Ardour 5 runs on quad-core ARM A57 - but no Menu

My NVIDIA Jetson Nano developer kit w. Ubuntu 18.04 already had Ardour 5 as a software choice. That surprised me. It really surprised me that it recorded something. And played it. And no need for Qjackctl: I just changed 2 to 3, and changed the internal to a Behringer UMC192 at 48k. The next day, Ardour 5 would not play because the Audio Engine did not engage. Today, it worked to play, but only one time. One problem I have found is that there is no Menu in either window: neither Editor nor Mixer. What happened? Did some ‘helpful’ person forget to compile the ‘Menu’ section? If the Menu was the only thing missing, then Ardour and the ARM A57 might be a good beginning for decent sound.

No idea about the menu (perhaps WM related, global menu or something); but Ardour is known to run fine on Raspian (with menu) and other ARM systems. DSP power is rather limited, but if you just need a HDR it’s fine, even with many tracks.

Perhaps try the binary from ardour.org:

Thanks x42. I’m using the 2A microUSB power supply at the moment, and that may be at the Jetson Nano’s limit. I am watching the power draw until I get a 5A barrel power supply in the mail. So I won’t be doing much experimenting until I increase the amperage. For an older gentleman trying to learn a newer technology, well, that seems like an almost perfect way to spend a summer.

Operator Error: the Menus were hidden in not-so-plain sight. Guess Ubuntu 18.04 thinks it’s an Apple sometimes. Found a way to have the Menu items actually be on each program’s window and to always be showing - like a proper Menu should.