I've also been playing around with real-time audio fx using a VIA mainboard and MIDI for the controls.. Here's some documentation of a project I did with this: (ecasound, analog controls->MIDI, ladspa effects...) http://4ms.org/influx9/ One obstacle I've had is boot time! It's annoying to have to wait 30 seconds for the thing to boot, and if the power is interrupted during a live preformance..ugh. Sure I could pare down a little more the init.d, but how do pro embedded systems boot in a matter of seconds? Mounting the fs read-only is a good idea, but does anyone have other tips for making it more like an old-time analog fx unit (power-on==>instant sound, power-off==>no harddisk damage)? BTW, i'm new to this list, I searched and browsed the archives a bit but didn't find this discussion... please direct me if this has already been talked about! Dann