Norns: help

tehn · 2019-06-28T20:06:51.187Z

i might suggest creating a github issue for this feature so we can track possible solutions.

simonvanderveldt · 2019-06-29T00:34:20.425Z

okyeron:

But… qmidinet appears to be something different than the MacOS RTP-MIDI?

Could be/probably I guess? Hadn’t heard about rtp-midi until your post

Btw netjack2 can also be used to transport JACK MIDI and audio over the network. AFAIK JACK2 can be run on macOS, no experience with it though since I don’t run macOS.

wolfgangschaltung · 2019-06-30T15:37:26.000Z

After a long hiatus for familty health reasons I wanted to update my norns from norns 181008 (IIRC) to norns 190405. As recommended here, I wanted to connect via USB serial.

With norns190405.tgz being copied onto the USB thumb drive, which was inserted into norns, I started norns and connected via norns’s mini-USB port with norns’s USB power cable to my MacBook Pro running macOS 10.14.5

I then opened Terminal and typed in
screen /dev/tty.usb(tab) 115200
Regardless of when I press the TAB key, no serial number appeared. I tried to press TAB after
screen /dev/tty.usb
screen /dev/tty.usb(
screen /dev/tty.usb(tab) 115200

So I opened “About this Mac” to get a system report, went to USB and looked for norns. No norns

Back to Terminal, typed in
ioreg -p IOUSB
and got this:
+-o Root <class IORegistryEntry, id 0x100000100, retain 15>
+-o AppleUSBXHCI Root Hub Simulation@14000000 <class AppleUSBRootHubDevice, id 0x10000030e, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (51 ms), retain 10>
+-o BRCM20702 Hub@14300000 <class AppleUSBDevice, id 0x1000023fc, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (1 ms), retain 12>
| +-o Bluetooth USB Host Controller@14330000 <class AppleUSBDevice, id 0x10000244f, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (679 ms), retain 17>
+-o Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad@14400000 <class AppleUSBDevice, id 0x100002402, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (8 ms), retain 15>

Still no norns.

I unplugged norns’s WiFi nub, tried again, no success.
I dug out a USB hub to test the cable I used to connect norns to the computer, when typing
ioreg -p IOUSB
in the Terminal, the USB hub was found. But when using the same USB cable and USB port with norns directly, there was still no norns to be found.

Also tried connecting norns via the USB hub that my computer recognized in the previous example. Still no luck.

Frustrated I sent norns to sleep with the USB drive inserted, cooled down, restarted norns which now started updating and while the update seemed to go OK, all scripts show
(error: AUDIO ENGINE)
and loading takes forever. I’ll work on that using the steps provided here, but…

…I am really worried about not being able to connect via the mini-USB port. Strangely, norns’s battery is being charged via the mini-USB port. Please, does someboy have any idea what I am doing wrong?

wolfgangschaltung · 2019-06-30T16:07:41.237Z

I was able to solve
(error: AUDIO ENGINE)
but it was stranger than described. Using the AUDIO ERROR steps on norns’s help page, I connected via WiFi, pressed ;restart in maiden’s sc REPL and RETURN, but the text returned did not contain any hints towards duplicate engines, instead it reported 4 methods are currently overwritten by extensions. Utterly bamboozled, I press MethodOverride.printAll as recommended and got this:

matron
sc
MethodOverride.printAll
Overwritten methods in class library:
-------------------------------------
Meta_MIDIIn
-----------
	Meta_MIDIIn:connectAll
		/usr/share/SuperCollider/SCClassLibrary/Platform/linux/SystemOverwrites/extMIDIOut.sc
		/usr/share/SuperCollider/SCClassLibrary/Common/Control/MIDIOut.sc
Meta_MIDIClient
---------------
	Meta_MIDIClient:externalSources
		/usr/share/SuperCollider/SCClassLibrary/Platform/linux/SystemOverwrites/extMIDIOut.sc
		/usr/share/SuperCollider/SCClassLibrary/Common/Control/MIDIOut.sc
	Meta_MIDIClient:externalDestinations
		/usr/share/SuperCollider/SCClassLibrary/Platform/linux/SystemOverwrites/extMIDIOut.sc
		/usr/share/SuperCollider/SCClassLibrary/Common/Control/MIDIOut.sc
	Meta_MIDIClient:getClientID
		/usr/share/SuperCollider/SCClassLibrary/Platform/linux/SystemOverwrites/extMIDIOut.sc
		/usr/share/SuperCollider/SCClassLibrary/Common/Control/MIDIOut.sc

Do I need to be worried by this overwritten extensions?

In any case, even after ;restart and MethodOverride.printAll, I still got (error: AUDIO ENGINE). So out of desparation I pressed norns > System > Reset and – surprise, surprise! – the Audio Engine error is gone, I can select & play scripts, hooray!

