Reaper (Linux) on FreeBSD

audioeric

audioeric

Reaper (Linux) v7.34 tested on FreeBSD Release 14.2-p1 installation with the XFCE 4.20 desktop environment.

This guide assumes:
-a suitable OS configuration for desktop/laptop use is already done
-user membership in the groups: wheel, operator, realtime, video
-Linux Binary Compatibility is enabled in /boot/loader.conf and /etc/rc.conf
-proc mounting is configured correctly in /etc/fstab

Minimum required packages for Reaper to execute successfully:

Rocky Linux 9 Base
emulators/linux_base-rl9

Shared Library for: libasound.so.2
audio/linux-rl9-alsa-lib

Shared Library for: libX11.so.6
x11/linux-rl9-xorg-libs

Shared Library for: libGL.so.1
graphics/linux-rl9-libglvnd

GTK Compatibility for: gdk_init_check
x11-toolkits/linux-rl9-gtk2
x11-toolkits/linux-rl9-gtk3

These are enough to get Reaper running, but deeper testing is needed.
 
Last edited:
Recommended Configuration Settings:

Allow unlimited RAM memory-locking in /etc/login.conf
Code: 
:memorylocked=unlimited:\

Allow realtime priority in /etc/rc.conf
Code: 
kld_list="mac_priority"
 
Audio Devices:

Please note this installation will default to the 'dummy audio' or 'audio device closed' settings. Reaper supports JACK, ALSA, and PulseAudio as audio devices.

JACK: shows up as [not installed on system] in Reaper's preferences. Reaper is not able to recognize FreeBSD's version of JACK when it is running, at least not with default settings. JACK is (probably) the preferred audio method when running any DAW on FreeBSD, especially considering the work going into the OSS backend currently. I am going to ask the Reaper Linux community if there is more information on how exactly Reaper searches for and connects to a JACK installation.

ALSA: I have audio playback and record working successfully with the onboard internal soundcard of my laptop. I haven't tried a USB audio interface device yet but that will be coming up soon.

Install the OSS plugin for ALSA port:
audio/linux-rl9-alsa-plugins-oss
Click to expand...

Set the ALSA input and output devices to "default" by typing it in the boxes (see pic) I also set RT Priority to 99 (maximum) and checked the Disable power management box...these seem like the best settings at the time of this writing, but may change as more is learned. You can improve performance by fiddling with the blocksize and periods settings (see Reaper Handbook).

Screenshot_2025-03-17_23-03-34.png


ALSA is currently the preferred / recommended method of running Reaper on Linux, and while we are lucky to have a great ALSA-to-OSS plugin to compensate, its JACK that we should focus on imo.

PulseAudio: It may be possible to pipe audio from the PulseAudio setting, I have not tried this yet but I am planning on experimenting with this method eventually. Not an ideal long-term solution.
 
Last edited:
my hero!

Found my weekend project, I have a registered licence (I am Canadian, that's how we spell it).

Question;: How did you install Reaper? I never used the Linux layer with FreeBSD, complete noob with it

I can help test running it. Thanks kindly
 
slightly off topic but Michael J. Fox was in class of 1984
but he was called Michael Fox

just some pointless movie trivia

most people dont know he's Canadian

Same thing with William Shatner
( i used to watch TJ Hooker )
 
How did you install Reaper? I never used the Linux layer with FreeBSD, complete noob with it
Click to expand...
The Linux stuff should just werk after installing the packages in my first post as long as you have proc mounted and Linux enabled in your /etc/rc.conf and /boot/loader.conf as per FreeBSD handbook. The Linux directory and daemons only get used as pointers and don't really affect performance due to the brilliant design. The main issue currently is that ALSA is the default, which isn't ideal for FreeBSD users, hence I'm going to look into getting the JACK option working. Reaper is very modular and it will install the single necessary folder wherever you choose to extract the tarball. It also looks for /home/user/Documents to install the generic REAPER Media folder where new project sessions will default to, the same as it does on all other OSes. Let me know if you have any issues!
 
ardour works really well with the linux studio plugins

NapoleonWils0n

Thread 'Record your mic with Ardour and linux studio plugins and output the audio into OBS Studio using Jack'

Record your mic on Freebsd with Ardour apply Linux Studio Plugins and output the audio into OBS Studio using Jack
instead of using the OBS Studio audio plugins


obs studio and ardour presentation

GitHub - NapoleonWils0n/obs-studio-ardour: Obs Studio record your mic with Ardour and linux studio plugins

Obs Studio record your mic with Ardour and linux studio plugins - NapoleonWils0n/obs-studio-ardour
github.com

OBS Studio has audio filters you can apply to your mic but they dont have any visual feedback by showing the audio waveform

You can also use VST 2 audio filters with OBS Studio but on my system the VST 2 option doesnt show up under filters

So we can use Ardour and Linux Studio Plugins to add noise removal,
a noise...
  • Like
  • Thanks
 
Roman Schmidt said:
REAPER works perfectly with Jack, and can also route to Jack on FreeBSD if needed, see my previous link above. 🎶
Click to expand...
Awesome I'm going to follow your steps when I get a chance, hopefully over the weekend. I didn't think to experiment with virtual_OSS at all, and actually had it turned off even. This is why collaboration is so great!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top