Qtractor 0.4.3 System Exclusive setup feature and my hardware.

One of the new features of Qtractor is a Sys Ex message that can be sent when a MIDI track with an assigned instrument is connected to its output in the connections window.

Cool, this way I can use my Korg X3 in combination mode or sequencer mode, and keep that choice remembered in the song's Qtractor session.

Here's how I've set it up:

First go to "view" > "buses" in Qtractor's main window.
Then choose MIDI master bus, your instrument and hit the Sys Ex button.

Now give your Sys Ex message a name, enter the Sys Ex in the textfield below and click on the "add" button.

Now hit "Export" to save as .syx file.

I exported a "set-combination-mode.syx" and a "set-sequencer-mode.syx", so when I start a new Qtractor session and use the Korg-x3, all I have to do is open the right syx file, hit "Add" & "Ok" and the next time I open this Session, the Korg will jump to the right mode at the making of the connection.

fxload doesn't load the midisport 2x2 usb at boot

Since I installed the Ubuntu 8.10 generic kernel, (to get rid of a current multicore cpu bug in the -rt kernel version), the midisport 2x2 in my setup isn't loaded at boot anymore.

A quick way to fix it are these three commands:

Do this to remember the x and y values

:~$ lsusb | grep Midi
Bus 00x Device 00y: ID 0763:1001 Midiman MidiSport 2x2

Let the usb filesystems come to the kernel

:~$ sudo mount -t usbfs usbfs /proc/bus/usb/

Load the fish into the usb filesystem with the x and y values you just noted on your hand.

:~$ fxload -I /etc/firmware/ezusbmidi2x2.ihx -D /proc/bus/usb/00x/00y

If you see the little one come to life with a flashing led,
all is well and you can say 'it's OK'.
Man, I feel like I'm helping to write a new Bible, lol.

the usual alsa troubleshooting commands

Some commands I use to get alsa going like I want it to.

Get the names of the sound cards:

peter@ubustu:~$ asoundconf list
Names of available sound cards:
HDMI
HDMI_1
M1010
M2x2
BCR2000

Get the names of the snd modules for the cards:

peter@ubustu:~$ cat /proc/asound/modules
0 snd_hda_intel
1 snd_hda_intel
2 snd_ice1712
3 snd_usb_audio
4 snd_usb_audio

Set the default soundcard: (this is obsolete)

peter@ubustu:~$ asoundconf set-default-card M1010

Edit the alsa-base file:

peter@ubustu:~$ sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base

Alternative ways, get more info about the sound cards:

peter@ubustu:~$ cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [HDMI ]: HDA-Intel - HDA ATI HDMI
HDA ATI HDMI at 0xfe8e8000 irq 19
1 [HDMI_1 ]: HDA-Intel - HDA ATI HDMI
HDA ATI HDMI at 0xfe9ec000 irq 19
2 [M1010 ]: ICE1712 - M Audio Delta 1010
M Audio Delta 1010 at 0xe800, irq 21
3 [M2x2 ]: USB-Audio - MidiSport 2x2
M-Audio MidiSport 2x2 at usb-0000:00:12.1-1, full speed
4 [BCR2000 ]: USB-Audio - BCR2000
BEHRINGER BCR2000 at usb-0000:00:12.1-2, full speed

peter@ubustu:~$ cat /proc/asound/pcm
00-03: ATI HDMI : ATI HDMI : playback 1
01-03: ATI HDMI : ATI HDMI : playback 1
02-00: ICE1712 multi : ICE1712 multi : playback 1 : capture 1

peter@ubustu:~$ lspci | grep udio
01:05.1 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc RS780 Azalia controller
02:00.1 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc RV620 Audio device [Radeon HD 34xx Series]
05:03.0 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies Inc. ICE1712 [Envy24] PCI Multi-Channel I/O Controller (rev 02)

Get info about your alsa driver version and kernel:

peter@ubustu:~$ cat /proc/asound/version
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.16.
Compiled on Dec 2 2008 for kernel 2.6.24-23-rt (SMP).

Info about USB devices:

peter@ubustu:~$ lsusb
[snip]
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0763:1002 Midiman (= the M-Audio Midisport 2x2)
[snip]
Bus 003 Device 005: ID 04b4:6830 Cypress Semiconductor Corp. USB-2.0 IDE Adapter (= the Behringer BCR2000)
[snip]

Alsa configuration files:

~/.asoundrc
user-specific ALSA library configuration file

~/.asoundrc.asoundconf
file containing asoundconf-managed parameter settings

asoundconf manual:

peter@ubustu:~$ man asoundconf

Now I won't forget these anymore, if you've know other commands that I forgot about, please be welcome to leave them in the comments.

