Difference between revisions of "Zynthian Emulator Setup for Development"

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(rename qjackmidictl by qjackctl)
 
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The developing+testing cycle for the Zynthian UI can be slow if you have to test everytime in a real Zynthian Box. Using your Zynthian Box as your development environment is not optimal, neither copying & testing in the Zynthian Box all the time. You can access the files remotely, or use a CLI editor like vi, but the SD card is not a reliable media when you make changes all the time and you have the risk or corrupting the filesystem and losing data.
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For addressing these problems, i have created a Zynthian Emulation Environment that allows to run the Zynthian UI in a Linux Desktop/Laptop. It emulates the RBPi GPIO (wiringPiEmu wrapper) and the rotary encoders (using POSIX signals), so you run the Zynthian UI code without modifications using a special Wiring Layout. 
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So you only need to create the right directory structure and compile/install the needed packages for running Zynthin UI. This includes libraries, tools, synth engines, plugins, etc.
  
 
== Installation / Setup: ==
 
== Installation / Setup: ==
There are two Setup Scripts:
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There are 2 different setup scripts for 2 flavours of Linux distributions:
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* [https://github.com/zynthian/zynthian-sys/blob/master/scripts/setup_system_desktop_jessie.sh Debian Jessie]
 
* [https://github.com/zynthian/zynthian-sys/blob/master/scripts/setup_system_desktop_jessie.sh Debian Jessie]
 
* [https://github.com/zynthian/zynthian-sys/blob/master/scripts/setup_system_desktop_fc23.sh Fedora 23]
 
* [https://github.com/zynthian/zynthian-sys/blob/master/scripts/setup_system_desktop_fc23.sh Fedora 23]
It can help you to setup your system, but probably you need to tweak a little. I recommend to run line by line from the terminal, trying to understand what you do ;-)
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These scripts can help you to setup your system, but certainly the scripts are out-dated and you may need to tweak a little bit. I recommend to run line by line from the terminal, trying to understand what you do. You can use the RBPi setup script as a reference, as it will be up-to-date.
  
 
== Execution: ==
 
== Execution: ==
Open 4 terminals. Of course, you can use less, but i prefer to use separate terminals:
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Open 3 terminals. Of course, you can use less, but i prefer to use separate terminals:
  
 
'''Terminal 1: Jack Start & Midi Connections'''
 
'''Terminal 1: Jack Start & Midi Connections'''
 
<source lang="bash">
 
<source lang="bash">
qjackctl &
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qjackctl &  
 
</source>
 
</source>
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You would need to configure your jackd system if it's not already done. You could test that it's working using some of the synth engines you already have installed.
  
 
'''Terminal 2: Alsa => Jack MIDI bridge'''
 
'''Terminal 2: Alsa => Jack MIDI bridge'''
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a2jmidid -e
 
a2jmidid -e
 
</source>
 
</source>
Perhaps you want to add the "a2jmidid -e" command to your qjackctl setup ;-)
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Perhaps you want to add the "a2jmidid -e" command to your qjackctl setup and avoid this terminal ;-)
 
 
'''Terminal 3: Autoconnector'''
 
<source lang="bash">
 
cd zynthian
 
cd zynthian-ui
 
./zynthian_autoconnect_jack.py
 
</source>
 
  
'''Terminal 4: Emulator'''
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'''Terminal 3: Emulator'''
 
<source lang="bash">
 
<source lang="bash">
 
cd zynthian
 
cd zynthian
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Zynthian UI will open the native engine GUI when available.
 
Zynthian UI will open the native engine GUI when available.
  
Also, don't forget to [http://blog.zynthian.org/index.php/2016/02/27/zynthian-emulator read this blog entry] about the Zynthian Emulator.
 
  
== Recipe ==
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=== References ===
'''Holger:''' I have created a repository at github with some of my recipes. They are organized as a kind of shell script but mostly used for writing down what I have done. Feel free to look inside and try them. Simple manuals are also inside the repository, but the documentation is the code itself :-)
 
  
[https://github.com/dcoredump/zynthian-recipe https://github.com/dcoredump/zynthian-recipe]
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* [[Zynthian_Emulator|Zynthian Emulator]]
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* [http://blog.zynthian.org/index.php/2016/02/27/zynthian-emulator Blog entry about the Zynthian Emulator]
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* [https://discourse.zynthian.org/search?q=Zynthian%20Emulator Forum Posts about Zynthian Emulator]

Latest revision as of 19:49, 18 February 2018

The developing+testing cycle for the Zynthian UI can be slow if you have to test everytime in a real Zynthian Box. Using your Zynthian Box as your development environment is not optimal, neither copying & testing in the Zynthian Box all the time. You can access the files remotely, or use a CLI editor like vi, but the SD card is not a reliable media when you make changes all the time and you have the risk or corrupting the filesystem and losing data.

For addressing these problems, i have created a Zynthian Emulation Environment that allows to run the Zynthian UI in a Linux Desktop/Laptop. It emulates the RBPi GPIO (wiringPiEmu wrapper) and the rotary encoders (using POSIX signals), so you run the Zynthian UI code without modifications using a special Wiring Layout.

So you only need to create the right directory structure and compile/install the needed packages for running Zynthin UI. This includes libraries, tools, synth engines, plugins, etc.

1 Installation / Setup:

There are 2 different setup scripts for 2 flavours of Linux distributions:

These scripts can help you to setup your system, but certainly the scripts are out-dated and you may need to tweak a little bit. I recommend to run line by line from the terminal, trying to understand what you do. You can use the RBPi setup script as a reference, as it will be up-to-date.

2 Execution:

Open 3 terminals. Of course, you can use less, but i prefer to use separate terminals:

Terminal 1: Jack Start & Midi Connections

qjackctl &

You would need to configure your jackd system if it's not already done. You could test that it's working using some of the synth engines you already have installed.

Terminal 2: Alsa => Jack MIDI bridge

a2jmidid -e

Perhaps you want to add the "a2jmidid -e" command to your qjackctl setup and avoid this terminal ;-)

Terminal 3: Emulator

cd zynthian
cd zynthian-emuface
./zynthian_emuface.py

If you set the environment variable "ZYNTHIANX" like this:

export ZYNTHIANX=$DISPLAY

Zynthian UI will open the native engine GUI when available.


2.1 References