LinuxMusicians

More on trying to get 'audacity' to recognize 'jack' in MXStudio/ubuntu12.04amd64.

There was no “audacity.cfg” file at location: ~/.config/audacity-data/audacity.cfg
In fact, there was no ~/.config/audacity-data/
So, I created the location and the file as specified. It made no difference, 'audacity' still fails to see 'jack' and still stops 'jack'.

There was an “audacity.cfg” file at this location: ~/.audacity-data/audacity.cfg
This is the one I edited that keeps being overwritten with each run of 'audacity'.

I did find another “audacity.cfg” file at location: /usr/share/kxstudio/config/audacity-data/audacity.cfg

It is dated Thu 26 Apr 2012 01:52:37 PM MDT

And contains

[AudioIO]
RecordingDevice=JACK Audio Connection Kit: system
Host=JACK Audio Connection Kit
PlaybackDevice=JACK Audio Connection Kit: system
RecordChannels=2
[GUI]
ShowSplashScreen=0

The contents are as falkTX specified above. The size of that file is 182 bytes. But I noticed that the file I wrote (with 'gedit') is 210 bytes. I don't understand this. Maybe there is extra white space? I copy/pasted that 182 byte file in case there was a difference. It made no difference.

I created another user account, thinking maybe I broke something during the install. It has the same problem with 'audacity' failing to recognize 'jack'

I'm stumped. Maybe this should move out of the KXStudio FAQ thread?

luster wrote:More on trying to get 'audacity' to recognize 'jack' in MXStudio/ubuntu12.04amd64.

Jack can see audacity only while playback or recording and the name is 'portaudio' afaik. That means if you press the 'play'-button, there should appear a new portaudio-device in catia. It will disapear, when you press the stop button.
Correct me if I'm wrong

Jack can see audacity only while playback or recording and the name is 'portaudio' afaik. That means if you press the 'play'-button, there should appear a new portaudio-device in catia. It will disapear, when you press the stop button.
Correct me if I'm wrong

That is correct. But I am not getting 'audacity' to see 'jack'. And more importantly, 'audacity' is killing 'jack' when started.

I knew this about audacity. I did actually start recording in 'audacity', paused it, then started 'jack' on the off chance that this may have had something to do with the issue, but I was grasping at straws.

I managed to get 'audacity' to remain running at the same time as 'jack' ('audacity' still did not see 'jack') but the system became unstable and several applications crashed, plus sound did not work in other applications. This causes me to recall all the trouble I had with 'pulseaudio' in 10.04. Maybe I'll look at stopping 'pulseaudio' first in the morning.

Resolved!

KXStudio has been exonerated.

I've had success with getting Audacity to be aware of Jack in my installation of KXStudio over ubuntustudio12.04amd64.

I finally narrowed down the problem. The problem appears to lie with the soundcard hardware, though it has worked in the past with ubuntustudio10.04amd64. (I've used the soundcard extensively--though I did find that I had to disable PulseAudio to get any meaningful audio uptime.)

Here's how I did it: I ran the ubuntustudio12.04amd64 live DVD, "try ubuntustudio without changing anything", and started Jack with QjackCtl. Next, I started Audacity. Jack immediately crashed.

This told me that the problem was with either the ubuntustudio12.04 or my hardware, and not with KXStudio.


Next, I booted back into the HDD-installed OS, and monitored messages from QjackCtl while starting Audacity. This led me to suspect that Jack was failing to talk to the soundcard. Excerpt below:

Messages from QjackCtl (running KXStudio/ubuntustudio12.04amd64 from HDD):



On this machine, I had disabled the onboard sound system via BIOS due to automatic reassignment of the hardware with each reboot. I re-enabled it and rebooted. I set Jack to use the onboard sound system instead of the Soundblaster Live! EMU10k1 / CT4620 soundcard.

With Jack running, I started Audacity. Jack did not crash. Audacity sees Jack and works with it.

The problem appears to lie with my soundcard itself, or with the way the software handles it. It's a very old card, which led me to suspect that it might work well. Guess not. I only use it because I need the midi interface.

So, I have discovered a work-around fix. I'd still like to get the soundcard working fully, but for now, the MIDI port is seen and works in Jack. Any further clues would be appreciated. I hope this helps others with similar problems.

Thanks again, falkTX, et al..

Success with KXStudio.

I finally managed to get everything working. And, it works very well, indeed! I am deeply appreciative of the work falkTX has done on this. It is an excellent platform.

I thought I should report here some of the errors I discovered that I had made earlier in the installation of KXStudio over my install of ubuntustudio12.04amd64. I finally decided it would be better to re-install everything, avoid my earlier errors, and see if I might be able to get a working system. I re-installed everything again. This was the third time. And final time, I think. The problems I had were due to my cluelessness.

1.) Earlier, I freshly installed ubuntustudio12.04amd64 on this machine but did not ensure that I had a working setup (i.e., I did not make any configuration/setup/update changes) before I installed KXStudio the first time. Consequently, I think I had difficulty trying to get stuff working after installing KXStudio. I think it would be a good idea to make sure everything is working as much as possible before installing KXStudio.

