Patchbay manual link is broken.

[alexruize]

Hi, the link Patchbay Manual in the general Raysession Manual section for Patchbay is 404.

I'm trying to understand if RaySession provides the same functionality as Qjackctl's patchbay to save fully persistent connection settings using more complex settings (i.e. multiple audio/midi applications, multiple hardware stations all connected and be able to recall exactly as saved across sessions/boots) but using Pipewire directly instead of only jack as qjackctl..

This is a real painpoint in linux pro audio. If RaySession has this functionality and I can get some guidance on how to do this I'll be happy to add to the documentation via PR if its useful (and make a video to guide fellow linux producers with more complex setups).

Cheers.

[Houston4444]

Hi. Thanks for your ticket.
I can reproduce and will try to fix the link soon.

I'm trying to understand if RaySession provides the same functionality as Qjackctl's patchbay to save fully persistent connection settings using more complex settings (i.e. multiple audio/midi applications, multiple hardware stations all connected and be able to recall exactly as saved across sessions/boots) but using Pipewire directly instead of only jack as qjackctl..

The only thing in RaySession that can save and restore connections is the "Jack Connections" client (launched by default in a session). It is supposed to work with JACK or PipeWire, restoring the connections when you open your session. I have started some work for (very) complex connect cases, but it is not ready at this stage, and I have absolutely no time to work on this in coming weeks. What are you expecting that the "Jack Connections" client doesn't ?

The RaySession's patchbay is the same than in Patchance and Patchichi, it is just for GUI, so nothing for save/restore connections should be documented here.

[alexruize]

Hi thanks.

I have an audio interface with 16 I/O, my DAW and VCV Rack. My setup isn't even that complex: I am sending audio from VCV Rack to DAW, audio from DAW to interface, midi/CV from DAW to VCV.

I have been experimenting on and off with RaySession in the last month and every time I setup my connections, hit save, restart / reboot and the connections are all scrambled up. MIDI routings seem to persist across sessions/reboots, but audio usually doesn't.

I'm not doing anything special with RS, I fire it up after my apps and load the desired profile. I've read the manual and there's quite a few options for adding clients and what not but Ive always assumed it would just work out of the box when saving the session after making my connections.

Hope this makes sense, any pointers appreciated.

[Houston4444]

I have been experimenting on and off with RaySession in the last month and every time I setup my connections, hit save, restart / reboot and the connections are all scrambled up. MIDI routings seem to persist across sessions/reboots, but audio usually doesn't.

Mmmhh, ok, this is a very simple setup that should be managed correctly by the JACK Connections client. Your bug is very strange, could you please try to:

• save a session
• look at the patch file in the session directory (normally JACK Connections.patch.xml) and see if saved connections are ok
• abort the session
• reload this session and see if connections are coherent with the patch file

Connections are based on port names, on important thing is to check if port names are strictly the sames at save and reload (port name AND client name), so for this check it can help to uncheck the 3 checkboxes in Naming tab in patchbay options (pretty-names, custom names, graceful names). I am pretty sure that the the culprit is VCV rack, a solution would be to use cardinal in carla instead.

[alexruize]

Thanks this is what I did:

1. Open up DAW and VCV Rack (via terminal)
2. Open RS, start new session (with JACK patch memory)
3. Connections look ok in JACK xml.
4. Connection / port names look the same across reloads (aborting, quitting, reloading everything again).

I am pretty sure that the the culprit is VCV rack

I think you're right because it is usually VCV Rack who misbehaves. I'll take the convo to them see if they have anything useful. I'm not technical enough to articulate the issue properly, any suggestions on how you would frame this (all errors will be mine of course :) ). Is consistent it port/connection names here the issue?

[Houston4444]

I can't be absolutely sure there is absolutely no error in the connections recall process, but in most cases, connections problems comes from port names. A simple jack_lsp will give you the port names list. Let's compare the jack_lsp return at session save and after session reload, I am pretty sure you will find something different in port names (often, the client name).

It is highly preferable to have all your programs started by RaySession itself, and not outside, it can be more complex depending on your DAW.

[alexruize]

I am not able to see Bitwig Studio in the list of applications (actually no applications show at all):

But if I add the executable, with NSM box unchecked (Bitwig does not support NSM confirmed by their devs to me) it opens as expected when I load the session.

VCV Rack does not open. Again I add the executable, NSM box unchecked, and add the full path /home/user/.local/share/VCV/Rack2Pro/Rack which is the one suggested by VCV Rack, but the executable is not running:

And the corresponding folder in the session has a weird return character in the name, not sure if related:

I'm trying to edit the executables but can't even find out how to pop a window with the executables I've added :)

I think you're right there's something specific about VCV Rack that is not playing nice here.

[Houston4444]

Strange folder name indeed ! How do you launch VCVRack normally ? If you run it from your desktop menu, you can find the .desktop file used to launch VCVRack, and check the line starting with Exec=, you will have the executable full path. Oh wait, it can be /home/user/.local/share/VCV/Rack2Pro/Rack, but don't forget to replace user by your username.

[alexruize]

Yes I anonymized my user to post here, and the command I posted is the one I run to launch VCVRack. If there is anything else can assist with testing let me know, cheers.