[RDD] ASI driver instructions
We’re looking for step-by-step instructions about how to load ASI drivers into a new-from-scratch Centos7 / Rivendell 3.4.0 installation. The ASI card is a 6520 and the Dell is an Optiplex 780. The Rivendell manual mentions ASI cards in section 1.1.2.1: "Rivendell uses AudioScience's special 'HPI' driver to access and control them. More information is available at AudioScience's web site, http://www.audioscience.com/.; The ASI download page says "Due to the complex steps involved in installing and maintaining Linux system we recommend you work with a local expert to help you get up and running as quickly as possible.” We’re unable to find ASI driver installation instructions in the Rivendell Wiki. We downloaded the latest hpklinux_4.20.33-g276eb3e.tar HPI driver package from the ASI site, but don’t know what to do next. Help? ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
Re: [RDD] Riv with a NAS
Actually, my interest in using a NAS is just curiosity at this point. My immediate goal is in learning how to move the Rivendell audio storage location to a different hard drive on the same machine. I haven’t yet located where in RDAdmin(?) to modify the audio and database default location of "(directory) /var/snd". Thanks, Frank __ On 3/4/2020, at 3:37 PM, drew Roberts wrote: Which NAS do you want to use. Do you have a link to the docs for that NAS? ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
[RDD] RivenCloud
In our consideration of Rivendell, a question arose as to whether there might be a cloud version. Something like RivenCloud (a tip ‘o the hat to John Penovich) or Valinor (the Undying Lands, a nod to Tolkien). RCS its marketing a cloud-based automation system, primarily for disaster recovery: https://www.rcsworks.com/press-releases/cloud-automation-reveal/ Why couldn’t instances of Rivendell running on Amazon AWS become a station’s primary automation system? No hardware to maintain and the system would be just as accessible as a box in the next room, given the ease of VNC connections. From the transmitter site’s perspective, everything is already in some cloud. That’s whether the STL connection is via microwave, fiber, or DSL. RivenCloud could send a high-quality stream directly to the transmitter as easily as it would simultaneously feed a MP3/AAC version to the station’s streaming provider. Now, talk like this strikes terror into the hearts of red-blooded engineers. What happens when the ‘net connection goes down on Christmas Eve when there’s nary an IT person from one’s university or cloud provider to be found? How do we deal with inevitable backhoe fades? And how could we possibly threaten cranky machines by brandishing a bright orange mallet in front of it, which sometimes seems to work, psychologically at least. (Need to be careful as machines become sentient; threatening didn’t work so well with HAL.) Might in-the-cloud Rivendell instances be doable? Is this already being done? Frank Christel ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
Re: [RDD] Riv with a NAS
I, too, would like to know how to play audio from a NAS, not just for RivenBerries, but big boxes, too. I came across this “Networked Audio Library” page while searching the WIKI for an answer to a similar question. Unfortunately, the page is blank: http://wiki.rivendellaudio.org/index.php/Networked_Audio_Library I dunno if portions of this "NFS Server and Client Configuration” WIKI page might be useful: http://wiki.rivendellaudio.org/index.php/NFS_Server_and_Client_Configuration My question is how to move the audio library and database to a different (larger) drive connected to the same machine. This page indicates it can be done in the “Asset (Audio File) Storage” section, but provides no hints about how to change the default of (directory) /var/snd: http://wiki.rivendellaudio.org/index.php/CookbookChapter02 That same section says this: "This folder may represent a physical disk partition or a volume shared over your network (with any Linux-support network file system, like NFS, CIFS, IPFS, etc.)." __ On 3/3/2020, at 2:35 PM, Phil Biehl wrote: I’m a fairly new user to Riv. My project is running it on Raspberry Pi4 using the image graciously provided by Edge Radio at https://www.edgeradio.org.au/rivendell-on-raspberry-pi.html version 3.20. since the Pi’s memory capacity is limited, I would like to have all converted audio located on my NAS. My installation will be for music play out only. No spots, promos or otherwise. Is there a way to have Rivendale do this. Both for play out and importing? ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
[RDD] Linux time sync
YANQ (yet another noob question): To lock our Windows automation PCs to network time, we use Dimension 4 which every 15 minutes queries NTP coming from our NPR satellite receivers. This has proven sufficient to compensate for internal PC clock drift. Dim 4 also allows an offset which compensates for satellite audio delay. At first glance, it appears that CentOS-7 does a good job on its own in locking the PC’s internal clock to network time without the use of a third-party time-sync app. — For satellite-fed broadcast stations, is there a need in Linux to run a separate time-sync app? — Is it easy to repoint the internal Linux clock sync routine to an in-house NTP server? Frank Christel Public Radio Tulsa ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
[RDD] Axia, Wheatnet, Dante
Public Radio Tulsa is currently an analog shop, but we want to insure Rivendell will work well with a future AOIP system. — We’ve been told that Axia plays well with Rivendell. What about Wheatnet? Dante? — Are there Linux drivers / virtual audio interfaces available for all three systems? — How much do those drivers cost? Frank Christel ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
[RDD] CentOS version -7 or -8?
