The Creative Desktop

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The Creative Desktop

This manual for new users of 64 Studio is intended to cover enough general aspects of creative work to provide a starting point for your own

multi-media adventures. This will eventually include 2D and 3D graphics, animation techniques, publishing, web design, audio production and

video editing, as well as many other useful bits in between.

These articles are aimed at creative people who want to be able to realise their visions without having to become technical experts in the

realm of computer science before they begin. If you want choice and a highly customisable working environment, Linux supports professional

quality creative tools capable of delivering top-class results. It is now possible to run a full production studio entirely on Free Software.

In this book we will be investigating the use of Free Software tools in creative environments, and hopefully overturning some ingrained

attitudes about the limitations of Linux-based systems in the multimedia arena.

64 Studio is based on the Debian distribution of GNU/Linux software. This means that there is already a vast wealth of manuals, HOWTO

guides and FAQs available that cover the workings of the basic operating system and many of the general applications.

Debian documentation youshouldread:

http://www.debian.org/doc/

http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/

http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/apt-howto/

http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/quick-reference/

We will focus on the minimum amount of set-up here, so we can dive straight into getting creative and having fun. Most of this guide isn't

particularly 64studio-specific or even Debian-specific; it is designed to help anyone who wishes to explore the creative possibilities offered by

a GNU/Linux system.

If you have just worked your way through the Install Guide and are wondering what to do next, start reading at the Configuration Guide. If

you already know your way around the GNOME desktop, then dive in where you like, but bear in mind that the book is written to be read in

sequence, so if there's anything you don't understand, it may have been covered in earlier chapters. Right, that's enough introductions, let's

have a look at the software.

Welcome to your Creative Desktop!

Installation Guide
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Text by Tim Hall

Screenshots by Guillermo Garronn, www.go2linux.org

A lot of people believe that installing and using GNU/Linux is a scary prospect, a system only usable by hardcore geeks. Considering the

history of Free Software and the tone with which its use is sometimes advocated, often using complex and obscure jargon, it is not entirely

surprising that many ordinary computer users are still wary of trying it out. With the advances in Linux's user-friendliness in recent years and

helpful guides like this one, this is no longer the case.

GNU/Linux is something of a DIY system and does demand a little more of its users than proprietary operating systems. However, the

rewards are a deeper understanding of the processes involved in computing, with a much greater scope for customisation and creativity.

GNU/Linux has developed into an operating system for business, education, and personal productivity. It is no longer the sole preserve of

UNIX wizards hacking at their glowing consoles into the night. Free operating systems provide much more control over your working

environment and a far wider choice of approaches. For some, that can seem an overwhelming embarrassment of riches; for others, it is simply

nirvana.

Part of GNU/Linux's uniqueness is that it is a free implementation of UNIX. It was and still is developed cooperatively by a group of

volunteers, primarily on the Internet, who exchange code, report bugs, and fix problems in an open-ended environment. Anyone is welcome

to join the Linux development effort. This method of development makes it much easier for ordinary users to suggest changes or

improvements and become involved in the development process. This is quite different from the paradigm of proprietary software, where you

often don't know who wrote the program you're running, and would have no idea how to go about requesting changes.

This guide is aimed at creative desktop users, people who want to make art and freely express themselves using all the available media of the

21st century. Free Software has taken its time to come up with stable multimedia applications but now boasts an incredible range of software,which covers 2D and 3D graphics including animation and scanning, Desktop Publishing, web design, audio and video editing - along with

more standard office productivity tools such as word processing and spreadsheets, web browser, e-mail, IM and FTP, along with a powerful

command-line interface. Forget DOS, this BASH comes with colour highlighting and auto-completion; it works so well that some people use

it as their primary means of getting work done.

This all comes as standard when you install 64 Studio, but further software packages can be installed and existing ones easily upgraded using

the built-in Advanced Package Tool system, or APT. Using a friendly interface such as Synaptic, it is possible to upgrade the entire system to

the latest versions directly from the Internet in only three clicks!

Four Freedoms

The unique cornerstone of a GNU/Linux operating system is Free Software. Free software is licensed in such a way as to allow users the

freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, the term refers to four kinds of freedom for theusers:

1. The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).

2. The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition

for this.

3. The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour (freedom 2).

4. The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom

3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

"Free" in this context generally refers to liberty, rather than price. Users are urged to think of "free" as in "free speech", not as in "free beer".

We also think of Free as being this awesome human being who leads 64 Studio development and maintains our software repositories.

A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms. These freedoms are enshrined and protected in the various forms of the GNU

GPL or GNU General Public License, the most popular of the many Free Software licenses available.

Although these freedoms may not appear to have such a great impact on the casual user, as soon as you start creating products, materials or

new software the benefits of the free flow of information and the ability to interact with the development process start to make a significant

difference.

What is the GNU project?

The GNU Project was launched in 1984 to develop a complete UNIX-like operating system which is free software: the GNU system.

Variants of the GNU operating system, which use the kernel called Linux, are now widely used; though these systems are often referred to as

"Linux", they are more accurately called GNU/Linux systems.
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GNU is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not UNIX"; it is pronounced guh-noo, like canoe. Geeks love recursive acronyms, they make them

feel special.

Before you start

First, back up any existing data or documents on the hard disk on which you plan to install 64 Studio. It is a wise move to back up all

essential information that is on the target machine before you do anything else. It is likely that you will need to re-partition your disk to make

room for 64 Studio. Changing your partitions around can result in accidental data loss, no matter what program you use to do it. This doesn't

mean that we think there is anything wrong with the installation software, just that if you delete the wrong partition, it could be impossible toget your data back. Making proper backups is such a sensible idea that we will recommend it time and time again. Even after backing up, be

careful and think about your answers and actions. Two minutes of thinking can save hours of unnecessary work.

If you are creating a multi-boot system, make sure that you have the installation media of any other present operating systems to hand. It is

possible that you will need to re-install all or part of your old system in order to get it to work properly again if the install doesn't go smoothly.

Better safe than sorry.

Information is power

You will benefit from gathering as much information about your computer as possible and any needed documentation, before you start the

installation. Make sure your hardware is set up correctly and that everything you are going to want to use (network, printers etc) is all

properly connected. In many cases, the installer will be able to automatically detect your hardware, but it is worth knowing a few details, such

as:

How many hard drives you have, what order they are connected in and how they are partitioned, including how much free space you

have and what other operating systems you already have installed;

Monitor model & manufacturer, screen size, resolutions supported, horizontal & vertical refresh rate and colour depth if you can find

that out;

Mouse type and port (ps/2, serial, PS or whatever), manufacturer and number of buttons;

Video card, model & manufacturer, resolutions supported, amount of video RAM;

Model & manufacturer of your network card, type of adaptor;

Printer model & manufacturer, print resolutions supported;

and finally your Processor type and speed.

This information can be obtained from a variety of places; the manuals or documentation that came with your hardware, the BIOS setup

screens accessible during the power on self test (POST) at boot time by pressing the DEL, F1 or sometimes CTRL+ALT+ESC key

combination. The System window in the Windows Control Panel or separate diagnostic utilities. You should also check with your system

administrator or Internet Service Provider for the settings you will need to set up your networking and e-mail, these may include;

Your host name

domain name

your computer's IP address

netmask

the IP address of the default gateway

and DNS (Domain Name Service) server address.

If a DHCP server is available, you probably won't need this information. If you use a wireless network, you should also find out the ESSID of

your wireless network and WEP security key (if applicable).

