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 Forum index » Instruments and Equipment » Linux as a music workstation
Distros for AMD64?
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CJ Miller



Joined: Jan 07, 2007
Posts: 368
Location: 127.0.0.1

PostPosted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 2:07 pm    Post subject: Distros for AMD64? Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I was lucky to buy a dual Opteron server recently for $100. It's the first time I've ever had a somewhat modern X86-compatable box. I have a little experience compiling software with make-install methods in Mac OS, but I don't think I'm ready for troubleshooting a lot of applications in Linux on a 64 bit machine.

I chose 64 Studio because it is optimised for Opterons. [link] http://64studio.com/ [/link] It includes a few low-latency kernels, and is based on Debian Etch. I installed 2.1rc1 with no problems, and got X running with my video card and monitor. Still fumbling around with DHCP, so no updates yet. Also, my audio card hasn't arrived yet, so I haven't tried any of the software! Meanwhile I am learning how to set things up how I like.

This was a tough choice. My distro of choice would have been PlanetCCRMA@home, because I have some familiarity with the software - and it rocks... but there is reported to be very limited AMD64 support. Too bad. I saw that there is an Ubuntu Studio also. Anyway, it still looks like I'm going to need to compile the software I want from scratch, which sucks only because I am such a n00b that I'll probably get stuck and it'll take me forever.

Things to do?
Get on the internet and network with my Mac
install soundcard, configure audio and MIDI
figure out how to set up my working environment, window manager, etc. It looks like a stripped-down version of Windoze now. Yucky.
Compile lots of software
Jam-jam-jam

Anybody else out there using an Opteron box for audio?
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CJ Miller



Joined: Jan 07, 2007
Posts: 368
Location: 127.0.0.1

PostPosted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I somehow got ethernet/DHCP running! I just had to restart my modem and router before they'd send a DHCP lease.

A few things I've noticed - Java support for Debian 64 looks sketchy at best. This put a halt to things last night when I decided to compile MidiShare and OpenMusic. I tried setting up Beryl but the package was broken, so it wouldn't install.

So I set up an older, 32-bit AMD box with Fedora 7 so I can run PlanetCCRMA@home. This has most of the software I want, which the 64-bit distros don't (yet?). I don't know why they'd lack long-time Linux apps like PD, Snd, CSound, etc. So I'll run the other distro now while I *slowly* learn to compile this stuff on the newer box.

Current problem? I am using Yum to update my Fedora 7 install and it is >maaaad slooow<... like a few kB per second slow, this could take days. There's a gigibit connection here, so I wish I knew how to get it running a little faster. So it takes less than a week!
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EdisonRex
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

CJ Miller wrote:
I somehow got ethernet/DHCP running! I just had to restart my modem and router before they'd send a DHCP lease.

A few things I've noticed - Java support for Debian 64 looks sketchy at best. This put a halt to things last night when I decided to compile MidiShare and OpenMusic. I tried setting up Beryl but the package was broken, so it wouldn't install.

So I set up an older, 32-bit AMD box with Fedora 7 so I can run PlanetCCRMA@home. This has most of the software I want, which the 64-bit distros don't (yet?). I don't know why they'd lack long-time Linux apps like PD, Snd, CSound, etc. So I'll run the other distro now while I *slowly* learn to compile this stuff on the newer box.

Current problem? I am using Yum to update my Fedora 7 install and it is >maaaad slooow<... like a few kB per second slow, this could take days. There's a gigibit connection here, so I wish I knew how to get it running a little faster. So it takes less than a week!


Seems like you still have hardware issues. check dmesg for any boot time errors and poke around in /var/log for anything else.

Like Windows, the Linux error logs are worth reading, especially when things don't work Wink

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jksuperstar



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PostPosted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I'm not on opteron, but there's also
http://ubuntustudio.org/

Which has a 64bit version. I'll be installing that some time in the next two weeks, but I do have the 32-bit version running on a Core2Duo. I also have Beryl/Compiz running under that, so you may have more luck with ubuntu based on Debian, rather than the 64studio based on debian.
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CJ Miller



Joined: Jan 07, 2007
Posts: 368
Location: 127.0.0.1

PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

EdisonRex wrote:
Seems like you still have hardware issues. check dmesg for any boot time errors and poke around in /var/log for anything else.

Like Windows, the Linux error logs are worth reading, especially when things don't work Wink


Of course, no end user can be without their logs! I don't know about Windoze but I use MacOS and wouldn't get very far without these messages.

Actually it wasn't a problem on my end. I hit control-c to quit the update and it dropped the particular mirror I was connected to. Automatically found a mirror from which I updated with no problems. I am new to distros and packages, so I am still just figuring out how to juggle these servers.

As for DHCP, this seems to be an issue with my cable modem and switch. No matter what setup I connect, no lease will happen until I restart both the modem and switch. It works, but it's a lame solution - especially if the rest of the network is in use! My next switch is definately going to be of the "managed" variety.
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CJ Miller



Joined: Jan 07, 2007
Posts: 368
Location: 127.0.0.1

PostPosted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

jksuperstar wrote:
I'm not on opteron, but there's also
http://ubuntustudio.org/ Which has a 64bit version.


