Axe-Fx II and Linux (again)

While not recording much, I had no issues using the Axe's USB audio output in Ardour. Tests with Audacity and even arecord have also been successful.
 
Thanks for the info.

I was asking cause I am thinking to evolve my MidyAX project onto a platform like BeagleBoard Back (instead of ARDUINO) that runs LINUX. I would be using the USB connections on both BCR2000 and AXE-FX 2 instead of the old DIN connectors. Unfortunatly right now the BBBs have run out of stocks.
 
Since your MidyAX is a midi device, you will not need the USB audio but the USB midi interface of the Axe. This also works under Linux. I have no problems doing all kind of midi data transfers (firmware updates, bank and system backups, loading presets and cabs etc.) with amidi or (using wine) with FractalBot and Axe-Edit.
 
For the audio. I was only asking to make sure that all the functionality MIDI + audio was there. Which flavor of LINUX are running.

Cool that the MIDI works flawlessly.:D
 
Hi!
I made some quick tests with Bitwig Studio under Linux yesterday with Ubuntu 14.04.
Sound was OK from the device but using it as audio output freeze frequently.
So far I use a NI Komplete Audio 6 for output (supports 48Khz).
I could not make Axe edit Work so far with wine. It crashes just after user interface display.
I will investigate. I did the stuff with firmware loading, the midi port works (I checked with midisnoop, I receive correctly sysexes).
Do you know any tricks or config stuff to make axe edit works?
 
Hi Bzerk,

nice to have another Linux user around :)

Some quesions to clear things up:

Bzerk said:
Ubuntu 14.04.
Click to expand...

Is your OS 32bit or 64bit?

Bzerk said:
Sound was OK from the device but using it as audio output freeze frequently.
Click to expand...

Did Bitwig Studio freeze or the Axe-Fx II?

Bzerk said:
I could not make Axe edit Work so far with wine. It crashes just after user interface display.
Click to expand...

Do you get a crashdump from wine and what is being reported?
 
Some quesions to clear things up:

* Is your OS 32bit or 64bit?
64 bits. I use the stock kernel, not lowlatency.

* Did Bitwig Studio freeze or the Axe-Fx II?

Bitwig made some strange noise (like when a CD player plays a trashed CD, you hear a very short sample in a loop). I had to restart the audio engine of Bitwig.

* Do you get a crashdump from wine and what is being reported?
I had a register dump on a window. I will look at it this evening.
I will also try to remove the Axe-edit config and restart.

I heard that Axe edit has been written with juce, it would be cool if Fractal could recompile the stuff for Linux.
 
Bzerk said:
Some quesions to clear things up:

* Is your OS 32bit or 64bit?
64 bits. I use the stock kernel, not lowlatency.

* Did Bitwig Studio freeze or the Axe-Fx II?

Bitwig made some strange noise (like when a CD player plays a trashed CD, you hear a very short sample in a loop). I had to restart the audio engine of Bitwig.

* Do you get a crashdump from wine and what is being reported?
I had a register dump on a window. I will look at it this evening.
I will also try to remove the Axe-edit config and restart.

I heard that Axe edit has been written with juce, it would be cool if Fractal could recompile the stuff for Linux.
Click to expand...

For Axe-Edit you already try what volt described?

Regarding Axe-Edit 3.0.3 you can try the following (assuming installation of Axe-Edit was successful): Start winecfg, select Axe-Edit on the applications tab, head over to the libraries tab and disable dwrite.dll (Under "New override for library" type "dwrite", then click "Edit" and select "Disable").
Click to expand...
 
Bzerk said:
Bitwig made some strange noise (like when a CD player plays a trashed CD, you hear a very short sample in a loop). I had to restart the audio engine of Bitwig.
Click to expand...

OK, good to hear the Axe-Fx did not crash (Did not expect that the Axe-Fx crashed when playing audio though).

Could you check if your Bitwig project is set to 48kHz, 24bit?

Also, please try to playback audio with aplay from the console, Audacity and/or Ardour to check if the problem occurs there, too.
 
