Tonescape in Ubuntu Linux (Wine)?

Hello to all the Linux users out there,

I'm sending this message from my new Ubuntu Linux
desktop. No, i haven't made the switch from Windows
completely ... i'm using VMware Player to create a
virtual Linux desktop, running Ubuntu 8.04b "Hardy Heron".

I'm trying to find out if i can get Tonescape to run
under Wine in Ubuntu.

At some point, after i installed Wine and tried to
install Tonescape the first time, the install aborted
because Tonescape said it could not find a synthesizer.
I checked the Wine properties and saw that ALSA was
set as the default for MIDI. I didn't know anything
about it so i didn't change anything.

Apparently i had to install Timidity, which turned
out to be a really big chore. But i still can't seem
to get anything happening.

At one point, i somehow got Timidity open and actually
heard some notes, but now i can't remember how i did that.
I thought i clicked on the Timidity executable, but
that's not working now.

I followed all of the instructions i found here:
http://frankscorner.org/index.php?p=mid

But when i come to the end of that webpage, and run
the command "timidity -iA" in the terminal, i get a
message that says this:

"TiMidity starting in ALSA server mode
Opening sequencer port: 129:0 129:1 129:2 129:3"

but then the cursor just hangs and i don't see the
command prompt. I tried installing Tonescape again
with the terminal window open and hanging like this,
and as i expected, it didn't work. I got the same
"no synthesizer" message and the install aborted.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

-monz
http://tonalsoft.com
Tonescape microtonal music software

On Sun, Apr 6, 2008 at 10:40 AM, monz <joemonz@...> wrote:
> Apparently i had to install Timidity, which turned
> out to be a really big chore. But i still can't seem
> to get anything happening.

Typing "sudo apt-get install timidity" is a "really big chore"?

> At one point, i somehow got Timidity open and actually
> heard some notes, but now i can't remember how i did that.
> I thought i clicked on the Timidity executable, but
> that's not working now.

Wait, what do you mean "clicked on the Timidity executable"? Did you
go to the /usr/bin directory in the file manager and click the
timidity icon there? I can't see why you would do that, but I also
can't see any other way you could "click on" Timidity.

> I followed all of the instructions i found here:
> http://frankscorner.org/index.php?p=mid
>
> But when i come to the end of that webpage, and run
> the command "timidity -iA" in the terminal, i get a
> message that says this:
>
> "TiMidity starting in ALSA server mode
> Opening sequencer port: 129:0 129:1 129:2 129:3"
>
> but then the cursor just hangs and i don't see the
> command prompt. I tried installing Tonescape again
> with the terminal window open and hanging like this,
> and as i expected, it didn't work. I got the same
> "no synthesizer" message and the install aborted.

The lack of error messages means it's working. You're not supposed to
get the command prompt back. To test my setup, I just tried Noteworthy
Composer (first Windows program I came across that used MIDI), and it
installed, worked, and played music with Timidity running just like
that. So the problem is not Timidity.

I guess the question now is how Tonescape is deciding to display that
error message and quit. I mean, what is the actual code that
determines there is "no synthesizer"? What API does it use? Obviously
Tonescape must be using a different test than Noteworthy Composer,
because Noteworthy Composer actually works, and Tonescape bails out in
exactly the same environment.

Keenan

I tried to upgrade from 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) to 8.04 beta last week, and
downloaded and installed the Ubuntu Studio additions. I had all kinds of
problems, especially with sound. Flash Player played video without
sound, for example, and I had to save .flv and .swf files from the cache
- and that made the OS hang completely on occasion. And JACK was making
the computer lock up as well. I had to go back to Gutsy and wait until
the stable release of Hardy.

I checked the boards for some support, and a lot of people are having
sound problems with the beta. Everybody offered a different solution but
nothing worked for me. Which is a shame, because I really like the new
beta of Firefox, but it's less than a month until the stable version of
Ubuntu comes out. I just hope they solve the sound problems.

