Puppy Studio: A Superior Technology

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l0wt3ch

Puppy Studio: A Superior Technology

#1 Post by l0wt3ch »

Once upon a time, musicians had to worry about "latency". Edit JACK settings. Configure their audio cards, install complicated software... and that's if realtime recording was even possible on your computer. Setting up an authentic, professional-grade, Linux audio workstation was next-to-impossible for the average person. And even then, industry-standard digital effects weren't compatible with Linux, because they were in VST format. All that time you spent was wasted, and you had to go crawling back to Windows.

Fortunately, neither ourselves or those that are to follow need worry about such things any longer.

No more hassling to set up JACK, or trying in vain to get a realtime kernel working. Everything comes pre-configured for you out-of-the-box with Puppy Studio - you don't have to be l33t to use it. All of the work of having a professional-quality Linux studio is done for you, simplifying the entire user experience.

Puppy Studio runs entirely in RAM, making it faster and more efficient. Combined with the realtime kernel, that means no other OS gets latencies as low. Not even close!


There's no need to install anything, and it can be carried in your pocket on a USB stick.

It even comes with a fully-functional trial version of REAPER with VST support.

Puppy Studio: the fastest, most fully-featured, multimedia creation software in the world!

.
Last edited by l0wt3ch on Sat 30 Oct 2010, 12:17, edited 4 times in total.

aarf

#2 Post by aarf »

All for free, then these very same musicians will have the gall to claim royalties for THEIR work and kick up a screaming fuss if they miss out on one red cent.

calexand
Posts: 75
Joined: Fri 20 Nov 2009, 18:30

#3 Post by calexand »

Lowtech,
Right on and quite accurate! 8)

postfs1

#4 Post by postfs1 »

To reedit up to date.
Last edited by postfs1 on Sun 27 Mar 2016, 22:21, edited 4 times in total.

maans
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu 07 Jan 2010, 18:56
Location: Denmark

Re: Why Puppy Studio Really IS The Best

#5 Post by maans »

l0wt3ch wrote:Once upon a time, musicians had to worry about "latency". Edit JACK settings. Configure their audio cards, install complicated software... and that's if realtime recording was even possible on your computer. Setting up an authentic, professional-grade, Linux audio workstation was next-to-impossible for the average person. And even then, industry-standard digital effects weren't compatible with Linux, because they were in VST format. All that time you spent was wasted, and you had to go crawling back to Windows.
That's true allright - I've been fiddling with most of them myself: JAD (jacklab Open Suse) Studio64 and Ubuntu Studio. Studio2go, Musix and Dyne:Bolic were exceptions - meant to be run as livesystems based on realtimekernels. (I wonder if anyone has a full Studio2Go live-cd? - The project stopped app 2 years ago)
l0wt3ch wrote: Fortunately, neither ourselves or those that are to follow need worry about such things any longer.
No more hassling to set up JACK, or trying in vain to get a realtime kernel working. Everything comes pre-configured for you out-of-the-box with Puppy Studio - you don't have to be l33t to use it. All of the work of having a professional-quality Linux studio is done for you, simplifying the entire user experience.

I still can't install Tux-guitar, MuseScore or Pencil - When I try - some dependencies are broken or overwritten - don't know which.... MuseScore is the better choice for writing scores, it handles several voices pr staff (unlike Rosegarden) and exports to Lilypond as well. It delivers realtime monitoring of written material (unlike Denemo) - It's a "must have" for musicians writing music - and Finale/Sibelius users will have a chance to convert :-).
Tuxguitar - is needed for all those young guitarists out there, who has got an illegal copy of GuitarPro (Windows). TuxGuitar can work with GPro- files (tabs and notes) and save as GuitarPro-format as well - Musicians OpenOffice :wink: ... It's a mature and stable highquality program, which deserves to be (al least in my own) bundled with the PuppyStudio Livecd...
As for mentioning Pencil - I can just say that 2'd animation has never been presented more elegant and simple. It hasn't got all the "bells and whistles" from ToonBoomStudio and it doesn't try to (as K-Toon). It has a simple "paint-like" interface, which lets anyone start drawing/importing images - 4 types of layers in a timeline (raster, vector, camera and sound) and the ability to export flash, single images and other movieformats. There's a world of difference between using i.e. Blender and Pencil when we talk of learningcurve. There is *no* learningcurve for using Pencil!! - I think Pencil deserves to be in any Puppy Linux distribution.. :wink:
l0wt3ch wrote: Puppy Studio[/i]: the fastest, most fully-featured, multimedia creation software in the world![/size][/url]
Maybe it is :D

