This is for people who want to run multiple RW from 1 pc

[vad1er]

I have been beta testing with various virtual machines to run multiple RW acounts from 1 pc. I will continue this research for all my Riffjunkie buddies out there and the sonoma team.. so far these are the 1st findings. to be clear though you can only run 1 RW standard at a time or there are latency/delay issues. unless you use multiple audio interfaces 1 for each RW instance.

these virtual machines are free

virtual box- will work but audio is choppy due to shared audio latency even with 1 instance running..

virtual pc- Forget it, way to slow

after the 1st 2 vm failures or efficiency problems I did a little research and found vmware server- Is free after registration and has no latency issues... unless you install MacOsx also known as Hackintosh..

SO there are several reasons why I am doing this.

I want to use Mac OSX for garageband and protools with my riffworks...

Other people have asked if it wa possible to run multiple instances of riffworks on the same pc and sonoma said it wan't possible and I adamantly don't believe that anything is impossible(maybe inefficient though like ipv4 addressing compared to Ipv6)

I am curious to see if I can run multiple audio interfaces from the same pc simultaniously without alot of problems.

I plan on eventually relacing every pc in the house with a virtual machine running off my server.

and lastly because I am a major computer geek and I work, live, attend school and play on a pc


Note: I have upgraded to vmware workstation because they gave me 5 licences for the price of 1. basically 100 bucks.. let me know if you are interested in beta testing with me. for mac users who want to use vst... asio software you will need vmware fusion and a copy of vista or xp... it will cost you but the good news is vmware fusion runs microsoft windows seemlesly unlike MacOsx on a pc wich has been a pain in my ass...
My email for this experiment is michaeldehoff@gmail.com please post here first as I rarely check this email address to tell me you sent me an email...


If someone thinks they know a better virtual machine out there let me know..

If you don't know what a virtual machine is then google it.. basically it is a PC inside of a pc with its own operating system,, hard drive partition that shares other resourses with the real pc such as memory, cpu..ect..
It can also share resourses like video cards, sound cards(audio interfaces, monitors, Nic (ethernet card).. but you can run multiples of these cards.
examples:

My PC is a 3 ghrz dual core zeon processor
with 6 gigs of ram(memory)
using a fancy nic card made for server boards
also have a second nic card in a pci slot not used
with a 512 video card ati overclocked to 667
I use 2 ssci harddrives 100gigs a peice.
I have a 500 gig ide slave drive for storage and a 1 terabyte external storage drive..
for my real pc I use a toneport ux2 for audio
Operating system (at the moment is vista ultamate, changes often please don't ask why)

okay my virtual machine 1 is Mac OSX 10.5.2 leopard
uses only 1 cpu (freezes when I use both)
using 1 gig of my real ram
using 40 gigs of my slave 500 gb drive
sharing video, ethernet, and monitor, keyboard, mouse and {audio interface (mac drivers and mac rw version)}

second virtual machine 2 uses tiny xp ( basically xp pro without all the bells and wistles)
uses both cpu's
uses 2 gigs of real ram
uses 30 gigs of my slave drive
uses tascam us-122l
shares evrything else

and so on and so on 4 more virtual machines 1 with ubantu os, 1 with solaris, 1 with windows server 2003 R2 and 1 with tinyvista
I have 4 audio interfaces (took me a while to find out that toneport is the Bomb everything else is pale in comparison)

also I will be experimenting with running RW from a flash drive running tinyvista or xp
since it is now possible to run an OS from the flash drive... this is gonna be cool..
so basically the keychain you carry your drive on combined with your audio interface gives newmeaning to the term traveling band. lol... they will need to make the toneport smaller, ofcourse there is always a pod.

lastly you can put a virtual machines hardrive(virtual hardrive) on any computer you want so for those who wish to help with these experiments once I get these running seemlessly I will see if I can post these virtual harddrives on my website so you can down load them..

anyway this sums up my first post on this... hope it is helpful

[jamienelson]

I was going to try something like this. I'm a Network Engineer and do a lot of work with Virtual Machines as well. Good to know about the latency issues. Saves me some time messing around.

I'm running Vista 64bit home at the moment as a host.
on a Dual Core with 4GB of RAM for my home PC

[jamienelson]

Are you able to get Line 6 Gearbox to work inside the XP Virtual Machine with your Toneport?

[vad1er]

Yes, but I had to download the xp drivers as I prefer vista (I know I am someone who actually likes vista. In share mode (without givining the VM drivers of it's own it works but is VERy slow and you get latency issues again. Have you tried VMware yet? The are so far advanced from any virtaul Machine I have ever used. You can run hardwae for video at full acceleration, and the software runs ultra fast.. VMware server is free you just have to register so try it. The greatest obstacles I have run across so far is 1 shared ineternet (becuase comcast won't provide a second modem for my address) and Latecy when sharing the sound card..

[jamienelson]

I haven't tried VMware yet. I need to download it. I've been using MS Virtual PC 2007 and Virtual Server 2005 R2, because that is what I use at work.

I actually just loaded Virtual PC 2007 on my home PC, yesterday before I read your post.

Are the Virtual HD's compatable between Virtual PC and VMware Server?

[vad1er]

I don't think they are but you could try it.. but use the copy and replace function in VMware to get it to work..
Virtual pc is GARBAGE!! in my opinion.. among other things you have only 8 bits of video and there just arn't very many options. I love options!! besides it is REALLY slow.
You have got to try vmware it is amazing and really fast...
I can rare a 30 gig HD to about 500mb but I still haven't figured out how I could send or upload it for you. My website limits me to 15mb files and email only allows 11 mb..
Although I could post it as a torrent on a site like mininova for you or we could do like a hyperterminal...
Vmware server is free and you get 4 licences..
Really for your own learning experience you should install from scratch the different options are so various you maight find better ways than I have..

If you want to try Mac OSX download, Leopard 4 all.. If you are using a dell forget it.. It just won't work with a dell... On a gateway was my easiest install but be warned it is a pain in the butt. For legal reasons I really can't tell you where to get it but you might start with the above site I mentioned. There is no activation with a mac but if you decide to keep it you might as well buy the licence you can get a pack of 5 for $200.00 and then you "might" be able to update... I use version 10.5.2, 10.5.5 or 6 is out now but I haven't bought a licence yet so I haven't updated.

[vad1er]

On a side note It just ocurred to me that you could have 2 copies of RW on a duel boot computer as long as you don't share the riffworks program internally.. Hey sonoma guys isn't this possible?? Can you confirm or not??

Anyway this might be an option that people on here who know nothing about Virtual machines might try..

[jamienelson]

I got VMware downloaded and installed. The Virtual HDs aren't compatable with MS. I don't have my CDs or ISOs here, so I have to make a trip to my office and pick them up sometime this weekend. A great 2 mile journey.

It looks like VMware is friendly with USB too. MS sucks as far as that goes.

I don't really care so much about getting 2 copies of RW running at the same time. It's just cool to see what can be done, these days.

Send me an email and I'll send you a link to my FTP server.

JamieNelsonMusic@Yahoo.Com

[vad1er]

use asio4all to rune stealth plug on a windows vista virtual machine.