Well… moving platforms is never easy and the wider exposure of the initial release ISO of AVL-MXE indicated that a few ponies got out of the corral on me… There was an internal checksum flaw in the 64bit ISO from my build environment that would prevent it from working with MX’s ‘Live USB Maker’ and this flaw could also potentially affect booting with other USB Key writing applications. If you were able to get the initial AVL-MXE installed and it is working for you there is no reason to be concerned this flaw does not affect integrity or security of the ISO. The cause of this was not easy to track down and if it were not for the tireless bulldog tenacity of MX dev ‘fehlix’ it would not be fixed. ‘dolphin_oracle’,  ‘Adrian’, ‘m_pav’ and ‘Stevo’ also deserve mention for their help behind the scenes… I can’t begin to describe the helpful generosity of the MX Developers, I’m very grateful!

So what else is fixed?

• Updated Mixbus 32C demo to 6.2.70
• Updated Qjackctl to 0.6.3
• Updated Guitarix to 0.41
• Fixed fugly QT5 number boxes.. eughhh!
• Libreoffice updated to 7.0.3
• Added GPG signatures to ISO files
• Updated and synced all repos
• Updated User Manual

Big news!

AVL-MXE gets many Multimedia applications from the included KXStudio repos, over time the focus of the KXStudio repos has shifted from General Applications to Audio Plugins.. The fallout from this has been some common Linux Audio Applications (ie Hydrogen, Qjackctl, Qtractor, Guitarix and Yoshimi) have aged to a few versions old and have fallen through the cracks.. I talked to MX Packager extraordinaire ‘Stevo’ and he agreed to package these few applications and they will soon appear in the MX Test repos! A huge thanks to Stevo and the MX packaging team, with these great apps now within MX this is a big step in helping AV Linux and MX merge together more closely in the future!

FAQ’s

Q: Where is the Installer Icon on the 32bit Openbox ISO?

A: Right-click on the Desktop and the Installer is at the top of the Openbox Menu..

Q: The initial Ardour plugin scan fails!?

A: The Ardour scan will also scan some example WindowsVST plugins and the scan can fail if Wine-Staging has not been previously initiated on the system and gets forced to initialize on-the-fly by the Plugin scan.. To avoid this run ‘Configure Wine-Staging’ from the AVL-MXE Assistant to initialize Wine-Staging’s config before running Ardour for the first time and running the plugin scan. Look at the User Manual pages 57-58 for details..

Q: Libreoffice has a dark theme and I can’t see the toolbar icons!!

A: Libreoffice 7 will reflect the default ‘Diehard’ theme, if you want the toolbar icons to appear with more contrast then go to the Libreoffice Writer ‘Tools’–>’Options’–>’Libreoffice’–>’View’ and the select ‘Breeze Dark’ icons.

Q: I hate your stupid RT kernel and I want 3rd party Video Drivers!!!

A: Ok, you’re being rude…but… The special RT Preempt kernel is not hardcoded… it is the initial offering to offer the best low-latency operating potential and it is not common at all to have an out of the box RT setup so I offer one.. AVL-MXE has almost too many optional Kernel choices… You can install an AV Linux ‘lowlatency’ Kernel, you can install the high performing Liquorix Kernel, you can install one of the MX Kernels or you can install a Debian Kernel. I do not personally maintain or support the installation of 3rd party Video drivers but MX has applications and documents explaining how to do this and you are more than welcome to take advantage of them! As we get more users doing this we will get better data as to what the most straightforward way to achieve this is..

Q: Synaptic Package Manager tells me I have held packages and doesn’t apply the changes… what’s up with that??

A: The official MX Answer is to use their excellent MX Package Installer as an alternative to Synaptic but if you’re like me and very used to Synaptic hit the ‘Apply’ button in Synaptic a second time and the changes should go through..

You can find the updated ISO’s on the AVL-MXE Webpage!

On the heels of the latest AV Linux release it was with great shock and unexpected tears that I read today of the recent passing of W.P. (Bill) Morrow the developer of the Cinelerra-GG Project in a bicycle traffic accident. Why the tears? Did I know him? Were we good friends?

In my 12 years of working on AV Linux I have met many interesting people, a few in person at the Linux Audio Conference but most in online correspondence of one kind or another.. I’ve been a longtime User and supporter of the Cinelerra Video Editor project, it probably has the distinction of being one of the most loved and hated Open Source Software projects out there… I’m in the lover category..

