New OSX Opensource audiophile player : Audirvana

[Jud]

iamoneagain writes:

 

He has already posted code change but I don't know how to make updates on my own.

 

It's pretty easy and I actually enjoy it. You'd have to spend $5 to download Xcode from the Mac App Store. From there I'd be happy to give you a step-by-step if you'd like. Let me know if you care to do this or if you'd rather wait for releases.

 

[Jud]

Riot Nrrrd writes:

 

Of course, ironically part of the reason I am trying out Audirvana is because I don't like running the behemoth that is iTunes

 

You know you don't need to, right? Just click the "+" sign in Audirvana's playlist window, select the Music library, and there all your iTunes tracks are, ready to be dragged-'n'-dropped, copied/pasted, command-selected and double-clicked, or whatever, to add them into Audirvana ready for playing. No need whatever to start up iTunes, much less keep it open (which is why I don't feel the need for Audirvana's interface to leave room to have iTunes running).

 

[57gold]

Can you advise on steps to take to:

 

Use "launchctl" to stop/unload the job.

 

I have zero experience using Terminal...well, except disabling Spotlight on my music dedicated 2010 Mini.

 

Looked at link you posted, but do not trust myself to figure out step by step means of fixing this.

 

Have a WaveLink and upgraded to newest iTunes...

 

 

 

[audiozorro]

and either things have settled down in my system or I am getting used to the previously reported sound quality degradation, especially since aural memory makes it often difficult to remember these changes.

 

However, what I clearly remember is seeing the CPU overload red flashing with Audirvana after upgrading to iTunes 10.2.1. This is with a 2011 MacBook Pro with 8GB RAM. IMO under no circumstances should I ever see this warning if things are working right.

 

I also distinctly remember hearing that the fan in this MacBook Pro would sometimes run, whereas before it never came on. I have either a 2006 or 2007 MacBook Pro that can run hot after a few hours. After getting a new MacBook Pro with a SSD, I was amazed at just how cool the 2011 model runs and I never ever heard the fan come on.

 

Fast forward to today and I don't believe I have seen the CPU overload warning lately and I know that the computer fan no long comes on. What I am totally unsure of is whether the sound quality degradation has disappeared or if I am just accustomed to the supposed change in sound.

 

I think this weekend I will try out the wgscott script to stop several unnecessary programs. I will also try out some other 3rd party software that streamlines or minimizes some Mac applications.

 

If things work for the best, great. If not I assume at worst I will reinstall the Mac OS and if I have other problems take a trip to the Apple Store Genius Bar.

 

 

 

[Bob Stern]

I disagree that launchctl is the ideal solution. It merely disables usbmuxd until the next restart unless you use the -w switch. The -w switch seems dangerous because it permanently sets a hidden flag in OS X.

 

I think the safest solution that does not involve trashing files is to add a Disabled key to the launchd plist file for usbmuxd.

 

To do so: (1) login to Terminal as an admin user; (2) run the following command; then (3) restart the Mac. For step (2), copy and paste the following command into a text editor, delete any line breaks so that it is all one one line, then copy and paste it into Terminal:

 

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.usbmuxd Disabled true

 

[Riot Nrrrd]

Here is the manual page on launchctl:

 

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/launchctl.1.html

 

Open Terminal, and at the command line prompt type

 

sudo launchctl

 

(You have to give your admin password to sudo.)

 

[13:07] mymacbookpro:~ % sudo launchctl

Password:

launchd% help

usage: launchctl

load Load configuration files and/or directories

unload Unload configuration files and/or directories

start Start specified job

stop Stop specified job

submit Submit a job from the command line

remove Remove specified job

bootstrap Bootstrap launchd

list List jobs and information about jobs

setenv Set an environmental variable in launchd

unsetenv Unset an environmental variable in launchd

getenv Get an environmental variable from launchd

export Export shell settings from launchd

debug Set the WaitForDebugger flag for the target job to true.

limit View and adjust launchd resource limits

stdout Redirect launchd's standard out to the given path

stderr Redirect launchd's standard error to the given path

shutdown Prepare for system shutdown

singleuser Switch to single-user mode

getrusage Get resource usage statistics from launchd

log Adjust the logging level or mask of launchd

umask Change launchd's umask

bsexec Execute a process within a different Mach bootstrap subset

bslist List Mach bootstrap services and optional servers

bstree Show the entire Mach bootstrap tree. Requires root privileges.

managerpid Print the PID of the launchd managing this Mach bootstrap.

manageruid Print the UID of the launchd managing this Mach bootstrap.

managername Print the name of this Mach bootstrap.

exit Exit the interactive invocation of launchctl

quit Quit the interactive invocation of launchctl

help This help output

 

The job you want to stop/unload is com.apple.usbmuxd. You can do that in one command via

 

sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.usbmuxd.plist

 

When you want to sync in iTunes later, just remember to reload it, i.e.

