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README_BEAGLEBONE_BLACK.md

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Building SuperCollider on BeagleBone Black

This is for compiling and running sclang and scsynth under Debian. It does not include the IDE nor the Qt GUI components for sclang. For compiling with GUI support, you may be able to adapt the instructions from the Raspberry Pi readme.

Build Requirements

  • BeagleBone Black (or any of the variants green, blue, industrial, pocket, etc.)
  • SD card with Debian Stretch or Buster. You could use iot, lxqt or console. The console version is minimal and recommended.
  • Router with ethernet internet connection for the BBB
  • Laptop connected to same network as the BBB
  • USB soundcard with headphones or speakers connected

Building

Step 1: Hardware setup

  1. Connect an ethernet cable from the network router to the BBB
  2. Insert the SD card and USB soundcard.
  3. Connect USB power from a 5V@1A power supply

Step 2: Update the system, install required libraries

ssh from your laptop by opening a terminal and typing:

ssh debian@beaglebone # default password is temppwd
sudo passwd debian # change password
sudo /opt/scripts/tools/grow_partition.sh # expand file system. skip if you are running on the emmc
sudo reboot # and log in again with ssh

# log in again with ssh
ssh debian@beaglebone
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install libsamplerate0-dev libsndfile1-dev libasound2-dev libavahi-client-dev libreadline-dev \
    libfftw3-dev libudev-dev cmake git build-essential python-dev alsa-utils cpufrequtils

Step 3: Compile, install and configure jackd (no d-bus)

cd ~ # or cd into the directory where you'd like to build jack2
git clone git://github.com/jackaudio/jack2 --depth 1
cd jack2
./waf configure --alsa --libdir=/usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/
./waf build
sudo ./waf install
sudo ldconfig
cd ..
rm -rf jack2
sudo sh -c "echo @audio - memlock 256000 >> /etc/security/limits.conf"
sudo sh -c "echo @audio - rtprio 75 >> /etc/security/limits.conf"

# `-dhw:1` is normally the USB soundcard. `sudo aplay -l` will list available devices.
# Use `nano ~/.jackdrc` to edit jack settings.
echo /usr/local/bin/jackd -P75 -p16 -dalsa -dhw:1 -r44100 -p1024 -n3 > ~/.jackdrc

exit # and ssh in again to make the limits.conf settings work

Step 4: Compile and install SuperCollider

cd ~ # or cd into the directory where you'd like to clone and build supercollider
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/supercollider/supercollider.git
cd supercollider
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBUILD_TESTING=OFF -DSUPERNOVA=OFF -DNATIVE=ON -DSC_IDE=OFF -DNO_X11=ON \
    -DSC_QT=OFF -DSC_ED=OFF -DSC_EL=OFF -DSC_VIM=ON ..
cmake --build . --config Release --target all
sudo cmake --build . --config Release --target install
sudo ldconfig

Usage

To use SuperCollider, just open a terminal and execute sclang.

Done! See below for other usage notes and tips.

sc3-plugins

To compile and install sc3-plugins, follow the instructions in the sc3-plugins README.

Autostart

To automatically run SuperCollider code at system boot:

cat >~/autostart.sh <<EOF
#!/bin/bash
export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH
export DISPLAY=:0.0
sleep 10
sclang mycode.scd
EOF

chmod +x ~/autostart.sh
crontab -e # and add the following line to the end:
    @reboot cd /home/pi && ./autostart.sh

nano ~/mycode.scd # And add your code inside a waitForBoot. For example:
    s.waitForBoot{ {SinOsc.ar([400, 404])}.play }

sudo reboot # the sound should start after a few seconds

Login with ssh and run pkill jackd; pkill sclang; pkill scsynth to stop the sound.

Benchmarks

These are rough benchmark tests. The server should be booted and jackd running with settings: -P75 -p1024 -n3 -r44100

Also make sure to power the bbb through the barrel jack (else the CPU is capped at 300mhz - check with cpufreq-info). Also for comparison it is important to set CPU scaling to 'performance' with:

sudo cpufreq-set --governor performance

Start sclang and run:

s.boot
{1000000.do{2.5.sqrt}}.bench // ~1.9 on a bb-black, ~2.6 with lxqt on a bb-black
a= {Mix(50.collect{RLPF.ar(SinOsc.ar)});DC.ar(0)}.play
s.avgCPU // run a few times. ~47% on a bb-black
a.free

The default CPU scaling mode 'ondemand' seem to work quite good on the BBB and will save battery without losing much in performance.

Notes and Troubleshooting

  • An easy way to burn the img.xy file (no need to unpack) to an SD card is to use etcher.
  • Type alsamixer in terminal and then F6. Adjust the mic and speaker volume with the arrow keys. Press escape to exit.
  • If compilation stops or returns an error the compiler might just have run out of memory. Try to reboot and run the make command again.
  • If you get WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! when trying to ssh in, type ssh-keygen -R beaglebone to reset.
  • For lower latency, set a lower blocksize for jackd. Try, for example -p512 or -p128. Tune downwards until you get dropouts and xruns (also watch cpu%).
  • To avoid SD card corruption one should always shut down the system properly and not just pull out the 5V power. When running headless you can either ssh in and type sudo halt -p, use a GPIO pin with a button and Python script, or set up an OSC command from within SC that turns off the BBB. See here. version of these instructions.
  • To quit sclang after starting via the commandline use 0.exit.