How To Build and Deploy LV2 Plugin to MOD Duo

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Introduction

This is a quick start guide to get a LV2 plugin running in a MOD Duo Device. Let's cut the chatter and get started.

LV2 Basics

This information is well described elsewhere.

Prepare build tools

A LV2 plugin is just a binary. However in order to run in a MOD Device it must be compiled using a cross-compiler targeting our hardware and software. MOD Duo for example uses an ARM processor running a special flavor of Linux containing a specific set of libraries (dependencies).

We currently provide a custom cross-compiler that will take care of building LV2 plugins that will run in a MOD Duo. Just clone MOD Plugin Builder and follow the instructions.

In summary: 

$ cd
$ git clone https://github.com/moddevices/mod-plugin-builder
$ ./bootstrap.sh

Once the process is finished you should have local binary called build.

Get source code and create a .mk file

If you have an existing LV2 Plugin you just need to create a makefile to build it. In case you haven't started your LV2 plugin yet just follow through the links above from #LV2 Basics.

We have a few samples available here. For this guide we'll use the eg-amp.lv2 example.

The build script is based on Buildroot which requires you to create a new package under plugins/package/ and add a make file <package-name>.mk. To learn more about how Buildroot works check the manual.

In our example you must do this: 

$ cd
$ git clone git://github.com/moddevices/mod-lv2-examples
$ cp -R mod-lv2-examples/package/eg-amp-lv2 mod-plugin-builder/plugins/package/

I suggest you take a look at sections #Few things about Buildroot and #Alternatives to retrieve source code for more information.

Compile it

We're all set to compile. 

$ cd ~/mod-plugin-builder/
$ ./build eg-amp-lv2 
$ ls ~/mod-workdir/plugins/
eg-amp.lv2

Success, the plugin has been built.

Deploy it

Coming soon...


Publish it

Coming soon...


Few things about the build script and Buildroot

Buildroot is based on packages to build things. An LV2 plugin becomes a package and because of that it must comply with Buildroot rules.
A few important notes:

  • The package name is defined by the folder name and cannot contain '.'
  • There must be a <packagename>.mk file inside the package folder
  • Inside the .mk file all defined variables must start with the package name replacing '-' with '_'
  • Browse through other examples so you get an idea of other variations of the makefiles (how to use waf for example)
  • If your code has dependencies you need to fill in the _BUNDLES variable with a list; you can check the available packages here

Alternatives to retrieve source code

The .mk file will define how your source code is retrieved. In the eg-amp example the .mk file tells Buildroot to download it from github. Alternatively you can download use a local tarball or point directly to the source code.

Point directly to the source code

Just replace the top section called 'download source code' with the following: 

<PACKAGE_NAME>_SITE_METHOD = local
<PACKAGE_NAME>_SITE = /path/to/source

It's important that you replace the section, a _VERSION variable cannot exist or it will fail. If you try changing the eg-amp example don't forget to remove the trailing path from the make command. It should look like this: 

EG_AMP_LV2_TARGET_MAKE = $(TARGET_MAKE_ENV) $(TARGET_CONFIGURE_OPTS) $(MAKE) -C $(@D)

Point to a local tarball

Assuming you make a tar.gz file and put it in the same folder as the .mk file then you must replace the top section called 'download source code' with the following: 

EG_AMP_LV2_VERSION = 1.0
EG_AMP_LV2_SITE_METHOD = file
EG_AMP_LV2_SITE = $($(PKG)_PKGDIR)
EG_AMP_LV2_SOURCE = eg-amp-$(EG_AMP_LV2_VERSION).tar.gz
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