Promoting Open Access in GTA Public Libraries

Occasionally, I go to the Public Libraries in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) to complete my work.

I do this to make better use of my time while waiting for band practice, or waiting (as a chauffeur) until my daughter has finished her rehearsals or actual performances. Currently, she is performing in a Disney theatrical production of Camp Rock, but I digress…

Normally, public libraries in the GTA provide wireless Internet access. Unfortunately, I have been unable to connect to their wireless systems with my Ubuntu Linux netbook during past visits. When I brought this to the attention of the front staff, they suggest that I “fill out a comment and put it in the complaint box”, or fetch their resident “computer expert”, which in turn, informs me to: “fill out a comment and put it in the complaint box”.

Therefore, this time (before going to the library) I tried a different approach:

1. I researched and I found a web-site link that solves this particular problem:

   http://torontogeek.com/2010/06/how-to-use-wirelesswifi-at-toronto-public-library-with-linux-debian_ubuntu/

   (Ironically, it requires Internet access to download some applications, but perhaps you can do this now prior to going to the library)

2. Before leaving for the library, I made several printouts of the solution, which in turn I:
   • Handed to the front staff to inform them that I have already solved the problem, and would like to contribute to make the library more “open”
   • Asked them to give a copy to their “expert”.
   • Stapled another printout to the “comment form”, and stuffed the comment into the “complaint box” (although it is not a complaint)

This procedure also works for access to City of Brampton’s WIFI sites… This is very useful in case you need to work in areas such as community centres. In that way, if the library closes, and you need to work while still waiting to pick up your daughter from rehearsals… >;)

By the way, I have made this post from one of the public libraries in
Brampton, Ontario,
Canada

Enjoying the journey of discovery, and non-conformity…
Murray Saul

Get Battery Inidacator to work in AWN (Acer AspireOne Netbook a751h)

One of the last remaining “tweaks” I needed to perform on my Acer AspireOne Netbook (a751h), was to get the battery indicator to work on my Avant Window Navigator docking panel. Previously, upon boot-up, the battery was not recognised.

Here is a solution that worked for me:

1. Install acpitools application. Go to Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager. Search for acpi tools, and mark for download and install.
2. Login as super-user
3. Edit the file called /etc/rc.local and add the command: acpitools
4. Reboot your computer
5. Add the battery indicator to your awn docking panel (This will require you have AWN-extras (and extras python) installed on your system)

   To add the battery indicator applet to AWN:

   • Right-click on awn docking panel, and select Dock Preferences
   • Select the Applets tab
   • Select the Battery applet
   • click the down arrow (below) to add to your docking panel

Your battery indicator should know appear correctly in your docking panel.

If you are looking for a different look for your battery indicator, check out this link: html

Murray

Improve Computer’s Performance in Ubuntu Studio

I am running Ubuntu studio on my Acer AspireOne a751h netbook. have noticed when running other Bristol keyboard emulators, the CPU usage is very high in the Jack audio server – this can cause sound distortion. This is no doubt attributed to the limited power of the arm processor – adding RAM will not have a considerable impact on the quality of multiple Bristol emulators.

There is a method to change your Acer AspireOne (or any computer that has the SpeedStep feature) into performance mode in order to keep CPU Usage within acceptable levels. By default, Ubuntu Studio has set the default CPU frequency (i.e. performance) of newly installed computers to “On Demand”. This is for a number of reasons including not constantly requiring fan to draw down the battery (although I would be plugged in for practice and performance anyways). The Acer Aspireone a751h CPU has the “speedstep” feature, and will now show the step to change it to “performance”.

Steps to Enhance CPU performance (Acer AspireOne a751h):