Congratulations - Good job!

Cheers Måns Mårtensson

adXok
Posts: 68
Joined: Fri 12 Mar 2010, 12:08

#6 Post by adXok »

Agreed to what maans said!

maans
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu 07 Jan 2010, 18:56
Location: Denmark

Re: Why Puppy Studio Really IS The Best

#7 Post by maans »

maans wrote: I still can't install Tux-guitar, MuseScore or Pencil - When I try - some dependencies are broken or overwritten - don't know which....
Hey:
Eventually I got all three applications + GOopenOffice with Olily extension installed. (Olily lets you write notes in Open Office via LilyPond - great extension!!)
Image

Cheers Måns Mårtensson

maans
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu 07 Jan 2010, 18:56
Location: Denmark

Re: Why Puppy Studio Really IS The Best

#8 Post by maans »

maans wrote: I still can't install Tux-guitar, MuseScore or Pencil - When I try - some dependencies are broken or overwritten - don't know which....
Hey:
Eventually I got all three applications + GOopenOffice with Olily extension installed. (Olily lets you write notes in Open Office via LilyPond - great extension!!)
[img=http://imageshack.dk/imagesfree/kCC72450.png]screenshot[/img]
all working2.png
Cheers Måns Mårtensson

johnrule
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon 18 Oct 2010, 20:31

#9 Post by johnrule »

I appreciate that you made this distro, and I would really like to try it, but I keep getting a kernel panic during the "loading 'pup-xxx.sfs' copying to ram" bit . I did try the pfix=ram switch, and it did the same...

I tried an older distro (pup-431?) and it loads fine.

It's a VIA chipset mobo (MSI k8MM3-V) with an AMD Turion 64 4000+ cpu, 2 gig of memory, and a 1TB hard drive.

Thanks,
JR

l0wt3ch

#10 Post by l0wt3ch »

johnrule wrote:I appreciate that you made this distro, and I would really like to try it, but
Um, excuse me... this is the "Puppy Studio is the Best" thread.

The Puppy Studio support thread is here.

johnrule
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon 18 Oct 2010, 20:31

#11 Post by johnrule »

l0wt3ch wrote:
johnrule wrote:I appreciate that you made this distro, and I would really like to try it, but
Um, excuse me... this is the "Puppy Studio is the Best" thread.

The Puppy Studio support thread is here.
Excuse me...

The previous posts in this thread described problems they were having, and I just assumed I could receive some support here.

JR

l0wt3ch

#12 Post by l0wt3ch »

That's ok, John.

Some versions of Puppy have trouble loading the sfs into RAM with certain computers.

I'm going to make a version of 3.1 with the stock Lucid Puppy kernel for those having trouble with the rt kernel.

Puppy Studio's precursor, Ubuntu Studio: "Puppy Edition", had great latency without an rt kernel - much, much, better than Ubuntu Studio or Studio64. It's just that Puppy Studio with the rt kernel is far superior, even to that.

