Can't get it working

Technical Support
1

Hi, I have been investigating this application closely. I just can’t get it working. There’s very little information about which versions of Linux are accepted and which are too new and conflict with binaries.

I’m using Nobara 42 (based on Fedora 42) on a Lenovo Legion Pro 7 16IRX8H with Intel HDA ALC287 soundcard.
Intel I9, laptop rtx 4090…

As of now, I have tried and failed in the following methods:

-Flatpack: Can’t install plugins/no midi output. No Alsa support. No support at all for accessing supposed flatpack plugins. Dead-end. Note; I had a similar issue with the reaper app image.
-Official v1 free trial: Conflicts with modern lib.so files. Won’t run, and if newer versions are forced, it forces jack, but won’t allow jack to work. I try to change the setting from Jack to Alsa and rest and the software does not recall my setting.

I noticed someone else with the same issue I had: Install failure on Fedora - #5 by alex

alekseik@fedora:/opt/zrythm-trial-1.0.0/bin$ ./zrythm_launch dirname: missing operand Use the command dirname --helpfor more information. /opt/zrythm-trial-1.0.0/bin/zrythm: /opt/zrythm-trial-1.0.0/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng16.so.16: no version information available (required by /lib64/libfreetype.so.6) /opt/zrythm-trial-1.0.0/bin/zrythm: /opt/zrythm-trial-1.0.0/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6: versionCXXABI_1.3.15’ not found (required by /lib64/libjack.so.0)`

This was what I was referring to about the v1 trial install. As far as I am aware those two files are conflicting with newer lib files that are found in versions older than 40. What I tried; Forcing Zrythm to use them. Results: Zrythm will open but Jack will fail, and I can’t switch for jack to Alsa. The option is there but the change is not persistent on restart.

-Source build of v1: Refuses to run.
-Source build of latest: Runs, but breaks on attempting to start a project. Missing a lot of UI.

I have spent weeks trying to get your software to run on a modern redhat distro (Nobara 42). Not even a single minute or second even a day evaluating this thing. I don’t know who has the time or patience for this.

I’m no fool, Nobara is a decent distro. I have got the following running in the past:
Photoshop, Illustrator, Unity, Affinity photo, Affinity designer even the notoriously difficult to install for linux nvidia users; Davinci resolve.

I think the demand on the user to figure this out are pretty high on this one.

Now the price of this thing isn’t much, but considering I can’t know for sure if the newer versions are going to work any better then every other version, how can I know I’m not wasting money.

I don’t mind evaluating the latest version but I’m not really happy to throw money at something without any clue as to whether I can even test it properly.

Am I missing something? Ardour’s Midi just plays without issue, Jack mode and all.

If you can get it working for me, I’m happy to spend money.

I love the concept of making looping and instancing of tracks easier

-S

2

Sorry you’re having trouble running Zrythm. v2 aims to address all the issues you’ve mentioned.

Resolving this is probably your best option at the moment as v1 development is finished and v2 is still a work in progress. What error are you getting?

1 Like
3

Alex, thanks for answering.

Actually since you prompted me on that point, I decided to try building again.

I think maybe I forgot carla, so I tried to get that and couldn’t find what I needed for fedora 42, so I built carla and now it opens. Very quickly I might add.. That’s very exciting!

Here’s the errors that greets me when I open it:
‘JACK Error: Overall Operation Error.’

Another similar error tells me:

‘Backend Initialization Failed
Failed to initialize the JACK audio backend. Will use the dummy backend instead. Please check your backend settings in the Preferences.’

When I go to check the devices settings, I only have Jack available as an option. No alternative option for Alsa etc.

My understanding here is perhaps I might need to set up something related to jack that goes beyond what comes with Nobara 42?

Does Nobara have the wrong version of Jack or something?

If I run: ‘ZRYTHM_BACKEND=alsa zrythm’

Then It runs with no error, I notice that ‘jack’ is active and no errors when I try that…
Next I tried creating a midi track, nothing sounds when I hit the rolloutkeyboard, and nothing sounds on playblack when playing back midi. Fader shows activity but no sound is audible.

HOWEVER: sound files play fine… Meaning that the midi portion of the sound device is not working for what ever reason… right?

