LWDW 348: Linux and Loops

Rust creeps into kernel 6.1, Ardour 7.0 gets loopy, Juno launches a ‘beta’ Linux tablet, and Pine64 announces the 0x64.

Listen:

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
08:42 Juno ‘beta’ tablet
13:38 Ardour 7.0 gets loopy
18:11 Kernel 6.1 with Rust
25:06 Pine64 October housekeeping

Juno Tablet (RTheren)

Juno Computers, sellers of Linux computers and laptops has now branched out and is selling something lots of us in the Linux community have been wanting, a Linux powered tablet!
The first Juno Tablet is now available for pre-order for $429 and up, and it can be configured with one of several different touchscreen-friendly mobile Linux distributions.
But this is a Beta, and some of the hardware is not supported by software yet.
Specs:
- An x86-64 Intel Jasper Lake processor, Intel 4 core Celeron
- 1920 x 1200 pixel IPS LCD touchscreen display
- 8GB of LPDDR-2133 RAM (soldered to the mainboard)
- 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage options
- 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C (with charging and video out support)
- 1 x USB 3.0 Type-A
- 1 x mini HDMI
- 1 x microSD card reader
- 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack
There’s also support for an optional pen with 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity. Which is available as a $22 add-on for the tablet.
Linux OS choices: Mobian, Manjaro Plasma Mobile and Manjaro Phosh.
Celeron N5100, a 4c4t 1.1GHz chip from 2021.
Yeah, x86 tablets can devour some battery.
Suspend and resume are only partially working.
Added privacy feature: Internal microphone & rear camera doesn’t work.
Plastic body with kickstand.
Need to see something other than 3D renders before I consider a preorder.

Ardour 7.0

https://ardour.org/whatsnew.html

Ardour 7 is out and the big honking feature is a little thing called clip launching.
Clip launching allows you to experiment with combinations of various loops and one shot samples.
This can be automated with Forward, Reverse, Jump and Multi-Jump.
Ardour now packs a loop library and a new download system to access additional audio / MIDI loops.
Mixer scenes allows you to A/B test all the plugin settings on a track.
Freesound login work again.
Had to install liblrdf0-dev.
Updated the build guide on Linuxgamecast.
There is none more blank than Frank.
There are official builds now for Apple Silicon systems.

Linux Kernel 6.1 RC1

Linus Torvalds announced the first Release Candidate of Linux kernel 6.1 and is ready for testers and early adopters who want to get a glimpse of what’s about to be included in the final release.
The final release is expected in early or mid December 2022.
The biggest new feature of Linux 6.1 is the merge of the Rust infrastructure code, but don’t get too excited yet, because it’s only a very basic implementation of support for the Rust programming language.
- As Torvalds wanted, it is basically a Rust “Hello World”.
Five new vulnerabilities in Linux’s Wi-Fi handling have been identified and will be fixed in the forthcoming kernel 6.1.
Another useful new patch will display the processor and core number, and which socket it’s in, when there is a segfault error in a program.
This will be the last major Linux kernel release of the year, and it should also be the next LTS (Long-Term Support) series according to kernel developer Greg Kroah-Hartman.
Curious to see if Tak gets his bits in from ALSA.

Slice of Pi

Pine64 0x64

Pine64 has been playing with RISC-V chips in their Pinecil V2 and PineCone.
The Pine64 0x64 is a great competitor to the Raspberry Pi Pico, and the cheapest way to get a hold of a RISC-V SoC.
The 0x64 is a little oddball with its three cores.
A high performance 64-bit RISC-V core, a high performance 32-bit RISC-V core and low power RISC-V core.
Priced $6 to $8.
Also InfiniTime 1.11 has been released for the PineTime which includes access to new external resources, 2 new watch faces and many additions and improvements.
The Star 64 now oots linux thanks to Zheng.
It’s booting AOCS, a Debian fork.
They have it running XFCE and the PowerVR GPU on the RISC-V is capable of desktop acceleration.
USB 3 is still in the works along with functional wifi.
The QuartzPro64 dev board has been in the hands of developers for a minute.
Linux is booting and OpenGLES is running but not Vulkan, yet.