Yeahhhhhh It works! Thank you guys, disabling the shared lib worked, now I can use Axe-Edit.

Volt, it seems that it is a problem with Bitwig, I can play music without problem using desktop player and selecting the Axe.
That is very good news, htey are pretty good at fixing stuff quickly. My setup is 48Khz, but some of the stuff was recorded at various frequencies with different audio interface. It might trigger some bug in Bitwig.

Thank you for your help!
 
I have tried something a bit more unusual that is running axe-edit under Linux/Wine (debian 7.5) in a VirtualBox on Mac OSX.
Result so far :
- Axe-edit installs fine (but report problem opening the pdf file)
- Axe-edit runs but report the following problem on start-up :
Communication time-out : Axe-Edit was unable to complete the following communication request get_all_patch_names
- Axe-edit receive patch from AXE-FX if the Preset is changed on the AXE-FX (with the big wheel)
- Axe-edit does not display Cab Type (and other param with list) properly but changing param values (level, mix) on axe-edit does work and set the value properly on the AXE-FX

There seem to be no problem with the MIDI input but some of the MIDI output (in sysex) does not seem to work. Weird :-|. CC midi output seem to work fine since LOOPER in axe-edit controls the AXE fine.

I did try :
volt said:
Regarding Axe-Edit 3.0.3 you can try the following (assuming installation of Axe-Edit was successful): Start winecfg, select Axe-Edit on the applications tab, head over to the libraries tab and disable dwrite.dll (Under "New override for library" type "dwrite", then click "Edit" and select "Disable").
Click to expand...

In the VirtualBox there does not seem to be the need to install the AXE-FX driver on Linux since it is already installed on the host Mac.

Has anybody tried this set-up ?
 
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Bzerk said:
Yeahhhhhh It works! Thank you guys, disabling the shared lib worked, now I can use Axe-Edit.

Volt, it seems that it is a problem with Bitwig, I can play music without problem using desktop player and selecting the Axe.
That is very good news, htey are pretty good at fixing stuff quickly. My setup is 48Khz, but some of the stuff was recorded at various frequencies with different audio interface. It might trigger some bug in Bitwig.

Thank you for your help!
Click to expand...

Hey are you the same Bzerk that coded ElevenHack? If so, welcome to the dark (less orange) side!
 
PALYGAP said:
- Axe-edit runs but report the following problem on start-up :
Communication time-out : Axe-Edit was unable to complete the following communication request get_all_patch_names
Click to expand...

Hm, never had this error. But I guess the issue could be related to the handling of the USB port by VirtualBox / the chain OSX - VirtualBox - Debian - Axe-Edit. At first OSX handles the USB port the Axe-Fx II is connected to. Then VirtualBox hands the data of the USB port over (did not investigate how this is done) to Debian. Debian would handle this data as if the Axe-Fx is directly connected to a hardware USB port with its own driver before it gets through wine to Axe-Edit. I could imagine that this "path" just takes too long and leads to the time-out.

Did you try to run wine directly on OSX?

PALYGAP said:
- Axe-edit does not display Cab Type (and other param with list) properly but changing param values (level, mix) on axe-edit does work and set the value properly on the AXE-FX
Click to expand...

Do you mean the listboxes do not appear / are empty?

PALYGAP said:
I did try :

"Regarding Axe-Edit 3.0.3 you can try the following (assuming installation of Axe-Edit was successful): Start winecfg, select Axe-Edit on the applications tab, head over to the libraries tab and disable dwrite.dll (Under "New override for library" type "dwrite", then click "Edit" and select "Disable")."
Click to expand...

I don't think that dwrite.dll has something to do with your issues, at least not the first one (communication time-out), as it seems to be part of DirectWrite, an DirectX-API for text layout and glyph rendering.

PALYGAP said:
In the VirtualBox there does not seem to be the need to install the AXE-FX driver on Linux since it is already installed on the host Mac.
Click to expand...

