I think I've just found the perfect Linux distro for running rpr with WINE

[synth]

Originally Posted by rm -rp ./Matt*

Not sure where you found those numbers synth, Arch ISO is 160MB's, and base install is around 90MB-150MB, I can't see how size is of any concern to people just trying to find a good audio linux distro.

Here:
http://mirror.rit.edu/archlinux/iso/...04-rc-i686.iso

32-bit (287MB)

http://mirrors.unixheads.org/archlin...-rc-x86_64.iso

64-bit (303MB)

If the one you have is ~160MB,then you must be using a really old bulld (from 08/2007)

[tweed]

FTP install 160 - core on cd for cd install 290-300 meg.

I Do know that ARCH is for me.... bizarre to be able to say that after about 3 or 4 years of consistent trying and reading and thinking and reading and asking...etc..

thanks!

[Warpticon]

and here I am, trying to figure out how to get sound working in andLinux. :P

[rm -rp ./Matt*]

Originally Posted by synth

Here:
http://mirror.rit.edu/archlinux/iso/...04-rc-i686.iso

32-bit (287MB)

http://mirrors.unixheads.org/archlin...-rc-x86_64.iso

64-bit (303MB)

If the one you have is ~160MB,then you must be using a really old bulld (from 08/2007)

Ahh I see what you've done, you've looked at rc-4 iso which is still a testing release, so the size is dubious, likely to have multiple kernels on it to be tested differently, if you look at the last stable release, you'll see that it's 197MB.

And when we are talking about audio systems here size has got nothing to do with latency.

[synth]

There's no need for Arch,the "dream" Linux distro is finally here.

It's a meta-distro (a build environment), so it's not for the average user,but the final products (ISO images) created by this baby are going to be perfect for running Reap.

Imagine having an automatic way to build your own customized distro. You choose the kernel,drivers,libraries and packages from the most popular distros out there(Debian,Ubuntu,Fedora,Slackware,Arch,Puppy,etc.).The builder downloads, processes and trims the packages to remove all the unnecessary 'fat' and then you add some other tweaks. When all of this is done,the automated builder spits out a lean and mean customized Puppy ISO

Created by the same person who brought you Puppy Linux,this is going to start a revolution in the way Linux distros are created

http://puppylinux.com/woof/

Woof Woof!

[LateStarter]

It looks like the way NimbleX works, but it's very clever because it can use Debian, Ubuntu or Slackware packages.
It's a bit beyond me right now, but more power to you if you make a nice audio ISO with everything Reaper needs.

[caleb]

synth - I'm hoping to do some testing of Linux distributions in the near future as I'm intending to buy a specialised laptop for ongoing music composition and maybe even performance.

I actually thought there was only one answer for this question "64Studio" which shows how little I know about the state of play.

So now I see these two being discussed in this thread Arch and Puppy. There's a bit of hype and jargon in the comments, but I guess what I'm interested in is the usual - speed, stability and capability. For me - although I work in a Unix environment at work - I still consider myself to be *nix-stupid so I would add that I don't want to have to be a *nix nerd to actually use the thing - GUI desktop would be nice. It doesn't actually have to closely resemble some latest Windows desktop though, I'm not that inflexible.

I don't know where it was but I heard if you run alot of VST/VSTi on Linux, then it's better to get a 32bit distribution. Don't really know much about 32bit vs 64bit but I do know that VSTi/VSTfx will form the core of my sound-making etc... so the distribution needs to allow for that.

It looks like Arch Linux is 64bit at a glance - not sure if this eliminates it as a candidate or not. What is Puppy?

Anyway - feedback appreciated.

Regards
Caleb

[tweed]

ARCH is 32 and 64 and optimized for i686...not way way old machines that is.

ARCH's system is uber-special.... as one may surmize a bit from looking at the distrowatch tally, reading on the ARCH site in the comparisions section and for me I became able to use linux because of ARCH and the site and the forum. This happened after around 10 years of not getting it while dabbling.

Can't go way into it here, though I'm certainly one of those types that'll just go thru endless reading/studying/testing to get to be able to say, to myself..... well, you're learning the right software... as we all know it often takes just as long to learn any software, may as well be the best one for the intended user.

I did it, anyone who believes/knows it's worth going deep on can also. I freaking love LINUX.

Puppy is great and woof looks promising. It's whole premise of course is the portability thing.. I got way into puppy as a boot cd a while back and know a bit about the usb/cd boot persistent media aspect and an install done to a hard drive... obviously quite different .... if you look inside puppy it's vastly different than a svelt regular install.