(As long as I can run Noteworthy Composer under Wine, and put MIDI files
on my Roland via USB or use Timidity with the 140 Mb Fluid soundfont,
I'm happy. ~D.)

On Sun, 2008-04-06 at 14:40 +0000, monz wrote:
> Hello to all the Linux users out there,
>
> I'm sending this message from my new Ubuntu Linux
> desktop. No, i haven't made the switch from Windows
> completely ... i'm using VMware Player to create a
> virtual Linux desktop, running Ubuntu 8.04b "Hardy Heron".
>
> I'm trying to find out if i can get Tonescape to run
> under Wine in Ubuntu.
>
> At some point, after i installed Wine and tried to
> install Tonescape the first time, the install aborted
> because Tonescape said it could not find a synthesizer.
> I checked the Wine properties and saw that ALSA was
> set as the default for MIDI. I didn't know anything
> about it so i didn't change anything.
>
> Apparently i had to install Timidity, which turned
> out to be a really big chore. But i still can't seem
> to get anything happening.
>
> At one point, i somehow got Timidity open and actually
> heard some notes, but now i can't remember how i did that.
> I thought i clicked on the Timidity executable, but
> that's not working now.
>
> I followed all of the instructions i found here:
> http://frankscorner.org/index.php?p=mid
>
> But when i come to the end of that webpage, and run
> the command "timidity -iA" in the terminal, i get a
> message that says this:
>
> "TiMidity starting in ALSA server mode
> Opening sequencer port: 129:0 129:1 129:2 129:3"
>
> but then the cursor just hangs and i don't see the
> command prompt. I tried installing Tonescape again
> with the terminal window open and hanging like this,
> and as i expected, it didn't work. I got the same
> "no synthesizer" message and the install aborted.
>
> Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
>
>
> -monz
> http://tonalsoft.com
> Tonescape microtonal music software
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

OFF-TOPIC

Sorry to hear about sound problems in hardy, I'll definitely wait a
good few months after the release to upgrade from gutsy.

But you don't have to upgrade to use Firefox 3!! Just install
"Swiftfox," (based on FF3) it's a dream :)

Chris

On 06/04/2008, Danny Wier <dawiertx@...> wrote:
>
> I tried to upgrade from 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) to 8.04 beta last week, and
> downloaded and installed the Ubuntu Studio additions. I had all kinds of
> problems, especially with sound. Flash Player played video without
> sound, for example, and I had to save .flv and .swf files from the cache
> - and that made the OS hang completely on occasion. And JACK was making
> the computer lock up as well. I had to go back to Gutsy and wait until
> the stable release of Hardy.
>
> I checked the boards for some support, and a lot of people are having
> sound problems with the beta. Everybody offered a different solution but
> nothing worked for me. Which is a shame, because I really like the new
> beta of Firefox, but it's less than a month until the stable version of
> Ubuntu comes out. I just hope they solve the sound problems.

Hi Keenan and Danny,

Keenan:

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Keenan Pepper"
<keenanpepper@...> wrote:
>
> On Sun, Apr 6, 2008 at 10:40 AM, monz <joemonz@...> wrote:
> > Apparently i had to install Timidity, which turned
> > out to be a really big chore. But i still can't seem
> > to get anything happening.
>
> Typing "sudo apt-get install timidity" is a "really big chore"?

Actually, i installed Timidity using the Synaptic
Package Manager, which couldn't be easier.

But installing the soundfound was a pain, mainly just
because it's so big, and required unzipping and moving
files. Part of my complaint comes from my own end:
there's been something wrong with my internet connection
for a couple of weeks now (i suspect it involves my
wireless router), and what i've tried so far hasn't
fixed it.

So whenever i download a big file (in Windows or Ubuntu),
it gets stuck and i have to stop the download and then
resume. I usually use Opera to download stuff, and
this is really easy, so it makes me lazy to fix the
problem ... but in Ubuntu's Synaptic, each time i
cancelled the download and then tried to resume, i
had to wait for Synaptic to read the status of the
install all over again. So yes, it was a chore.