Yes, but that applies only to Linux and OSX clients: The Axe-Fx II does not need a dedicated driver on OSX and Linux as it is known from Windows. It is only needed to load the USB firmware to the Axe-Fx II. That is what the OSX and Linux "drivers" do. Once the USB firmware is uploaded to the Axe-Fx II its midi and audio should work as an usb audio device with the (general) usb driver the OS already contains. So you don't need to install drivers for the Axe-Fx II in OSX and Linux, but only because they are already there.

In contrast if your VirtualBox client would be a Windows OS you would have to install the Axe-Fx II driver for Windows, just as if you run Windows directly (without VirtualBox).

So in the end all VirtualBox clients use their own software / driver layer.
 
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For me, all apps are running OK (native and under Wine), but I'm having some problems with PulseAudio platform itself. Well, at least I think it is PulseAudio, for all I know it could also be ALSA or GStreamer. I don't know how to detect the source of the problem.
The problem arises when I unplug AxeFx - PulseAudio (or whatever) does not realize it is disconnected (in contrast to other USB soundcards I have), so any app trying to use audio gets frozen. The only way to correct this state is to restart the machine which is a nuisance.

Running Linux Mint 14, kernel 3.13.2 64bit / KDE + PulseAudio (?)

If there is someone more experienced in Linux audio here, I would certainly appreciate some help in resolving this.

H.
 
Thanks a lot volt for the detailed answer

volt said:
Hm, never had this error. But I guess the issue could be related to the handling of the USB port by VirtualBox / the chain OSX - VirtualBox - Debian - Axe-Edit. At first OSX handles the USB port the Axe-Fx II is connected to. Then VirtualBox hands the data of the USB port over (did not investigate how this is done) to Debian. Debian would handle this data as if the Axe-Fx is directly connected to a hardware USB port with its own driver before it gets through wine to Axe-Edit. I could imagine that this "path" just takes too long and leads to the time-out.
Click to expand...

I think you're right. I have checked with KMidiMon and the SYSEX answers seemed to arrive pretty slowly and then there must be an AXE-EDIT time-out. Currently I am using my MacBook pro since my iMAC had a failure and is in the repair shop. When I get it back I will give it a try, It might work since it is a faster machine.

volt said:
Do you mean the listboxes do not appear / are empty?
Click to expand...
They appear empty.

volt said:
I don't think that dwrite.dll has something to do with your issues, at least not the first one (communication time-out), as it seems to be part of DirectWrite, an DirectX-API for text layout and glyph rendering.
Click to expand...
I don't think so has well, but I just gave it a try.

volt said:
Yes, but that applies only to Linux and OSX clients: The Axe-Fx II does not need a dedicated driver on OSX and Linux as it is known from Windows. It is only needed to load the USB firmware to the Axe-Fx II. That is what the OSX and Linux "drivers" do. Once the USB firmware is uploaded to the Axe-Fx II its midi and audio should work as an usb audio device with the (general) usb driver the OS already contains. So you don't need to install drivers for the Axe-Fx II in OSX and Linux, but only because they are already there.

In contrast if your VirtualBox client would be a Windows OS you would have to install the Axe-Fx II driver for Windows, just as if you run Windows directly (without VirtualBox).

So in the end all VirtualBox clients use their own software / driver layer.
Click to expand...
Did not known that.

What I am actually trying to do (and I think it is done) is to have a LINUX developing environment where I can receive and transmit SYSEX to the AXE-FX and send/receive SYSEX and CCs from the BCR2000.
The aim ia to port the core of the MidyAX code to LINUX so that I can have it running on Rasperry Pi or Beagle Board Black. Since these environment are a bit slow to develop on, I would rather develop on my Mac in a VirtualBox and then recompile and run on these environment. So right now the Linux VirtualBox I have sends and receive MIDI CCs and SYSEX (although a bit slowly) and that should allow me to develop the new version of the MidyAX on it. Actually since Linux can be installed "anywhere" (normal install or Virtualliszed) this should will be a "Universal" MidyAX.:lol

Soon I will try receiving SYSEX on the RPi (LINUX) and will let you know it it works.
 
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