Copying to lv2/ folder insufficient to install plugin?

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Jeff Brown
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Copying to lv2/ folder insufficient to install plugin?

Post by Jeff Brown »

I am trying to use the Pianoteq plugin, which generates audio from MIDI. Long ago I apt-installed most, maybe all, of kxstudio.

I downloaded the source, which gave me (in relevant part) the following two files and one folder:

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-rwxr-xr-x 1 jeff jeff 25464328 abr 22  2014 'Pianoteq 4'
drwxr-xr-x 2 jeff jeff     4096 abr 22  2014 'Pianoteq 4.lv2'
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jeff jeff 25869888 abr 22  2014 'Pianoteq 4.so'
From the folder containing those three things, I can run ./Pianoteq\ 4 to start the standalone synth. It works, makes sound, sounds great.

I would like to run it as a plugin from within Ardour. There are multiple folders on my machine called lv2, but I found the one with the stash of plugins that Ardour uses at /usr/lib/lv2. I found a similarly populous folder of VST plugins at /usr/lib/vst. I've tried copying the above .so file to /usr/lib/vst, and copying the above .lv2 folder to /usr/lib/lv2. Then I restart Ardour and search for plugins, but I never find Pianoteq in the list.

I thought it might be a problem that there are spaces in the names, so I replaced every instance of "Pianoteq 4" with "Pianoteq-4", both in the filenames and (using sed) in the contents of the .ttyl files. (I left the .so file unchanged because it's a binary, not a text file.) Still no luck.

Might I be copying into the wrong folder, because some other folder *also* has all those plugins? Should I do something (beyond restarting it) to alert Ardour to the fact that new plugins exist?
rghvdberg
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Re: Copying to lv2/ folder insufficient to install plugin?

Post by rghvdberg »

Normally I'd install plugins in my home folder.
In a hidden directory ~/.lv2
Check the notification area of ardour, top right "led" button after scanning for plugins. Maybe it blacklists the plugin for some reason.
CrocoDuck
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Re: Copying to lv2/ folder insufficient to install plugin?

Post by CrocoDuck »

Copying the whole directory that terminates in .lv2 to /usr/lib/lv2 or ~/.lv2 normally works. That's how I use pianoteq. Make sure you scan for new plugins on your host. You can use lv2ls to check if the plugins are installed. For example:

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lv2ls | grep pianoteq
Returns this on my system:

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http://pianoteq.com/lv2/Pianoteq6
http://pianoteq.com/lv2/Pianoteq6STAGE
http://pianoteq.com/lv2/Pianoteq6_5chan
If you see a similar output, the plugin is correctly installed.
12strings2hands
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Re: Copying to lv2/ folder insufficient to install plugin?

Post by 12strings2hands »

Jeff Brown wrote:
...
I've tried copying the above .so file to /usr/lib/vst, and copying the above .lv2 folder to /usr/lib/lv2. Then I restart Ardour and search for plugins, but I never find Pianoteq in the list.
as others have said, moving the directory to ~/.lv2 works. all 3 files go in there, so your directory will look like this:
~/.lv2/Piano Tec.lv2/ [3 files go under here]

symbolic links also work, so you could leave it where ever it wants to install itself, then go to ~/.lv2 and type
ln -s /Directory Where Piano Tech really is
Jeff Brown
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Re: Copying to lv2/ folder insufficient to install plugin?

Post by Jeff Brown »

The plot thickens!
You can use lv2ls to check if the plugins are installed.
When I call `lv2ls | grep -i pianoteq` I get this:

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error: /usr/lib/lv2/Pianoteq-4.lv2/manifest.ttl:29:29: invalid IRI character ` ' (escape %20)
lilv_world_load_file(): error: Error loading file `file:///usr/lib/lv2/Pianoteq-4.lv2/manifest.ttl'
lilv_world_load_bundle(): error: Error reading file:///usr/lib/lv2/Pianoteq-4.lv2/manifest.ttl
Google found someone on the internet who's run into this problem before[1], but I see no indication that it got resolved.

[1] http://lists.ardour.org/pipermail/ardou ... 27515.html
Jeff Brown
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Re: Copying to lv2/ folder insufficient to install plugin?

Post by Jeff Brown »

Solved! All I had to do was delete spaces and parens from all filenames (including the parent folder) and from a few places where they appeared inside the .ttl files. Here are the sed commands I used for the latter:

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sed -i "s/Pianoteq 4 (5 channels)/Pianoteq_4_with_5_channels/g" *.ttl
sed -i "s/Pianoteq 4/Pianoteq_4/g" *.ttl
CrocoDuck, you didn't have to do that? Are there spaces in the filenames of the Pianoteq version you've got?
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