1. ATTENTION:.Take time to read these instructions. Flashing BIOS can come with risks and I take no responsibility for any disasters encountered, but this procedure did work for me…
2. Check BIOS version. I had version 3010, which didn’t support Speedstep feature, but version 3012 does support that feature (which means you need to download version, and flash your BIOS).
3. I have dual boot, so decided to perform the BIOS flash in my MS WIndows XP portion of notebook:
   1. Boot netbook into MS Windows (not Ubuntu Linux)
   2. Go to following page to download most recent BIOS version from ACER webpage: http://support.acer.com/us/en/productdefault.aspx?tab=5&modelId=1112
   3. Unzip the file folder in c:\windows\system32
   4. Make certain you are logged into MS Windows as ”administrator” (if you have not created password for account, you should do so, or procedure may not work!)
   5. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the BIOS_Acer_3212 subdirectory you unzipped, and proceed in the subdirectory called Windows.
   6. Right-click on the WinPhlash file and then select Run.
   7. You will be prompted for ”authorization”. Select for account, then enter your administrator account name and password.
   8. Carefully read all instructions before proceeding with flashing your BIOS. Your machine should be plugged in. It would be a bad, bad thing if your machine is powered off in the middle of flashing your BIOS! The decision to flash you BIOS is yours, not mine.
   9. Proceed with the flashing of your BIOS. When completed, the system will reboot.
4. When your system reboots, select Ubuntu Linux at the Grub boot-loader menu.
5. There is an applet for the Gnome panel called CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor. Add this applet to your gnome panel by right-clicking on your panel and then selecting “Add to Panel” and select that applet. Note: If you are running another panel system like ”’Avant Window Navigator”’ (like me), you can open a terminal and run the command gnome-panel, and add the ”CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor” applet. Don’t worry, when you reboot your machine the settings you make to the CPU Frequency and Scaling Monitor will remain, although the gnome-panel will not be present.
6. Click the icon for ”CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor” and select Performance.
7. Launch your Jack audio system and keyboards, and you should notice a noticeable improvement in the performance and CPU usage.

FYI,
Murray Saul

Ubuntu Studio on a Netbook?

It has been a while since I have made a post in WordPress… I have been busy using and experimenting with Ubuntu studio. I was able to use Ubuntu studio with my
Acer Aspireone h715 netbook for live musical performances.

Here is a link to my WIKI documenting how it was able to do this:

http://zenit.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Performing_Live_with_Jack,Qsynth,_and_Bristol_Organ

FYI,
Murray Saul

Using AWN (Avant Window Navigator)

Approprimately 5 months ago, I switched to AWN (Avant Window Navigator) that operates like a Mac OSX docking station, thus negating the use of panels…

… I will NOT be returning to panels… I like AWN that much!

Here is a screen capture of my home system using AWN:

[ html ]

There are basically 3 tasks to perform to setup AWN on your Ubuntu system:

1. Download and install AWN via the Synaptic Package Manager.
2. Configure AWN in terms of appearance, applications, applets, and make AWN launch upon system startup.
3. Remove all panels, so you are just using AWN.

I will now show you how to perform those above-mentioned tasks…

INSTALLING AWN

For help in using the Synaptic Package Manager for AWN, refer to this link:

[ html ]

Here is a screen capture of the Synaptic Package Manager that indicates which AWN packages to install:

[ html ]

CONFIGURING AWN

In order to run Awn make the following selections:

APPLICATIONS -> ACCESSORIES -> AWN Manager

Here is a screen capture of the Preferences settings for reference

[ html ]

(NOTE: make certain to select YES at the “Start Awn automatically” option).

Switch to the Task Manager setting. Here you can click and drag applications from the panel into this area to add applications. The Firefox application has already been added.

Switch to the Applets setting. You can select an applet and then double-click to add an applet into awn. You can click and drag these added applets to change their order of appearance. If you wish to remove an applet, click on the applet you want to remove, and then press the up arrow key that appears above the added applets.

NOTE: It is recommended to add the Cairo Main Menu applet into your list, so you have a menu to launch other applications, and you can logout, reboot, or shutdown your computer.

Switch to the Themes setup, and select a theme. Warning: when you change a theme, it may change the Preferences settings, so you may have to reset them…

The Advanced settings allows you to change parameters such as height, or icon transparency.

Once you have set up AWN, click on the CLOSE button, and restart your computer. You should see upon startup, that you now have AWN running (as well as the panels). In order to change the AWN settings, simply right-click somewhere on the awn area (but not directly on an icon). If you wish to launch more than one of the same applications, simply right-click on the icon and select “launch”.

Now, that we have installed AWN and it runs upon startup, we no longer require panels. If you have secondary panels, you can easy remove them by right-clicking on the panel, and select remove. But you cannot perform this operation with the main panel.

In order to hide the panel, you must instruct your system to use awn instead of panels. You do this by issuing the following single-line command in a shell prompt (you do NOT have to be super-user, and this command should be issued for each user on the system):

gconftool-2 –type string –set /desktop/gnome/session/required_components/panel “awn”

This will take effect the next time you log-in or restart… If for some reason, you want to return to panels, you can issue the following single-line command to restore your panels:

gconftool-2 –type string –set /desktop/gnome/session/required_components/panel “gnome-panel”

Regards of your preference, I encourage you to try to see if you like it. Must of my friends prefer using awn…

FYI,
Murray

A 4-year-old With a License to Drive

There may be many seriously-minded professors at Seneca College – but I am glad to say that I don’t take myself too seriously… >;)

