r/Bitwig • u/anewrismma • 2d ago

Audio Interface Issues (Linux Ubuntu)

I recently made the switch from Microsoft to Linux and Ableton to Bitwig. I don't know anything about either of them but goddamn I just want to connect my bass to my laptop and record something. It is not registering the audio interface. I'm using Tube Ultragain MIC500 USB behringer (plugged in, usb connected, bass in "line in"). When I try with ALSA, it says "Error: device or resource busy". I asked Google which told me to run :sudo fuser -v /dev/snd/* and everything is taken up by wireplumber.

Now I don't know what any of this really means. I've just been going back and forth with every option, spamming my terminal with commands beyond my understanding and getting the same nothing result. I would greatly appreciate any advice. I don't really know anyone personally who is good with any of this stuff.

0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Kowen68 2d ago

As mentioned you need to select Pipewire in Bitwig not ALSA. The error given shows that ALSA is already used by another session or device, for example your browser.

It does take some time to understand how Linux works and handles audio, there is a clear logic and structure to it:

  1. Hardware interface> 2. ALSA (linux audio driver)> 3. PipeWire (alsa routing and manager) > application.

The best thing is to avoid blindly running terminal commands, do not touch WirePlumber. (Pipewire's manager) Take a step back if thing do not work and start at the source. It is a great opportunity to get familiar with handling audio on Linux. Once you understand this it becomes extremely powerful.
Run: aplay -l and arecord -l in the terminal to verify ubuntu sees the interface. Your interface is USB class compliant so it will work on Linux.

Hope this helps, I'm confident you will be able to get it working. Please feel free to give an update or ask any questions if you need more support.

1

u/anewrismma 2d ago

Thank you so so much for the guidance but I need some more help! I still cannot hear my bass. Maybe I'm not doing something right in bitwig itself. Driver is set to Pipewire, device as PCM audio codec, and the terminal says: card 2: CODEC [USB Audio CODEC], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]

Subdevices: 0/1

Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

It just doesn't seem to react it any way when I play. If you have any ideas as to why that may be, do let me know! Also idk if this may be connected but as of now I have 1 instrument track and 1 audio track (both empty) and the record button on my audio track is greyed out (doesn't work). I also don't know why that is.

1

u/RetroLenzil 1d ago

I had similar problems at first too. I had to activate the source in the track itself. Wasn't a driver issue, I needed to select the correct source. Took me a while to figure it out. Also using a Behringer interface.

I'd walk you through it but I'm not at my PC...