Driver support

While you are at it, you may want to check whether your hardware is supported by Linux drivers. Most types of hardware should work out

of the box, but there can be problems with hardware that is Windows-specific and some very new models for which Linux drivers have not

yet been written. Check out the Hardware-HOWTO for further information. It may be worth checking over yourBIOS settings to ensure

that you don't encounter unexplained problems during installation.

It is commonly said that you only need to install a Debian system once. It is increasingly rare to ever find yourself in a situation that actually

requires re-installation of the entire system, indeed it is much more likely that your system can be repaired rather than replaced if things go

wrong. Upgrades certainly never require a wholesale reinstall, it is always possible to upgrade a running system. Similarly, most configurations

do not require rebooting, and it is rare that rebooting will ever solve any problems - in fact, sometimes it can make things worse. Generally
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speaking, you should expect to perform repairs, upgrades and configurations on a running system once you have completed the initial

installation.

A word about partitions

You may need to create some extra space for 64 Studio on your hard disk. If you already have another operating system installed, you may

want to split the disk up, which will involve resizing your existing partition and creating a new one. Tools like Fdisk or PartitionMagic are

usually recommended for this task, you may also find suitable tools in collections such as the Ultimate Boot CD. If your machine has more

than one hard drive, it is a good idea to install 64 Studio onto the second drive. As a general rule, Windows cannot cope with multi-boot

installations very well, so if you want both Windows and 64 Studio installed on the same machine, you should install Windows first, and let 64

Studio's boot loader launch Windows for you.

The partitioning tool that comes with the 64 Studio installer is powerful enough to handle resizing FAT or NTFS partitions, so it is entirely

possible that you may be able to avoid this step altogether. You should certainly let the installer create any further partitions that are necessary

for the 64 Studio install, as the Linux partitioning tools will generally do a better job. For this first step, you just need to make sure you have

some free space for the installer to work with.

Download the installer

Now it is time to get the install disk and any specialised driver files your machine requires. Go to the download page and choose either an

amd64.iso or i386.iso depending on the architecture of your machine. The amd64 image is for 64-bit x86 compatible chips from both AMD

and Intel, which include the Opteron, Athlon 64, Turion, newer Sempron, Core 2 Duo and newer Xeon CPUs. The i386 image is for all

older and low-power CPUs, including the original Athlon, the older Sempron, nearly all the Pentiums, the Via C3 and the AMD Geode.

You can download the image using your web browser or use a command line tool like wget; but it is usually faster to use a download

manager, such as bittorrent or jigdo. Be sure to download the files in binary mode, not text or automatic mode. Next, burn the downloaded

ISO on to a fresh CD. I used K3B, but you can use whatever CD burning software you have to hand, so long as it lets you burn an image

directly on to the CD. This isn't data or an audio file, we want the burning software to make an exact bit for bit copy of the ISO onto the CD

without adding anything or taking anything away. If you have problems, check that you have downloaded the image without any errors, by

comparing the md5 sum of your download with that published on the 64 Studio site. If you still have problems with the installer, try burning

the CD at a slower speed.

Minimum system requirements

You will need at least a Pentium II or equivalent to run the 32-bit build of 64 Studio effectively. It is possible to install on older hardware, but

the machine will struggle to run the more CPU-intensive programs. Here are some suggested hardware minimums for music production work,which depend on the kind of applications you want to run:

Basic MIDI use >= 400MHz CPU with 128MB memory

Audio recording with minimal DSP plug-ins >= 800MHz CPU with 256MB memory

Soft synths >= 1.0GHz CPU with 512 MB memory

Mixing and mastering with heavy DSP >= 2.0GHz CPU with 1GB memory

If you have less resources than this, try using an external MIDI device to generate audio instead of a soft synth, or on a low budget, a Sound

Blaster type card that supports on-board soundfonts. A good video card is also reckoned to be an advantage, as the on-board video

chipsets use up system RAM.

AMD chips are preferred to Intel CPUs by some 64 Studio users. AMD invented the 64-bit extensions to the x86 architecture, so these

AMD64 chips have been supported under Linux for longer than their Intel equivalents. For maximum performance, a dual CPU or dual-coresystem is a great choice, although it may use more energy, require more cooling, and therefore be noiser than a single-core system. Some

audio problems have been noted with cheaper VIA and SiS motherboard chipsets in the past.

Booting the installer

Now you are ready to put the new disk into the CD drive and reboot your machine. This should present you with the friendly graphical screen

for the Debian GNU/Linux installer that 64 Studio uses, and the boot prompt.
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Unless you know you need special boot options hit enter and wait for the selection screen with the blue background to appear. If the CD

doesn't boot, check yourBIOS settings. You may need to change the boot order so that your computer attempts to boot from CDROM

before the hard drive. Information on available boot methods and on boot parameters which might be useful can be found by pressing F2

through to F7. If you add any parameters to the boot command line, be sure to type the boot method (the default is install) and a space

before the first parameter (e.g., install debconf/priority=medium).

Sometimes this part of the process can bring other hardware issues to light:

"...This didn't go at all smoothly, and I found my problems with my CD player were getting worse in a kind of randomly

degenerating manner. I got so sick of listening to my CD player thrashing about and generally not doing as it was asked, The rather

arcane error messages I'd been receiving didn't make an awful lot of sense, but it was clear that my CD player wasn't able to

receive the control messages it needed, so I thought I'd take a peek inside the case (again) just to see if there was anything

completely obvious that I'd missed.

I noticed that the Hard Drive and CD were plugged into the same IDE port, I mean I'd noticed it before and wondered why the other one

didn't get used and assumed blondly that there must be some good reason. Well, I guessed it might not hurt if I tried plugging the CD player

into the second one and Joy of Joys, my BIOS instantly recognises what I've done and prints an understandable message. Hooray!"

Selection of installation language

A stripped-down version of Linux is loaded into memory and various bits of information will scroll past the screen. You probably won't needto worry too much about these messages, unless your machine mysteriously fails during the process. Eventually you will be presented with a

simple blue screen, from which the installer will prompt you for various bits of information:

Choose Language
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Choose Country

Choose Keyboard Layout


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Activating the Ethernet network connection

Once you've chosen your language, the installer will scan your system for information about your hardware, check the CD for packages and

load additional components to facilitate the next stage of installation. In this stage the installer attempts to find your network hardware and

configure it using DHCP. If you do not have DHCP on your network, you can configure the network manually after installation ( System >

Administration > Networkin the Gnome menu).

The installer will go on to detect your disks and other hardware.

Partitioning the hard disk

The next stage of the installation is titled 'Select drive to install on.' Up to this point we haven't installed anything permanent yet. Now we are

approaching the only scary part of the process. Getting your partitioning scheme wrong is one of the few reasons you may ever need to re-

install. You backed up all your data already, right? So you've nothing to fear.

On Linux, disk drives correspond to files in the /dev directory, and are referred to like this:

Primary IDE device on the primary IDE controller = /dev/hdaSlave IDE device on the primary IDE controller = /dev/hdb

Primary IDE device on the secondary IDE controller = /dev/hdc

Slave IDE device on the secondary IDE controller = /dev/hdd

SCSI and SATA devices are listed differently. They are usually /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, etc. If you have installed Windows on this machine,

/dev/hda will usually be what Windows refers to as the C:\ drive.

It is best to chooseErase the Entire Diskhere, or use the largest continuous free space if you want to keep any pre-existing content on your

drive. If you are planning on dual-booting 64 Studio with another operating system, it may be wise to install Linux on a separate hard drive,

although it's not strictly necessary. If the available space is larger than 40GB you may want to further partition the space in order to give you

more flexibility later on.