Cinelerra has a long and dramatic storied history which is of secondary importance here, lets just say a few years ago the project was mortally wounded and expected to die to all except the sole remaining developer that was working on it. I was one of the dwindling people left on their CV (Community Version) Mailing List and was quickly losing hope that sustained development or significant improvement would ever return.. The project was brilliant under the hood but had languished and fallen badly out of step with the needs of the exploding mobile device Content Creation boom. A recent lapse and shocking loss of the projects web domain to a competitive fork cleared the decks of the few remaining supporters and developers very quickly so things were looking grim..

A couple of new names ‘Phyllis’ and ‘GoodGuy’ popped up on the mailing list and they seemed to be weirdly interested in helping with CV, they were at first met with some suspicion when it was revealed they had been working with the fork of Cinelerra that had snapped up the web domain but over time it became apparent there had been a falling out with that project and they felt their efforts would be more appreciated by the CV Community. Very soon after that things started happening in a hurry… GoodGuy created a new fork known at first as ‘5.1’ and had the audacity to take every viable fork of Cinelerra in existence and create a “Greatest Hits” version that was about 50% better right off the bat! Suddenly a project that saw a few GIT commits a month was seeing several GIT commits per day, whole features that had been debated on the mailing list literally for years appeared in a few weeks time.. User suggestions made in passing were popping up in GIT like Prairie Dogs! Of course the widening gulf between the developing rationale of the existing CV project and the new “GG” (GoodGuy) fork generated some tension that could only be alleviated by separating the Projects, ‘5.1’ became Cin (or Cinelerra-GG) and once on it’s own domain and mailing list development only accelerated! In no time an elaborate build server and an on-the-clock monthly release schedule were employed and with every update you could almost sense that the packaging was still warm from being worked on so voraciously!

But who were these people…? They were very quiet and private, as time went on it became evident that GoodGuy was the developer and Phyllis was the organizer and documenter. It took some probing of the source code commits at first to reveal that GoodGuy was W.P. (Bill) Morrow. They were not just tech coworkers they were a retired romantic couple! To occupy their time Bill took on Cinelerra as a retirement project.. now for a retired Software developer to contribute to an Open Source project is not unheard of… but a couple working on a Software Project together as a daily unpaid occupation!? You can’t write that stuff! When the name ‘Phyllis’ appeared we few solitary nerds left on the mailing list were quickly amazed that a female of any kind was posting (which is a sad fact) but her mercurial efficiency and attention to detail was what really what got our attention. In very short order this dream team took a project with rapidly fading potential and turned it into an absolute powerhouse of a Video Editor!

This is all worth noting for the software story alone of course but that hasn’t prompted me to write this.. I know loads of well-run successful Software projects. To see two people so focused on a completely voluntary common goal and working together in such solidarity has been very inspiring to me. To see the fruit of that labour make such an incredible difference to something as esoteric as a software project has underscored to me what the power of unity, common purpose and knowing to embrace each others strengths is. I have seen all of this in contrast as someone whose long-term marriage failed around the time that Phyllis and ‘Goodguy’ started appearing on my computer screen so their inspiring example is bittersweet but still so strongly instructive and meaningful..

So are we friends? I don’t know..  we know of each other and have corresponded.. we appreciate each others work… For my part I can say that these people by example have touched my life in a way that many of my close friends and family have not. When I read the crushing news about Bill today my heart sunk as it does when a close friend or relative has passed.. We Users of Cinelerra-GG will remember Bill when we launch the program, when we enjoy our feature request he diligently included and when we read his name in Phyllis’ immaculate release notes. But to Phyllis who shared much more than a Software Project with Bill what can we say? What words can express and provide comfort and meaning in the face of such a devastating loss??

Phyllis I am so sorry for your loss, you and your family are being held in our hearts and minds and as Bill rests in peace we hope that in time peace will rest upon you..

After several months of behind the scenes work two ISO’s of a brand new project “AV Linux MX Edition” have been released! With 32bit XFCE4/Openbox and 64bit XFCE4 versions this new project is based on MX Linux 19.3 ‘Patito Feo’. The MX development team is aware of this project and have kindly provided assistance and a warm welcome but it is important to note that this project is an unofficial Respin and at the current time not under the umbrella of the antiX/MX projects. MX is the new home base of AV Linux and I’m very excited about combining the phenomenal tools and utilities of MX with the well-known Content Creation focus that has defined AV Linux since 2008. Users of the current Debian Buster based AV Linux can continue to enjoy repository updates and work with AV Linux as long as they are comfortable but all future development will be going into the AV Linux MX Edition (AVL-MXE) version from now on. I’m only one little fella in a great big world and there are never enough hours in the day!

