MPC X, MPC Live, MPC One & MPC Key 61 Forum: Support and discussion for the MPC X, MPC Live, MPC Live II, MPC One & MPC Key 61; Akai's current generation of standalone MPCs.
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By autotech Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:01 am
Greetings all,

Just wanted to share with other users, some useful info regarding Ubuntu Linux and the MPC Live.

I installed ExFAT utils and put my MPC Live in controller mode. Since the MPC Software is Linux based, I expected it to work flawlessly. Indeed that is so.

Install ExFAT utils with the following command:

sudo apt install exfat-fuse exfat-utils

Put your MPC Live in controller mode and it should mount your installed SSD and USB externals drives without a problem.

Not to mention that it also functions as a generic audio interface in Ubuntu.

This was tested in Ubuntu 18.04 and 18.10

You can now transfer files and use it as an audio interface in Ubuntu.
Hope this info is helpful to the very few Linux Pro Audio users out there.

Cheers,

AT
By CharlesRandolph Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:59 am
autotech wrote:Greetings all,

Just wanted to share with other users, some useful info regarding Ubuntu Linux and the MPC Live.

I installed ExFAT utils and put my MPC Live in controller mode. Since the MPC Software is Linux based, I expected it to work flawlessly. Indeed that is so.

Install ExFAT utils with the following command:

sudo apt install exfat-fuse exfat-utils

Put your MPC Live in controller mode and it should mount your installed SSD and USB externals drives without a problem.

Not to mention that it also functions as a generic audio interface in Ubuntu.

This was tested in Ubuntu 18.04 and 18.10

You can now transfer files and use it as an audio interface in Ubuntu.
Hope this info is helpful to the very few Linux Pro Audio users out there.

Cheers,

AT



TIP OF THE 2019! :worthy: :worthy:
By boomspot Sat Jan 12, 2019 12:36 am
It works as a class compliant device. Cool, but I wouldn’t say the MPC software works with Ubuntu. :lol:
User avatar
By autotech Sat Jan 12, 2019 11:43 pm
That's right, correction: The MPC Live firmware operating system is Linux based.
Since I rarely use the MAC or PC software, it didn't occur to me that it is also called MPC Software.

I doubt that WINE will function properly with the legit copy protection drivers.
That's the nice thing about stand alone hardware. It doesn't really matter.

The important thing is getting my samples into the MPC through Linux without too much fuss.
The MPC Live hooked up to my Ubuntu setup is proving to be a formidable weapon of choice.

Hope everyone who produces on Linux can spread the word.
Tell 'em AutoTech sent-cha!

Cheers.

AT
By rvense Sun Jan 13, 2019 9:03 pm
I, too, was pleasantly surprised to find how well the MPC works with Linux. MIDI works too, including input from all the buttons and pads.

I haven't tried MIDI feedback yet, but it should be possible to use it as a control surface and make the pads light up.

The screen will be useless (displaying the "Searching for computer..." screen) unless you change the firmware to run something else when in controller mode. It's doable but would be a large task to make it do something useful.

I've done some experiments running test apps on the Live, but the thing about controller mode is that the internal computer loses its connection to the control surface and the audio I/O as those get attached to the host, and then the Live firmware (which controls the touch screen) talks to the MPC software on the host over a USB serial connection as I recall.
User avatar
By zangetsu01 Sun Jan 13, 2019 9:23 pm
Can someone please explain why one would produce using Linux? (Not meant sarcastic)

Are there any benefits? Are there good Daws & plugins to use?
By rvense Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:09 pm
zangetsu01 wrote:Can someone please explain why one would produce using Linux? (Not meant sarcastic)

Are there any benefits? Are there good Daws & plugins to use?


I find Ardour to be an adequate DAW for editing and arranging. I don't really use plug-ins much, I have hardware for synths and sound design-y effects, but the Calf suite is fine for EQs, dynamics, etc. in my opinion. I should note that I probably don't have very high standards, I'm not very familiar with the state of the sonic art on other platforms my plug-in usage is quite light (and my mixes not very good; in fact you probably should not be listening to me, I'm just some rando with no releases to my name).

