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FAQ for Pd
View entire FAQ in fullFrequently Asked Questions regarding Pd (now with answers)
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- Sections
General
View section in full- What is Pd?
- What is puredata.info?
- What do I need to run Pd?
- How do I get better quality audio out of my computer?
- Can I run Pd on GNU/Linux?
- Where can i get get answers to all my questions?
- How much does Pd cost?
- How can I lower latency?
- How do i compile a Pd-patch to run as a stand-alone application?
- What are Pd's command line options?
- What are the various Pd distros?
- Windows doesn't use a .pdrc, what do I use on Windows?
- How can I store startup options so that they are loaded every time I start Pd?
- What is the difference between Pd, Max/MSP, and jMax?
- What is the .pdrc file and how do I use it?
- What platforms does Pd run on?
- When I run Pd, the 'Network is unreachable' ?
- Where can I download Pd and related software?
- Where can I get Pd documentation?
- How is Pd spelled?
- What about GEM?
- What is Pd-extended?
- How is Pd-extended different from Pure Data by Miller Puckette (aka Pd-vanilla)?
- Is Pd-extended compatible with Pd-vanilla (by Miller Puckette)?
- Is Pd-Extended dead? What are the alternatives?
Installing
View section in full- How do I install Pd on Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint?
- How do I install Pd on MacOS X?
- How do I install Pd on RedHat GNU/Linux?
- How do I install Pd on Windows?
- Where can I download Pd and related software?
- How do I install externals and help files with Pd-extended?
- How do I download the flext binaries that used to be included in Pd-extended?
- How do I install externals and help files?
- How do I install GUI plugins?
- How to Download Externals from Pd Vanilla (a.k.a. 'deken')?
Using Pd
View section in full- Can I use Pd to run patches written in Max/MSP?
- Can I use Pd to run Max/MSP externals?
- Can I use Pd with plugins?
- How do I write my own Pd externals (or [objects])?
- Where can I find a list of all the native objects in pd?
- Can I send data to Pd from other application using MIDI?
- What is the largest integer that Pd can represent?
- I don't hear any sound!
- Why does everything sound so 'weird'?
- Why does everything sound so 'distorted'?
- How do I get audio input?
- How do I make MIDI work?
- Why can't I create an object?
- Why can't objects be created?
- Why do I get an error when connecting two objects?
- Why can't I connect two objects?
- What's a "DSP-loop"?
- What's a "stack overflow"?
- Why use Pd-extended when Pd Vanilla already exists?
Using Objects
View section in full- How do I get more accurate timing from metro?
- How do I accumulate (or sum) audio outlets of several modules without so many connections?
- How do I make a local array?
- How do I make a local variable?
- How do I record and playback from hard disk?
- What is the difference between the [list] and [pack] objects?
- What is the difference between the [pd] and [page] objects?
Problems and Fixes
View section in full- Gem is crashing X11 in GNU/Linux when using the fglrx graphics driver
- On GNU/Linux, the fonts are strange and/or too big or small
- How do I report a bug?
- When I upgraded to Pd-extended 0.40.3, it stopped loading all of the libraries.
- How do I fix this error: "Library not loaded: /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.6.dylib"?
- Pd does not launch.
- How do I get an acceptable performance and latency on the MS Windows platform?
- Why doesn't audio work when I start Pd in -nogui mode?
- Help! Pd crashes on startup on Mac OSX 10.7+
Tips and Tricks
View section in full- How do I accumulate (or sum) audio outlets of several modules without so many connections?
- How do I run Pd from the command line?
- How do I get an acceptable performance and latency on the MS Windows platform?
- How can I set permissions to read HID devices on GNU/Linux?
- How to add aliases for Pd scripting on Mac OSX
- How can I run Pd with realtime priority on GNU/Linux?