I don't have a summing up at the moment and am way tired..
Writing to say thank for bringing woof to my attention.. I knew the puppy-master was semi-retiring and had a pet project.... though didn't know it was Woof..

Anyways... LINUX: it's such an exciting and deep thing...

I'm just pointing out that to get it to boot off media and then be able to save the generated data to external or any media (persistence) ....well, with puppy4, I found, was it 7 folders in one spot all with similar names (sorry I'm beat here - no time to be detailed and check - thoguh I'd like to hehehe)

And it generates a ton of the xorg stuff based on what machine it thinks it's booting...

um, for me I'd build an ARCH live whatever specifically for the intended machine... or boot from external.
Linux is very roubust....none of that win registry, and can't swap drives stuff pretty much.. I only use win for music now and that's currently yukkie feeling [yuk yuk!] though manageable.

That said I'd be very thrilled if Barry has some genius in store for us and we can use whatever kernel we like and packaging system etc...

Still... know thy OS comes to mind... my week of being bit by the pup is still clear in my memory... there seems to be no easy way to overcomes knowing all the cool stuff required to do it without ..um, well, you get it.... Took me 6 months and I'm definitely solid with what I can do and how to find out what I may need a bit of tutoring on... personally.

um, sorry for the bit-o-crap post.... and thanks for the info.
what the heck, I'm just tired enough to push send....
haven't said much, not what I had hoped/intended..

no matter!
best wishes to all!

[Mark90]

I am a total linux noobie
but this is what I done
1)Downloaded puppylinux 4.1.2 from here
http://www.puppylinux.org/downloads/...uppy-linux-412
and installed it on usb stick

2)Downloaded wine.pet and wine menu from here
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=274091
and installed it

Pointed the file manager at my reaper installation on windoze

bingo

Reaper on linux

I am totally gobsmacked.

[maa]

Has anyone tried the JAD /(Jack Labs Audio Dist) ?
Its supposed to have a special real time kernel - I've installed it but havn't a clue about Linux and how to get it all working.
They say its really snappy with Reaper and EnergyXT.....

[ivansc]

Motivated entirely by getting Reaper up and running on a PC under Linux. I am a real beginner, having succeeded in installing a few automated distros notably Ubuntu.
Now the idea of reaper on a stick through Linux really rocked me.

I have found and downloaded the puppy distro and also the wine 1.13 file, but is this going to include the menu part you refer to above as well?

Please tell me I don`t have to mess with compiling this or un-tar`ing or why?

What I am planning on doing is saving the distro onto my PC and following the linux on a stick instructions, then lighting up puppy and telling it to find the other stuff, before finally pointing it at the .exe code for reaper.


So where am I going wrong so far?

Any help gratefully accepted.

[LateStarter]

If you have some experience of Linux and want to try another fast lightweight distro that runs in RAM and can boot from USB or whatever and is easy to make custom flavours, have a look at slitaz too.
http://www.slitaz.org/en/
a contributor has also made a realtime kernal for it here:
http://ztudio.lars-helander.name/
but I haven't had the time or bravery to get stuck in and try that out yet.

[ivansc]

well I got puppy onto a USB stick and it runs but I`m buggered if I can get it to talk to my wireless network, something that was totally easy and painless under Ubuntu.

Bit disappointing & I have put the toys away for today.
May go back and have another go tomorrow.

ItIS very little though, isnt it?

[GrantsV]

Puppy Woof promises to be the most amazing distro. Ubuntu ease of use coupled with Puppy speed!

[pjk]

well I got puppy onto a USB stick and it runs

If you guys could shed light on the steps involved, i'd appreciate it (and probably some others would as well).

I've been looking though some sites, and am not sure of the steps you guys are using to put puppy onto a USB stick.

Thanks for helping clear this up.

bingo

Reaper on linux

I'd love to be just as content =).

[caleb]

Trying to organise testing Puppy, 64Studio and JAD for the moment. I won't be able to look at Arch until I get my new laptop as my existing computer is too old. If I'm not mistaken, Arch won't work on i386 hardware.

I've already played with Puppy a bit - just clicking around a little. I don't really understand Puppy too well at the moment so I'll need to read some stuff and get my head around how to extend it the way I want. Certain things look nice though.

Regards
Caleb

[synth]

I don't recommend using v4.1.2. It's old,looks like Win98 and has some network / printing issues. Just wait a few days until Puppy 4.2 is released.

"We're trying to make [Puppy 4.2] the best (standard) version of Puppy ever produced as a testament to Barry's amazing work"

"We're making this version more user-friendly by improving,adding and revising many things to make life easier for Windows refugees."