2.) I had trouble with my old soundblaster live soundcard and in fact had disabled the onboard audio in BIOS in order to use the soundblaster live with my earlier installation of ubuntustudio10.04amd64. I managed to get it to work in that earlier installation, but it was buggy. It required lots of workarounds. After I re-enabled the onboard audio in BIOS, I was able to discover that most of the problems were with the hardware. I should have been aware of the quirks of the hardware and able to think freshly rather than continuing with fixed and wrong-headed ideas.

3.) I wanted to enable the proprietary graphics driver for my Nvidia quadro FX 570 graphics card because I thought the additional monitoring and acceleration functions would be helpful. I finally managed to get the driver installed but it failed to perform as expected--I had trouble such as having youtube videos (when they would play) bleed over into other desktops and windows. Trying to fix this, I was found myself with an installation fixed at a resolution of 640x480. It was unusable. I couldn't figure out how to undo what I had done. I know, if it works, don't fix it, right? I suppose I had to find that out again.

4.) I unwisely installed the default KXStudio theme in the first installation. It's a nice theme, just too dark for me. I couldn't get rid of the darkness entirely. Definitely, as falkTX wisely says clearly in the instructions, CHECK IT OUT FIRST. It is hard to undo. I couldn't figure out how to undo it.

In this final installation, everything I have tried so far "just works". I'd say that should be the slogan of KXStudio: it just works.


Thank you, falkTX.

A few unrelated questions:

- now that I have a setup that I really like, and I want to be able to reinstall it quickly if I should ever lose it (heaven forbid!) what is the best/safest way? Is it sufficient to save a copy of my home folder?

- is there a good manual for learning how to use klaudia/Gladish/Ladish? I haven't used these apps yet and I'd like to get an orientation before starting to try them out.

- what is the easiest way to make a screencast video that I can upload to Youtube to demonstrate KXStudio?

- Jack priority is set at "default." Is that the best setting? I remember that some people have theirs set at a number like 70 or something..

- Amazingly, my system seems to work very nicely, yet I have only 2GB of RAM. Would I notice a difference if I added more?

Many thanks again,
brian

falkTX wrote:

briandc wrote:A few unrelated questions:

- now that I have a setup that I really like, and I want to be able to reinstall it quickly if I should ever lose it (heaven forbid!) what is the best/safest way? Is it sufficient to save a copy of my home folder?

Good question.
Yes, it's enough to make a backup of your home folder. I recommend to make a backup list of all available packages too if you want a 100% match (you can use synaptic to save package details, then install from that list later)

briandc wrote:- is there a good manual for learning how to use klaudia/Gladish/Ladish? I haven't used these apps yet and I'd like to get an orientation before starting to try them out.

I'll be writing some soon, and probably some videos too. Ask around for help if needed.

briandc wrote:- what is the easiest way to make a screencast video that I can upload to Youtube to demonstrate KXStudio?

I have a small script I use for my screencasts, but needs a little update. Are you ok with using KDE4 in the screencast? If yes, PM me and I'll let you test my script earlier

briandc wrote:- Jack priority is set at "default." Is that the best setting? I remember that some people have theirs set at a number like 70 or something..

It's usually good enough. A powerful computer should be able to handle most operations just fine.
You're free to give it a try though.

briandc wrote:- Amazingly, my system seems to work very nicely, yet I have only 2GB of RAM. Would I notice a difference if I added more?

HDD speed makes a lot of difference in Linux, since almost everything is written to disk (there is no registry like in Windows).
RAM will make difference if you have big projects. I know blender likes to eat RAM like a big, fat person

Thanks falkTX for your speedy help (as always!). I'll do some checking into your suggestions; I'd love to learn to make videos, if it's not too complicated, since time is always short. But Youtube needs more vids of KXStudio!!

brian

briandc wrote:- now that I have a setup that I really like, and I want to be able to reinstall it quickly if I should ever lose it (heaven forbid!) what is the best/safest way? Is it sufficient to save a copy of my home folder?

Useful tools:

Remastersys Backup --- the idea is to make your own distribution looking just like your system does right now. It is limited in size to the capacity of one DVD, so don't include your music. Very useful for installation milestone points. You can store ISOs on an external drive so you don't have to be burning DVDs all the time. Do check (another machine, or another partition) that your Remastersys backup does reinstall your system the way you want it. A virtual-machine test is good, but does not ensure the DVD will work for that real install when you need it.

APTonCD --- backs up all the applications you have downloaded. You can reinstall from from the CD and then just update them over the net. Saves downloading everything every time you reinstall from scratch.

A tar archive of all the .something files/directories in your home directory can get you out of trouble ...and into it if it is too old and you loose stuff.

Ubuntu Tweak --- useful tool for being able to backup all the desktop settings and stuff.

Grsync --- graphic front end to rsync. My everyday backup tool. Just copies the new/changed files. Useful whenever you need to keep two sets of files in sync.

... and keep a tar backup of your root file system and your home directory.

Call me paranoid? It's because I know how stupid I can be: I learnt the hard way!