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Partitioning Scheme

If you have no idea about this, or a really small hard drive, you may be better off choosingAll Files in One Partition. However, the choice

of separate /home, /usr, /var, and /tmp partitions can help increase security and stability. If you are installing into 20GB or more of space,

this is a good option. Check the suggested partitioning scheme, the guided partitioning usually does the right thing here. If you choose manual

partitioning, you can use the installer to re-size existing FAT or NTFS partitions to create room for 64 Studio.

Select the partition you want to change using the arrowkeys on your keyboard, and hit Enter. You will be presented with a list of options.

Most likely you will want to re-size the partition, if anything. You will be prompted to write out the partition table first and then be prompted

to input the desired size; you can enter this either as a percentage of the available free space or as a fixed amount of Megabytes.

Next, the system will set set up the partitions and then perform the resizing operation. Remember, you must assign at least one partition for

swap space and one to mount a partition on /, the filesystem's root. There is a useful help file available from this screen, which is well worth

reading for additional information. Select Finish Partitioning and write the changes out to disk.

WARNING: This action is not reversible. It is worth making a note of the partition table using a humble pen and paper while you're doing

this, it may save an awful lot of faffing around later.

That's it, you are now committed to installing 64 Studio, this is the point of no return. The installer will now create the filesystem for you and

set up the clock.

Installation of the system

Next you will be prompted for:

* Root password

Root is the system administrator. Even if only one person uses the computer, you still need a separate password for this user.

* Main user name, and password

Choose your password sensibly; make sure it is something you will remember, and be aware that all passwords are case sensitive under

Linux. Short passwords or dictionary words aren't very secure.

With all that out of the way, the installer will begin actually installing the Base System; this can take up to ten minutes or so. Next the installer

will select and install all the rest of the software you will need. The length of time this takes depends on your system. It took me about 45

minutes on a 1GHz Celeron. Now may well be a good time to make a hot beverage and grab a bite to eat. The process of unpacking and

configuring the rest of the software doesn't require any user intervention.

If you get especially bored while this is happening, it may amuse you to know that you can access two other screens during the installation

process:

CTRL+ALT+F2 will give you a command line, which hopefully you'll never need at this stage

CTRL+ALT+F4 will show you a blow-by-blow account of what is happening during the install process

These messages can also be found in the file /var/log/messages. After installation, this log is copied to /var/log/debian-

installer/messages on your new system. Other installation messages may be found in /var/log/ during the installation, and

/var/log/debian-installer/ after the computer has been booted into the installed system.

Installing a boot loader

In order to let you choose whether to start up 64 Studio or any other system next time the computer boots, GNU/Linux takes control of

loading the operating system, using a bootloader known as GRUB - the GRand Unified Bootloader. Check that the following operating

systems have been discovered on your computer: includes any other operating systems you have installed. In which case, it is safe to say

yes to overwriting the Master Boot Record. Next time you boot, GRUB will take over the boot process and offer you the choice of booting

into 64 Studio or your other systems.

The installer will complete the installation once this is done, and eject the CD. Remove the CD from the drive and reboot. Assuming all has

gone well, you have now completed the installation and are ready to use the system. Well Done!


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If all hasn't gone so brilliantly, then you will need to get down and dirty, and do a crash course in GNU/Linux troubleshooting. GNU/Linux

will often refuse to do anything meaningful unless it is configured correctly. While this can provide a bit of a headbanger for the new student,

the payoff in system stability means it is well worth persevering with. Crashes and failures can often provide us with useful clues, and it is a

good habit to copy or write down the error messages you get, verbatim, in case you need to search for further help on the Internet.

The Appendix pages provide trouble-shooting advice if your system refuses to boot the installer, and some guidance on what to do if you

can't get a login screen immediately once you have completed the installation. We have also provided some links to various useful HOWTO

guides and other resources mentioned in this text. Follow the instructions carefully and precisely, authors usually mean exactly what they say -

trying to futz it from the bash prompt when you don't know what you're doing can often equal another few days of scorched frontal lobes.

The good news is that you are far from alone, and there is a wealth of help and advice available - that said, it can be very useful to have

access to another working computer that can access the Internet, especially if this is your first time installing GNU/Linux.

Appendix: Troubleshooting

The graphical interface fails to start

This is probably due to your video card not being properly detected. You may need to search the internet to find out if your video card is

supported by X.org, and which is the right module (driver) for it. Note also that some NVidia and ATI cards need proprietary drivers to

work with 3D acceleration, which you will need to install once the system is running.

Normally, after X setup has failed you will get a screen telling you that X failed to start and the option to view the error logs. Look for the

lines marked 'E' - copy them out verbatim in case you need to search the internet for further clues. X.org can be reconfigured from thecommand line; you will need to log in as root, using the password you chose during installation. If your system is really wedged, you may need

to reboot into rescue mode from the GRUB boot screen in order to do this. From the root prompt (#); issue this command:

# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

The configuration file is located at /etc/X11/xorg.conf - read this file well, you will probably need to modify it manually at some point.

Also remember that if something has been modified manually you will then need to run the following commands in order to prevent your

changes from being automatically overwritten by dpkg-reconfigure:

# cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.custom

# sudo sh -c 'md5sum /etc/X11/xorg.conf > /var/lib/xfree86/xorg.conf.md5sum'

# sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

64 Studio cannot detect my DVD or SATA drives

This can happen with some DVD/RW drives and SATA hard disks. Check the settings in your BIOS; some people have found setting the

SATA mode to "enhanced" instead of "auto" helped. Some BIOSes can be set to auto-detect your disks, you may also find setting the

second IDE to "auto" rather than "CDROM" helps with DVD drives.

Configuration Guide

An introduction to the GNOME desktop, covering file management and launching applications;

system setup, including display resolution; printers and connecting to the internet via ethernet and wireless LAN. This chapter

guides the user through loading the newly installed system for the first time and making some initial system settings.

Exploring the software

After your computer has booted, you should be presented with the graphic login screen. Enter the user name and password you chose during

the install (or that your System Administrator gave you, if someone else installed it), and your new GNOME desktop should open up before

you. The default screen may seem rather spartan, but it hides incredible power - all the tools you need to realise your creative projects sit

before you. If the way it looks is not to your liking, you can customise almost every part of it - this is your desktop. Welcome.

Selections and Icons

When you have to choose an icon or menu item with the mouse, you may be told to selector to clickorclick on it. All these instructions


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mean that you should select an item with the cursor while depressing the left mouse button. Left-handed

users may need to reverse this, naturally. Similarly, right clickmeans to use the outside mouse button,

while, middle clickmeans to use the middle mouse button or the equivalent. Linux generally works best

with a three-button mouse. If you do not have a middle mouse button, you can emulate three buttons by

clicking the left and the right mouse buttons at the same time. Draggingis the action of moving the mouse

whilst holding down the mouse button.

Some applications use a Windows or Mac style Clipboard, but there are also these things called the

primary andsecondary selections. The middle mouse button is nearly always configured to paste the

primary selection, which is the bit you just highlighted with the mouse (just in case you were wondering).

The icons on the desktop open up file-browser windows when you double clickon them: for the

computer; your home directory; any mounted partitions and the wastebasket respectively. The main menu

is located under the 'foot' icon on the extreme left of the panel at the bottom of the screen. On the right

hand side you have a clock, volume control and desktop switcher. You have four independent desktops

that you can spread your work over, and then easily switch between views by clicking through the squares

on the right hand side of the panel.