I’m creating my first Rivendell box on a Dell 780, following these instructions: http://static.paravelsystems.com/rivendell-install-rd3/rivendell-install-rhel7.html The latest version CentOS version appears to be 8. Should I use 7 instead? Frank Christel ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
Re: [RDD] 3.x and asi cards.
Drew,
I am grateful for your instructions showing how to change the format Rivendell
uses to internally save audio. But we’re fine with a default of PCM16,
especially in 2020 when, as Fred points out, storage is cheap. Linear WAV has
been the house standard at Public Radio Tulsa since the beginning of automated
time.
In my tests with importing various MP2 files, I did experience some anomalies.
Most imported without problems, but after churning away, some displayed a
“Internal error” dialog and wouldn’t load into a cart. These are MP2s which
play fine outside of Rivendell.
Does Rivendell maintain an error log? I couldn’t locate it or generate one
through the Reports module.
Frank
_
On 2/29/2020, at 10:06 AM, drew Roberts wrote:
Right, but if you didn't change the format for your library storage desire
beforehand, what you did was import an MP2 cut, turning it into a pcm ("wave")
cut during the import. You would have needed to change your library format so
that when importing you end up with MP2 in a .wav container…
_
On 2/28/2020, at 11:02 AM, Fred Gleason wrote:
Here in 2020, MPEG audio encoding for storage purposes is fast receding into
the mists of history. Unless one has a very specific reason otherwise —e.g. a
huge existing library of already-encoded material — the usage of PCM16 or PCM24
is *strongly* encouraged over MPEG. Storage is dirt cheap these days, while
MPEG incurs irreversible quality loss; there is really no reason anymore to
employ it for the sake of reducing storage requirements.
_
On 2/27/2020, at 5:09 PM, drew Roberts wrote:
click manage hosts.
highlight the host in question and click edit.
click rdlibrary.
about halfway down change Format: from PCM16 to MPEG Layer 2.
save everything until you are out of rdadmin
start rdlibrary and import a new song into a new cart.
try to play the cart.
if it plays...
from a terminal:
file /var/snd/99_001.wav
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Re: [RDD] 3.x and asi cards.
"It’s alive!!!” That was so simple. I opened RDLibrary, clicked Add, created a new cart, clicked Import/Export, selected a MP2 cut, acknowledged “Import complete!”, clicked OK to save cart changes, and auditioned using the play button. Rivenberries, running the Edge Radio distro, natively import and play MP2 files. No ASI card required. Amazing to watch for someone coming from the world of Simians. Just what can’t Rivendell (and Linux) do? _ On 2/27/2020, at 5:09 PM, drew Roberts wrote: Experiment with this yourself. On a test box, say the RasPi Rivendell... ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
Re: [RDD] Big Book of Rivendell Cookbook?
