LinuxMusicians

Hi again... latest development in this everlasting horror/comedy series:

I updated to the full KX Studio (kxstudio-desktop and kxstudio-meta-all) in hope that that would change something, and it did, because now there's no sound AT ALL from the sequencers, MIDI nor audio The connections in Qjackctl are right, and I get normal sound from music players, streaming, Youtube, etc. My sequencers are Rosegarden, Qtractor, and Ardour, and I've re-installed them, but that makes no difference.

EDIT: Now streaming from the Internet gives no sound neither.. That is, the music /videos are played, there's just no sound. Pulseaudio is running, and Flash player is activated, don't know what else should be done..

Do you know if there is a LUG (Linux User Group) near you? I can't help thinking there is something basic you are missing for some reason, that a hands-on would sort out quite quickly. That's not to say you are doing anything wrong, just that those of us using Linux for a long time tend the forget how confusing some parts can be.

Yes, I just googled it and see there actually is a LUG near me. But my computer is a stationary, so I would come there just to hijack a poor LUG victim home to fix my problem, which is a bit much to ask for, I think

But at least now I can stream sound from the Internet again, although I don't know why, cause I made no changes. Except that I installed Opera to see if that browser generated sound (which it did), and afterwards Firefox did also.

So it's only the sequencers now that are totally silent. I guess it must be a problem with Jack then, but everything looks right.

EDIT: A guy here http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 1#p1106351 asks if I did "replace [my] previous patch bay for Jack with the patch bay from KX Studio, or check to make sure that the KX Studio connections were compatible with [my] previous patch scheme". I haven't done any of these things, and none of us know how to. Does any of you??

In any studio, virtual or otherwise, we deal with devices, defaults, preferences, and connections.
With patchbay gui's in linux, it's confusing that they rarely use the same names
for labeling the individual parts.

Like many here, I started in linux audio using qjackctl as the session gui,
so when testing a new/unfamiliar patchbay, I need to open qjackctl next to the other
patchbay(s), make a connection in qjackctl, and note the connection name and location
in the others. Patchage and Carla have large patchbay panels, and some devices
may need to be dragged into the viewable area, and placed in a sensible array.

In a physical studio, the engineer turns on the desired gear for a particular session,
makes preference choices on the gear as desired, and makes/verifies cable connections.

It's the same drill in daw apps like rosegarden, qtractor, ardour, bitwig, renoise, radium, tracktion,
but we face a few extra complications:
1. pulse-audio and web browser functions were not designed for audio production.
2. There are two versions of jackd bobbing in the surf
3. There is alsa-midi and there is jackd-midi, some apps need one or the other.
4. There may be a motherboard audio chip competing against a dedicated audio interface

An ideal solution for some, is to use different linux installations, for different purposes.
Separate entertainment center, recording studio, and office-internet setups
can promote using the best apps for each purpose, and in the process, eliminate common conflicts.
This can be done using external drives, or with multiple partions on internal drives, bootable media,
or all three. Followed by pruning a given linux install down to what will actually be used.
A motherboard chip can be neutralized in the hardware bios configuration,
or have it's kernel module blacklisted in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
Time to go look in the bag Santa's left by the woodstove. Even coal would be nice!
Cheers

Thanks very much for the explanation. I must admit there are many things and terms I just don't understand, even when I try hard. Probably working with audio (at least in Linux) is simply too complicated for an idiot like me!

Some of you might not have seen the other thread viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15048&p=67426#p67426 that I started after the KX Studio installation, but apparently nothing works

There's a lot to learn and know about, remember and keep track of - I wish I could say it was simple but it isn't and there's perhaps a lack of "standardisation" as one finds on WIndows & Mac platforms. The configuration possibilities on Linux are awesome, and I guess it can be a source of confusion and a hindrance to people who aren't familiar with it all. It's been a while and I'm still trying to make sense of it all, even though I have a working system. There's an awful lot I still don't understand. The audio subsystem in Linux unfortunately isn't straightforward.

Perhaps get an old cheap laptop and set it up as a test system, and drag that with you to LUG meetings (great suggestion) where guys can help out with some of the issues. It's a lot more productive to have hands on help from somebody who knows a bit, at least until you get past the initial learning curve.

Alternatively, set up an online meeting with an instructor with Teamviewer and have him/her take you through the basics. (Obviously keep in mind that anything could go wrong while reconfiguring things... so don't expect that the computer won't get trashed even though it is unlikely.)

Could you post a screenshot of your connections.
Catia is a good patchbay btw
Are you using cadence to set up jack and alsa / midi bridges? If not, I'd advice you to do so.

Yes, perhaps taking an old laptop with me to a LUG meeting would be an idea. However, I would probably have to reproduce all or most of the configurations /settings, including the specific errors that causes the problem, which would be difficult since I don't know them On the other hand, I've nothing to lose, so why not. And Teamviewer is also a possibility I didn't know, thanks for suggesting.

Here's a screenshot of Catia https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=E50 ... v3-bbPgy_o - or did you mean the connections in Qjackctl? They look ok, but I can take a screenshot of them too if you want.

Yes, I'm using Cadence to set up these bridges (well, I think so ). Under "JACK bridges" it says:

ALSA Audio: Using Cadence snd-aloop daemon, started. Bridge type: ALSA -> Loop -> JACK.
ALSA MIDI: ALSA MIDI Bridge is running.
PulseAudio: PulseAudio is started and bridges to JACK.

Under sound preferences, input and output, it says Jack Source and Jack Sink, respectively. My soundcard is not shown there anymore, but I guess that's ok.

It looks like your audio is routed to the internal soundcard.
Don't you want to use the Audiophile?

Please check if you've selected the proper soundcard
(I use my internal soundcard btw_

select configure : select the proper soundcard

Yes, I want to use Audiophile. Thanks for the screenshot, I have chosen my card as Device/Interface and as Input and Output Device now.

https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=E50 ... 89AgORkRZk

And I've chosen Audiophile in the general sound preferences, and now there's sound from the players But still no sound from the sequencer (Ardour)

what are you playing in ardour ?
audio / wav track (shouldn't be a problem)
midi tracks with synth plugin
midi to linux sampler ?
midi to external hardware synth ?
midi to ... ???

please start ardour and make a screenshot of catia. let's see how it hooks up to jack

I'm not familiar with Ardour yet, so I just imported a WAV-file into a track and played it. I haven't tried with any MIDI, don't know how yet.

Here are two screenshots of Catia with Ardour started:

https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=E50 ... dV_SQjhJmY

https://onedrive.live.com/embed?cid=E50 ... _d0MZsvgFM

I hope you can see the details..

FYI, I've done some commands in the meantime suggested in the other thread viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15048&p=67540#p67540 you'd better know..

FYI: you can attach screenshots to your forum post

A bit puzzled.
you can drag around the elements in catia to make the routing a bit easier to visualize
you can zoom in and out (I believe with the scroll wheel) to get a better overview
That would help me a lot

Now from what I can see it looks like everything is hooked up for a surround system.
That [System] with 8 playback channels, is that your Maudio card ? It looks suspiciously like a surround card output. As far as I can figure out the Maudio card is a 4 channel audio, 2 x midi card.

btw I doubt you need any commands
Never issued a command on this Mint box, well not for the purpose of setting up audio stuff, the package "kxstudio-default-settings" should take care of all that.
cadence for setting up jack + bridges: done

note: Mint has a peculiar way of setting up apt. By default, recommended packages are not installed so on one box I couldn't start pulse+jack because the proper bridge wasn't installed while installing cadence.

WE WILL FIX YOUR PC !!!
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