Main Desktop Menu

Applications

Accessibility - On screen keyboard, Screen reader and magnifier

Accessories - Calculator, terminal, text editor &cGraphics - Bitmap and vector editors, 2D & 3D animation

Internet - Web design, browsing, IM, FTP and email

Office - Word processing and spreadsheets

Sound & Video - DSP, Audio editing, MIDI, Synthesis, Sampling, Video player &c

System Tools - Bug reporting, file browsing, logging

Places - links to various useful parts of the file-system

Desktop

Administration - Networking, Printing, Services, Software upgrades, Users and groups

Preferences - Accessibility, Themes, Fonts, Screen-saver &c

Help - for the GNOME Desktop and related applications

About GNOME - what it says

Lock Screen - if you want to go away for a bitLog out - if you want to end your session without shutting down the machine

Shut Down - To shut down or reboot the machine

If you are used to having icons for your most commonly used applications on the desktop, you can drag the entry from the menu on to the

desktop or panel, where a link will be automatically created.

Administration

Most of64 Studio's configuration tools are in the Desktop > Administration menu. You need to have root privileges to use most of these

configuration tools. If you're not the person who deals with this stuff on your machine, you can skip to the end of the page.

Login Window - Customise the look of your login windowNetwork- Ethernet & Modem Settings

Printing - Manage printers

Services - Activate and deactivate services as required

Shared Folders - Add files and directories that you want to be able to share over the network

Software Properties - Choose software channels

Time & Date - Set the clock right

Update Manager - checks for security and bugfix updates

Users & Groups - Administrate users and their groups

If you find you have problems accessing these functions as root, receiving messages like "You are not allowed to access the system

configuration" or "There was an unknown error communicating with the backends:", it is possible that you don't have the package libnet-dbus-

perl installed / configured correctly. The fix for this is as follows:


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# apt-get install libnet-dbus-perl

# /usr/sbin/64studio-config new

Networking

The installer should configure the network for you. If for some reason that hasn't happened, then you will need to configure the network by

hand.

The network configuration utility can be accessed from the Desktop > Administration > Networkingmenu entry. You can also invoke it

from the command line thus:

# network-admin

You will be prompted for the root password, then a window comes up listing all the available devices, You will probably want to select the

Ethernet connection. Click the Properties button and check enable this connection. Choose DHCP under Configuration unless you know you

want to use a static IP address. OK your settings.

Back at the main Network Settings window, click the Activate button and you should see the message that interface eth0 is now active. You

may need to specify DNS addresses in the DNS tab if using a static IP address (DHCP connections should pick up DNS addresses

automatically). These DNS addresses are stored in the file /etc/resolv.conf.

If you use dial-up or PPPOE (PPP over Ethernet) on an ADSL connection, use pppconfig orpppoeconf instead.

If you're on a laptop with a PCMCIA network card, you may need to configure pcmcia-cs before this will work. Common and well-

supported PCMCIA network cards are usually set up automatically.

As this is a GNU system, there are several different methods you could use for configuration. If you have a preferred method of setting up

your network, it should also be available, and you can always edit /etc/network/interfaces by hand. The information you need to do

this is at:

# man 5 interfaces

The name of your computer is kept in the file /etc/hostname, check that is correct. If there are other machines on your network, you can

list theirhostnames and network addresses in the /etc/hosts file, so your machine can easily find them.

You can then bring the network up with:

# ifup eth0

And bring it down again with:

# ifdown eth0

or whatever interface you are using instead of eth0. You can also do this with the Activate andDe-activate buttons in the Network Settings

interface.

You can check whether the network is active by pinging a known address, such as a modem configured to act as a gateway:

$ ping 192.168.0.1

If it comes back with a list of times taken to get a response and 0% packet loss, you can be sure that the network is OK. If you are

experiencing any degree of packet loss, then you need to delve deeper. System Tools > Network Tools provides a box of graphical tools

for further investigating the network.

Wireless connections

Wireless network connections are set up in the same way as Ethernet, except there are extra fields to fill in with details of your access point. If

you configure your wireless connection with the correct details but it does not work, you should search on the internet for information about

Linux support for your specific hardware. You will need to make sure the wireless- tools package is installed before you can configure your

wireless card, with applications such as iwconfig.
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Printing

In order to set up a new printer, double click on the 'New Printer' icon. Follow the steps presented to you by the wizard. Choose the means

by which the printer is connected, find the Manufacturer and model from the drop down lists, and click Apply. You should see your new

printer appear in the Printers window. You can also configure your printer using your Web browser, go to http://localhost:631/ and follow the

instructions. For command line queue management, read the manual pages oflpq(1) and lprm(1). See the links at the end of the page for

further reading.

Services - Taming daemons

One of the common questions asked by new users concerns the various services that the computer keeps running in the background. Under

Linux these are known as daemons. 64 Studio enables a limited set of daemons, so that your computer has more resources available for

making music, editing video and other real-time operations. You probably won't need to worry about these initially, but they can be easily

managed from Desktop > Administration > Services.

By default, you have running:

anacron - Executes scheduled actions

cron - Executes scheduled actions

klogd - Keeps a log of computer activity

sysklog - Keeps a log of computer activity

samba - Shares folders over the network

gdm - Graphical login

cupsys - Printer service

ssh - Secure remote shell server

The configuration files for these services live in /etc/init.d/ and are started and stopped by means of links in /etc/rc2.d/, which can

be updated via the update-rc.d command. Further information about what these daemons do can be found by looking up the respective

man pages.

Users & Groups

When you installed 64 Studio, you will have created at least two user accounts: a regular user account for everyday computing, and a root

account for system administration. Normally, you also want one regular user account for each person who uses the system. User accounts

can be managed via System > Administration > Users & Groups.

In order to create a new account, click onAdd Userthen Add the new username and password. You can have a random password

generated if you want, but it's probably more useful to choose something memorable. You'll want to leave the advanced settings as they are

unless you know what you're doing, but you may want to set various user privileges, such as being able to use audio devices and CD-ROMs.

For greater security, Linux makes strict use of accounts. Unlike some operating systems, you cannot bypass logging in to the system by

pressing the Enter key. Most users have only limited access to files. Typically, only the root user (also called the superuser or system

administrator) has access to all files. User accounts are organized into groups of accounts with similar access to the system. The software and

the hardware you can use depends on the user account that you are using and the groups to which it belongs. One of the most common

problems faced by new users is not being able to open files due to not having the right permissions.

Synaptic

Synaptic allows you to install additional software as and when you need it. You can find it on the System Tools menu. The software is

organised into downloadablePackages, which can be further grouped into Tasks for ease of installation.

Upgrading: Click on theReloadbutton, Synaptic will download all the new package information available and then click onMark all

Upgrades. In the left-hand panel there are four buttons at the bottom, click on Custom Filters > Marked Changes to check what changes

are being recommended. If you are happy with what you see (you can usually trust the APT system to do the right thing) then click onApply.

Synaptic brings up a summary screen to give you a last chance to change your mind, which if you confirm your choices, will fetch the

necessary packages from the repository and install and configure them. Occasionally it may prompt you for some input, but mostly it will do it

all for you. As soon as you exit Synaptic, the new applications should become available in your menu.

If you've just installed 64 Studio, the chances are there won't be all that much to upgrade just yet, so far so boring. However 64 Studio only
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supplies a limited set of applications (a measly 941, most of which you'll already have installed) and you may soon discover that you want

other free software to run on your system. The good news is that there are nearly 17,000 more packages available from Debian, most of

which will work well in 64 Studio.

First we go to Settings > Preferences; in the Distribution tab change Package Upgrade Behaviour (default distribution) to Prefer versions

from: 64studio and click OK. Second, we open up Settings > Repositories and click on New. In the URI: field paste the address of your

nearest Debian mirror, this can be found at http://www.debian.org/mirror/list, I put in ftp://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/. In the

Distribution: field you want to include the version of Debian closest to 64 Studio, at the moment this probably wants to be the stable

branch (codename etch). The Section(s): field should contain at least main, but you can include contrib and non-free if you really need

to. You will have to click on theReloadbutton again for your changes to take effect.