Edit: here's a nice diagram to show the structure of how ALSA works:

Installing gspca-modules in 64 Studio

Installing gspca-modules in 64 Studio .

The gspca-modules contain drivers for webcams, but they need to be compiled for
64 Studio before you can use them, so here's a little how-to ...
This should work for all webcams listed here.

(Make sure) this package is installed:
gspca-modules-2.6.17-2-

multimedia-486
version 01.00.04-2+2.6.17-9 (apt.64studio.com)
and this one too:
gspca-source
version 01.00.04-2 (stable)

To unpack the sourcefiles I did:

peter@64studio:/usr/src$ sudo bunzip2 gspca-source.tar.bz2
cd into the new directory:
peter@64studio:/usr/src$ cd modules/gspca/

Now prepare module-assistant:

peter@64studio:/usr/src/modules/gspca$ sudo m-a prepare
[skip]
a lot of messages came and 'cause all went well, it ended with
...
Done!

Now auto install gspca :

peter@64studio:/usr/src/modules/gspca$ sudo m-a a-i gspca
[skip]
again a lot of messages and 'cause all went well, again
...
Done!

The driver is now installed and the webcam works :-)

Useful links:
gspca home page : http://mxhaard.free.fr/
list of supported cams
/usr/share/doc/gspca-source/README.Debian.gz

killall esd trick, pstree weirdness

After playing for a while with 64Studio , and trying some packages to change the look and feel of the desktop environment , suddenly I got an error message while starting Jack Control .

I posted a request for help on the 64studio users mailing list . (read it here)

The process esd was already using the hw:0 soundcard, so I could start qjackctl after first doing killall esd. (with Alacarte Menu Editor, it's easy to change the command in properties for Jack Control to "killall esd & qjackctl")
A second option is to go to the GNOME menu, then Desktop , Preferences , Sound , and disable software sound mixing (ESD) .
The third option is to replace libesd0 with libesd-alsa0, this way esd can keep running while I start qjackctl.

Something I still have to try out one day is what Ralf proposed to do here , I just didn't take the time to figure it out yet.

how to set up asoundrc to use jackd

(Edit: For UbuntuStudio 8.04 or 8.10, this will not work, see bug #84900)

how to get Flash (via Firefox) to play when jackd is running?
how to set up .asoundrc file so alsa uses Jack as an output?


Here's how it's adviced to do on the alsa wiki:
In short, you can set up your asoundrc file to specify JACK as the output, like so:

pcm.!default {
  type plug
slave { pcm "jack" }
}

pcm.jack {
type jack
playback_ports {
    0 alsa_pcm:playback_1
    1 alsa_pcm:playback_2
}
capture_ports {
    0 alsa_pcm:capture_1
    1 alsa_pcm:capture_2
}
}

ctl.mixer0 {
type hw
card 0
}

For my Delta1010 I'll have to change this a bit,
but to be honest, I'm overworked and the Belgian state is getting me to a nervous breakdown with their "activation of the search behaviour of the unemployed", and I'm unemployed so they think it's ok to send me to Amsterdam for a job. As if there's nobody unemployed in Amsterdam.

Adding items to the main menu

To start up the loading and connecting process (if it didn't happen automatically at boot) of my Speedtouch 330 USB modem, I added a shortcut in the >Applications >Internet menu. Here's the little "how to add items to the main menu "

In UbuntuStudio I went to
>System
>Preferences
>Main menu
(or in the terminal type : alacarte)
and I get this window :

There choose the "internet" menu (on the left) and "+ new item" (on the right).





The launcher properties window appears . To be able to execute a sudo command , where I'll need to enter my password , I choose "Type" "Application in terminal" . "Name" becomes "Connect ADSL " and the "Command" goes "sudo /etc/init.d/dial start -v"
Choosing an icon and setting a comment are optional .

Now this also is my way to find out how to launch any program listed in the Main menu from the terminal . E.g to find out this Main Menu editor can be launched by typing "alacarte" , I opened it, went to the "system" and "preferences" tab , right clicked on "Main menu" , and I get the Launcher properties for "Main menu" where the command goes "alacarte" .

Set the default sound card in Ubuntu (or UbuntuStudio)

When your computer has more than one sound cards installed, you probably want to use one of them as the default output. Here's a step by step tutorial for the newbie ...

Step 1: Open the terminal and type

asoundconf list

you get a list of the recognized cards like this :

peter@ubustudio:~$ asoundconf list
Names of available sound cards:
SI7012
M1010
Live
M2x2

Step2: In my case , the M1010 is the one I prefer so I type :

asoundconf set-default-card M1010

and the job is done.

Note: When I reboot my computer, the soundcards switch places so I often have to do these settings again . I'm looking for a way to fix this , if you have any recommendations , please leave a reply.