Reason VST3 and Linux

[mcatalao]

"after a good few hours of tinkering i still havnt been able to get it working. "

This sentence right here says to me that Linux is in exactly the same place it's always been as a consumer desktop os.

Well... You're trying to run an app that wasn't built for linux in linux. So... no.

This is something that doesn't happen in apps that were built for it.

[Jackjackdaw]

Okay, but I've never felt the need to spend hours tinkering with with Windows trying to run a Mac OS app. Hasn't even crossed my mind. Linux users are always banging on about Wine and messing around with the console to try and get stuff working, same old same old.

[aeox]

I still dual boot ubuntu studio and go mess aroundd in the bitwig demo from time to time Slowly building my plugins. I've always wanted to use a linux distro as my main OS but I like Reason too much. Or else, I'd be using bitwig probably.

[zebbleganubi]

"after a good few hours of tinkering i still havnt been able to get it working. "

This sentence right here says to me that Linux is in exactly the same place it's always been as a consumer desktop os.

the thing that took so long was trying to build airwave from the source instead of using the .deb package, so its nothing to do with linux in the case. i could still be doing the same thing with some windows program thats hosted on github where the documentation hasnt be maintained in years

[EdwardKiy]

So, nobody here affiliated with Reason Studios or just a tech-savvy person to tell us an approximate cost of software portation to linux? Is it thousands, tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars?

[EdwardKiy]

Okay, but I've never felt the need to spend hours tinkering with with Windows trying to run a Mac OS app. Hasn't even crossed my mind. Linux users are always banging on about Wine and messing around with the console to try and get stuff working, same old same old.

wow, if only all those "linux people" were as clever. I used windows for 20 years and now I only dual-boot it with disgust for Reason. Must be dementia.

[Jackjackdaw]

You know those quote marks are supposed to be used when quoting what someone actually said or wrote right?

[PeterP]

So, nobody here affiliated with Reason Studios or just a tech-savvy person to tell us an approximate cost of software portation to linux? Is it thousands, tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars?

I guess it's easily in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Maybe 6-12 months salary for an engineer to do the actual work and then ongoing costs for the support department, both training and the increased support burden. Also the online store changes that would be needed. And I'm not sure how well CodeMeter works on Linux.

If there's ever an "official" Linux version then I expect it to be a web version of Reason that runs in any browser on any OS.

[EdwardKiy]

You know those quote marks are supposed to be used when quoting what someone actually said or wrote right?

We were talking about Linux' viability as an OS for Reason, but since you mentioned it, there are plenty of uses for quotation marks, including an implication of meaning. You're welcome.

[EdwardKiy]

If there's ever an "official" Linux version then I expect it to be a web version of Reason that runs in any browser on any OS.

Well, that's an idea.

[Jackjackdaw]

Get out of my grill Edward.

[zebbleganubi]

sat down this evening to have another go at this but no luck in the end.

installed carla and all of the carla wine bridge stuff (apt-cache search carla).
in bitwig i added the "carla rack" device and then inside that carla gui/window i added the reason rack plugin.
when i go to open the reason rack gui theres a message about failing to load custom fonts, then another message that "Reason.rpcp" is missing. when i dismiss that dialog the reason rack gui window opens but its completely black.

i tried out another random windows vst called "kx synth x16". the gui for that is all messed up but the sound works so at least i know the carla bridge is mostly working.

so yea thats that anyway. ill have another go at some point in the future when i know a bit more about wine or if a new major version is released but its probably something that needs to be fixed on reasons end.

i tried running reason in virtualbox last week and i can see it being ok enough for some things. there was way too much lag when using a midi controller as you would expect, so ill have to set up a dual boot system at some point if i want to do performance related stuff or work with large projects.

[aeox]

just messing around with this a bit more. i installed the windows version of bitwig in wine and i was able to open europa, see the dialog window and choose demo. it works ok but you dont get the the multitouch option with the bitwig on-screen keyboard like in the linux version.

then i remember that wine 5.0 was released a few days ago so i upgraded and was able to get europa working with the linux version of bitwig! all of the parameters are showing up in bitwig too. the ui is a bit on the small and the zoom buttons in europa dont work properly but beggars cant be choosers i suppose

now the only thing i need to figure out is the audio. im using pulse-whatever-the-name-is because i couldnt get jack working and the audio is crackling a lot. if i could get that sorted i might upgrade to reason 11 at some point so i can get all the rack gear in bitwig... presuming the rack plugin will work the same as europa

BUT I've made my mind up, I'm still going to get a linux machine in the intermediate.

i switched about 5 months ago now and havnt looked back. the thing that was doing my head in was microsoft taking control over my computer with updates so i run windows in virtualbox now and its much better keeping it at arms length.
when i shut down the windows vm i choose the suspend option and then in only takes about 5 seconds to open up the next time. you could do the same with osx if you are getting machine that is beefy enough to run both. it definitely helps if you want to get into linux to use it as your main computer. i tried for a few years with linux on a second laptop, but after a few days i would run into trouble i would go back to windows and just end up forgetting about linux until the next annoying automatic update.

Simple trick to completely shutdown any attempt to start Windows Update.

Go to services.msc

Stop windows update service

Right click Windows Update, go to "Log On" tab and do this

type "guest" and any password


Hit apply and say goodbye to updates.


I know you are really into Linux( so am I) but just wanted to share anyway.