Highlights of this Release:

• Kernel 5.9.1-rt19 (32bit) and Kernel 5.9.1-rt20 (64bit).
• These kernels include the Bluetooth stack security fix.
• XFCE4 with Openbox in the 32bit version.
• Full XFCE4 Desktop in the 64bit version.
• Greatly expanded AVL-MXE Assistant
• New custom “Diehard” and “Earth” Themes.
• Updated AVL-MXE User Manual.
• Ardour 6.5 DAW (full version) with new VST3 support!
• Harrison Mixbus 6.2.26 DAW (demo version) with new VST3 support!
• Harrison AVA Plugin Demos *may not work with all openGL setups.
• Reaper (demo version) makes it’s native Linux debut on AVL-MXE!
• Hundreds of included top-shelf FLOSS Audio plugins… too many to list!
• Odin2 and Surge synths join the list!
• Demo Audio plugin versions (including VST3 versions!)
• Demos:  ACM, Audio Assault, Auburn Sounds, Cut Through, OverTone
• One-click removal of all Demoware.
• Full Wine-staging setup with LinVst 3.1.5 files pre-configured.
• Video Editor heaven with Avidemux, Cin, Kdenlive and Olive!
• Graphics heaven with Blender, GIMP, Inkscape and Shotwell!
• 10000 things I forgot to mention… Just boot it and see for yourself!

An in-depth overview Release Video:

Downloads:

*IMPORTANT! – Username and Password are ‘demo’ Root Password is ‘root’. The 32bit version of AVL-MXE uses the SliM Login Manager and requires Manual login. The 64bit version will Auto login and uses lightDM. The full RT Preempt Kernel in AVL-MXE doesn’t not work well with recent versions of Virtualbox, it is discouraged to use AVL-MXE virtualized!

Visit the AVL-MXE webpage for more info and Download Mirrors… AVL-MXE takes a tremendous amount of time to put together, test, document and maintain. You are getting a completely operational Workstation for free but my hosting is not free. Please consider visiting the PayPal button on the AVL-MXE webpage or make a donation to MX Linux in support of their great work!

OK, get it here!

———————————————————–>
AV Linux 2020.5.10 RELEASE NOTES!
———————————————————–>

AV LINUX 2020.5.10 IS RELEASED!

  A month has passed since AV Linux 2020.4.10 was released and although it was a very well received release (Donald Trump reportedly said it was “tremendous” with “all of the best people” involved!) it was plagued by a rather annoying bug in “Systemback” (the application used to create the ISO image and install to the Users system). Systemback is currently unmaintained but it was independently forked to add support for installing to NVMe drives and this fork had a bug in it which caused the AV Linux installs to be twice the size they should be. Two people deserve thanks for getting this situation remedied.. Dan Kinzelman for the bug report and Franco Conidi (the developer of the forked Systemback version) for responding to my out-of-the-blue request to fix it.

OK, Wait.. Glen I just installed 2020.4.10 and set it up how I want!!?? You’re a jerk and AV Linux sucks!!!

Well that’s kind of rude, but you have a point so if you’ve installed the 2020.4.10 version please refer to this blog post:

http://www.bandshed.net/2020/04/27/av-linux-2020-4-10-known-issues/

AV Linux 2020.5.10 Changelog:

– Systemback issue with installs being double the size fixed!
– Moved to 5.4.28 lowlatency Kernel as default (Virtualbox 6.1 does not like RT Kernels)
*note the RT Kernel is of course available in Synaptic for those who prefer it post-install.
– AV Linux Assistant typo fixes and switched to xfce4-terminal for scripts.
– Added button to AVL Assistant to disable Touchpads having mouse behaviour.
– Updates and clarifications in the User Manual.
*See the Flatpak Commands (Page 114) section to avoid dealing with that horrible GTK3 frontend!
– Switched ‘EQ10Q’ Plugins to the developers binaries for Ardour compatibility.

AV Linux 2020.5.10 Not Fixed:

– Rare issue of PulseAudio not starting, it is a much bigger issue than AV Linux with no clear cause.
– UEFI Installs… On many UEFI Systems installation works as expected – some don’t *shrugs.. I can’t fix this.
– NVMe Installs… Many NVMe users have been able to install successfully – some haven’t… Again, I can’t fix this.
– No update of Hydrogen to Beta2, it doesn’t compile for me and it’s packaging script also fails. I used to go down these rabbit holes, I don’t any more…;-)

Before Downloading AV Linux 2020.5.10:

Please RTFM!!: http://www.bandshed.net/pdf/AVL2020UserManual.pdf
Please install from a Live Session, not from the Boot Screen Install prompt!
Please use Unetbootin to create bootable USB Keys!!