Thad E Ginathom wrote:

briandc wrote:- now that I have a setup that I really like, and I want to be able to reinstall it quickly if I should ever lose it (heaven forbid!) what is the best/safest way? Is it sufficient to save a copy of my home folder?

Useful tools:

Remastersys Backup --- the idea is to make your own distribution looking just like your system does right now. It is limited in size to the capacity of one DVD, so don't include your music. Very useful for installation milestone points. You can store ISOs on an external drive so you don't have to be burning DVDs all the time. Do check (another machine, or another partition) that your Remastersys backup does reinstall your system the way you want it. A virtual-machine test is good, but does not ensure the DVD will work for that real install when you need it.

APTonCD --- backs up all the applications you have downloaded. You can reinstall from from the CD and then just update them over the net. Saves downloading everything every time you reinstall from scratch.

A tar archive of all the .something files/directories in your home directory can get you out of trouble ...and into it if it is too old and you loose stuff.

Ubuntu Tweak --- useful tool for being able to backup all the desktop settings and stuff.

Grsync --- graphic front end to rsync. My everyday backup tool. Just copies the new/changed files. Useful whenever you need to keep two sets of files in sync.

... and keep a tar backup of your root file system and your home directory.

Call me paranoid? It's because I know how stupid I can be: I learnt the hard way!

Hi Thad,
I know what you mean.. That bit about "saving your data" is wise advice indeed..

Of all your suggestions, do you do all of them? Or do you have a preference?

Up till now, I've only done DVD backups of the home directory, and I've considered trying gfl (Ghost for linux) but haven't yet. I suppose some methods are more "complete" than others, or more reliable..

brian

Wow, I appreciate all the backup suggestions. I definitely want to get secure on this myself, as I've now worked out a pretty good system that I'm very happy with.

One question: I looked at all these tools a bit before (though I wasn't clear about them all. These descriptions here are very useful). I decided to go with "Back In Time"
also Déjà Dup looks interesting. How do these relate to the tools you mentioned? Is Back In Time basically comparable functionality as Grsync? Back In Time is nice for native KDE qt support…

wolftune wrote:I decided to go with "Back In Time"
also Déjà Dup looks interesting. How do these relate to the tools you mentioned? Is Back In Time basically comparable functionality as Grsync? Back In Time is nice for native KDE qt support…

I used them both. they are mainly rsync based. backintime is a perfect solution, you can configure it just the way you want. Dejá Dub makes the decisons for you, very few configuration options

Does back-in-time allow you to go to a given point in your backup history?

Back in working days I used to do that with off-site-stored tapes, one every day over the month, with monthlies kept for every. As an individual I am much more casual, and yes, that has cost me, which is embarrassing for an ex-pro!

I don't look for that kind of time-sensitive backup for data: I just look to have the latest, and grsync gives me that very easily. I backup to two external hdds, one of which is supposed to be out of my house and get swapped around every week or so.

For the system, the first two tools I mention get a lot of use when I'm trying a new distribution, or a new version etc. I hate the way a brand-new Ubuntu ISO spends about an hour updating as it installs... First milestone, Ubuntu Studio, clean install. Second milestone, with KXStudio basics. Third milestone: KXStudio more stuff, and so on. Having a Remastersys Backup of each of these stages can save a lot of time when something hasn't worked out: you can go cleanly back to a previous point.

One can also use those ISOs to build virtual machines --- which are fine for messing around with desktops, look and feel and stuff, but not at all fine for anything to do with actual sound.

Of course, no data is involved at these stages: I keep that in file partitions/systems that are quite separate to / or /home, so it is relatively safe, and accessible to any Linux install on the machine. It also means that / and /home backups, of whatever kind, are relatively small. Even Thunderbird mail database is not in my home directory: just instructions in the thunderbird ini file to find it. Even some stuff that looks as if it is in the home directory is symbolic links to elsewhere. I mean do do that with wine sometime. ((But since Cool Edit Pro got temperamental on me and stopped working (even in native XP ) the only thing I do with wine is solitaire! But oh, I miss CEP ... I've haven't seen anything to beat its combination of straightforward interface and easily-used power; Audacity doesn't come even close.))

Having only been a systems manager, not a developer, I never needed to get into version control --- a whole other other other story.

Yes, Back In Time allows you to go back to previous versions.

Ok, I'm ready to do a RemasterSys backup. According to the website http://www.remastersys.com/ubuntu.html Ubuntu users would already have it installed in the system. I think that doesn't include Ubuntu Studio though (nor KXStudio) since I can't find it.

Should I install the Debian version instead? It looks to require a few extra packages: squashfs-modules and either aufs-modules or unionfs-modules.

Anyone try this on KXStudio?

brian

I suggest using Muon Package Manager in KXStudio (or if you are in a non-KDE system, it would be Synaptic instead)

This lets you search for available packages and install and manage them easily.
You can also install "Muon Software Center" or "Ubuntu Software Center" if you want to have a more flashy GUI app for exploring software.

The way to find the right package is to search in Muon for remastersys, and then you can just choose it and install (choose the main package and any required other packages will get marked automatically as well)