SLOrk/2016/FAQ

FAQ and useful info for your SLOrk experience is here.

What's with the caps lock?

On SLOrk machines, the "caps lock" key is instead a(nother) control key.

SLOrk Code Repository

We use SVN to save all SLOrk code, from the beginning of time. You'll put yours there too!

Each SLOrk laptop has a copy of this repository at /Users/slork/slork. The master repository is hosted at https://chuck-dev.stanford.edu/svn/slork/trunk.

To update everything in the SLOrk repository, simply open a terminal and type sup. This performs cd ~/slork && svn update, i.e. go to root of your SLOrk repository directory and update all. You can also update only certain directories by navigating to them in terminal, and then typing svn update.

ChucK: version and setup

We use ChucK 1.3.5.3-dev. This is conveniently available in our SVN repo (see above), and is installed on each laptop at ~/slork/bin/chuck

To test and fix a wrong chuck version:

albacore:slork slork$ which chuck
/usr/bin/chuck
albacore:slork slork$ ls -l /usr/bin/chuck 
-rwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel  5229644 Apr 22  2015 /usr/bin/chuck

We don't want that one!

albacore:slork slork$ sudo rm /usr/bin/chuck
Password:
albacore:slork slork$ which chuck
/Users/slork/slork/bin/chuck

That's the right one!

albacore:slork slork$ cd ~/slork
albacore:slork slork$ sup
~/slork ~/slork
At revision 1891.
~/slork

Now let's double-check that we have the right version.

albacore:slork slork$ chuck --about
usage: chuck --[options|commands] [+-=^] file1 file2 file3 ...
   [options] = halt|loop|audio|silent|dump|nodump|server|about|probe|
               channels:<N>|out:<N>|in:<N>|dac:<N>|adc:<N>|
               srate:<N>|bufsize:<N>|bufnum:<N>|shell|empty|
               remote:<hostname>|port:<N>|verbose:<N>|level:<N>|
               callback|deprecate:{stop|warn|ignore}|
               chugin-load:{auto|off}|chugin-path:<path>|chugin:<name>
   [commands] = add|remove|replace|remove.all|status|time|kill
   [+-=^] = shortcuts for add, remove, replace, status  

chuck version: 1.3.5.3-dev (chimera)
   mac os x : intel : 64-bit
   http://chuck.cs.princeton.edu/
   http://chuck.stanford.edu/

Success!

Sound through MOTUs

We have MOTU UltraLite mk3 and older MOTU UltraLite (version 1). Plug one into each laptop with a Firewire 400 to Firewire 800 cable.

Output numbering is confusing because there are two “Main” outputs in addition to the 8 "analog out" aka "out" jacks. Software sees this:

Software output channel	MOTU output jack
1-2	Main outs (left, right)
3-10	Outs "1" through "8" (all are actually off by 2)
11-12	S/PDIF digital outputs
13-14	Headphones (though settings can change what exactly feeds the headphones)

Master Volume

The MOTUs have a master volume feature that can attenuate all outputs by a given number of dB between -80 and 0 (or also MUTE, which is minus infinity dBs).

On the MOTU UltraLite mk3, the knob directly above the headphone jack (third knob from the left) toggles between controlling the “Phones” (headphones) or the “MASTER”. Press the button to switch which it controls.

On the original UltraLite mk1, the upper left knob labeled “MAIN VOL” controls the master volume, which (sometimes? by default? depending on nondeterministic CueMix settings?) doesn’t affect the MAIN OUTs, only the OUT. In other words, for our purposes, it affects outputs 3-6 but not 1-2. That’s why we normally use only the mk3s but if you need to use a mk1 (e.g., because you need to daisy-chain FW400 to get >8 audio inputs) ask Ge to help configure this.

Sound through Hemis

The “Hemis” are the hemispherical loudspeakers, pictured below.

Power it with a black DC power adapter. Flip the power switch up for on. Some have slightly mechanically flaky power switches.

Use a blue SLOrk snake to plug in six input signals. The two ends of the snake have different diameter metal plugs: the fat ones fit only the speaker side and are too fat to plug into the MOTU side. So, plug the skinny side into the MOTU and the fat side into the hemi.

Channel 1 is the input closest to the switch, then going 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 to the left. These correspond to the loudspeakers as per the picture below.