> > At one point, i somehow got Timidity open and actually
> > heard some notes, but now i can't remember how i did that.
> > I thought i clicked on the Timidity executable, but
> > that's not working now.
>
> Wait, what do you mean "clicked on the Timidity executable"?
> Did you go to the /usr/bin directory in the file manager
> and click the timidity icon there? I can't see why you
> would do that, but I also can't see any other way you could
> "click on" Timidity.

That's what i did later, when i was trying to get something
running MIDI on the desktop again, and it didn't work, as
you say it shouldn't. I honestly can't remember how i
got something the first time. It was a very simple, minimal
MIDI player application, kind of like a crude little WinAmp.

> > I followed all of the instructions i found here:
> > http://frankscorner.org/index.php?p=mid
> >
> > But when i come to the end of that webpage, and run
> > the command "timidity -iA" in the terminal, i get a
> > message that says this:
> >
> > "TiMidity starting in ALSA server mode
> > Opening sequencer port: 129:0 129:1 129:2 129:3"
> >
> > but then the cursor just hangs and i don't see the
> > command prompt. I tried installing Tonescape again
> > with the terminal window open and hanging like this,
> > and as i expected, it didn't work. I got the same
> > "no synthesizer" message and the install aborted.
>
> The lack of error messages means it's working. You're
> not supposed to get the command prompt back. To test my
> setup, I just tried Noteworthy Composer (first Windows
> program I came across that used MIDI), and it installed,
> worked, and played music with Timidity running just like
> that. So the problem is not Timidity.

OK, cool ... that's good to know.

> I guess the question now is how Tonescape is deciding
> to display that error message and quit. I mean, what is
> the actual code that determines there is "no synthesizer"?
> What API does it use? Obviously Tonescape must be using
> a different test than Noteworthy Composer, because
> Noteworthy Composer actually works, and Tonescape bails
> out in exactly the same environment.

I'll have to forward these questions to Chris, my partner
at Tonalsoft and the guy who wrote the massive amount of
code that made Tonescape happen. When first installing,
Tonescape runs a search on system components like MIDI,
video-card, DirectX, etc., and will either install successfully,
install with a "your performance might suffer" message,
or abort installation, depending on what it finds about
your system.

Tonescape was designed to run only under Windows, and
it's stuck in a beta right now, so even with Windows
a lot of people have had problems getting it installed,
or if it installs, on some systems it runs but doesn't
show the Lattice (which of course is its main feature).

Danny:

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, Danny Wier <dawiertx@...> wrote:
>
> I tried to upgrade from 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) to 8.04 beta
> last week, and downloaded and installed the Ubuntu Studio
> additions. I had all kinds of problems, especially with
> sound. Flash Player played video without sound, for example,
> and I had to save .flv and .swf files from the cache
> - and that made the OS hang completely on occasion.
> And JACK was making the computer lock up as well. I had
> to go back to Gutsy and wait until the stable release
> of Hardy.

Ah, thanks for that! I wondered if it was a good idea to
go with Hardy instead of Gutsy, but i figured, hey, it's
just a virtual machine, so no big deal if things don't
work so well. So i'll just keep playing with and learning
Ubuntu using the beta of Hardy, and then try Tonescape in
Wine again when a stable virtual machine of Hardy is ready.

Meantime, i might try installing a virtual Windows XP
within my virtual Ubuntu (within my Windows XP host),
and see what happens there. I'm starting to feel like
Alice in Wonderland ... :)

-monz
http://tonalsoft.com
Tonescape microtonal music software

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "monz" <joemonz@...> wrote:

> But installing the soundfound was a pain,

Oops, my bad ... of course, that should say
"installing the soundfont was a pain".