The title for this Blog posting actually comes from another fellow colleague at work, and I agree with her statement entirely. You should never lose a portion of your inner child, and always continue to evolve…

For example, here is a YouTube video I created entirely in my Linux (Ubuntu Studio) system. It was created as a “test” to see that we can make our own music, therefore no copyright violations when we post up our videos to YouTube. It is meant to be humorous, and not to be taken seriously (it is just a lego action figure for goodness sake)!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8if6uyB9cqk

… and for those who criticize that I’m just being a kid… well, yes I am, but I’m also doing this to encourage my 11 year-old son to resume making stop-motion videos instead of just “giving-up”, so I guess I’m also being a good dad…

… Oh, by the way, after showing this YouTube video to my son, he is currently working on a video with his friend using Ubuntu Studio… >;p

Murray Saul

Running NINJAM in Linux

This is pretty cool stuff,

I have been “struggling” with installing NINJAM (the online music collaboration tool), and was about to give up, but decided to just download the windows application and run in Linux under wine application and it works! I had trouble installing the Ninjam installer package in Linux, so I installed first on a Windows machine, copied the ninjam directory to my Linux machine (via USB stick) and ran the command:

wine /home/msaul/NINJAM/ninjam.exe

I don’t know yet how to connect it so I can play in the online jamms, but I should be able to figure that out… I believe I need to use wine-asio…

This means we can create our own Jamm (recording) sessions and music collaboration with up to 4 musicians from the comfort of our own homes! No fees for practice or recording studios! No rush! Just fun!

Here is a link to a test-session that I listened in on… not very good, you should have heard the other sessions earlier this evening! Man! This capture of the session is an ogv (Ogg Vorbis Theora) file (It runs in Windows 7, although not certain on all versions of Windows, but should run OK in Linux):

http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~murray.saul/ninjam1.ogv

Here is another sample of a test-session that I listened into one day later of 5 members (note that the metronome is turned-off this time):

http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~murray.saul/ninjam2.ogv

Man this is fun stuff… |: )
Now, I need to document it… |: o

Murray

How to Collaborate On-line – Part I

Break the misconception that once you have a home recording studio, you can do it all yourself. I perform in a band, and benefit from the expertise of the other group members…

Like the saying goes, “The result is greater than the sum of all of the parts”…

There are several methods to collaborate online with other users via Ardour and Ninjam… Today, I am going to talk about collaborating with Ardour…

The problem with collaborating online is that the files that are generated when you record an auditory product using Ardour are very LARGE. For example, if you decide to create a zipped tarball (a method to build a single file from a group of directories/files and then compress or “zip” that file) can balloon to 90 Mb to 120 Mb of hard disk space for a simple 4-5 minute song… Imagine posting that file on the cloud, or making that file available on a distribution server! Then just consider the pain of continually compressing and decompressing those files – there must be an easier method…

… and there is…

If you are not concerned with more than one person simultaneously editing the same session, there is a python script (program) that will allow you to easily share your sessions for editing by other users. The name of this application is called session-exchange, and it has been around for several years…

The advantage of session-exchange is that the user can allow for downloading of files to all collaborators of a session, and only have the musicians work on the most recent edits of the auditory product. When you create a song in Ardour, you are required to either create a session, or open an existing session. This allows ardour to create subdirectories to store all audio data into a concise location on your computer system. Ardour uses the term snapshot to relate to a new session file that is generated (i.e. not affecting the original session) that simply stores the current state of the edited session. Therefore, only snapshots (and the related data updates) need to be shared, thus saving space and transmission time. This is an efficient method of collaborating Ardour sessions over the Internet…

An analogy: This may be an oversimplification, but relate it to how the vi text editor works: there is a swap file (editing transaction) and the original file. Only upon saving the editing session is the original file updated with the newer information… No doubt, the swap file is smaller than the actual file, and thus easier to transfer between computer systems. Also, the swap file is useful for backup purposes (eg. in case of accidental disconnection from your remote editing session)… The only difference from this vi text editor comparison is that the snapshot informs the session exchange program which other auditory files are required to be downloaded in addition to the snapshot file…

The following link is a WIKI I created to explain how to download, setup and use session-exchange to help with Ardour session collaboration among users:

[ How to Collaborate On-line ]

Just a cautionary note about session-exchange: The Ardour Session Exchange application is designed to collaborate with a group of people, but only one person at a time should exchange, edit. and save sessions before others collaborate with the same session.

