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Other ways of running LMMS on a Mac

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 1:16 pm
by dave2002-lmms
Has anyone tried any of the virtual methods of running LMMS, such as using the Xtra-PC usb or Virtual Box with a LInux disk image installed? Do they work, or are such methods completely impossible, or do they have severe performance limitations?

There wouldn't really be any point if the MacOS versions of LMMS were well supported, but from reading here I get the feeling that the Linux versions are generaly more up to date, and can do things such as running VSTs which the MacOS versions may not be able to do currently.

Re: Other ways of running LMMS on a Mac

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 6:53 pm
by Mr. Lumbergh
dave2002-lmms wrote:
Tue Jul 28, 2020 1:16 pm
Has anyone tried any of the virtual methods of running LMMS, such as using the Xtra-PC usb or Virtual Box with a LInux disk image installed? Do they work, or are such methods completely impossible, or do they have severe performance limitations?

There wouldn't really be any point if the MacOS versions of LMMS were well supported, but from reading here I get the feeling that the Linux versions are generaly more up to date, and can do things such as running VSTs which the MacOS versions may not be able to do currently.
According to the official download page https://lmms.io/download#mac, there is a version specific to 10.14 and higher that corrects some of the issues that Mojave introduced, and it looks like it also supports Catalina. The official package is 1.2.2 released only a month ago, so AFIAK it's even more up-to-date than the 'Nix package.

As for VST's, they're native Windoze .dll's, so they don't run natively in Linux either; you need to install a package called WINE that translates the Win system calls into the equivalent Linux system calls. Unfortunately, you can't install the WINE package for Mac past Mojave because of the lack of 32-bit support. With this and the other issues you're having I can't help but think it's best to roll back to Mojave...

Another thing you could do is set up a dual-boot arrangement in Boot Camp and install something like KXStudio in parallel with OSX. Virtualization causes problems in a lot of cases with connected accessories such as MIDI controllers or audio interfaces because it can be tricky to assign which ports the VM needs to use for them and which the native OS needs to keep control of, VM sound drivers, etc. though TBH I've never tried running more sound-intensive than a Youtube video in a VM because you also have a performance penalty.

Re: Other ways of running LMMS on a Mac

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 8:51 pm
by Gps
One of the VST problems with MAC os is that as far as I understand it, there is no simple way to install wine.

Linux uses wine for VST.

WINE ( Which stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator ) :P Fools programs into "thinking" they run on windows.

You could try a virtual machine, install Linux, but you will also have to install wine.

I am not optimistic this will work 100% right, but it might be worth a try.

In theory it should work.

Re: Other ways of running LMMS on a Mac

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 9:19 pm
by dave2002-lmms
Alternatively, if VSTs are not going to work on Macs, would it be possible to make AUs which work. Quite a number of decent VIs are available in multiple formats. For example, some of the really good ones from Spitfire and Versilian, so is that something which can be done now, or could relatively easily be done in the future?

Re: Other ways of running LMMS on a Mac

Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 11:43 pm
by Mr. Lumbergh
dave2002-lmms wrote:
Tue Jul 28, 2020 9:19 pm
Alternatively, if VSTs are not going to work on Macs, would it be possible to make AUs which work. Quite a number of decent VIs are available in multiple formats. For example, some of the really good ones from Spitfire and Versilian, so is that something which can be done now, or could relatively easily be done in the future?
The nice thing about the Mac is that there's a lot more development going for it on the commercial and free side both. Most of the VST's that I run on a regular basis also have an AU version available, especially the commercial ones. Are there any particular VST's that you can't find in AU format?
There are wrappers for VST's that allow them to plug in and present themselves as an AU; that's essentially what VeSTige and Carla do on a Linux install. I did a quick search and came up with this, but at a glance it does look a bit outdated: https://www.fxpansion.com/products/vst-au-adapter/.

Re: Other ways of running LMMS on a Mac

Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 9:42 am
by dalebreton
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