Now you have 17,000 more packages to choose from. Nice. If you want to find a particular package, use the Search dialog to find it,

Synaptic will provide a filtered list with all applications that mention your search term in the package name or description. In order to install a

package, right click on the entry and selectMark for Installation. Synaptic will probably come up with a list of recommended changes; it's

usually best to accept them, unless you know better.

See also: Upgrading 64 Studio

Shutting Down

Eventually you realise that your eyes are beginning to fall out of their sockets from too much reading. It's probably time to switch the

computer off for a bit and slip into something more comfortable, like sleep. Linux generally runs several processes at once, most of them in

the background, where they are easy to forget. For this reason, shutting down the system properly is essential. If you do not shut down

properly, you may damage the operating system or lose files. Although the ext3 journaling file system provides some protection against

unexpected power loss, there's no need to risk possible system damage by reckless disconnnection. You can shut down safely from the

menu, command line or log-in screen. In an emergency, such as a software crash, it is usually possible to get the machine to safely reboot

using the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination. As a general rule, so long as your keyboard still works (you can usually test whether the

CapsLockorNumLockkeys light up their respective LEDs) you have a chance of safely rebooting the machine.

Now you are ready to start personalising your working environment.

Next: GNOME Preferences

links

Jargon busting
http://www.64studio.com/node/186http://www.64studio.com/upgradehttp://www.64studio.com/sites/64studio.com/files/manual/Synaptic-main.pnghttp://www.debian.org/mirror/list


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There is a lot of jargon that goes along with Free Software - processes, packages, daemons, bash, HOWTOs and so on. The best resource

to study is Eric Raymond's famous Jargon File and its print version, The New Hacker's Dictionary. You may find it useful to keep it open in

another browser tab while you're reading this if you're new to Linux.

The Linux Documentation Project:

Linux Tutorial

Configuration HOWTO

Network config:

Debian Reference - Network configuration

The Network Administrators' Guide

Linux Networking-HOWTO

Printing

OpenPrinting - The Linux Foundation

CUPS Printing Setup Mini-HOWTO

Common UNIX Printing System

GNOME Preferences

The GNOME desktop is an infinitely customisable environment. The Desktop > Preferences menu provides the means to adjust

the most commonly used settings. Here follow some suggestions on how to tweak GNOME appropriately for your own needs.

Accessibility

You can configure assistive technology support such as the Gnome Screen reader, Magnifier or On-screen Keyboard, should they be

required. You will need to log out and back in before these changes will take effect.

About Me
http://www.cups.org/documentation.phphttp://www.linuxprinting.org/~till/printing-tutorial/tut.htmlhttp://www.linux-foundation.org/en/OpenPrintinghttp://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/NET3-4-HOWTO.htmlhttp://www.tldp.org/LDP/nag/nag.htmlhttp://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-gateway.en.htmlhttp://tldp.org/HOWTO/Config-HOWTO.htmlhttp://www.tldp.org/LDP/gs/node5.htmlhttp://catb.org/jargon/


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Fill in personal details. Most importantly, this dialog allows you to change your password if necessary.

CD Database Server

Configure the system to look-up and submit CD track listings.

Desktop Background


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You can choose one of the supplied images or import one of your own. The dialog allows you have the image fill the screen, centred, scaled,

zoom or tiled as you choose. You can also choose to have a plain colour instead.

The process of creating a new desktop background is simple, just create a new folder called 'wallpapers' or something similar and save

appropriate artwork into that. You can make wallpapers yourself quite easily using one of the graphics applications.

File Management


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Configure the behaviour of nautilus, the file browser. Nautilus also controls the look and behaviour of your Desktop.

File Associations can be controlled by selectingRight-click > Properties from the File Icon's context menu. The Open With tab controls file

associations and thePermissions tab controls, erm, permissions. So long as you own the file you should be able to edit as you see fit.

Files with names beginning with a dot (period) are hidden by default. TickView > Show Hidden Files in order to view them with the file

browser.

Font


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Choose which fonts are used to display things on the desktop. Some users find larger fonts or a different style such as serif can make on-

screen reading easier.

If you don't like the initial font selection in 64 Studio, you can get more fonts from the main Debian repositories. Search for "fonts" using the

Search facility in Synaptic. Look for packages starting with "ttf" or "xfonts", there should be plenty to choose from.

Keyboard

Configure keyboard behaviour to suit your needs.

Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys)


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Many functions can be called using key combinations, as in other operating systems. Linux's equivalent of 'hotkeys' are called keybindings:

there are two main conflicting standards - A sort of Windowsy one and the GNU-emacs standard (all that C-xC-c stuff you keep seeing)

The good thing is you can usually define your own.

Login photo

You can drag an appropriate image of yourself to be used on the GDM login screen. You need to use a theme that displays a list of users for

this to work.

Menus & Toolbars


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Configure the behaviour of Menus and Toolbars on a simple level.

Mouse

Configure the mouse for left handed use, pointer themes etc.

Multimedia systems selector

Define the default plugins to use to play Audio and Video. You shouldn't have to mess with this.

Network Proxy


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If you don't know what one of these is, you probably don't need it right now. Your network administrator may require you to use a proxy to

access the internet, if direct connections are disallowed.

Preferred Applications

Allows you to specify which Web browser, mail client and terminal application you want to use as default. For greater control over default

applications, you need to use the command-line

# update-alternatives --all

This will take you through all the application types that have multiple posibilities and offer you the choice. If you don't know or care, you can

press enter to choose the existing default.

Removable Drives and Media


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Configure how the system deals with external drives and devices, like digital cameras, removable storage devices, PDAs, printers, scanners

and the like.

Screen resolution

Adjust the screen resolution from your desktop.

Screensaver


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Choose screensaver themes and fine tune them. You can choose whether to lock the screen when the screensaver activates, this forces you

to enter a password when you return to your computer before you are allowed back into your Desktop. It's enabled by default, but only

really useful in multi-user situations.

Sessions

This allows you to save your session. Whatever applications you have open now will start up the next time you log in. You can manage your

Current Session in the middle tab. Select any applications that you don't want to start up by default and click on the Remove. When you are

happy with the list you have left click onApply. You can configure which applications you do want to open up by default the next time you

log in, by adding them to the list in the Startup Programs tab. Once you're satisfied with your choices you can click on the Save the currentsession button in the Session Options tab.

Sounds
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Enables you to choose audible alerts and ear-candy themes. This is disabled by default in 64 Studio.

Theme


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New themes can be installed using Synaptic; go to Sections > GNOME Desktop Environmentand select gnome-themes-extras for

installation or choose one of the gtk2-engines-* packages. Alternatively there are lots of themes available online (see links below).

Themes, Icons and window borders can be installed by dragging and dropping them onto the theme manager.

It is possible to create custom themes by mixing and matching theme, icon and window border sets and it is also possible to edit yourgtkrc

file and make custom pixmap textures to create further variations.

Volume control

The default mixer for the audio system.File > Change Device allows you to switch between audio devices if you have more than one

attached to your machine.Edit > Preferences controls which channels are visible.

Windows


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Hold down the ALT key whilst dragging with the mouse to move windows around.