[zebbleganubi]

i spoke too soon. i just remembered i made a copy of the vst3 file to another location on its own and carla was trying to open up that and not the correct one.

so the reason gui opens up now... but the notes dont seem to be passing through to it. sigh, so close. im all out of ideas though

Screenshot from 2020-02-24 23-48-07.png (687.59 KiB) Viewed 21476 times

Simple trick to completely shutdown any attempt to start Windows Update.

nice one thanks. i didnt know it was that easy. i remember looking before at some tutorial of how to do it but it looked very involved so i didnt bother.

[aeox]

i spoke too soon. i just remembered i made a copy of the vst3 file to another location on its own and carla was trying to open up that and not the correct one.

so the reason gui opens up now... but the notes dont seem to be passing through to it. sigh, so close. im all out of ideas though

Screenshot from 2020-02-24 23-48-07.png

Simple trick to completely shutdown any attempt to start Windows Update.

nice one thanks. i didnt know it was that easy. i remember looking before at some tutorial of how to do it but it looked very involved so i didnt bother.

It's a very unknown workaround, can't remember where I found it but it took a while.

[thejustinwalsh]

i spoke too soon. i just remembered i made a copy of the vst3 file to another location on its own and carla was trying to open up that and not the correct one.

so the reason gui opens up now... but the notes dont seem to be passing through to it. sigh, so close. im all out of ideas though

Screenshot from 2020-02-24 23-48-07.png

Simple trick to completely shutdown any attempt to start Windows Update.

nice one thanks. i didnt know it was that easy. i remember looking before at some tutorial of how to do it but it looked very involved so i didnt bother.

You are having better luck than I am with Carla and Reason Rack. I'm on Ubuntu 20.04 w/ Carla 2.1 and when scanning for plugins the carla bridge crashes on reason rack. Curious what your setup is. Since I've added reason I also lost all my other plugins in Carla, guessing because it crashes the bridge.

As for your audio routing, can you use carla patchbay and route it that way?

[avasopht]

How much money will it cost to port Reason to Linux?

Bear in mind: Bitwig, Reaper, Ardour ...

I've done and seen quick and seamless ports. Given Reason is cross-platform (assuming some standardization of menu-systems and dialogs), I'll put it at around £4,000-£8,000 tops for a fully functional port with a few screens that spill over due to differently sized widgets. Maybe double it for a full course of testing, and add another pessimistic £2,000-£4,000 if they've not used cross-platform libraries for networking, fonts, etc.

However ... ... ... Codemeter.

Also, that's time not spent developing Reason ...

[zebbleganubi]

You are having better luck than I am with Carla and Reason Rack. I'm on Ubuntu 20.04 w/ Carla 2.1 and when scanning for plugins the carla bridge crashes on reason rack. Curious what your setup is. Since I've added reason I also lost all my other plugins in Carla, guessing because it crashes the bridge.

i wiped the computer i was testing that on just a few days ago so im not sure of the version numbers that i was using. i installed all the "apt-cache search carla" stuff i could find, the distro was zorin os, probably 18 or 19, and wine 5.0

As for your audio routing, can you use carla patchbay and route it that way?

i saw it but i didnt have a clue what it was! im gonna have to go do more testing i suppose, brb

[zebbleganubi]

I'm on Ubuntu 20.04 w/ Carla 2.1 and when scanning for plugins the carla bridge crashes on reason rack

im on pretty much the same setup now (pop 20.04) and when i scan for plugins im getting a message i wasnt getting before and the reason rack plugin isnt showing up now

[jjrh]

so the reason gui opens up now... but the notes dont seem to be passing through to it. sigh, so close. im all out of ideas though

Yeah - this is exactly where I got. Audio doesn't pass through either. It's a shame this doesn't even work in a round about way.

[zebbleganubi]

so the reason gui opens up now... but the notes dont seem to be passing through to it. sigh, so close. im all out of ideas though

Yeah - this is exactly where I got. Audio doesn't pass through either. It's a shame this doesn't even work in a round about way.

what version of linux/wine/carla are you running?
thejustinwalsh mentioned about maybe routing the audio to using the carla patchbay

[jjrh]

Yeah - this is exactly where I got. Audio doesn't pass through either. It's a shame this doesn't even work in a round about way.

what version of linux/wine/carla are you running?
thejustinwalsh mentioned about maybe routing the audio to using the carla patchbay

Wine 5.7 and the latest Carla.
I played around for a bit trying to get Carla to route the audio in with no luck.

Reason 11 does appear to work somewhat in Wine which is nice but probably will never be a real viable alternative.

For folks trying to run Reason in Wine, if you don't see text for buttons and what not do:

Code: Select all

 winetricks corefonts

I am having a problem where I can't click the menu bar but I would guess that's a easy fix and I just need to toggle the right setting.

[EdwardKiy]

That's further than I ever got. Keeping an eye on this thread. Do tell if you crack this, guys.

[zebbleganubi]

Code: Select all

 winetricks corefonts

nice one! thats showing up a few more text elements. still a few missing

if you want to access the menu bar at the top then press the alt key then press the down key separately and use left and right to go to the other menus.

im actually finding it fairly useable for noodling around with the players + some synths (midi input was lagging to much to use a controller) but its a real shame that it crashes if you have more than 5 rack extensions. i would probably be able to use it for a lot more if that didnt happen so its just annoying that its so close to being usable for me. you could move RE's in and out of the folder as you need them but then you would have to remember which ones you were using with each song.

[jam-s]

if you want to access the menu bar at the top then press the alt key then press the down key separately and use left and right to go to the other menus.

That has been the trick since ever when running Reason (also the old versions before Reason 6) in wine. I suppose they use some rather obscure method to draw the menu bar and this has not been implemented 100% in wine.