Portable Mixxx

This page contains information on making portable versions of Mixxx to use from a USB stick, LiveCD, etc.

Windows

Goal: to make a build option for the Windows target that will allow Mixxx to be run from a USB, CD/DVD, network share or other removable media type.

Update: It looks like another group may have beaten us to it: http://www.winpenpack.com/main/download.php?view.828

TODO:

 * Avoid saving/reading settings & files to/from absolute paths
 * Settings directories:
   * Modify all locations of SETTINGS_PATH to not be prefixed with QDir::homePath(), but rather use CWD in place of home dir.   
     * Set SETTINGS_PATH to "Mixxx Settings".
 * Review all QWarnings, QCriticals and ASSERTS for write-fail scenerios
   * Fail writing operations gracefully (read-only media)... i.e. no QCrit on BPM Scheme write fail.
 * Library code changes:
    * Use relative file paths for all Music files that exist within the Music Folder [ConfigKey("[Playlist]","Directory")]:

       if exists (Music Folder + music path value) --> load // relative to music folder
       else if exists (music path value) --> load // not found, treat as absolute path 

Bare metal

Goal: to make a USB stick/CD image that boots into DSL, DSL-N or Tiny Core Linux that contains Mixxx (and JACK and FFADO if possible,) ready to run. The idea is that you can walk up to any PC with your MixxxStixxx and music media (external HD, MP3 DVD, etc.) and be up & running in about a minute.

MixxxOS

Update: v1.2 is available for testing

I'm proud to announce to you the new MixxxOS. MixxxOS is a minimal Ubuntu 10.04 LTS base system which includes everything a Mixxx DJ would ever need and it's really easy to use. Also there are plans to create a Mini MixxxOS including just enough to run Mixxx, copy your files around and use the internet.

This release can be used as a livecd/usb but is also perfect for installation on netbooks and tablets for it does not load a full desktop but you can login right into Mixxx if you like, also the openbox window manager is included as the "MixxxOS Desktop" session available on the login screen, this session provides nice lightweight graphical tools to configure the system, copy files and archives and install codecs, updates or whatever you like. MixxxOS was build using Remastersys wich is included on the cd so it's pretty simple to add extra software and create a custom MixxxOS respin.

What's new in 1.2?

Changes:

    updated Mixxx to the latest 1.8 release
    replaced GDM with LXDM (saves 100MB in gnome deps)

New:

    realtime kernel (linux-rt)
    jack and qjackctl
    Ubuntu software center
    Update manager
    Gnome ppp (for connecting 3G dongles)

The next release will be the 1.3 final for wich I need your help so please test the 1.2 release and tell me what you do and don't like about it so we can make the 1.3 release just perfect. Also the next release will contain MixxxOS boot screens and a decent login theme. If you feel like creating some artwork please do for I'm no Gimping genious. We need a Grub2 splash, a plymouth boot splash and an LXDM theme.

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Installation

For hard disk installation the Ubuntu system installer Ubiquity is included, you can follow the easy installation steps on the Ubuntu wiki

Installation on a usb stick is also quite simple:

Live system on small USB key 1GB+

This is not really ideal for it does not save your settings but if you include the audio codecs on the iso or only use flac and ogg files it's a nice way to bring your old 1GB stick back to use. Just download Unetbootin for the OS of your choice (included in most Linux distribution repositories) and install. Next format your USB key and mount it. Open Unetbootin and point it to the MixxxOS iso file and your USB drive and click install. Nothing to it ;)

Persistant usb install

(this allows changes to be saved on the usb key, ie mixxx database, installed applications, updates etc..) Just install usb-creator in MixxxOS or use the one on your Ubuntu or Linux Mint desktop, just point it to the iso file and correct usb key and tell the program how much space to use for saving changes and that's it. (more info @ [url=https://wiki.ubuntu.com/usb-creator]the ubuntu wiki[/url])

Full install on external USB disk or SD card

I've just tested this and it works great!! I had this 8GB slim USB key laying around for a while now and wanted to use it with what has become MixxxOS, here's what I did;

I used another USB key which I created whith Unetbootin to boot the installer, you can also use a cd. Fill in al questions the installer asks. For the user's login name choose mixxx, the real name may be anything, this way you will keep the live cd settings afther installation. At the disk partitioning choose the manual approach. Now partition your USB drive, Be carefull to choose the right drive!!!! watch size and filesystem type, it will probably be /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc for sda is your internal drive. I've created a 3GB ext4 partition for /, a 512MB swap and formatted the remaining space FAT32 and mounted it on /home/music, this is the directory that is linked to the Music folder in the user's home. Make sure before starting the install in the final screen to check if the bootloader will be installed to the MBR of your usb drive NOT THE MBR of sda!!! If all goes well you'll end up with a 1.7GB installation that can be used on multiple computers.

Downloads

MixxxOS 1.1 x86 (530MB) MD5SUM

Torrent

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Installer and debs

If you don't know how to work the Linux command line please do not use the installer and just download the iso or torrent file above. The deb package can safely be installed on Ubuntu 10.04 simply by clicking it (did not test 10.10 yet) and can also be removed with the package manager if you like.

MixxxOS installation script (for use on a minimal Ubuntu installation (netinstall) MixxxOS-desktop Can be used to upgrade your MixxxOS to the latest version and can be used on Ubuntu to pull in all apps, Artwork and user settings included in MixxxOS.

Please use my contact form (sorry I get spammed a lot) or the mixxx forums to sent me bugs and feature requests. Have fun, Socialdefect aka Arjan van Lent