The behaviour of windows can be further modified in Desktop > Preferences > Windows.

links

Accessibility

GNOME 2.14 Desktop Accessibility Guide

Linux Accessibility HOWTO

Desktop Themes:

http://art.gnome.org/

http://www.gnome-look.org/

E-mail and Internet

One of the first things you're going to want working on your new system is Internet access. This section walks you through the basic

steps to get email set up, configure the web-browser and get chatting on IRC.

Configuring E-mail

Launch the default e-mail client from the main menu Internet > Icedove Mail Client

First you will be prompted to import Preferences, Account settings and Address Book. If this is a new install there will not be anything to

import, so select Don't import anything and click Next. Icedove should open up with the New Account Wizard activated; you probabaly

want to set up at least one email account. First you fill in the name you want others to see in the 'From' field when they receive your emails

and the address that they will send emails to you by. Next choose whether you want POP or IMAP (POP mail is downloaded onto your

computer and is the usual choice, IMAP reads mail from the server and requires being on line, this second option is less usual) and fill in your

incoming and outgoing server with the addresses that were given to you by your ISP. Next, you need to fill in your actual user name as given

by your ISP (this may be different from your Identity that you specified first). Lastly, you specify how you want Icedove to refer to this

account. You can put whatever you like here, something nice and clear like Personal Email would work.
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Assuming you have filled in all the details correctly, Icedove will immediately connect to your email server and attempt to download your

emails. You will be prompted for the password given to you by your ISP.

Because of the problems of spam you may need to train Icedove to recognise junk. When you download your emails for the first time,

Icedove will do its best to figure out what is spam, and what isn't. It is a very good idea to go through the mail once it has all been

downloaded and correct Icedove's guesses. You will see that some mails have a junk icon in the 6th column, in between Sender and Date.

Clicking in this space will toggle the setting. Once all the mails have been correctly identified, go to Tools > Delete mail marked as junkand

move all the spam into Icedove's trashcan. If you are sure that you don't want to keep any of it you can get rid of it permanently by clicking

onFile > Empty Deleted.

Now might be a good time to consider signing up to the mailing list.

Make your web-browser use your email client
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New users often find that clicking on email links in web pages brings up an unfamiliar interface. The fix for this is to set Iceweasel to mail links

using Icedove. In Iceweasel, type about:config in the URL line and hit Enter. That results in a display of a long list of advanced

preference settings. Then, perform these steps:

Right-click > New > String

in the dialog box, type network.protocol-handler.app.mailto and click OK

in the next dialog box, type /usr/bin/icedove and click OK

Finally, be sure there's a symlink at /usr/bin/icedove that points to your system's Thunderbird executable. Iceweasel's preferences arestored in /home//.mozilla/firefox//prefs.js .

Configure Iceweasel to use ALSA

Edit /etc/iceweasel/iceweaselrc to include# which /dev/dsp wrapper to use

ICEWEASEL_DSP="aoss"

Extending Iceweasel

Iceweasel's extensions are add-on programs which are installed within Iceweasel from the Mozilla web site. Extensions are available for

Blogging, Web Developing, Dictionaries, Download Tools, Editing and Forms, Image Browsing, Languages, Message Reading, NewsReading, Privacy and Security, Search Tools and lots more. To add an extension click on Tools > Add-ons to bring up the Extensions

dialog.

Flash

Enabling Flash is now a simple job.# apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree nspluginwrapper

The flashplugin-nonfree package is actually a wrapper which downloads the latest proprietary plugin from Adobe when you install it. You will

need to restart the web browser before this takes effect.

You can test the plug-in by visiting a site that you know has flash content such as http://www.myspace.com/. If, for some reason installing the

flash plug-in didn't work you have the option to click on the 'install missing plug-ins' button, which will appear at the top of the page, or youcan also install it from the Tools > Add-Ons menu in Iceweasel, which will take you to the Firefox website

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/plugins/

Flash player is in the plug-ins section. The link takes you to the Adobe site and you will want to download the .tar.gz file which will be

something like http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_p... . Follow the instructions, extract the package and

run the installation script as root. This will enable all users to take advantage of the plug-in. You will need to tell the installer where your copy

of Iceweasel is located, which will be something like /usr/lib/iceweasel or/usr/lib/firefox if you're not using the Debianised

version.

Firefox / Iceweasel what's the deal?

Iceweasel and Icedove are re-branded (i.e. Debianised) versions of Firefox and Thunderbird respectively. This is due to an ongoing argumentover trademark issues, which I can't be bothered to go into here. We use Snowpigeon and Slushferret, or was that Frostchimp? If you don't

like it, install something else. This is Linux, you're in control now, you'd better get used to it.

Chatting and Messaging
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Messaging software can be found at Internet > Gaim Internet Messenger. Go to the Accounts menu and click Add/Edit. Gaim supports

AIM/ICQ; Bonjour; Groupwise; IRC; Jabber; MSN; QQ; Simple and Yahoo. Gaim will then connect to the specified account and you can

start messaging right away. This would be a good point to set up an IRC account. Just specify a nickname in the dialog provided in Accounts

> Add/Editwith irc.freenode.net as your server. You don't need to create a password. Login to #64studio usingBuddies > Join a

Chatand say hi.

Next: Advanced configuration

Links

Mozillas Thunderbird 2 email application

Firefox Web browser

Pidgin - a multi-protocol Instant Messaging client

What is IRC?

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) help archive

Advanced configuration

Every creative user will quickly reach a point where the standard desktop utilities don't provide them with the opt ions they're

looking for. In this section we introduce some advanced tricks and tips which allow you to further customise your desktop.

The Command Line Interface

In order to get to grips with more advanced configuration of the system it will be necessary to familiarise yourself with the Command Line

Interface. The CLI is much more flexible than you might think. It includes the abilities to cut and paste, to re-use previous commands using the

Up Arrow key, and to auto-complete commands and addresses as you type them using the Tab key. Try it for yourself! The command line

can be accessed from Accessories > Terminalin the main menu.
http://www.irchelp.org/http://www.mirc.com/irc.htmlhttp://www.pidgin.im/http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/http://www.64studio.com/node/185


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We use a few conventions in this manual when referring to command-line techniques.

$ - The dollar sign is the prompt for an ordinary user. You don't type this in, just everything after it.

# - This is the prompt for the root user, again type in everything after it.

In order to access this prompt you need to use the 'Switch User' command:$ su

You will then be prompted for the root password. It is best practice not to stay logged in as root any longer than you need to in order to

perform certain configurations. Heed these warnings and you will have a much easier time of it.

Many Linux system settings can be changed by editing a configuration file in a text editor, such as gedit or nano. These can both be launched

from the command line.

Essential further reading on this subject is listed at the end of the page.

Getting information about your system's resources and processes

From time to time you will need more information about what processes are actually running on our system and how much processor power

and memory they are using up. Right-click on the Panel and choose Add to Paneland select 'System Monitor' - this will add a little box that

shows a graph of processor activity. It's quite useful to check whether your computer is actually doing anything. There is also a nice little

graphical toolbox available from System Tools > System Monitor, which covers most of these functions.

In order to see what processes are currently running use$ ps fax

The standard means for checking resource usage is$ top

You can also check how full your hard-drives and partitions are with$ df -h

You can list all your hardware devices and their addresses with$ lspci -v

And you can check which driver modules you have loaded with$ lsmod

You can view the boot messages (all that scrolling text you see when you boot up the machine) with:$ dmesg

If you want a running commentary on what the system is seeing,$ tail -f /var/log/syslog

can provide useful debugging output in many situations.

You can use these messages to help troubleshoot problems at boot-time and copy / paste the relevant error messages into an email if you
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need to ask for help.

