[ardour-users] Intel EM64T and Ardour+VST

Wed Aug 23 23:23:02 PDT 2006

I am currently running a gentoo 64 bit install on my AMD64 dual core
3800+.  I do agree with the replies above, however I have chosen to
stay with 64 bit after trying to redo my gentoo install with 32bit,
and having huge problems.  For me ardour 0.99.3 compiles and runs
fine, and so do just about all the plugins.  If ardour ever crashes it
is because of a plugin, otherwise it is very stable.  The only
problems I ever encounter is with JACK running my kernel with SMP
support (a well known but as of yet unfixed bug).  I also find the
system a little more unstable as a whole, when trying to work with
both processors (bit of a bummer because you definitely can notice the
difference, especially when compiling which is a big plus with
gentoo).  I have noticed a slight improvement for video editing work
as well.  If you want to try out how your system performs with 64bit
as compared to 32bit, then download 64studio and try that, then
download a 32bit live audio CD and compare (although I guess it might
be a bit slower if running of the CD).  The one thing I have gained
with gentoo and applies to both architectures of course, is an
understanding of how to make a minimalist custom kernel, and a system
which just has what I need for audio and nothing else.  This makes
bootup so much quicker than using a genkernel and more space is left
for raw audio.
Gentoo is the way to go for me!
If you want you can check out a howto I am putting together (very
slowly) for making a Gentoo 64bit DAW at
http://members.iinet.net.au/~solv/.

Good Luck,
Andy J

On 8/24/06, George Chan <george at goodmusic.ca> wrote:
> Do yourself a favor and stick with a 32bit environment.
>
> You can actually run 32bit browser plugins in a 64bit browser using:
> http://www.gibix.net/projects/nspluginwrapper/
>
> but for other things, you WILL have trouble.
>
> Most video codecs (like for mplayer, etc.) are available for 32bit ONLY.
>
> I spent months trying to get my dual cpu dual core AMD64 system running
> well with my audio & video needs in 64bit, and there was always some
> kind of problem, including trouble with my RME 9632 card.
>
> I'm NOT a Linux newbie.  I've been a Slackware Linux user for 8 or 9
> years.
>
> I tried two versions of SLAMD64 (64bit port of Slackware with 32bit
> compatability), the 64bit version of Gentoo and Studio64.
>
> If you are using a computer for general needs, then 64bit is no problem,
> and in my opinion, things run much faster.  But, for audio/video use,
> stick with 32bit.
>
> Also, I was never able to get a low latency kernel working in 64bit.  I
> tried something like 25(!) different configurations.  Every single one
> hung at boot up.  On my single CPU, 32bit machine, the low latency
> kernel worked fine on my first try.
>
> Also, there were intermittent problems with my video files playing back
> at double normal speeds.  Never was able to fix that one.
>
> Ardour compiled and ran OK.  Ladspa plugins compiled OK, but because of
> the many problems that I had, I was not able to try out most of them.
>
> I was also never able to get wine working properly.  Debian has a 32bit
> version of Wine running in a 64bit environment, but I was never able to
> get it to build on my system.
>
> And if you need to have all of your media apps running in 32bit, why
> bother with 64bit?
>
> It's also a bit of a pain keeping your 32bit and 64bit libraries
> separate when compiling your own software.  You can, of course, put all
> of your 32bit and 64bit libs in the same directory, (ie: /usr/lib
> or /usr/local/lib instead of /usr/lib64 or /usr/local/lib64), but you
> will regret it if you do.
>
> Even though I have never been a fan of Red Hat or Fedora, I decided to
> go with Fedora Core 5 with Planet CCRMA.  In under 2 hours, I had a
> functioning low latency DAW.
>
> Do yourself a favor.
> Read Paul's advice: http://ardour.org/system_requirements
>
> "Save yourself time, energy and trouble
> Setting up a computer as a digital audio workstation is a nontrivial
> task whether it runs Windows, MacOS or Linux. You can make your life
> much easier by:
>
>       * Using a Linux distribution or distribution add-on that is
>         tailored for low-latency multimedia work (such as PlanetCCMRA,
>         Agnula's Demudi or dyne:bolic)"
>
>
> This is my 2 cents worth of advice.  Hope it is helpful.
>
> George
>
> On Wed, 2006-08-23 at 03:39 +0200, . wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I have a new computer based on a dual core2 Conroe E6700 Intel and i
> intend to
> > install a Gentoo distro.
> >
> > My main usage will be of course running Ardour :)
> >
> > My problem is that i am a quite unaware of the issues regarding 64bit
> support.
> >
> > I would like to run VST when it will be stable for ardour2, and i am
> afraid
> > that wine won't work in 64bit mode.
> >
> > In this case will it be possible to have a version of ardour compiled with
> > EM64T optimisation on a 64bit gentoo running VST plugin with wine in 32bit
> ?
> >
> > Ouch :)
> >
> > On a wider scope, i will be happy to hear report from people using 64bit
> > version of linux, specially if the Ladspa plugins compile/run fine. Is it
> > really faster, does ardour benefit from the 64 bit mode ?
> >
> > And if there are things to know concerning Gentoo compiled for 64bit
> support,
> > feel free to email me privatly or not (depending of the relation with
> ardour)
> > because we can not change the compiler flag in Gentoo without reinstalling
> > everthing and i am tempted to stay in 32bit i686 for a year or so.
> >
> > Thanks !
> >
> > NR
> >
> >
> >
> >
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