Topic: [HowTo:] Setting up FF400/FF800 on Linux
Up front, I must admit that I am no Linux guru whatsoever! I switched to LinuxMint for office/programming/everyday use about a year ago and didn't miss Windows for a millisecond there - almost everything I need seems to work very well out of the box...
For pro-audio-use I am still booting into Windows, because I have all my old projects there and because I am more used to everything and therefore quicker there. Eg. I love DigiCheck for extensive live recordings etc. - I cannot really live without it anymore...
But for simpler applications I don't want to reboot all the time. If I only need "basic" access to the great inputs and outputs of my beloved Fireface800, I stay all in Linux now - and when you know how, it is quite simple, so this is how to set it up:
In LinuxMint (one of the most used Linux distributions today) all needed packages are ready to install right away. These are:
libffado2, ffado-tools, ffado-mixer-qt4
jackd, jackd2, jackd2-firewire
The FFADO packages are more or less the driver for the Firefaces, JACK is the audio environment in Linux...
A) Install those through the SoftwareManager, or manually in terminal with this one command:
$ sudo apt-get install libffado2 ffado-tools ffado-mixer-qt4 jackd jackd2 jackd2-firewire
During installation JACK will ask about adding rights for real-time-use to the "audio"-user-group, so you should consider to add your user account to the "audio" group also... (Of course, for advanced audio use Linux can be optimized in a lot of ways, which is not topic here...)
B) Then turn on the Fireface!
Open up a terminal and try this command to test if the Fireface is ready to use - it should show up:
$ ffado-test ListDevices
C) To start the Fireface-Settings-Window, use this command in a terminal:
$ ffado-mixer &
What you then get is a window where you can configure settings and input/output levels, comparable to the usual Fireface settings window and Totalmix (of course with very limmited functionality, but still...):
D) Restart your computer! Why I don't know, but I needed to in order to use the Fireface in the audio software...
Example use in Ardour (a very well know and highly sophisticated piece of DAW software):
* Ardour 2: When you start the program, settings pop up - just choose "FFADO" as driver, choose your quality settings and create your project... Then you've got all Fireface inputs and outputs available! These can be configured eg. in the mixer view or under the menu entry "Windows/Connections"...
* Ardour 3: When opening a new project, just select "JACK" as the audio system and "FFADO" as driver - then configure your inputs/outputs in the mixer, track settings, or in the menu under "Windows/Tracks+Busses"...
This is all you need to use your Fireface in a very professional audio software... Of course there is a lot more possible and a very huge selection of other DAWs and programs available, but I wanted to strip it down to the minimum here...
And don't be afraid of Linux! As I mentioned, I am no linux specialist, but find my way round quite easily! You don't have to enter any commands manually if you don't want to - all can be set up to work with buttons and starters very easily...
If you want to fiddle arround with the configuration of JACK, try "qjackctl" as a GUI: You only have to select "firewire" as the driver there and everything should work (Fireface inputs/outputs...)...
I tested this on two machines now (one very old, one newer) and it worked - so I hope it does for you too! But I cannot promise anything, so take it as a starting point to configure your own system... Have fun!