As to why, it's just what I prefer for everything else. I have it setup for software development and web browsing etc. in a way that that fits me like an old pair of boots. For a time I kept a Mac and/or Windows machine for Ableton Live, but I can't really stand either anymore and I also just like having my music software on my main computer or something that works exactly like it.

I also enjoy the lack of copy protection and the knowledge that my music is not locked in a format that can only be read by a piece of software that could go away any day.
By mrdorianjames Mon Apr 13, 2020 3:02 pm
I was actually able to get MPC software running with WINE on my Xubuntu PC. I thought I'd have problems with the rights management software but I installed that as well without any problems.

There is two problems
1) I couldn't install the USB driver to get the hardware screen to connect. It fails install. The MPC screen stays on "looking for computer".

2) importing audio files crashes the MPC software.

I'm going to look into it further through the WINE forums to see if I can find a solution
By hennsensen Tue Jul 20, 2021 11:30 pm
late to the party, but i want to get an mpc one too, and work on Linux, with Bitwig as a DAW.

I’d like to record live jamming audio, and wonder how many usb audio channels the mpc provides. Only the left and right master channel, or each track separately?

I love playing spontaneously and edit the recorded audio to make proper songs, being able to have sounds separated and remove or modify single Instruments is important to me.

( another non Linux related option would be to record separated tracks audio while jamming on the device itself and just use the mentioned file access to get the files, but i dont know if its possible. I read the manual as if it can export songs or stems, but thats not live played stuff, only programmed stuff as i understand. )
By Redferne Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:11 am
I've gotten as far as getting MPC2.10 to install using wine-staging. License was also successfully added.
MPC ONE is found and audio devices are available as well as access to the SD card. When running MPC2 software and the MPC ONE in controller mode, it seems to register the PAD presses (they light up in MPC2) however the MPC ONE is still stuck in "Looking for computer". This is very annoying. It's like almost there. But I guess we need a driver to get the rest working.

I: If#=0x0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 0 Cls=01(audio) Sub=01 Prot=20 Driver=snd-usb-audio
I: If#=0x1 Alt= 0 #EPs= 0 Cls=01(audio) Sub=02 Prot=20 Driver=snd-usb-audio
I: If#=0x2 Alt= 0 #EPs= 0 Cls=01(audio) Sub=02 Prot=20 Driver=snd-usb-audio
I: If#=0x3 Alt= 0 #EPs= 0 Cls=01(audio) Sub=01 Prot=00 Driver=snd-usb-audio
I: If#=0x4 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=01(audio) Sub=03 Prot=00 Driver=snd-usb-audio
I: If#=0x5 Alt= 0 #EPs= 4 Cls=ff(vend.) Sub=01 Prot=00 Driver=(none) <--- Something missing here?
I: If#=0x6 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=usb-storage

BR,
Redferne
By DokBrown Thu Jul 29, 2021 10:13 pm
The problem is not linux but rather the hardware manufacturers and software providers do not gain enough market share by supporting linux. The biggest linux distro by far is chromeOS which is linux stripped down for google cloud services. Linux does not have enough desktop/laptop market share for the major vendors to cater to it. WINE & virtual machines are solid but not recommended for multimedia production.
Example: Indamixx
This was solid software but not enough market share.
https://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine/i ... ing-studio


Furthermore, the open source community is not big on proprietary/IP cr@%. Just look up the problems with the .mp3 format which dominated online music until 2010-2020
https://www.ubuntupit.com/how-to-instal ... ntu-linux/

https://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/howto-pl ... sktop.html

BTW - I’m typing this post from a Ubuntu LTS machine ;-)
By MikeNizo808 Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:21 am
I installed "ubuntu-21.04-desktop-amd64.iso" to an old PC today, and it can use the MPC X as a SoundCard (output only) without issue. I did add support for extra media types at install, but did not need the "exfat" stuff mentioned by OP. I can see the SD card and browse files, etc. Cool (and thanks to all who mentioned this ability)!

In this setup, I just use the hardware for sound output.

- the USB is attached
- the MPC X is in Controller mode
- no MPC Beats Desktop or Plugin have been installed (or attempted)

PS - I may try to get iLok running (which may be an issue for Wine on my very recent version of Ubuntu).