 

sudo launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.usbmuxd.plist

 

Apparently having usbmuxd-related problems isn't new - back in iTunes 8.2 days, there were problems with usbmuxd interfering with Parallels:

 

http://forum.parallels.com/showpost.php?s=bacc2487724024dc732a7edc9ee7d5ea&p=379347&postcount=56

 

 

[57gold]

Got a prompt:

 

launchd%

 

Entered unload command above in its entirety and get:

 

unknown subcommand "sudo"

 

What am I doing wrong?

 

Thanks.

 

[damien78]

New release 0.7.4 bringing:

• Default Audio buffers size now leaves 2.5GB RAM free to lessen mem swap occurences, can be still changed in user prefs
  
• Minor UI updates (Thanks to Atilla Taskiran)
  
• libSndFile update to v1.0.24 (AIFF, WAV, ... loader)
  Bug Fixes:
  
  Gapless playback
  
  • Device identification using UID and not name. Enables to have multiple devices of same type connected
     
    

 

You will need to reselect your preferred device in the user prefs (audio system pane) after installing this new release.

 

Damien

 

 

[Riot Nrrrd]

@Bob Stern: You are right about "launchctl unload" not persisting across reboots. I forgot the "-w" switch. Good eye.

 

However, have you actually tried your proposed solution? The "-w" writes the dict key out to the file /private/var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd/overrides.plist.

 

I believe this file is read after any per-specific-app file/settings are read, which means your "Disabled true" (don't you need a "-bool" in there?) setting would be overridden/ignored.

 

While it's not untrue to say "permanently sets a hidden flag in OS X", to the layman using "defaults write com.apple.usbmuxd Disabled true" is just as "hidden" in its own way. Both require that you be aware that they were set in that manner, so as to be able to remember to un-do them if you need to sync to iTunes at some point later on.

 

[Riot Nrrrd]

@57gold: "sudo" is a Terminal command for the shell.

 

Running "sudo launchctl" by itself will land you inside the launchctl shell, where you can issue the "unload" command from there.

 

You don't say "sudo" while you're inside "launchctl". You need to run it as either "sudo launchctl" and then do the "unload" from there, or just issue the one-step command from the Terminal shell prompt:

 

sudo launchctl -w unload com.apple.usbmuxd

 

 

[iamoneagain]

Gapless works! Thanks for releasing the update so quickly.

 

Jud, still would be interested in how Xcode works though.

 

Oh, and as far as adding tracks without iTunes, doesn't seem too complicated but iTunes is much easier since it's got several ways to organize everything.

 

Would like to add one request, a button to easily add selected iTunes tracks to the playlist. There was a script that did this but I can't get it to work, so I just use drop and drag for now.

 

Thanks again for gapless update!!!

 

[Bob Stern]

Thanks for pointing out my omission of "-bool"!

 

So the correct command is:

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.usbmuxd Disabled -bool true

 

I agree with your point that using "load -w" instead of re-running the defaults command with "true" changed to "false" is just as easy for a novice to restore his system.

 

I suppose the only advantage of my method is that the default system state can be restored by using, say, Time Machine, to restore the plist file to its virgin state instead of running another Terminal command. However, anyone brave enough to run the first Terminal command probably is brave enough to run the second one to undo it.

 

How did you discover "/private/var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd/overrides.plist"?

 

[Blu]

Hi Damien,

 

Where can I find a listing of changes to each new version, which I can download?

 

 

[happykev]

Anyone else notice a weird glitch when headphones are connected to a Mac?

 

If I connect my 'phones prior to launching Audirvana, I get no sound once I try to play a tune in Audirvana. If I pull the phones from the jack and re-insert, I get sound..

 

Could you please look into this, Damien?

 

Thanks-

Kevin

 

[happykev]

Anyone else notice a weird glitch when headphones are connected to a Mac?

 

If I connect my 'phones prior to launching Audirvana, I get no sound once I try to play a tune in Audirvana. If I pull the phones from the jack and re-insert, I get sound..

 

Could you please look into this, Damien?

 

Thanks-

Kevin

 

[stewart57]

Hi Damien

I can't get audirvana to play through my usb DAC, only through internal speakers. ITunes plays through DAC OK. (Using Mac OSX 10.6.6)

Thanks

 

Stewart

 

[4est]

Kevin-The headphones needing to be unplugged probably is not Audirvana as much as Audio/midi getting fouled up when combined with exclusive access. You might ought to experiment, as the headphones seem to want to grab control on mine (optical for me, same port).

 

Stewart- The release notes said we would have to re select our devices. Although mine on the correct one, I was missing some of my sample rates. By re selecting it they came back. Just a WAG.

 

[57gold]

From terminal open, what is the line to input to fix so that it is permanent/does not need to be reentered each reboot?

 

Then, what is the command to restore to allow Mini to recognize an iPod...?

 

I am running a late 2010 Mini, headless, keyboardless...with an Ipad screen sharing for music only, so having a key to hold down on reboot is not workable.

