted with no fuss. Then I got a system freeze, so I installed a precompiled kernel ver. 3.6.3 from the Ubuntu mainline kernels and poof now at uptime 2 days, 1:30; nothing amazing, but longest evar on the current system.

I know NOTHING about the current realtime kernel goings on. I tried compiling a realtime kernel years ago when I first started using GNU/Linux on a different machine and failed and gave up. So know that I have no help to offer with respect to that, but I can guess from glancing at https://rt.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page that you can't apply a RT patch to a kernel later than 3.4.

This is a confused mess.

[autostatic]

I know NOTHING about the current realtime kernel goings on. I tried compiling a realtime kernel years ago when I first started using GNU/Linux on a different machine and failed and gave up. So know that I have no help to offer with respect to that, but I can guess from glancing at https://rt.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page that you can't apply a RT patch to a kernel later than 3.4.

There are RT patchsets for 3.6 and 3.8: https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/projects/rt/

And I'm using Ubuntu 12.04 myself. Well, also Debian (Raspbian) on my Raspberry Pi.

[Chipfryer]

Hi Peeps thanks for the replies.
I have to say I'm pretty impressed with Tango. I need to wipe this comp and do fresh installs before I really get to grips with it though.
Invaluable information as usual Auto.

Best to all.
Chippy

[emsee144]

I have tried most music distros out there. From puredyne to 64studio; they are all pretty decent. However I want to carry a minimum amount of hardware in my soft-guitar case when i go out into the country. So I bought an atom n455 tablet pc with 9.7" touchscreen, 2gb ram and 32 gb ssd. Next I needed a distro that was resource friendly and touch compatible. Newer Ubuntu based studio OSes do work but they are relatively slow on my underpowered atom tab. Then I found puppy studio 330, which runs from ram....wow....it is fast! Very low latency and jumpy! Unfortunately after weeks of effort and research I was not able to get the touchscreen working which meant carrying around an extra keyboard and mouse. Then I learned that there was an upgrade version 'studio 4' and also after that there is another upgrade version with a name change which indicates its 'mother' distro i.e. Slackware 13.37, it is called 'Studio 1337', this version however is not free. It costs about $49 US, the price of a few beers and a meal out, which I was happy to pay for after having 'wasted' so much time and effort on the free version trying to get the touchscreen working! So, I bought it and it arrived on a cool looking USB thumbdrive! After loading it up I noticed immediately a speed increase and even lower latency down to 2.67 ms! However still no touchscreen. I wrote to the developer and we tried a few things but no luck. Anyway, the developer has just released another update, which brings the kernel version up to 3.8.0.4 rt. and the touchscreen is working, which is my priority. It also runs beautifully with Ardour3.1.sfs and I am going to make a video demo of it running on my tablet. Also, I am considering upgrading from my tablet to the newer atom z2670 tablets, as they are faster and use less power = longer battery life, but they are still expensive at about $500 for the cheapest. Also there are core i3 i5 and i7 tablets out there costing between $1000 and $2000+. But one thing is for sure, Studio 1337 is the fastest thing out there and stable as anything.

[Havoc]

Gentoo with pre-empt kernel. So far so good.

[aardbewoner]

Ubuntu studio 13.04 64 B .It works mostly just fine.



emsee144 you say you use studio 1337. but Sys req on there side say doze xp +

[Chipfryer]

Fabulous info Emsee.
I take it that you are using this live? This is my dream too if so. I really want what I have created live, after all, recordings are just that and playing along with CD's as backing while a potential nessecity perhaps, do not really hang that well with me.
This kind of info is invaluable I think and the reason I started the thread in the first place.
I'm not so certain I'll be paying the 50 odd bucks for this software to be honest. I'm sure it's good, sure it works and all that. It just grinds on me as part of the free linux user software foundation, that someone would have to pay that much, when there are tools out there, even for windows at the same price, or even cheaper.
Plus a learning curve is needed when switching to anything new, we all know that.
Truly brilliant post, and I'm glad it works for you. It would be interesting if you are taking this out live as stated, this is what I want to do eventually.
Very best regards. Thanks again.
Chippy

I have tried most music distros out there. From puredyne to 64studio; they are all pretty decent. However I want to carry a minimum amount of hardware in my soft-guitar case when i go out into the country. So I bought an atom n455 tablet pc with 9.7" touchscreen, 2gb ram and 32 gb ssd. Next I needed a distro that was resource friendly and touch compatible. Newer Ubuntu based studio OSes do work but they are relatively slow on my underpowered atom tab. Then I found puppy studio 330, which runs from ram....wow....it is fast! Very low latency and jumpy! Unfortunately after weeks of effort and research I was not able to get the touchscreen working which meant carrying around an extra keyboard and mouse. Then I learned that there was an upgrade version 'studio 4' and also after that there is another upgrade version with a name change which indicates its 'mother' distro i.e. Slackware 13.37, it is called 'Studio 1337', this version however is not free. It costs about $49 US, the price of a few beers and a meal out, which I was happy to pay for after having 'wasted' so much time and effort on the free version trying to get the touchscreen working! So, I bought it and it arrived on a cool looking USB thumbdrive! After loading it up I noticed immediately a speed increase and even lower latency down to 2.67 ms! However still no touchscreen. I wrote to the developer and we tried a few things but no luck. Anyway, the developer has just released another update, which brings the kernel version up to 3.8.0.4 rt. and the touchscreen is working, which is my priority. It also runs beautifully with Ardour3.1.sfs and I am going to make a video demo of it running on my tablet. Also, I am considering upgrading from my tablet to the newer atom z2670 tablets, as they are faster and use less power = longer battery life, but they are still expensive at about $500 for the cheapest. Also there are core i3 i5 and i7 tablets out there costing between $1000 and $2000+. But one thing is for sure, Studio 1337 is the fastest thing out there and stable as anything.