This should fix the problems some were having with wireless drivers, as well.

maans
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu 07 Jan 2010, 18:56
Location: Denmark

#13 Post by maans »

Hi l0wt3ch
l0wt3ch wrote:I'm going to make a version of 3.1 with the stock Lucid Puppy kernel for those having trouble with the rt kernel.
...
This should fix the problems some were having with wireless drivers, as well.
Great news :D
I'm looking forward to get it up and running - with any pc :D

Cheers Måns Mårtensson

l0wt3ch

#14 Post by l0wt3ch »

l0wt3ch wrote:Here's that version of 3.1 with the stock kernel from Lucid Puppy 511, for those who didn't have luck with the realtime kernel.

l0wt3ch

#15 Post by l0wt3ch »

But only use it if the realtime kernel doesn't work for you.
Last edited by l0wt3ch on Mon 01 Nov 2010, 09:36, edited 1 time in total.

walkad
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu 07 Dec 2006, 22:38
Location: Sydney - EST (GMT +10)

No sound on Puppy Studio

#16 Post by walkad »

Having used Ubuntu Studio for some years and Puppy ever since Puppy 1xx, I am excited about Puppy Studio. Great distro!
But no sound! I can get sound on Windows and Ubuntu 10.10 but not on Puppy Studio or on Wary 092.
Printout of audio devices (onboard audio + Creative sound card) from lspci:
Onboard Audio

00:07.0 Audio device: nVidia Corporation MCP72XE/MCP72P/MCP78U/MCP78S High Definition Audio (rev a1)
Subsystem: Elitegroup Computer Systems Device 2646
Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 0 (500ns min, 1250ns max)
Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 22
Region 0: Memory at fbf78000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+)
Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

Creative Sound Card

05:00.0 PCI bridge: Creative Labs [SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio] CA0110-IBG PCI to PCIe Bridge
Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV+ VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
Bus: primary=05, secondary=06, subordinate=06, sec-latency=32
Memory behind bridge: fde00000-fdefffff
Secondary status: 66MHz- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort+ <SERR- <PERR-
BridgeCtl: Parity+ SERR+ NoISA+ VGA- MAbort- >Reset- FastB2B-
PriDiscTmr- SecDiscTmr- DiscTmrStat- DiscTmrSERREn-
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 3
Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
Bridge: PM- B3+
Capabilities: [60] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/4 Enable-
Address: 0000000000000000 Data: 0000
Capabilities: [80] Subsystem: Creative Labs Device 0010
Capabilities: [90] Express (v1) PCI/PCI-X Bridge, MSI 00
DevCap: MaxPayload 512 bytes, PhantFunc 0, Latency L0s <4us, L1 <64us
ExtTag- AttnBtn- AttnInd- PwrInd- RBE- FLReset-
DevCtl: Report errors: Correctable- Non-Fatal- Fatal- Unsupported-
RlxdOrd- ExtTag- PhantFunc- AuxPwr- NoSnoop+ BrConfRtry-
MaxPayload 128 bytes, MaxReadReq 512 bytes
DevSta: CorrErr- UncorrErr+ FatalErr- UnsuppReq+ AuxPwr- TransPend-
LnkCap: Port #0, Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, ASPM L0s L1, Latency L0 <1us, L1 <16us
ClockPM- Suprise- LLActRep- BwNot-
LnkCtl: ASPM Disabled; Disabled- Retrain- CommClk-
ExtSynch- ClockPM- AutWidDis- BWInt- AutBWInt-
LnkSta: Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, TrErr- Train- SlotClk+ DLActive- BWMgmt- ABWMgmt-
Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting <?>
Kernel modules: shpchp
I read somewhere that this Creative card is not supported by the Linux kernel so I ran "Set uup ALSA sound" choosing the onboard device.