It's much better than version 4.1.2. This time it gets a major facelift,up-to-date packages,more device drivers,enhanced bootup and shutdown,tons of new useful apps,localizations,more user-friendliness,widgets,better printing,improved ISO remastering,tons of bugfixes and under-the-hood changes... The old 4.1.2 looks and feels like an old hat compared to this one

[synth]

Originally Posted by caleb

I don't really understand Puppy too well at the moment so I'll need to read some stuff and get my head around how to extend it the way I want. Certain things look nice though.

Check out the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppy_Linux and the links at DistroWatch: http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=puppy



LOL:

[ivansc]

just wait for puppy 4.2.99

Seems to be a similar mindse tto what caused the ill-fated TSR2 to be cancelled. Everyone is so busy "improving " it they forget about promoting it to the rank and file.

I know you guys all mean well but a little help here or on one of the Linux forums would go a long way.

After several p[eople posted a follow up asking for help when one newb succeeded in getting Reaper up and running, all we seem to get is ignored.

HELP!

(please)

[synth]

@ ivansc: You'll find your answer in this review:
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/puppy-revisited.html

[synth]

Originally Posted by Mark90

I am a total linux noobie
but this is what I done
1)Downloaded puppylinux 4.1.2 from here
http://www.puppylinux.org/downloads/...uppy-linux-412
and installed it on usb stick

2)Downloaded wine.pet and wine menu from here
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=274091
and installed it

Pointed the file manager at my reaper installation on windoze

bingo

Reaper on linux

I am totally gobsmacked.

It works,but you only did half of the work. For best latency/performance you still need to install Jack,QJackCtl,WineASIO and (optionally) the latest proprietary drivers for your graphics card.Easily done with a few .PET packages.

[ubersoft]

The "size" of a Linux distribution is misleading, because it includes software and development tools. Because of that it will often be much larger than a standard Windows operating system install.

That said... what you're usually getting is the equivalent of Windows plus Development tools for C, C++, PHP, Python, Perl, plus the equivalent of Microsoft Office Professional, plus a complete webserver setup in /var/www, as well as a complete set of internet tools.

This is not a bad thing -- and installing all of those applications on a Windows machine would take up more than 300mb. Microsoft Office Professional alone comes close to hitting 300mb.

If all you want is a system for recording music, then yes, looking for a stripped down linux distro without all the extras makes sense. But if you use your computer for more than music recording there's no reason to be bothered by a 300mb install.

[ivansc]

Synth - you are a gentleman.


I`ll go see if I can pound that lot through my thick skull but I do have a gig to play first tonight.

Monday, monday....


Couldn`t resist a peek. SO it`s the Pwireless wizard for me? Hope it does better than the obvious one, which found my network, I entered all my stuph and it still couldnt talk to the outisde world although every other machine on the network was.


May try a wired connection if this fails again.

Tuesday, Tuesday......

[caleb]

Originally Posted by synth

I don't recommend using v4.1.2. It's old,looks like Win98 and has some network / printing issues. Just wait a couple of days until Puppy 4.2 is released.



It's much better than version 4.1.2. This time it gets a major facelift,up-to-date packages,more device drivers,enhanced bootup and shutdown,tons of new useful apps,localizations,more user-friendliness,widgets,better printing,improved ISO remastering,tons of bugfixes and under-the-hood changes... The old 4.1.2 looks and feels like an old hat compared to this one

I will certainly try 4.2. Actually the interface isn't bothering me too much at the moment and I do like some of the included software.

At the moment - until I get my new laptop I'm stuck with a fairly aged desktop and a work laptop - but I have an 8GB USB stick at my disposal. I'm going to try to set up a WakePup floppy (as I would be surprised if my desktop was able to boot from USB - it's still USB 1 ). Then I'll have the main filesystem on the USB stick.

I'm not sure about the whole "load into RAM" benefits of Puppy as I'm going to be doing the music thing - which tends to use quite a bit of RAM. But for the moment I'm happy to go that way as I'm really just trialling capabilities.

Would you be able to point me towards .pet files for WineASIO, Jack etc... Basically - the things I need for working with music including Windows VSTs etc..?

I keep hearing about realtime kernal for music production. Does Puppy use this? Can it use this? I know nothing about this topic only heard that it was a good idea for music production.

Do you happen to know if you suffer much of a hit running Windows programs/plug-ins under Wine/WineASIO?

If I'm thinking about live performance I guess I could take a Linux version of XT2 and create the necessary soundsets using the Synth/Sampler or even one of the Linux synth/samplers rather than using Windows applications/plugs if it's necessary. Just want a heads up that's all.

