Ok, first i’ll try to run even more plugin GUIs from other vendors to try to instigate this same problem, but as i have seen until now, only LSP locks ardour up. I mean, yes, LSPs are most complicated out of them all, but still…
I’ll let you know here, how exactly did that go.
Then i’ll try to install Debian13 Kde, set it to X11, install newest Ardour + newest LSP and try that out.
Maybe, in the meantime, i somewhere find more info on how exactly can i make MX use discrete GPU with Ardour+LSP.
Cheers!
P.S. One more, maybe dumb question…should i run sudo apt-get update & apt-get upgrade after installing Debian and then install the rest to try it out, or should i not update anything before this test?
If you install Debian 13 with KDE then maybe try things without upgrading although you will not get as new a Mesa version as AVL/MX if you stick to the Trixie-only Repos even if you do update. I personally have no experience with hybrid GPU machines but they seem to kind of be a nightmare (on Linux anyway). Although MX has it’s own application for installing nVidia proprietary drivers to my knowledge it doesn’t differ from Debian as far as how you run a hybrid system…
Maybe Bumblebee is helpful…? Unfortunately I don’t have one of these systems and in so many years you’re the first person to ask about this…
To be honest i didn’t even know it was “hybrid gpu” setup when i bought it (about 2-3 years ago), cause these Lenovo Gaming, Alienware and ROG are pretty common around here if you want something for more intensive tasks, like video editing (4K was my goal, and it does that).
I tought you just choose which gpu you want to use during OS instalation or startup and that’s it. Didn’t even think about it. I didn’t even notice until now, when i reserched BIOS upgrade, that it actualy actively switches between iGPU and discrete GPU to preserve battery power.
But hell, it is what it is, i’ll try to handle it the best way possible …And it is kinda damn powerful for a laptop, if you forget about repulsive ergonomics and short battery life (which is why i wouldn’t recommend it to anyone).
Look at this
With other plugins - almost every virtual instrument GUI in AVL on screen on top eachother and a bunch of random-no-logic-involved effects pulled up on master track, i’m not yet even at 35% of iGPU usage. So it’s practicaly almost impossible to overload Ardour with other effect GUIs on this machine even with iGPU, except when it comes to LSPs. I’ve grown tired of pulling things up on screen, and it still is going strong … And just to be said, audio is playing back nicely at 128 samples buffer size (jack/pipewire).
Now, i’m sure that if i managed to overload the iGPU, it would break…but, how to overload it in practice with these plugins ?
I didn’t find a sure way to use discrete GPU with apps on this OS yet.
I’m gonna try lxvst/vst 2 versions of LSP first on this OS (cause those were lightest in my tests for now in every occasion, and then i’m gonna move on to testing Debian13 KDE.
Unfortunately, for this machine (Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3),
Debian13(KDE) makes me jump trough the 50 different hoops just to support laptops’s hybrid GPU setup.
Pop! OS looked promising (gpu setup worked right away) until i realised it’s Wayland only (no X11 session option) which was a big no go - made Ardour+LSP behaved weird.
I didn’t want standard Ubuntu or Ubuntu Studio cause telemetry etc.
Landed on Mint 22.2 Cinnamon. It’s looks promising right of the box. Hybrid GPU setup work (you can dedicate an App to discrete GPU with the right click of the mouse), you can choose between Nouveau or proprietary NVidia drivers in Mint’s Driver Manager, system use X11, Ardour and LSP’s are in Mint’s Software Centre right away…looks promising. We’ll test it out and see . The only thing that bothered me is that Mint’s installer installed Grub on my Windows drive, neverminding the fact it’s got a whole ssd drive just for itself. That’s a dumb bug, in my humble opinion.
@Gmaq Hi Glen, I was thinking you may want to include my project, FreeFactoryQT in a future release of your AV Linux. I think it would be a really good fit.
While Ardour/Mixbus can do much of what FFQt can do when exporting, it does allow for much more functionality and flexibility as well as batch processing and even streaming. I usually run most exported Ardour projects through it at some point. Please give it a look and test and see if you agree. I would be completely willing to create complex exclusive presets (Factories) for specific tasks if desired.
Wow, that’s really cool! I think this would be a great addition! I will have a closer look later this week, to incorporate it into AVL I would need to package it as a Deb, I would imagine that will be pretty straightforward and I’ll also look at that in more detail.
Thank you! I know nothing about creating .deb files, but if RPM .spec files are at all similar, it is on COPR with the .spec file as a potential guide. Might be useful for the dependencies anyway, which are not that many.
…And it is kinda damn powerful for a laptop, if you forget about repulsive ergonomics and short battery life (which is why i wouldn’t recommend it to anyone).