Here's my build script: 
cat > ~/build_zrythm_v1_with_carla.sh << 'EOF'
#!/usr/bin/env bash

set -euo pipefail
IFS=$'\n\t'
export PS4='+ ${BASH_SOURCE##*/}:${LINENO}: '

BUILD_ROOT="$HOME/zrythm-v1.0.0"
SRC_DIR="$BUILD_ROOT/src"
CARLA_DIR="$SRC_DIR/Carla"
ZRYTHM_TAR="zrythm-1.0.0.tar.xz"
ZRYTHM_DIR="$SRC_DIR/zrythm-1.0.0"
LOG_DIR="$BUILD_ROOT/logs"
TIMESTAMP="$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)"
LOG_FILE="$LOG_DIR/build_$TIMESTAMP.log"

mkdir -p "$SRC_DIR" "$LOG_DIR"
exec > >(tee -a "$LOG_FILE") 2>&1
set -x
trap 'code=$?; echo "ERROR at line $LINENO: [$BASH_COMMAND] (exit $code)" >&2; exit $code' ERR

echo "================================================================="
echo "Build Started: $(date)"
echo "Log file: $LOG_FILE"
echo "================================================================="

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 1. Install Dependencies
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sudo dnf install -y \
  git gcc gcc-c++ meson ninja-build cmake make \
  gtk4-devel libadwaita-devel libpanel-devel \
  fftw-devel libsndfile-devel soxr-devel \
  boost-devel pcre2-devel lv2-devel lilv-devel \
  rubberband-devel json-glib-devel \
  gtksourceview5-devel rtaudio-devel rtmidi-devel \
  libcyaml-devel pango-devel graphviz-devel \
  libzstd-devel pkgconf-pkg-config \
  pipewire-jack-audio-connection-kit

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 2. Clone & Build Carla (v2.5.x from main)
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cd "$SRC_DIR"
rm -rf "$CARLA_DIR"
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/falkTX/Carla.git "$CARLA_DIR"
cd "$CARLA_DIR"

make features
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install

# Ensure Carla plugin info is available via pkg-config
if [ -f ./source/backend/plugin/Makefile ]; then
  cd source/backend/plugin
  make -j$(nproc)
  sudo make install
fi

# Confirm pkg-config path
PKG_PATH="/usr/local/lib64/pkgconfig"
if [ ! -f "$PKG_PATH/carla-host-plugin.pc" ]; then
  echo "carla-host-plugin.pc not found, copying manually..."
  sudo mkdir -p "$PKG_PATH"
  sudo cp "$CARLA_DIR"/build/modules/carla-host-plugin.pc "$PKG_PATH" || true
fi

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 3. Download & Extract Zrythm 1.0.0
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cd "$SRC_DIR"
if [ ! -f "$ZRYTHM_TAR" ]; then
  curl -LO "https://www.zrythm.org/releases/$ZRYTHM_TAR"
fi
tar -xf "$ZRYTHM_TAR"

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 4. Build Zrythm with Carla Plugin Support
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cd "$ZRYTHM_DIR"
rm -rf build
PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/usr/local/lib64/pkgconfig:$PKG_CONFIG_PATH" \
meson setup build --prefix=/usr/local
cd build
ninja -j$(nproc)
sudo ninja install

#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 5. Set ALSA as Default Audio Backend (to avoid JACK errors)
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
mkdir -p ~/.config/zrythm/
echo '[audio]\nbackend=alsa' > ~/.config/zrythm/zrythm.conf

echo "================================================================="
echo "Zrythm 1.0.0 with Carla built and installed successfully."
echo "Run it with: zrythm"
echo "Default audio backend set to ALSA to avoid JACK issues."
echo "================================================================="
EOF

chmod +x ~/build_zrythm_v1_with_carla.sh
~/build_zrythm_v1_with_carla.sh

Checking the bottom left corner of the screen, I notice jack is active with this adjustment, but says:

Audio: JACK (pw) | MIDI: JACK MIDI (pw) | Status: On

Am I right in thinking this is using pipewire and not accessing the midi correctly through that setup?

Please advise.

-S

4

OK I stand corrected!

I just did not understand how your system worked. I tried to create a midi track and add melodies to it thinking there default instrument would be loaded. No sound and and I wasn’t sure why because I saw action in the levels. But i guess an instrument wasn’t loaded by default?