-monz
http://tonalsoft.com
Tonescape microtonal music software

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "monz" <joemonz@...> wrote:
>
> Hello to all the Linux users out there,
>
> I'm sending this message from my new Ubuntu Linux
> desktop. No, i haven't made the switch from Windows
> completely ... i'm using VMware Player to create a
> virtual Linux desktop, running Ubuntu 8.04b "Hardy Heron".
>
> I'm trying to find out if i can get Tonescape to run
> under Wine in Ubuntu.

I think i found my answer, and it's "no":

http://www.winehq.org/

"Currently .NET apps do not run in Wine mainly due to
the fact that .NET itself (1 or 2) will not install in Wine.
You can try installing Mono but that only works for a
fraction (read <1%) of programs so at the moment you are
better off finding an alternative program or waiting
until .NET is implemented in Wine one way or another."

I haven't tried installing Mono yet, but it doesn't
seem hopeful. And there certainly is no alternative
to Tonescape ... which i think is a good thing! ;-)

Oh well ... i wonder what will happen first --
getting .NET implemented in Wine, or us rewriting
Tonescape to work in Linux ...?

I'm serious about that last bit ... if any of you
out there are capable Linux programmers and would
like to help out, we (Tonalsoft) would welcome your
help ... but be warned that it's a HUGE project!

-monz
http://tonalsoft.com
Tonescape microtonal music software

Hi,

I switched a while back from Zenwalk Linux to Ubuntu Gutsy.
My experience so far has been that the best thing about Ubuntu is the Debian packaging system. Other than that my system has never been more unstable.

I've put up with it b/c installing software has never been easier, but since that's really the Debian part of Ubuntu, and Debian itself is apparantly solid-as-a-rock stable, and has around 20,000 packages, I'm going to switch to Debian soon.

I found a thread on an Ubuntu forum about some video driver issues where one guy said: "I solved my Gutsy video driver issues-I installed Debian and now everything is just fine!"

-Aaron

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Chris Bryan" <chris@...> wrote:
>
> OFF-TOPIC
>
> Sorry to hear about sound problems in hardy, I'll definitely wait a
> good few months after the release to upgrade from gutsy.
>
> But you don't have to upgrade to use Firefox 3!! Just install
> "Swiftfox," (based on FF3) it's a dream :)
>
> Chris
>
>
>
>
> On 06/04/2008, Danny Wier <dawiertx@...> wrote:
> >
> > I tried to upgrade from 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) to 8.04 beta last week, and
> > downloaded and installed the Ubuntu Studio additions. I had all kinds of
> > problems, especially with sound. Flash Player played video without
> > sound, for example, and I had to save .flv and .swf files from the cache
> > - and that made the OS hang completely on occasion. And JACK was making
> > the computer lock up as well. I had to go back to Gutsy and wait until
> > the stable release of Hardy.
> >
> > I checked the boards for some support, and a lot of people are having
> > sound problems with the beta. Everybody offered a different solution but
> > nothing worked for me. Which is a shame, because I really like the new
> > beta of Firefox, but it's less than a month until the stable version of
> > Ubuntu comes out. I just hope they solve the sound problems.
>

Hi Aaron!

You know, when I read this post, all I could think of was "somewhere
there is a geek who was randomly surfing, saw this, and immediately
had an orgasm."

:)

Hope all is well in Chi-town area, musically and otherwise. Watch out
for those zombie pub crawls...

Cheers,
Jon

--- In MakeMicroMusic@yahoogroups.com, "Aaron Krister Johnson"
<aaron@...> wrote:
> I switched a while back from Zenwalk Linux to Ubuntu Gutsy.
> My experience so far has been that the best thing about Ubuntu is
the Debian packaging system. Other than that my system has never been
more unstable.
>
> I've put up with it b/c installing software has never been easier,
but since that's really the Debian part of Ubuntu, and Debian itself
is apparantly solid-as-a-rock stable, and has around 20,000 packages,
I'm going to switch to Debian soon.
>
> I found a thread on an Ubuntu forum about some video driver issues
where one guy said: "I solved my Gutsy video driver issues-I installed
Debian and now everything is just fine!"