This application reminds me of the SVN or RCS applications, except there seems to be no safeguards to “lock files” when they have been “exchanged” or “checked-out” to be worked on by other users. Perhaps a locking mechanism would be in order in a future release of this application. Perhaps this type of safeguard would be too constricting for the artistic or collaborative process of musical composition…

Regardless, this is an interesting tool which believe I will use many times in the future when I collaborate with my band members….

As usual, I will also include my main Ubuntu WIKI with all my related Ubuntu tutorials, tips, and resources:

[ Ubuntu Guide ]

FYI,
Murray Saul

Low Cost Midi Connection to Jack

I usually encourage the people that live in my community to set-up an Ubuntu Studio. On the other hand, I realize that many people don’t have the money to spend on the “extras” with a home recording studio. I am always looking for low cost solutions to connect a MIDI keyboard to the jack audio server, in case people already have a MIDI keyboard.

Many MIDI-USB devices range from $40 to $200+ which although a good price, may not appeal to individuals that are on a tight budget, or need to spend money in other important areas.

I tried connecting an inexpensive MIDI-to-GamePort adaptor into an older PCI (Ensoniq) soundcard that I added to a computer system, and it worked! Here are links to these types of hardware devices for reference:

[ MIDI-TO-GAMEPORT ADAPTOR ]

[ Ensoniq Sound Card WIKI ]

I installed the Ensoniq Sound card into the computer, and hooked up the MIDI adaptor to the Game Port.

I then configured Jack to include the following:

1. In the main menu, I select PREFERENCES ->SOUND, I clicked on the INPUT tab, set input to use the Ensoniq soundcard, and changed the connection for the Ensoniq sound card to ANALOG INPUT.
2. In the Jack window, I clicked SETUP, and set the input to the Ensoniq PCI soundcard, and set the output to DEFAULT.For more information on how to configure Jack settings, please refer to the following WIKI I created: [ Setting up Jack Server ]

It seems to work fine. Sometimes, the port numbers for the Ensoniq card change their values when the Jack server starts. Jack may use port 20, or use port 16. I find this annoying in case I want to use a shells script to automatically launch Jack server, launch keyboard applications and automatically connect to the Jack Server. But there is a solution to the problem…

If you issue the command aconnect -l then you can see the listed port connections (in my case the port for my Tascam US-122 USB device. This can then be incorporated in a Bash shell script (i.e. parse out the port number and store into a variable) to make the necessary connections with Jack…

I just setup a Ubuntu Studio system for a friend and instructed her on how to use the system (including what to do if Jack detects Ensoniq soundcard with port 16 instead of port 20 (then reboot!)). She is now using this system…

I got a little excited by this low cost discovery, and the fact that I have these hardware pieces to provide a lower cost solution. I made the following short musical demo on the system that I created for my friend to prove this method works. Here is the audio demo using audacity to record Hydrogen (Drums), Bristol Organ (Hammond B3), and Qsynth (Piano with Phase and Wah-Wah effect):

[ http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~murray.saul/songs/Murs_Groove.mp3 ]

Murray Saul

Ubuntu Studio: Connecting the Dots

I have experimented with Ubuntu Studio (in particular Home Recording) over the past 2 months, and I have been asking myself the question, can I actually use free Open Source applications to record music and perform live for the band that I play in?

The answer to this question is a resounding YES…

… but in order to make it happen, you need to drop the “Windows approach” to home recording / Live performance software and painlessly “bend your mind” to fit the open-source model…

I will not attempt to explain the solution at this point. I believe that it would take the entire summer to properly chain all approaches into a cohesive user guide (but I will attempt to eventually do this)…

What I would like to provide you with are four links to my Ubuntu Studio WIKIs that provide the basics fundamentals in using Ubuntu Studio for home recording. These links will also help you to compare and contrast the Audacity and Ardour DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) applications. These links (tutorials) make strong assumptions including the fact that I use a TASCAM US122 USB device to connect my MIDI keyboard / Guitar / Vocals as INPUTS to be recorded…

Here are my links:

Part I: [ Some Hardware Considerations ]

Part II: [ Running Jack and Using Qsynth ]

Part III: [ Using Audacity with Jack, Qsynth, and Hydrogen to Record a Song ]

Part IV: [ Using Ardour with Hydrogen, Bristol Organ to Record a Song ]

I believe that there is a strong interest in my Ubuntu Studio topics (wikis). As of June 25th, 2010, the number of visits to my General Ubuntu WIKI since the beginning of May 2010 has jumped by 7,000! Nearly 5,000 represent visits to the following WIKI within 6 weeks:

Part II: Using Audacity with Jack, Qsynth, and Hydrogen to Record a Song…

I hope you find this useful and have lots of fun!

Murray