Regards
Caleb

[Mark90]

Originally Posted by synth

It works,but you only did half of the work. For best latency/performance you still need to install Jack,QJackCtl,WineASIO and (optionally) the latest proprietary drivers for your graphics card.Easily done with a few .PET packages.

Cheers mate,
I was only mucking about with an old usb stick, and it struck me
how much better the new linux distro's have advanced, like it was
so quick and effortless to get wine working, (no make commands- lost dependencies, etc)


Will try and get the jack interfaces installed later.

Thanks for the advice.

[tweed]

puppy and slitaz and the few other are cool.

I backed off after some puppy fun 'cause I wanted to know one distro and linux well enough, and also to be able to build a ram boot version etc. etc. etc. when and if I needed. Linux understanding for me has gone exponential recently. I'm getting it. I'd say commitment to 'getting it' was what I lacked for years and years.

I think there's never been a better time to learn linux. I have replaced everything xp/vista based ever did for me with apps/packages that go from full GUI types to amazing little console terminal run apps. I like the little apps. I still boot up windows to run REAPER and a video util.

I get calm (hehehe) when I realize how accurate I am about saying that...personally, for me, of course.

I'm thinking if you're going to lots of different machines and you wanna have puppy recognize the hardware that's great. If you're planning on one main machine (I know there's lots of in betweens on this comment)

Well, it's not a simple matter to alter the files on the usb stick. There's like 7 or 8 compressed files on the usb stick, total. I use puppy as a boot OS, and then alter other partitions and do from-drive partition and usb installs, though not of puppy.

Puppy is a charm for sure. Myself, probably I would take an external usb hard-drive and install my regular distro install to it, and boot from that. using PloP or similar if a wakepup floppy is needed. There's something I like about learning, grub, disk and file manipulation commands so puppy adds another layer that would have to be achieved in tandem with getting better at a regular linux install. Puppy has frugal install (or a, for me, more perplexing 'actual' full install) which is not what I mean by regular install.

puppy obviously saves to one compressed file every time it shuts down. There's options of course. Puppy's benefit to me is that it'll boot on any machine. and it's just kinda cool. lotta love gone into it.

My late night half awake words here. 4.2 will be cool for sure. The woof concept will be very interesting however. All pretty cool.

[synth]

Well, it's not a simple matter to alter the files on the USB stick. There's like 7 or 8 compressed files on the USB stick, total.

It's actually very easy to alter stuff.Just boot puppy with the "pfix=ram" option,browse to your pup_save_whatever.sfs file on the USB stick and click on it.Puppy will mount the compressed file and you can alter/change/delete anything you like
When you're finished with the editing,just click on the .sfs file again to unmount it.Reboot Puppy and start it normally.

Puppy is meant to be used as a frugal install.You can install it to your hard drive as a regular distro,but then you will lose its best features (portable,easy to upgrade,easy to back up and easy to recover/restore)

Puppy 4.2 will allow for extremely large save files,so there won't be any benefit of installing it as a regular distro.

For advanced customization, there's the Puppy Remaster script.
Puppy 4.2 will take remastering to a whole new level - it's like nLite for Linux

And,finally,for those who like to build everything from scratch there are two options - the old classic 'Puppy Unleashed' and the new,vastly improved 'Woof' build system

[tweed]

Cool Synth... Appreciate your expertise for sure!

I'm at the point where my gut and fingers know a lot of stuff and how to get my needed result/understanding with Linux every time. FINALLY! Yet I'm not able to expound tips/best practices/gottchas/potential-dead-ends except for the areas I've become a bit expert in through struggling relentlessly/successfully.

READ: Happy to know what's different (verging on proprietary) about puppy (if anything) as regards live boots.


The whole windows registry hacks nLite and the whole years of windows vibe is just something that's called when needed, passionless. I thought about it a lot and based on my applying what I've needed to learn (with happy surprises every time) I am sure now that REALLY learning Linux IS a very time worthy thing.

Only takes a couple of days. Then after a couple of week, and a couple of months it's all so cool.

For me, I've found: The ARCH linux beginner's guide covers the necessary terms then a google here and a goggle there. I found it's really only the terms, and then a slight shift to the better as far as the /root directory, no registry = text files for prefs, and then how powerful the command line thing is and that all apps really are just GUIs on top of command line able stuff... If that's said right enough.

Thanks!

Happy to follow the thread here and pick stuff up!

um, /and /stuff

[rjs]

rm -fr /

Ack.. it was all here just a minute ago.

eh... won't take my Debian from me. Just download a tweaked rt kernel for the lower latency. All set.