GNOME Configuration Editor

GConf-Editor is a tool used for editing the GConf configuration database. It looks like a simplified version of the Windows registry editor, but

don't let that put you off. It controls the entire GNOME configuration database and can often be a convenient way of adjusting advanced

settings if you don't want to get your hands dirty with the command line. Gconf-editor does not come as standard in 64 Studio so you will

have to install it:# apt-get install gconf-editor

Adding custom shortcuts

You may want to bind an arbitrary keyboard shortcut to an action (eg. launching an application), but the default Gnome tool allows only a setof predefined actions. Here is the procedure to add custom actions to bind to a key combination. This is not the recommended way of setting

desktop preferences, but it might be useful when the proper configuration utility for some software provides no other way of changing some

option. First you must launch gconf System Tools > Configuration Editor.

Then you have to find the key apps > metacity > keybinding_commands > command_1 through the gconf tree. There you can specify (in

the "value" field) the command to be launched (eg. xterm). You have now associated command_1 to the command xterm.

Now go on and define the key combination; go to apps > metacity > global_keybindings > run_command_1 and put in the "value" field

the key combination you like (eg. F1).

Now you should be able to launch the command xterm with Alt+F1.

Disabling printers

To disable printing and printing setup, set the following keys in gconf:

desktop > gnome > lockdown > printing

desktop > gnome > lockdown > print-setup

Controlling Icons and Panel configuration

To remove one or more of the default icons from the desktop, unset the appropriate key

apps > nautilus > desktop > *_icon_visible

To prevent the appearance of icons representing mounted media such as cdroms, unset the following key:
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apps > nautilus > desktop > volumes_visible

To disable changes to the configuration of the panel, set the

apps > panel > global > locked_down key.

To disable certain applets from loading or appearing in the applet menu, you can specify which applets you wish to disable by adding the

appropriate applet IID to the apps > panel > global > disabled_applets key.

Custom menus

If you want

greater control over your menus it may be worth installing alacarte from the Debian repositories.

Sometimes new packages don't appear in the menus for one reason or another. It's worth knowing the# update-menus

command for these situations. You can also run this as an ordinary user, it's worth reading the man page for this command first.

If you want to start creating your own custom menu entries by hand then you may need to read up on the FreeDesktop menu specification for

all the gory details.

Accessing your other drives

You can access the data on other partitions and drives that were not configured when you installed 64 Studio, such as those belonging to

other operating systems by editing the file /etc/fstab.# gedit /etc/fstab

see man fstab for further instructions.

Configuring your soundcard

If your soundcard failed to configure on install, the first approach is to run alsaconf:# alsaconf
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If that fails you need to check out whether your card is supported by ALSA and whether you have the correct driver installed. There is a

wealth of information on the ALSA websites listed at the end of the page, along with advice on how to test your soundcard, troubleshoot

problems and lots of useful and intriguing HOWTOs.

Multimedia codecs

Every so often you will encounter media files that 64 Studio refuses to play. This is often because we cannot distribute codecs for certain

patent-encumbered file formats. It is possible to access these additional codecs by adding another software source to your

/etc/apt/sources.list.

# nano /etc/apt/sources.list

in the file add the following text:#multimedia codecs

deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ etch main

I ended up with: ffmpeg; gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg-full; libavcodeccvs51; libavformatcvs51; libavutilcvs49; libdvdcss2; libdvdread3; libfaac0;

libfaad0; libimlib2; liblame0; libmikmod2; libmikmod2; libxvidcore4; m4; mozplugger; msttcorefonts and w32codecs, which seemed to do the

trick, but as they say, Your Mileage May Vary.

Audio latency

64 Studio comes with a realtime Linux kernel which helps avoid audio latency problems. The distribution includes a program called the JACK

audio connection Kit (It's a recursive acronym, you'll get used to it) which routes audio between real-time applications. Check out NateFiglar's excellent Jack Quickstart Guide if you want to jump straight into real-time audio operations.

SSH

If you want to be able to ssh into this machine you will probably need to edit /etc/ssh/ssh_config. SSH stands forSecure SHelland is a

more secure alternative to telnet that you can use to remotely run commands on other machines over the network.

GRUB

Before you reboot your machine after all these changes, it's best to check that GRUB is configured correctly. GRUB stands for the GRand

Unified Boot-manager and is the application responsible for booting up the Operating Sytem when you first turn your computer on. Many
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users have multiple operating systems or Linux kernels on the same computer. Using a boot loader, you can choose which operating system

or kernel to start your computer with. You can edit grub to display any installed operating system or kernels. Your 64 Studio system also

includes a single-user mode. The single-user mode starts the machine with a basic system that the root user can use for troubleshooting.

You can reconfigure grub by editing /boot/grub/menu.lst# gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

see the grub website for further information. You can also browse the documentation of GNU GRUB by typing$ info grub

on the Command Line.

Links

Learning to use the Command Line Interface

Debian Install Guide

Debian Reference

Linux Tutorial

ALSA

Advanced Linux Sound Architecture

ALSA Wiki

Low-Latency HOWTO

Linux Audio

Sound & MIDI Software For Linux

Troubleshooting Linux Audio, Part 1

Troubleshooting Linux Audio, Part 2

Troubleshooting Linux Audio, Part 3a

GRUB

GNU GRUB Manual

GNU GRUB Legacy FAQ

Audio

Our Team are itching to get on with making some music. This chapter will take you through preparing drum tracks; MIDI sequencing with

Rosegarden and some additional information about JACK Control.

This chapter is projected to include: Audacity, editing a radio show, podcast or live stereo stream. LADSPA effects. A beginners guide to

Ardour, tracking a relatively simple project. Software synthesis, with amsynth and a MIDI input. Introducing audio mastering with Jamin, and

burning audio to CD.

Jack Quickstart Guide

by Nate Figlar

Hello, and welcome to the 64 Studio Jack quickstart guide. Jack is a sound server typically used for audio production on Linux systems.

Think of it as a glue that joins all of your audio applications together. In this guide I will be showing you how to get it running, and make use of

it - so let's get started.

Jack can be controlled quite easily by a little program that you open called "Jack Control"; some other distributions might call it "qjackctl", but

it's the same thing. In 64 Studio you open it via the Gnome "Foot Menu"; in the category called "Sound & Video" it should have a little quarter

inch jack icon next to it. Click on that to run the program. You should get a window that looks like this:
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/grub-legacy-faq.en.htmlhttp://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/html_node/index.htmlhttp://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000262http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000254http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000244http://linux-sound.org/http://lowlatency.linuxaudio.org/http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php/Main_Pagehttp://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Main_Pagehttp://www.tldp.org/LDP/gs/node5.htmlhttp://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-tutorial.en.htmlhttp://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch07s03.html.en


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Now before you hit the "start" button, let's get everything set up just right. Most importantly, making sure your sound card is opened by Jack

and ready to go. That, again, is a fairly simple process that might take a little adjusting, but we'll get through it. Look at the far right buttons on

Jack

Control and be sure to click the middle "Setup" button. Now another window should open that looks something similar to this:

Keep in mind, especially in the Parameters section, that not all the numbers are going to look exactly like this. This picture was taken from my

system and has been tuned from the defaults, but this is something to shoot for. First, make sure you have Realtime Mode checked in

Parameters. Make sure the priority is set at 0 as well; this gives all the audio processes first priority and best performance for your

production.