Snipping what I think are the relevant lines from /var/log/messages (00:07.0 and 05:00.0), first from initial boot and later from re-running "Set up Alsa sound" from the "Set Up" menu:
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.debug kernel: pci 0000:00:07.0: reg 10: [mem 0xfbf78000-0xfbf7bfff]
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.debug kernel: pci 0000:00:07.0: PME# supported from D3hot D3cold
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.debug kernel: pci 0000:00:07.0: PME# disabled

Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.debug kernel: pci 0000:05:00.0: supports D1 D2

Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: pci 0000:05:00.0: PCI bridge to [bus 06-06]
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.debug kernel: pci 0000:05:00.0: bridge window [mem 0xfde00000-0xfdefffff]

Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: pci 0000:05:00.0: PCI bridge to [bus 06-06]
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: pci 0000:05:00.0: bridge window [io disabled]
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: pci 0000:05:00.0: bridge window [mem 0xfde00000-0xfdefffff]
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: pci 0000:05:00.0: bridge window [mem pref disabled]

Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.debug kernel: pci 0000:05:00.0: setting latency timer to 64


Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: pci_hotplug: PCI Hot Plug PCI Core version: 0.5
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: shpchp: Standard Hot Plug PCI Controller Driver version: 0.4
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: HDA Intel 0000:00:07.0: power state changed by ACPI to D0
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: HDA Intel 0000:00:07.0: power state changed by ACPI to D0
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.warn kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt Link [LAZA] enabled at IRQ 22
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: HDA Intel 0000:00:07.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LAZA] -> GSI 22 (level, low) -> IRQ 22
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: hda_intel: Disable MSI for Nvidia chipset
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.debug kernel: HDA Intel 0000:00:07.0: setting latency timer to 64

Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: input: PC Speaker as /devices/platform/pcspkr/input/input5
Oct 30 22:34:49 puppypc user.info kernel: HDA Intel 0000:06:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LN3A] -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
After running “Set up ALSA sound

l0wt3ch

#17 Post by l0wt3ch »

From the "Lucid Puppy 5.1.1 Bugs, Fixes, & Feedback" thread:
More than one sound card. There is a good chance that Lupu will get it right the first time, but if not....
Easiest way to block an unwanted soundcard
Run in terminal: less /proc/asound/modules #to list the soundcards
open etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf #in a text editor
look for # Prevent abnormal drivers from grabbing index 0
At the bottom of the list type:
options snd_nameofunwantedsoundcard index=-2

Audacious with multiple sound cards.
Boot fresh without doing anything special to sound config.
Open a terminal and enter 'alsamixer'.
In alsamixer press F6.
For me, both (actually all 3) sound cards show up on the alsamixer list.
I have found that if they show up on this list then Audacious will play through them.
Then I hit ESC to close alsamixer without doing anything else.
Install Audacious from the Puppy Package Manager.
In Audacious, Menu, Preferences, Audio and the button Output plugin preferences.
There is a long list. I have been picking the first listing for each card, called default and the name of the card.
Then I have to go back to alsamixer F6, choose the bottom card and then raise the volume.
For studio audio work, you can easily select your audio card in JACK under "Interfaces".

Hope that helps!

walkad
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu 07 Dec 2006, 22:38
Location: Sydney - EST (GMT +10)

alsa-base-conf revealed problem

#18 Post by walkad »

@10wt3ch
Thanks for the lead.
alsa-base-conf shows 2 kernel modules loaded from previous computer!!
Seems Puppy Studio updated a previous .sfs file on its initial run.
Will try starting again tomorow with pfix=ram. (Now after midnight in Sydney!)

l0wt3ch

#19 Post by l0wt3ch »

Puppy Studio began as an experiment: Was it possible to have a full-featured multimedia creation suite similar to Ubuntu Studio running on Puppy Linux? Puppy was fast, and ran entirely in RAM, so the realtime recording capabilities could be amazing. But would they?

My original hypothesis was correct. Puppy gave the studio vastly improved latency, by virtue of running in RAM and its small size, that were unmatched by any other OS. Then I compiled a custom realtime kernel, and performance went through the roof!

l0wt3ch

#20 Post by l0wt3ch »

Then I discovered that Puppy allowed me to configure everything and remaster with the changes kept. That let me take all of the work out of setting up a Linux music studio so a user can get JACK running in realtime with a single click, often without ever touching the settings.

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