REMAINING OPEN ISSUES

Do I need to be worried by this “overwritten extensions”?
Why can’t I connect via USB serial?

Thanks in advance for any pointers for help!

P.S. Here’s the result of ;restart:

compiling class library...
Found 716 primitives.
Compiling directory '/usr/share/SuperCollider/SCClassLibrary'
Compiling directory '/usr/share/SuperCollider/Extensions'
Compiling directory '/home/we/.local/share/SuperCollider/Extensions'
Compiling directory '/home/we/norns/sc/core'
Compiling directory '/home/we/norns/sc/engines'
Compiling directory '/home/we/norns/sc/ugens'
Compiling directory '/home/we/dust'
numentries = 1049131 / 12464480 = 0.084
4340 method selectors, 2872 classes
method table size 7850004 bytes, big table size 49857920
Number of Symbols 12596
Byte Code Size 346704
compiled 375 files in 0.86 seconds
Info: 4 methods are currently overwritten by extensions. To see which, execute:
MethodOverride.printAll
compile done
localhost : setting clientID to 0.
internal : setting clientID to 0.
Class tree inited in 1.2 seconds
-------------------------------------------------
Crone startup
OSC rx port: 57120
OSC tx port: 8888
server port: 57122
server port: 9999
--------------------------------------------------
*** Welcome to SuperCollider 3.10.0. *** For help type ctrl-c ctrl-h (Emacs) or :SChelp (vim) or ctrl-U (sced/gedit).

Booting server 'localhost' on address 127.0.0.1:57110.
Found 0 LADSPA plugins
JackDriver: client name is 'SuperCollider'
SC_AudioDriver: sample rate = 48000.000000, driver's block size = 128
SuperCollider 3 server ready.
Requested notification messages from server 'localhost'
localhost: server process's maxLogins (1) matches with my options.
localhost: keeping clientID (0) as confirmed by server process.
Shared memory server interface initialized
JackDriver: max output latency 8.0 ms
CroneDefs: sending defs
play_fade
patch_mono
patch_mono_fb
patch_stereo
patch_pan
rec_smooth
adc
amp_env
pitch
polySub
polyFM7
patch_mono_gate_pause
patch_mono_gate_pause_fb
AudioContext: in_b[0] index: 4
AudioContext: in_b[1] index: 5
AudioContext: out_b index (stereo): 0
AudioContext: initPolls

zebra · 2019-06-30T16:10:03.190Z

wolfgangschaltung:

Do I need to be worried by this “overwritten extensions”?

Nah

Why can’t I connect via USB serial?

Wow no idea, so you can’t observe any change in/dev/tty* entries when attaching / detaching?

wolfgangschaltung · 2019-06-30T16:24:56.504Z

zebra:

Wow no idea, so you can’t observe any change in /dev/tty* entries when attaching / detaching?

No. When I type
screen /dev/tty
and press return I get
Cannot open line '/dev/tty' for R/W: Device not configured.
followed by
Sorry, could not find a PTY.

Tapping TAB after
screen /dev/tty
gives nothing, tapping TAB again and then return gives
Display all 131 possibilities? (y or n)
which gives this after typing y:

tty                          ttyq9                        ttys3                        ttyte                        ttyv9
tty.Bluetooth-Incoming-Port  ttyqa                        ttys4                        ttytf                        ttyva
ttyp0                        ttyqb                        ttys5                        ttyu0                        ttyvb
ttyp1                        ttyqc                        ttys6                        ttyu1                        ttyvc
ttyp2                        ttyqd                        ttys7                        ttyu2                        ttyvd
ttyp3                        ttyqe                        ttys8                        ttyu3                        ttyve
ttyp4                        ttyqf                        ttys9                        ttyu4                        ttyvf
ttyp5                        ttyr0                        ttysa                        ttyu5                        ttyw0
ttyp6                        ttyr1                        ttysb                        ttyu6                        ttyw1
ttyp7                        ttyr2                        ttysc                        ttyu7                        ttyw2
ttyp8                        ttyr3                        ttysd                        ttyu8                        ttyw3
ttyp9                        ttyr4                        ttyse                        ttyu9                        ttyw4
ttypa                        ttyr5                        ttysf                        ttyua                        ttyw5
ttypb                        ttyr6                        ttyt0                        ttyub                        ttyw6
ttypc                        ttyr7                        ttyt1                        ttyuc                        ttyw7
ttypd                        ttyr8                        ttyt2                        ttyud                        ttyw8
ttype                        ttyr9                        ttyt3                        ttyue                        ttyw9
ttypf                        ttyra                        ttyt4                        ttyuf                        ttywa
ttyq0                        ttyrb                        ttyt5                        ttyv0                        ttywb
ttyq1                        ttyrc                        ttyt6                        ttyv1                        ttywc
ttyq2                        ttyrd                        ttyt7                        ttyv2                        ttywd
ttyq3                        ttyre                        ttyt8                        ttyv3                        ttywe
ttyq4                        ttyrf                        ttyt9                        ttyv4                        ttywf
ttyq5                        ttys0                        ttyta                        ttyv5                        
ttyq6                        ttys000                      ttytb                        ttyv6                        
ttyq7                        ttys1                        ttytc                        ttyv7                        
ttyq8                        ttys2                        ttytd                        ttyv8

