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Rivendell Automation by Salem Labs

C

ChiefOperator

Hello everyone--

Different automation sytems have been discussed in other threads. I believe several members have mentioned that the Linux-based Rivendell system by Salem should be considered. The system's price is right (free software), and it looks solid, even possibly modeled after the Scott's system.

Are any members here actually using this system as the on-air machine? I've been told that several Salem Seattle stations are using the system for production only, although I don't know that to be true. If any one is using the system, I'm interested in your evaluation. Good, bad, benefits, negatives, solid system?

As always--Thank you!

www.salemradiolabs.com/rivendell/
 
I had played with it for evaluation purposes, but nothing to qualify me as an expert with it. It looks like a great system. Unfortunately my needs depended on interoperability with other Windows-based software so it wasn't a good option in my own situation. A friend of mine who owns several FMs is looking at it and may consider it since he would love to move away from anything with the M$ branding on it.
 
We just finished putting a box together to run Rivendell in a lab situation. We haven't gotten it fully running because we haven't had the chance to resolve the fully documented mysql issue (the solution has been posted, just haven't gotten the time to implement the solution).

We're impressed so far. But doing a Linux/Rivendell implementation at this stage is definitely not for the stick-the-cd-in-the-drive-and-click-setup crowd. However, you do it once, and you shouldn't ever have to tinker with it again.
 
Thanks for the replies....

Yes, my concern is interfacing with other programs that use the Windows OS. For instance, I suppose that I couldn't use Adobe Audition or may be some of the traffic and music scheduling programs. How will you interface the Rivendell system into a Windows environment?

As always, thanks!
 
Servers & Workstations

Rivendell would run on a Linux server dedicated to that task. You can connect a Windows workstation to a Linux server with a typical TCP/IP network connection. In fact, you're likely connected to a Linux server if you're reading this, because I'm pretty sure that this site runs on a Linux server. If it doesn't, the majority of websites do.

You wouldn't normally use Adobe Audition on a server anyway. You could certainly use Adobe Audition on a Windows workstation connected to a Linux server and upload the files to the server for Rivendell to use.

As far as music schedulers are concerned, I defer to someone with Rivendell experience. If it supports the scripts generated by Windows-based scheduling programs, then you could run the scheduler on a Windows workstation, and upload the resulting script to the Linux server for use with Rivendell.
 
There shoul be absolutely no issue with connecting to the system through a windows box. Rivendell runs on a SuSe distribution, so it has the Samba package, which will allow the machine to talk windows networking.
 
This is the first I've heard of this system - do they have a website so I can get more information? I'm currently looking at new systems for a couple of my contract stations. I've used several systems in the past and this sounds interesting. Thanks
 
After putting a lab box together, don't be discouraged that Rivendell is NOT a plug-and-play solution. You'll have to learn some command-line Linux and potentially do some troubleshooting.

That said, Linux is really much better than Windows, albeit more complicated.
 
Rivendell developement is now at the end of the beta testing phase, and is on the air at more than 50 radio stations and network head-end facilities. With SuSE Linux 9.2 thru 10.0, the installation is pretty straight forward. Only a couple of lines need to be entered via command line to set up the program and start up a MySQL database server for the first time. Complete installation instructions are available at ftp://ftp.salemradiolabs.com/pub/srlabs/appnotes/appnote001.pdf. The Operations Manual can be downloaded at ftp://ftp.salemradiolabs.com/pub/srlabs/rivendell/docs/rog-0.9.1.pdf.

The founder of the Rivendell open source project, Fred Gleason, is starting up a company in the coming weeks that will offer turn-key Rivendell systems and software support services called "Paravel Systems". Stay tuned for more info on that. In the meantime, more info on Rivendell is available at http://www.salemradiolabs.com/rivendell/.
 
Paravel Systems, huh? Why not? Lewis and Tolkein were very good friends.

(For those outside the loop, the name Rivendell, if you hadn't guessed, came from the Lord of the Rings series. Paravel is a reference to Cair Paravel, the castle from which the main characters ruled in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series.)
 
Scott Spillers said:
Rivendell developement is now at the end of the beta testing phase, and is on the air at more than 50 radio stations and network head-end facilities. With SuSE Linux 9.2 thru 10.0, the installation is pretty straight forward. Only a couple of lines need to be entered via command line to set up the program and start up a MySQL database server for the first time. Complete installation instructions are available at ftp://ftp.salemradiolabs.com/pub/srlabs/appnotes/appnote001.pdf. The Operations Manual can be downloaded at ftp://ftp.salemradiolabs.com/pub/srlabs/rivendell/docs/rog-0.9.1.pdf.

The founder of the Rivendell open source project, Fred Gleason, is starting up a company in the coming weeks that will offer turn-key Rivendell systems and software support services called "Paravel Systems". Stay tuned for more info on that. In the meantime, more info on Rivendell is available at http://www.salemradiolabs.com/rivendell/.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the post. Regarding the 50 stations, how have they evaluated the product? Any problems? Also, I would assume that the stations are all Salem stations, yes?

Thanks!
 
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