Next, let's make sure we have our sound card properly assigned. You will see in the Parameters section in the middle of the right hand

column, "input device" and "output device". Or, you can select your sound card using the Interface setting. Also notice there are arrows

pointing to the right on those areas. These drop-down menus should list soundcard(s) your system can use with Jack. For example, my

system has 3 soundcards in total:

One is a built-in chipset which is noted as hw;1 VIA8237

My Revolution PCI card is hw;0 M-Audio

and my USB MIDI keyboard is hw;2 Photonx25

It's normally good to go with the setting that has the model name of the card, although you might have to use a different one in a section. You

might have to experiment some if Jack won't start (that will be discussed later). If you don't see your sound card, it may not be ALSA


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compatible. In this case, try a different driver up in the Server section of the Setup panel (probably OSS). Most soundcards should be ALSA

compatible and is recommended to go with ALSA unless you have a FireWire interface, in which case you would use the Freebob driver.

There is one more concept you need to keep in mind at this point, and that is the balance between latency and Xruns. The idea is to get Jack

to perform as close to realtime processing as possible, which means the figure in the lower righthand corner labeled "Latency" should be as

low as

possible. This is done by manipulating the Frames/Period setting in the centre column of the Setup window.

Now to throw a small wrench in the works - your computer may not be able to deliver the performace Jack needs to run at the latency you

set, causing something called Xruns. Xruns are basically buffer underruns, causing anomalies heard in the audio. It is common to get some

Xruns at the startup and shutdown of some applications, and maybe some more processor intesive functions like patch changes and such. If

you can't hear these anomalies, then you should be fine. If you are worried about having glitches in a recording, then take latency up a notch.

Ideally though, once you get Jack good and set, it should be able to stay at that latency figure.

You might need to experiment with these settings, but with these concepts in mind we should be ready to start Jack. Now let's click OK on

the Setup panel and implement our settings. Since this is a first run of Jack we want to make sure all is working good, and if not, find where

the problem lies. Go back to the main Jack control panel and far left on the middle panel is the button for "Messages". Go ahead and click it,

and you should get a window like this:

Again, this probably looks a little different to yours, due to the actual messages - this is where things like xruns and start-up errors show up. It

might tell you "that soundcard is already in use", in which case you know some other application (like system sounds) might already be using

the card. If you have an ever-changing list of Xruns then you know you've got performance tweaked too high, and so you should re-adjust as

needed. Other than that, it should just tell you about changes in the server. Remember, occasional Xruns may not be a problem; just watch

the messages at first when you start and run applications.

Now hit the start button, and if all is good, you will get a bunch of various messages and the window should end up looking like the frame

above. Hopefully no Xruns, except maybe one or two. If all is good, then let's get started on making some apps work and making sure that

sound will come out.

When starting a Jack app, make sure that the Jack server is already started; it will then pick up the app when that starts. A good start would

be a synth program like ZynAddSubFx. Go to the "foot menu" then to "Audio & Video", and at the bottom of the list should be

ZynAddSubFx. The program should prompting for a beginners or advanced selection. As I have chosen this program for a quick and easy

check, if you chose beginners mode you get a nice virtual keyboard to check with. In 64 Studio, it automatically connects into Jack.

Now let's look at the Jack Control connections window, which is another important part of making Jack work. Remember when I said you

can think of Jack as the glue to connect your audio applications? Well, this where it will come into play. If you look on the far left of the main

Jack Control panel you will see it says "Connections". This button opens up a window like this:


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Again, keep in mind that if you had to use a Freebob or OSS driver the actual names in each panel may be different. In this case, the

"alsa_pcm" on the left panel should be the recording input on the card you chose, or "input device" in the setting panel. The "alsa_pcm" on the

right should be the output port on the soundcard you chose for your "output device". Now when we start ZynAddSubFx, the window

should change to this:

See the difference? Jack already added the application and connected it to the main output. If all is set OK, then click around on Zyn's keys

and you should be able to hear sounds. Now check your messages and make sure there are very few Xruns, or that it isn't spitting out more

and more. (By the way, if they do get too out of control, Jack normally stops with an error message). Since this connection was made

automatically, I am going to hook into a midi controller to show how to manually connect Jack clients (the apps and devices used by Jack).

Even if you don't have a MIDI controller on your system, this example should show you the concept of how to manually manipulate

connections in Jack. In the same panel as the Connection window you should see the MIDI tab. Click on it, and you should get something

like this:


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Remember this is from my system, and I have an Alesis PhotonX25 midi controller keyboard. This will probably look different on your

machine unless you have the same controller, but you should at least have the "Midi Through". With the Zyn synth it should look like this:

Now to connect by MIDI all you have to do is highlight the output of the Photon, highlight the Zyn input and hit the "Connect" button (it

should become available then). Or you can drag and drop the line across to each. Like I said, if you have a different MIDI interface then

whatever the name of the interface is should replace the "Photon X25" name. Once this is done, the window should look like this:

Now play your MIDI device, and it should play the corresponding notes on the Zyn synth. If you wish to disconnect, then just highlight the


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two items you wish to disconnect, and click the disconnect button.

Those are all the basics. From there, you can get creative about how you plug your apps in and out of each other. You can easily stack

multiple synths for complex sounds. (Start two different Zyn synths and use different banks, they will show as two seperate clients.) Also

keep in mind the other effects processors and how you can expand into various multichannel configurations that are available. In other words,

now that you have the Jack basics, have some fun experimenting. See what some of these exciting applications can do. See how you can use

Jack to interconnect your audio production tools in an efficient manner, and most importantly, have fun doing it.

Hopefully this guide has shown you just one aspect of what 64 Studio can do for your multimedia production needs in a free software

environment.

JACK Audio Connection Kit

This chapter is intended to form the basis of a more in-depth look at the JACK server

Getting to Know JACK (QjackCtl)

Control Panel Connections

All internal Audio and MIDI connections and routing are controlled by the JACK Audio Connection Kit Control Panel (QjackCtl). These

are flexible connections that can be made between all Audio/MIDI software programs, which are known as JACK clients.

The JACK GUI interface can be launched from Sound & Video > JACK Control. The connections can be viewed by pressing the Connect

button.

All being well you'll see the word Started come up in the window with 0 (0) below it. The Connections panel should show alsa_pcm in

both the input and output windows. If so, you're ready to make some music. This panel shows all Audio or MIDI signal sources in the left

pane (Readable Clients / Output Ports) and all possible Audio or MIDI signal destinations in the right pane (Writable Clients / Input Ports).

Actual connections are established between source (Output Ports) and destination (Input Ports) by selecting one item in either side and

pressing the Connectbutton at the bottom-left of the Connections window.

It is also possible to establish a connection by dragging an item and dropping it on to the other side (Note: it doesn't matter which side you

start dragging from).
http://www.64studio.com/sites/64studio.com/files/manual/JACK-connections.png


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If it hass not all gone so smoothly, click on Messages, if you see anything much more complicated than:

20:19:41.579 Client activated.

20:19:41.583 Audio connection change.

20:19:41.617 Audio connection graph change.

then you're going to need to do some work to get the best out of this. If you only want to use one application at a time, you may not need to

worry about JACK too much right now. However, if you want the full power of a Linux Audio system then it's worth taking the time to figure

this out. The Status button also provides some slightly less verbose information.

I/O

To disconnect a currently established connection you proceed in similar manner: select each item on either side and press theDisconnect

button. Actual and established connections are shown as coloured lines in between the two panes of the Connections window. Each color

indicates a single and distinct source module (client) that is currently connected. It is possible to route all Audio and MIDI signals wherever

you want this way.

JACK Patchbay

All connections made in the JACK Control interface persist as long as the JACK session lasts. To maintain a custom and persistent

connection layout you'll have to edit and activate a patchbay definition profile. Patchbay definition profiles are connection models that are

edited and created on the JACK Patchbay window, which is accessed via the Patchbay button on the main JACK control panel

Documents

The Creative Desktop