I know that the USB cable and the USB port seem to be working, as norns is being charged using this cable & port, and if I connect an active USB port using the same cable & port, ioreg -p IOUSB shows the active USB port.

So I can’t even get the serial number of my norns. Is there any other way to find it?

P.S. The update to 2.0.1 worked flawlessy.

robotboot · 2019-06-30T15:38:02.000Z

I’m thinking the answer is yes but does Norns work with the USB to DIN MIDI cables?

Like the “ iConnectivity mio 1-in 1-out USB to MIDI”
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CO5IRSG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_bCngDb0TSQK26

Loitering · 2019-06-30T15:47:07.369Z

Yes. I do that all the time. Works great.

AlessandroBonino · 2019-06-30T15:57:30.703Z

I can confirm. Works a treat.

tehn · 2019-07-01T14:11:10.869Z

norns uses an FTDI chip, so you should see it enumerate as that. MacOS got better at FTDI recently, but there might still be driver trouble

other possible issue is the boot/run switch may need to be jiggled back and forth. remove the bottom plate, quick check

wolfgangschaltung · 2019-07-01T21:08:54.699Z

tehn:

other possible issue is the boot/run switch may need to be jiggled back and forth. remove the bottom plate, quick check

I opened norns for the first time and found that the switch was exactly in the middle position!

190701 norns runs.jpg1602×847 338 KB

Jiggling it back and forth made norns show up as
FT232R USB UART@14100000 <class AppleUSBDevice, id 0x10000129e, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (2 ms), retain 11>
and I can get its serial number!

Thanks much!

dansimco · 2019-07-02T10:02:13.072Z

I’m getting some glitchy behaviour with softcut/live input monitoring. Actually probably just the input is playing up somehow. In both mlr and cranes, my inputed audio is coming through with a nasty extremely-low-sample-rate kind of sound and I’m not sure what’s causing it. I’ve tested bypassing norns and the source audio is good, and I’ve loaded built in sample wavs into mlr and that sounds good.

Has anyone come across a similar issue? I’ve recently “cleaned out” a lot of scripts I wasn’t using so suspect I may have poked something I shouldn’t have. Nothing outside dust though.

Edit: Resetting the engine fixed the issue, no idea what’s caused it though

Frogstar · 2019-07-02T16:32:03.937Z

Suddenly, I cannot find Earthsea on my Norns nor in the library. Searching lines isn’t helping. Am I imagining it? I would have sworn it existed. Can anyone point me to a source?

Justmat · 2019-07-02T17:14:37.896Z

It’s in the library under @tehn’s Ash collection.

crim · 2019-07-02T18:51:52.344Z

I’ve had this happen multiple times. unfortunately I’m not much help since I have no idea why or how to reproduce, but can confirm you’re not alone…

zebra · 2019-07-02T19:32:33.984Z

@dansimco
@crim
here are some ideas

if you can, while the artifact is happening, connect via ssh/serial and run the program top, then press 1. this will show CPU usage per core.
use systemctl to show if there are messages about buffer underruns or whatever:
systemctl status norns-jack
systemctl status norns-crone
systemctl status norns-scsynth

(does it sound like buffer underruns?)

also: “resetting the engine” means what exactly? (mlr / cranes don’t use any engines)

dansimco · 2019-07-02T21:25:21.958Z

Ha yeah I realised I couldn’t find a way to describe the reset. By that I just meant the soft “reset” in the menu, rather than a full sleep cycle. Thanks I’ll dig in next time. It did sound like buffer underruns in hindsight.

eyeiaye · 2019-07-02T22:47:14.250Z

So I know all the cool things norns can do, but I was wondering, can it act as an audio interface with my DAW? Would love to plug this into my laptop and record in.

zebra · 2019-07-02T22:52:23.959Z

Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnno sorry it cannot

I suppose you could set up a NetJACK session or something like that

crim · 2019-07-02T22:57:29.847Z

thanks, I’ll try this next time. I just fix the issue by turning norns off and on. I’m not sure what a buffer underrun sounds like, so I can only compare it to a heavy downsampling or bitcrushing type effect.