[PlanetCCRMA] [OT: gentoo info] Re: Stuttering via HDSP, Cardbus, Multiface?

[derek holzer]

Sorry to all, this is a bit [ot!],

Timothy Polashek wrote:
> The gentoo idea is sounding more and more interesting.  It only takes a 
> day to install?  

Ummmm..... depends on what stage you start from on the Universal 
Installer live CD. Stage-3 is the fastest, but the least customized. 
Also depends on how much you install from the binaries provided on the 
Packages CD for your architecture [ppc, athlon-xp, p3, p4, etc...]. A 
full Gentoo install can take 3-7 days! But that means doing *everything* 
from source, and depends also very much on the speed of your processor. 
A Stage-3 install + using as many binaries as possible will take an 
afternoon or full day at most, but the configuration may take longer, 
depending on how well you know your stuff.

> The procedure looks somewhat complicated.  Does gentoo 
> have a straight low latency option?

I use the 2.4.24-ck kernel, which is patched for low latency, on my 
laptop with no complaints. Just installed the 2.6.4-ck kernel on my new 
Shuttle, and it seems pretty smooth so far. It is also patched for 
low-latency. Turn it on in the kernel settings. No preemptive setting, 
as far as I can see, however, and you will have to make the kernel-patch 
for capabilities to run jackd as non-root yourself. No big deal, it 
involves retyping two lines in the source, and it is well documented on 
the Jack site. This is, of course, all the stuff that Nando takes care 
of for you...

> I have been using my multiface on my notebook mac, but I would still 
> prefer to get it running on my notebook Linux box.

Try it an see, if you think the time-investment is worthwhile. There is 
even the option of a "PlanetCCRMA kernel" you can install, but I haven't 
heard of anyone getting it to boot. The last upside is that there is 
*tons* of software available through Portage, the Gentoo application 
installer. Stuff that Nando would simply never have the time to include 
in CCRMA. And Portage has a nicer way of handling dependencies, so that 
you don't get stuck in such traps as you can with apt-get, where 
uninstalling arts, for example, takes out your entire kde environment!

OTOH, Planet CCRMA is still quite cool for getting things running 
quickly! It's up to you.

Good luck,
Derek


-- 
derek holzer ::: http://www.umatic.nl
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