 

Thanks.

 

Use a WaveLink and PM, Decibel and recently downloaded Audirvana.

 

I guess my other alternative is to delete current iTunes and reload version from system disc? Never done something like this and not sure how.

 

Saw Gordon drop into this thread...wonder what he thinks is best approach?

 

[Bob Stern]

To summarize, there are two methods to disable, and later re-enable, usbmuxd in Terminal:

 

(1) Riot Nrrrd's method (restart unnecessary):

 

Disable:

sudo launchctl unload -w com.apple.usbmuxd

 

Enable:

sudo launchctl load -w com.apple.usbmuxd

 

 

(2) My method (requires a restart afterward):

 

Disable:

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.usbmuxd Disabled -bool true

 

Enable:

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.usbmuxd Disabled -bool false

 

[Jud]

iamoneagain writes:

 

Jud, still would be interested in how Xcode works though.

 

The advice isn't out of date, because Damien has issued another update to Audirvana's code since the latest release (7.4). You can track updates between releases at http://code.google.com/p/audirvana/source/list .

 

What follows is a step-by-step procedure for building and installing Audirvana from Damien's code, which means you can be running the latest version without waiting for the official release. This is nice if you're the impatient sort (not us, right?, or if there happens to be an update between releases that's especially useful for you.

 

The procedure looks lengthy, but don't be intimidated. I wanted to try to be sure not to assume any knowledge on the reader's part or leave anything out.

 

The following assumes you have XCode 4 downloaded + installed ($5 from Mac App Store).

 

- Open Terminal (if it's not in the Dock or somewhere else close at hand, find it with Spotlight).

 

- From http://code.google.com/p/audirvana/source/checkout copy the line that begins "svn checkout..." and paste it into Terminal. Hit Return. Wait for the Audirvana code to finish downloading.

 

- Close Terminal

 

- Open Finder window. If you aren't already there, go to your home directory (in left sidebar of Finder window, click little home icon that shows your user name after it).

 

- Open audirvana-read-only folder

 

- Double-click Audirvana.xcodeproj file. This should cause XCode to open and load the Audirvana "project."

 

- In XCode window at top of left sidebar, single-click small Audirvana XCode project icon.

 

- Now at the top left of XCode window, to right of Run and Stop buttons, there should be a dropdown showing Distribution | My Mac 64-bit (assuming you’re on a 64-bit machine)

 

- In the dropdown, do 2 things:

 

-- If My Mac 64-bit isn’t selected, do so.

-- Click Edit Scheme...

 

- A dialog will appear w/ several dropdowns on the right side. Set Build Configuration to Release and Executable to Audirvana.app. Click OK at bottom right of dialog.

 

- At upper left of XCode window, click Run button.

 

- If Audirvana build completes successfully Audirvana will start running automatically.

 

-- From there you can put it in the Dock or whatever else you want to do for future quick access.

 

-- Or what I like to do is exit XCode (this will stop Audirvana - that’s fine) and (1) copy Audirvana.app from [home directory]/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Audirvana-[alpha gobbledygook]/Build/Products/Release; (2) paste it into the Applications directory (in Finder on the left sidebar Applications is just below the home directory); then (3) run it and/or put it in the Dock, or create whatever other shortcuts you like.

 

Please let me know if any of the above is unclear, not correct for all Macs, etc.

 

[57gold]

Opened terminal;

 

Input command (return);

 

Entered password (return);

 

Got this line in reply:

 

launchctl: Couldn't stat("com.apple.usbmuxd'): no such file or directory nothing found to unload

 

 

 

[Riot Nrrrd]

@57gold:

 

Try (in the shell) this:

cd /System/Library/LaunchDaemons

sudo launchctl stop com.apple.usbmuxd

sudo launchctl unload -w com.apple.usbmuxd.plist

 

To restore later (for iPod sync):

cd /System/Library/LaunchDaemons

sudo launchctl load -w com.apple.usbmuxd.plist

sudo launchctl start com.apple.usbmuxd

 

 

[57gold]

So what is/how do I get "in shell?"

 

 

Sorry for being a knucklehead...but, since my son graduated from college and moved 300 miles away, I have lost my IT department/consultant.

 

[Riot Nrrrd]

Those are UNIX® shell commands, you type them into the shell that runs when you fire up Terminal.app, from the command line prompt that it gives you.

 

 

[avuroski]

Very impressed.

 

People were mentioning this on head-fi, and dismissed it because I already have Amarra full 2.1 and Pure Music, as well as AyreWare, Decibel, Pure, Play, and several others. But couldn't help myself - d/l and was incredibly impressed. After several A/Bs, I'm almost convinced it's my new favorite player. The lack of EQ in Amarra is more than compensated by its lack of lag time and tighter bass. The playlist is still a PIA - takes a bit to load and then doesn't sort by column, so that's annoying. I still would like iTunes integration, like Amarra or Pure, but I'll be keeping my eyes (and ears) on this...