Actually, they do offer an iso for a AMD64 version of Ubuntu Studio.
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/gutsy/release/ubuntustudio-7.10-alternate-amd64.iso

Quote:
I'll be installing that some time in the next two weeks, but I do have the 32-bit version running on a Core2Duo. I also have Beryl/Compiz running under that, so you may have more luck with ubuntu based on Debian, rather than the 64studio based on debian.


Could be. 64Studio works ok. My issues are mostly due to funky hardware, I'm installing on a Sun server. It only took short while to learn how to edit the files I needed to get things running. My main issue is that most of the software in these distros doesn't look like what I want anyway. I hooked up my wife's older AMD box and installed PlanetCCRMA on there, which is ok. Closer to the other two for what I want, but still not quite there yet. I think I might just need to do it all from scratch. At least getting the kernel and a few good apps is an easier way to start.

I've found what is probably the closest to what I am looking for here:
https://devel.goto10.org/puredyne
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Stochastic



Joined: Feb 25, 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

CJ Miller wrote:
I've found what is probably the closest to what I am looking for here:
https://devel.goto10.org/puredyne


PureDyne is a very lightweight audio distro designed to be run Live from a CD rather than installed to a hard disk (this may be possible too). I personally favor UbuntuStudio as it's a very user-friendly and nice-looking distro that has a very regular release schedule (every 6months - there's one coming up April 24th), a very large collection of packages, and a huge community to help http://www.ubuntuforums.org

If there's one thing I've learned in my years in Linux is that a large community and developer base means any bugs you run into will likely be fixed sooner. I did my fair share of distro swapping to start but I like the ideals of Debian and the community/development of Ubuntu. UbuntuStudio was a natural fit.

Just as a note, 64-bit may not be that important as your Opteron chip will run 32-bit just fine. I've been told that the difference only matters once you have 4gigs of RAM. In fact, some sound apps have not yet been ported to 64-bit so you may want to consider 32.
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CJ Miller



Joined: Jan 07, 2007
Posts: 368
Location: 127.0.0.1

PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Stochastic wrote:
PureDyne is a very lightweight audio distro designed to be run Live from a CD rather than installed to a hard disk (this may be possible too). I personally favor UbuntuStudio as it's a very user-friendly and nice-looking distro that has a very regular release schedule (every 6months - there's one coming up April 24th), a very large collection of packages, and a huge community to help http://www.ubuntuforums.org

If there's one thing I've learned in my years in Linux is that a large community and developer base means any bugs you run into will likely be fixed sooner. I did my fair share of distro swapping to start but I like the ideals of Debian and the community/development of Ubuntu. UbuntuStudio was a natural fit.


Debian and Ubuntu do seem to be (a) great communiti(es). I do also like the ideals of dyne:bolic and pure:dyne, why I am gravitating towards pure:dyne now is due to the packages of the distro allowing me to become productive right away.

Quote:
Just as a note, 64-bit may not be that important as your Opteron chip will run 32-bit just fine. I've been told that the difference only matters once you have 4gigs of RAM. In fact, some sound apps have not yet been ported to 64-bit so you may want to consider 32.


It would seem that everything in a 64-bit distro should be compiled to be run in 64 bits? One reason why I chose 64-bit is number crunching for video encoding. I love playing with video on my G4, but preparing video clips from DVDs and avi files takes days to reencode, so this should help with getting back into video. I do have 4 GB of RAM... so what happens? Do things run better or worse? I'd expect apps would like a good amount.
Thanks for the advice!
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nescivi



Joined: Mar 23, 2005
Posts: 94
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I'm running 64bit Debian unstable now, having started out from a 64studio install.
Since my laptop is quite new, I had to upgrade to the latest to get everything working.

The only thing I had to set up for SuperCollider was a 32bit chroot since the language does not compile for 64bit, but most other audio software seems to be there in 64studio.
I haven't actually checked whether Pd is there... since I don't use it.

You can also get some 32bit software running when installing the ia32-libs.

Also the 64studio email list is quite responsive if you post questions...
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Stochastic



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PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2008 12:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

CJ Miller wrote:
It would seem that everything in a 64-bit distro should be compiled to be run in 64 bits? One reason why I chose 64-bit is number crunching for video encoding. I love playing with video on my G4, but preparing video clips from DVDs and avi files takes days to reencode, so this should help with getting back into video. I do have 4 GB of RAM... so what happens? Do things run better or worse? I'd expect apps would like a good amount.


Yes everything in a 64-bit distro will be compiled to run in 64 bits, but what I was referring to certain apps not yet being converted to 64 bit is apps not packaged for the distro (the can be manually installed fairly easily if they match your architecture, but require some use of 32-bit libraries - and in some cases luck - to get going if they haven't been converted yet). Since you have 4gigs of ram then yes by all means get yourself a 64-bit distro! Just don't be surprised when you need to install a program or two via the 32-bit libraries.
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jksuperstar



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PostPosted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

CJ Miller wrote:
I've found what is probably the closest to what I am looking for here:
https://devel.goto10.org/puredyne


I started to do my own "distro" based on dyne:bolic. It was failry easy to spawn new livecd's, and there's enough documentation to make things easy to hack, at least on a surface level. But I ran into problems after my old P4 laptop died, and my new core2duo was getting very bad latency with dyne. Then I got a new job, lost time, and the project dwindled.

But don't let that discourage you! It was fun.
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