Forum

FAQ
====

- Why community release?
Im calling it the 'community' release, as I couldn't think of a better name to differentiate it from the official Eigenlabs releases. also perhaps the rest of the community in the future can help?

- How often will there be releases?
When I have something to share :) ... in practice this is probably every few months, depending on issues found, and what Im developing.

- How stable is it?
I use it everyday and find it stable, and I do try to test new features thoroughly.
BUT its built off the 2.1-experimental Eigenlabs build, which has never been released (but again, is pretty stable), and its tends to only be me and perhaps a couple of others testing it. Its not got an army of devs/qa's so limit expectations.
Id recommend you try it... if it works great, if there is an issue lets us know!

- Why have a separate release separate from Eigenlabs.com?
I don't have access to publish new EigenD releases thru Eigenlabs, and I need to get my 'changes' out there to others, rather than just to developers. (Yes, I did ask Eigenlabs for permission, but thats not happened... anyway, this gives me a little more 'creative freedom')

- Is the code identical to the Eigenlabs repo?
No....my repo is a 'fork' containing a lot of changes and additions, this code is still open source and could be merged back into the Eigenlabs repo at any time.

- Will you merge the changes back into the main Eigenlabs repo?
No, I see little point until there is a way to get regular releases published, but my repo is open, so could be merged back into the Eigenlabs repo at any time.

- Will you merge changes from the main Eigenlabs repo into your repo?
Yes, the intention is that I will merge changes from the Eigenlabs repo, assuming they do not diverge too far from one another. (and there is no plan on my part to diverge). Practically, the Eigenlabs repo has not seen many contributions recently.

- Can I contribute to your repo?
Yes, If you want to use my repo as the basis for your change, thats fine...
If your regularly making contributions, then I can add you as a 'Contributor' (which also would be required if you were to help me do the builds)
Otherwise (and easier), Fork my repo, make changes and then send me a Pull Request.

- This could cause confusion/split
I hope not... as above, I see my repo as an extension, and changes can be merged back into Eigenlabs should the Eigenlabs repo become more active.
But I think its important that I have a way to release my code (which I added at the request of Eigenlabs) in a way that musicians can access it (as well as developers), and its better having 'release' management thought github than me sending around 'personal builds'.

at the end of the day, these builds can be used alongside the official Eigenlabs build, so its up to the individual if they wish to use or not, but I hope it will be useful to some musicians.

in theory, yes, if you install the 32bit libs... but frankly, unless you already have other 32bit apps running, I wouldn't bother :)

I just need to find a bit of time... the issue was I downloaded the 64bit debian release, but the installer failed on vmware (a known issue)... so I need to see if this is fixed, or find another version, and then install all dev libs etc (that bit is not too bad, as Ive done it a few times now :))

anyway once thats done I will upload a version.
what would be VERY useful, is if you could try to install on a 'clean linux' build, with only runtime libs (not dev libs), and then give me a list of what you install.
I theoretically know, BUT in practice I always end up installing dev versions so I can build... but I don't want this to be a requirement for musicians... who will probably want to have a 'lightweight' linux, with minimum amount of other stuff installed. (this is the best way to get good performance)
also it would be useful if you maintained some details about your system... e.g. Linux distro/version, and 3rd party software used (e.g daws/vst) , as we have very little info about usage under linux.

oooh.. and there are some 'tricks' you will need to know to get EigenD working :)

EDIT: ok, im installing Ubuntu 64bit now... so should have a 64bit version later today or tomorrow.

updated linux builds (except Arm) to include VST host support (experimental)

note: VST scanner will hang, and need to be terminated manually.
(this is already a 'known' issue with the linux build even prior to hosting support)

No Arm support, as I don't know of a VST compiled for ARM, and I doubt the PI2 could cope even it if did :)

VSTs on Linux will need some care and attention.
I don't currently have time to test it, as I need to setup bitwig on my Linux setup. But I hope by adding it, this will get 'some attention' - so if you use Linux, we will need your feedback and help.

EDIT: if you are testing linux VSTs then please use a u-he synth, and also cross test it in Bitwig (to check its not the VST)... as I also own so can reproduce issues etc. Obviously also only native linux plugins, Im not getting into using windows emulations for VSTs!

cool... yeah there are some things that Im aware of on Linux, and perhaps others that I'm not :)

could you please write down the steps you take, and then we can use these as a starting point for some installation notes.

yeah, bring things up on G+, and again, we can then incorporate these into the notes, and can also work on any issues.

Ive had some thoughts of trying to get this to work on something like a Intel NUC*... I think it could make an interesting, and relatively cheap EigenD 'station'

* Intel NUC, Ive not researched this too greatly, it may be there are other options which also have enough 'raw' power for VSTs, or an even cheaper rig, that could be used just as a MIDI/OSC gateway (which is my plan for the PI)

updated :community-2.1.2 with Mac (inc 10.11), Win, Linux 32/64 bit and PI2

sorry Geert, didn't see your post, I don't checked eigenlabs.com often...

Linux 64 build seems ok, as far as Ive played with it, but honestly, the Linux build I tend to use more for my PI2 stuff, so don't use the 64 bit version except as a quick test.
Yes, Im interested in getting a Mac 64 bit version too...

I think the issue is, it cannot find the pico.ihx firmware file.
you will need to install the resource files onto the linux machine...

Id need to checked where they go.... if you already installed in /usr/pi/resources, it may be they need to go into /usr/local/pi/resources

I'll need to go check the details for sure.... perhaps check the eigenD log it may be reporting an error which will indicate the correct location.

sorry, I don't check this forum often...
there are really 2 tricks need to running on linux.

a) use the run_eigend.sh
it sets the library path to include the agents, if you are familiar with shell scripts its contents should be obvious.
note: its not really 'production' ready, just a copy of the script i use, so may need adjustment.

b) check you have installed all required packages
this is detailed in the build notes....


c) sudo
eigenD often has to be run as root on default distros as it needs permissions to access usb devices and set the process to real time.
if you know a bit about linux, you can prevent this requirement, if not, then its the easiest solution.

failure in either of the first two results in failure to load agents,
the easiest way to test for this, is to use workbench and create any agent (say scaler) if none will load its probably a or b.... if its just the pico agent then its more likely to be c.
(in your case i think its c... as you mention mlock errors which indicate the process cannot get real time privileges)



(at some point I will tidy all this up)