The resistance to switching automation systems right now at Public Radio Tulsa has less to do with the pain of learning a new schema and coping with a new interface, but instead a somewhat unusual personnel issue. Within its staff of nine, there will be three retirements within six months. The station’s operation director will retire in May. No one is wanting to rock the boat right now, either for their own sake or those who come on board. That’s why we’ve begun research now into automation system alternatives. If the stations decide Rivendell is the way to go, then searching for a new operations director with Linux and Rivendell experience would be beneficial for future adoption. __ On Wed, Feb 26, 2020 at 10:13 PM Frank Christel wrote: Even in the midst of all this insanity, zombie-eyed staff are embracing the devil they know rather than the one they don’t. __ On 2/27/2020, at 6:30 AM, drew Roberts wrote: What is the break down of job categories and how many people are in each? What is the main area of concern? The jocks in the air studio in front of rdairplay? The people in the production studio? The people scheduling the music and traffic? The more technical people in the background keeping the system humming? ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
Re: [RDD] 3.x and asi cards.
In the course of discussions about our research for a Windows 10 automation alternative, I don’t recall sharing the distro we discovered through a Google search. This is what started us down the path toward Rivendell. It was created by the Edge Radio folks in Australia: https://www.edgeradio.org.au/rivendell-on-raspberry-pi.html Use Etcher to flash the image onto a SD, plug it into a Pi, and be amazed. No build is necessary to create Rivenberries. It's fast and stable even on Pi 3 with 1 Gb of memory. Frank Christel _ On 2/27/2020, at 5:10 PM, Timothy Elwell wrote: I haven't tried it with a Pi yet, but have been working on that build to try MP2 on the Pi for a specific use case I have. ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
Re: [RDD] 3.x and asi cards.
I’m stunned. I thought native MP2 playback would be a stumbling block in our adoption of Rivendell. NPR and PRX content comes to us as MP2 files. Simian requires ASI cards for MP2 playback and Public Radio Tulsa has purchased a couple of dozen over the years. Arguably, they’re the best cards for professional broadcasters. But their cost has limited the number of editing and traffic workstations. And for the potential of playing MP2s on “Rivenberries” as John Penovich calls them? Pure icing on the cake. — Chester mentions time compression as an ASI card advantage. For what other reasons would one choose an ASI card over a less expensive sound card for use with Rivendell? — What other sound cards or USB audio interfaces play well with Linux? Frank Christel (FWIW: A few decades ago, Skip Pizzi of NPR assembled a cadre of music directors, program directors, engineers, and managers to choose the encoding standard for with the new NPR digital satellite system. A/B listening tests were held over a couple of days in Kansas City, I think. I was there with my trusty Sony 7506 ‘phones. 128 kbps MP2 mono and 256 kbps MP2 stereo emerged as the winners. That was surprising, because even back then the codec was considered old. Even though MP2 isn't terribly efficient, it did the least damage and reduced the bitstream enough permit multiple digital channels to be sent through a transponder. It’s still the NPR standard today.) _ On 2/27/2020, at 4:50 PM, Chester Graham wrote: Rivendell decodes mp2 files just fine, we store in that format and playout over an icecast stream without any problems. IF you want the advanced features of Rivendell like time compress to fit a certain time length etc, you need the ASI cards. ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
Re: [RDD] 3.x and asi cards.
Noob question: why are ASI cards required to play MP2 files? From the “Features and Benefits” list on the Rivendell home page: "Support for both PCM16 and MPEG Layer 2 audio formats (MPEG Layer 2 support requires the use of select sound cards available from AudioScience Inc.).” (ASI cards are required by BSI’s Simian to play MP2s on Windows, too.) Is the MP2 format so old there are no software decoders? Or is MP2 processing so intensive in real time that it must be offloaded to an external sound card? Is there a way for a RasPi Rivendale node to play MP2s without first converting the files to WAV? Frank Christel __ On 2/26/2020, at 5:49 PM, Fred Gleason wrote: ...Not all ASI cards are supported in any given driver version. For CentOS 7 setups, we provide three, v4.13.0, v4.20.10 and 4.20.21 (with v4.20.21 being installed by default). Any ASI-5XXX or ASI-6XXX card (the ones with the orange colored mu-metal shields) should be able to work with one of those drivers, although sometimes some experimentation is required to find out which driver does the trick… That said, ASI-4XXX cards (the ones with the blue mu-metal shields) are NOT supported in Rivendell at all. ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
Re: [RDD] Big Book of Rivendell Cookbook?