I can see that I just needed to pull an instrumental over to the timeline to create midi track and that instrument would work with it. That created a new track but ay, that’ll do.

I should probably look into getting Jack to work properly… but this is a massive win for me.

The next biggest issue for me to get my head around is why I’m not getting and recording input.

If I can just get that working then I think Zrythm might be what I place my humble earnings behind :slight_smile:

So:

ZRYTHM_BACKEND=alsa zrythm

Does seem to work for me.

I’m going to see if I can recreate the Deus Ex Unatco theme.
I can see that midi IS actually working, and I just didn’t know about loading instruments. :wink:

EDIT:

Ohhh, yeah when I went to open carla for the first time in my life I immediately figured out that Zrythm had not automatically connected my inputs. That might be a nice thing to fix to get the newer users onboard… But yeah wow! I’m liking this so far.

I will dive deeper and build a track… if I like this I will need to support it.
THANKYOU FOR DOING WHAT ARDOUR WOULD NOT. Loops… instancing… YES.
I can work less.. Ardour than before. I can’t be the first person who’s said that.

Required some alsa pipewire stuff when running and a manual fix in Carla but now it works.

-S

5

Glad that it works now.

Can you please explain what you did, in case someone else bumps into the same problems?

6

To summarise on the fixes:

  1. Built Carla from source
    The version available in Fedora 42 didn’t meet Zrythm’s needs, so I compiled Carla manually to ensure plugin hosting and routing worked properly.
  2. Used ALSA backend explicitly
    JACK kept failing with a Backend Initialization Failed error. Instead, I launched Zrythm with:
ZRYTHM_BACKEND=alsa zrythm

This skipped JACK and avoided the dummy backend fallback.
3. Manually added an instrument
I assumed a default synth would be preloaded when creating a MIDI track. It wasn’t. Once I dragged a synth instrument into the track, MIDI playback started working.
4. Fixed missing audio routing via Carla
Even after ALSA worked and synths were loaded, input routing was missing. I opened Carla, manually connected the audio inputs and outputs, and saved the setup.

For exact specifics of my build configurations, see the ‘Here’s my build script:’ section of 2nd post up from here.

-S

1 Like
7

I suppose you got it working by then, but as I’m on fedora too, managed to compile it, and got it working, I see a few things you said that troubles me… I did not have to tinker with jack whatsoever (nor ALSA for that matter), indeed fedora is shipped with pipewire, so once zrythm is built, launching it it pw-jack zrythm works perfectly (you should modify also the /usr/local/share/applications/org.zrythm.Zrythm.desktop file, line starting with “Exec=” to launch the app via pw-jack)

But if you aim to use specific functionality of jack and play with connecting various inputs and outputs together… I must say I have no idea about that, I’m not familiar with jack, at all.

cheers

8

Hey @Nlight11001 — appreciate you chiming in.

Yeah, I eventually got it working, but had to approach it differently from the pw-jack route you mentioned.

In my case, pw-jack zrythm didn’t work reliably — JACK would fail to initialize (even though PipeWire’s JACK bridge was active), and Zrythm would fall back to the dummy backend. After a lot of frustration, I narrowed it down to a combination of library mismatches and routing gaps on Nobara 42 (which ships with PipeWire, but not always with JACK setup fully end-to-end).

What did work was launching with:

ZRYTHM_BACKEND=alsa zrythm

That forced ALSA and bypassed the JACK/PW bridge entirely, which gave me stable output and working MIDI.

Separately:

  • I built Carla manually (the repo version was missing a few critical pieces I needed).
  • I had to manually patch the inputs/outputs in Carla to get Zrythm’s tracks to actually send and receive signal properly.

So yeah — technically Zrythm works fine under PipeWire, but only if the system’s JACK bridge is bulletproof, and it would appear that mine wasn’t at the time.

I’ve stuck with ALSA mode for now, since it’s dead simple and avoids all the JACK dance.
But it sounds like I should keep in mind what you’re saying and try harder to get jack set up and working properly next time I attempt this.

Thanks again for the input — it’s cool to hear pw-jack worked for you out of the box. Although it’s also good that there is SOME kind of alternative action that people can take if Jack, jacks off.

– Simon

9

Any luck with v2 ?