[synth]

Originally Posted by rjs

rm -fr /

Ack.. it was all here just a minute ago.

You can do the same thing to your Windows install if you're an ass (just type Format C:\ or *.* to delete everything) or your Debian install ("sudo rm -rf /")

But unlike your Debian or Windows install,you can NOT screw up/delete the system files,only your personal data

And even if that happens,it's no big deal - just boot Puppy with "pfix=ram" and use the Windows app 'Recuva' [with WINE] to recover everything

[rjs]

Yeah. I used dos when Bill was a yuppie. 2.1 I think I started on.

[StudioDave]

Originally Posted by maa

Has anyone tried the JAD /(Jack Labs Audio Dist) ?
Its supposed to have a special real time kernel - I've installed it but havn't a clue about Linux and how to get it all working.
They say its really snappy with Reaper and EnergyXT.....

JAD is Reaper-ready, as long as Wine and the wineasio driver have been installed. I run JAD on an AMD64 3800+ system, with latency in JACK at less than 6 msecs. Performance overall is very good, not quite as good as my 64 Studio system (a pure 64-bit system) but xruns are relatively rare.

(xrun = audio buffer over/underrun)

Nice to see so many folks still interested in running Reaper under Linux.

[maa]

Its sad that no one has done a tutorial for complete idiots.
I install these things and don't know what to do.
No Asio -
No idea how to 'install' anything
No clue what Jack actulally does.
Not a clue about FAD or how to get the sodding Firewire going - why is it left out in the first place???

So its all still frustrating to me even if Reaper will start on the laptop with the onboard frog as a sound card on Slax, MiPup, etc...

[dellboy]

There was quite a bit of advice given in another Linux thread a while back.

Basically,download the normal Puppy linux 4.1.2 and burn the ISO to a disk.Boot the CD and follow the instructions to get to the desktop.There is a wizard available to install to a USB stick.

Boot from the USB stick and follow the instructions in this previous thread.

http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=26690&page=5

[synth]

The whole windows registry hacks nLite and the whole years of windows vibe is just something that's called when needed, passionless. I thought about it a lot and based on my applying what I've needed to learn (with happy surprises every time)

I was talking about the component removal / fat trimming features of nLite,not the registry tweaks/hacks and stuff (I don't like those). Puppy's 'Remaster Express' is like having only the best parts of nLite,but for Linux.Unlike other remastering scripts that only do a snapshot of the OS,this one removes 'building block' components as well.

[synth]

Originally Posted by maa

Its sad that no one has done a tutorial for complete idiots.
I install these things and don't know what to do.
No Asio -
No idea how to 'install' anything
No clue what Jack actulally does.
Not a clue about FAD or how to get the sodding Firewire going - why is it left out in the first place???

So its all still frustrating to me even if Reaper will start on the laptop with the onboard frog as a sound card on Slax, MiPup, etc...

Looks like I'll have to make some up-to-date .PET packages and a tutorial when 4.2 is released.

[synth]

Originally Posted by ivansc

Couldn`t resist a peek. SO it`s the Pwireless wizard for me? Hope it does better than the obvious one, which found my network, I entered all my stuph and it still couldnt talk to the outisde world although every other machine on the network was.

Try it.If you still have problems (most likely you have very new / unsupported hardware),post a message in this thread:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=34159
and they'll make a driver package / fix for you.

[synth]

Here are some work-in-progress screenshots from Puppy 4.2 (beta):

(splash screen during boot instead of the boring black commandline)


(A new look for the modern times.Choose from hundreds of great-looking,but lightweight themes and color schemes)


(Now it looks just like Ubuntu )


(Heavy Metal radio rocks )


(Gadgets,Calendar,CPU/MEM usage indicators and lots of other goodies)

[daverich]

Originally Posted by ivansc

well I got puppy onto a USB stick and it runs but I`m buggered if I can get it to talk to my wireless network, something that was totally easy and painless under Ubuntu.

Bit disappointing & I have put the toys away for today.
May go back and have another go tomorrow.

ItIS very little though, isnt it?

did you get this sorted?

There are a few little hoops you need to jump through but as I remember puppy pretty much took me through it once i'd got to the network manager.

Kind regards

Dave Rich

[ivansc]

as always my "other" life of fixing up computers for needy folks got in the way and I am no further forward.
I have to go to France for a few weeks soon so I`ll see if I can get it all rocking once I get out there with fewer distractions.

My biggest problem is I have to split myself up into the dweeb who fixes PCs, the musician who mostly uses Commodore Amigas and the Linux newb.
Plus the REST of my life outside computers....
*sigh*