Rob, We’re two FM / five HD stations licensed to The University of Tulsa. One station is NPR news/talk and the other is all-classical. Our HDs include an American songbook music channel, a jazz channel, and a 24/7 BBC World Service channel. https://www.publicradiotulsa.org Basically, we would need Rivendell to replace our network of ten BSI Simian workstations located in three studios, a master control, and one office, all tied together by a ZFS server. Programming originates from our studios, four NPR satellite receivers, Content Depot, and PRX SubAuto. The motivating factor behind considering a switch to Rivendell is the utter madness induced by Windows 10 updates over which we have little control. Our Simians ran fine on XP; were stable running 7; but are now falling apart on 10. Factory fixes include obscure registry tweaks on individual machines following Windows updates. In the meantime, too much dead air and 3 am calls. Even in the midst of all this insanity, zombie-eyed staff are embracing the devil they know rather than the one they don’t. It’s going to be a hard sell to switch automation systems for a third time; it took ten years for them to adjust to this one. Frank On 2/26/2020, at 10:26 AM, Rob Landry <41001...@interpring.com> wrote: What do you need Rivendell to do? I have it running on two satellite-driven commercial news/talk stations in New Hampshire, and on a CPB-funded, but locally programmed, music station in Boston, among others. ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
Re: [RDD] Big Book of Rivendell Cookbook?
Drew, you asked “I am not aware of a book like you are looking for. Can you give a little more details as to what sort of things you would want it to cover?” It’s always my hope when embarking on new explorations (such as a journey to Rivendell) that someone has written a travel guide. Something that doesn’t so much explain the nuts and bolts of how things work, but instead tells inspiring stories about the journey and what to see and do. Testimonies about overcoming obstacles. How whipping up raw ingredients yielded a yummy concoction. Chapter titles for a “Big Book of Rivendell Cookbook” might include: — Oh no, not again!: Cheerleading the adoption of (yet) another automation system — Who’s on first?: Where files live, sync, and play — Doing the SaMBa: Integration with NPR satellite receivers — All roads lead to Rivendell: VNC access from inside and outside the studios — Break down this wall!: Mass file importation strategies — Rosie the Robot: Clever uses of macro carts in the real world — Flowing down the river: Understanding Rivendell’s system of carts, events, clocks, grid, and logs — We just have time for one more: Automating music hours to meet time posts — Glasnost, comrade: Network coexistence with Windows machines — Doing what comes naturally: The easy way to integrate Natural Log and Natural Music — In five, four, three: Breaking format for local emergencies and congressional debates — Play it again, Sam: Playing MP2 files without using ASI cards — The path less travelled: Linux isn’t as scary as it looks — You’ll pry my dead, cold hand: Switching staff from Adobe Audition to a Linux-based audio editor — Front porch whittlin’:What to do with free time saved by not babysitting cranky automation systems Purely by coincidence, those chapters mirror questions and objections staff have raised in considering our adoption of Rivendell. Frank ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
Re: [RDD] Big Book of Rivendell Cookbook?
Folks, Kudos to Mike, Tim, Drew, John, and Rob for pointing me toward Rivendell learning resources, offering advice, and describing their real-world setups. I’ve also received great encouragement over on the PubTech list, especially from Bill Putney at WBTZ and Darrell McCalla at WBHM who are rabid (in a good way) Rivendell adopters. I can’t remember when I’ve encountered such a friendly and eager-to-share group like this. This is certainly a welcome resource for the RD noobs like me. Thank you! Frank ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
[RDD] Big Book of Rivendell Cookbook?
We’re researching a switch to Rivendell. We’ve used Simian for the last decade and before that AudioVault. Lately, though, almost every Windows 10 update is breaking Simian. And BSI says Simian is at end-of-life. I’ve been discovering what Rivendell can do on a Raspberry Pi - it runs surprisingly well. We’re configuring a Dell as a Rivendell test bed for one of our HD channels. We're walking through the manual and searching the rivendell-dev archives for answers. So far, we’ve not hit a brick wall in researching what Rivendell might do for our NPR stations. Is there a “Big Book of Rivendell Cookbook” to give us a 20,000-ft setup and operational view? ___ Rivendell-dev mailing list Rivendell-dev@lists.rivendellaudio.org http://caspian.paravelsystems.com/mailman/listinfo/rivendell-dev
