programmable analog patchbays
The "Analog Operating System" AOS
The control software is referred to as AOS, which stand for "Analog Operating System".
You can download here the version for the OS you are on.
AOS is a so called application server as well as it's own client.
It hosts a webapplication written in HTML5, JavaScript and CSS. The install package is
a so called headless version of Chromium, the open source edition of Google's Chrome internet
browser. We would never commit to a commercial browser regarding privacy issues. You can trust
on the fact that Chromium is open source, if there would be anything fishy going on then a privacy
based browser like Brave would not be based on Chromium, as it is.
Normally with webapplications you enter a url in the browser's addressbar and the
application is loaded into the browser from another computer over the internet.
AOS however has no addressbar or any other indication that it is actually a browser and
loads the webapplication from the install directory on the same computer, it is running
therefore offline and does not require an internet connection. AOS has all the advantages modern
webtechnology offers while preserving the power and limitless nature of native apps.
A few serious concrete advantage of this approach are
- The maintenance and sustainability. Just recently, for instance, with the release
of Mac M1 all we had to do is replace the Chromium browser with the latest version
and it was done. Even the very first websites still run perfectly in the latest browsers.
The chance that this will change anytime soon is defacto zero. Even if we as a company
cease to exist and AOS does not work anymore on the latest OS, it will be relativly
easy to make it work again. We officially support
from macOS 14 High Sierra and Windows 10 on because the drivers are pre-installed
in there but AOS still runs as it should on windows XP
and macOS 8 when the hardware drivers are installed manually.
- We don't need to write different code in different languages
for every possible OS out there.
- It is easier to find developers for working on AOS.
- AOS is inherently open source,
you have direct access to all code and can even
start a debug session to step through the code and see how it all works.
In case you are a programmer yourself you can add your own features and share that
with us or keep it for yourself.
- AOS is inherently remotely accessible. AOS is client and server. As client,
it basically connects to itself. As server it will send the application code to
any browser in the same local network that requests it.
That does not mean just anyone can control your XBay, just as
not anyone can access your filesystem. When you want to patch from outside
the local network over the internet then you need to reconfigure your
local router so that it can find the computer where AOS is running on.
This concept is called port forwarding, check the manual of your router for the
right instructions.
Since AOS does not do any digital audio converting and/or processing, it performs very well.
When the application startsup the JavaScript code is converted to optimised native C code
by the Chromium browser, which performs, more often than not, better than handwritten C code.
AOS on macOS
Unzip the file and drag the app icon into the /Applications folder. In case
the OS blocks startup, executing "sudo xattr -cr /Applications/AOS.app" in a terminal window will remove the block. From High Sierra onwards there is no need to install USB drivers. In case there have been previous installation of outdated USB serial drivers then it might be needed to remove these and reinstall them. Please contact us if you think that might be going on and are not able to fix it yourself.
AOS on windows
The drivers come pre-installed from Windows 10 and later versions.
Extract the .zip file to a location you can easily reach (like your desktop). Open the folder you just extracted. Inside the AOS folder are serveral files, including a “CH341SER”. zip. Unzip this folder and open the “CH341SER” file to install the USB driver when needed. After the installation is complete, run the “Start.- bat” file or the “AOS.exe” file.
If everything went well in the previous steps, AOS will be ready for use.
AOS on linux
Unzip the file and run nw. Drivers should be pre-installed. Since there is not much interest
for a linux version, we don't keep the package up to date. Please contact us when you have
sincere interest to run AOS on linux. For raspberry PI linux please check the AOS on raspbian option.
AOS on raspbian
Unzip the file and run nw. Drivers should be pre-installed. This has been tested on one of the
Raspbery PI hardware versions and since there are many different versions around it is not
guaranteed to work out of the box. We are happy to assist though, please contact us when you
encounter unsolvable issues.
AOS on line
Since any server can host the application you can experience an online demo. To be clear, AOS does not
run online on a server. The demo is fully functional except that it is not really connected to the hardware and never will.
For working with a unit connected to your computer, you need to download and install one of the offered packages above.
Click on the logo to launch AOS in a new tab. Close the tab when you want to return to the website.