Download from the AV Linux webpage… If you find it great, please donate! If you find it good tell the neighborhood!! If it doesn’t work… well maybe you can just keep that to yourself and quietly ask for help here: https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21286

AV Linux

Hi,

This is a difficult post to make but it’s time…

As some may have noticed I hadn’t been on the AV Linux forum much since the April release of 2019.. There were many reasons for this but what it mostly boiled down to is prioritization of time. I wasn’t able to maintain the forum consistently on a daily basis, some days I had plenty of time and just as often it was difficult to be there more than once a week. On a personal level the last 2 years have brought a lot of major changes, some good and some bad… among them the end of a 27 year marriage and everything that accompanies a major life change like that. I am still processing priorities for myself, my kids and my business. This is in no way the sole cause or an excuse, but it is a factor in what is going on. I want to be crystal clear, nobody needs to feel sorry for me, I have my health, a comfortable living and supportive friends and family so this isn’t a scenario of “his life went down the toilet”. It’s more a situation of “if you’re going to do something, do it right” and the way the forum was serving the members wasn’t good enough for you (or me), so it was time for a change.

I’ve never been a “software guy”, I don’t write code and I can barely pull off a bash script without screwing it up 27 times before getting it to work. Music has always been my passion in life and when I discovered Linux and it’s Audio community back in 2006 or so I was very inspired to give back what had so generously been given to me by the hundreds of talented developers created the apps I was using so I learned how to make a tweaked Linux Audio system I could use and then I learned to duplicate it… That’s probably where this story should have ended because beyond that I probably have NONE of the skills, talents and educational prerequisites to properly and effectively administrate and support a Computer Operating System…lol

More than 10 years of time, hard work and the help and support of exceedingly kind and generous people have helped AV Linux become a “thing”… a thing that some people like, and a thing that some people dislike…lol. If something becomes a thing, then there is an implied need for accountability for and if people are using it and even donating to it a feeling of responsibility to provide some sort of support service. When I started including the User Manual with AV Linux I hoped that would stem much of the forum traffic since I’ve always felt somewhat inadequate and stupid as a forum administrator that could truthfully answer about 3 out of 10 user questions.. The Manual has received a lot of positive attention and I’m grateful for that but there was still need for a forum and I tried to do my best to juggle other priorities and be present on it. I will be eternally grateful for the AV Linux forum members that donated their time and expertise to the forum and greatly assisted both myself and other Users. The truth is we didn’t have a large enough and active enough community here for me to keep the forum up and personally be on it so inconsistently. The online world we participate in today is not a hospitable environment to projects that are not being vigilant about security issues so I made the difficult but necessary decision to pull the plug on the Forum.

Don’t stop reading yet!!

AV Linux itself will continue as long as I continue to create music with Linux Audio, however with the closure of the forum I am also divesting myself of any responsibility of timelines or hollow promises about WHEN new versions will come out… however NEW VERSIONS WILL CONTINUE when I have such time and need to release them and the User Manual will also continue to be improved and added to. The AVL Drumkits will also continue to be worked on and improved and I already have plans to expand the line with a vastly improved hand percussion set and new small TAMA Bop Kit. The AV Linux Kernel Repository will also continue as long as Trulan wants to do kernel work for AV Linux but he, like myself is busy with his life and family and has the freedom to retire whenever he feels the urge to do so.

I’m sure this will disappoint some people, good people that have hung on and hung out on the forum for many years already. How things had become was also disappointing… disappointing to new Users and people who don’t understand that a project like AV Linux is not a large Distro entity like Ubuntu or Fedora so they showed up expecting a vibrant community, a friendly hello and an answer to their questions only to be greeted with silence or even worse a single Administrator who may not have the answer. It didn’t serve the project, it’s Users or satisfy my personal sense of propriety to keep going like that.

I can not be more humbled that people have taken time to try, install and use AV Linux and then joined the forum community. As I’ve said before the members that have contributed ideas, code, suggested improvements (and most importantly answered those 7 out of 10 questions I failed on) have my sincerest gratitude, Thank you so much!!

The AV Linux forum was archived for information purposes and depending on future support needs other AV Linux support options that don’t require my daily presence are being looked into.

All the best and thanks very much for your attention and understanding..

Glen