Push 3 Standalone Development Tools

A collection of explorations and tools for the Ableton Push 3 Standalone.

• Disclaimer
• Abstract
• Paths
• First Time Setup
  • SSH Access
• Dev Kernel Modules and Programs
• Preferences.cfg Reverse Engineering
  • Push 3 Standalone Preferences Sideload Check
• References

Disclaimer

All of this is under construction. I'm still figuring things out and new releases of AbletonOS and/or Push software can make any of this information obsolete.

I'm taking notes and sharing tools in the hope of helping others navigate and explore what is possible on Push Standalone.

Abstract

Information is up to date as of Live 12.4.2 / Push 2.4.2.

Reference for various terms used throughout these documents:

Term	Abbreviation
Push 3 Standalone	P3SA

Paths

SSH authorized keys path: /data/settings/ssh/authorized_keys

• Toolset
• Max4Live

First Time Setup

SSH Access

This is an essential first step. You will need to ssh onto the Linux machine running on Push to do any of the work outlined in this repo.

1. Generate an SSH key via ssh-keygen or similar.
2. Start Push in standalone mode.
3. Ensure your computer and Push are both on the same network.
4. Navigate to http://push.local/ssh in your web browser.
5. Copy the content of your SSH public key file to your clipboard.
6. Follow the instructions on the Push SSH webpage.
7. SSH onto Push with ssh ableton@push.local.

Recommended SSH config entry:

Host push
  HostName push.local
  User ableton

Dev Kernel Modules and Programs

AbletonOS doesn't come with a number of useful tools from the linux kernel. These are modules that were built via the cross-compiler dev container and can be loaded onto Push 3 Standalone.

• usbmon

Preferences.cfg Reverse Engineering

Using ImHex to decode binary preferences data.

Vanila config files are saved per version of Live under /reverse-engineering/preferences-config/ for tracking changes over time.

Platform	Path
Windows	C:\Users<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Ableton\Live 12.4.3\Preferences\Preferences.cfg
Push 3 Standalone	/data/.config/Ableton/Live /Preferences.cfg
MacOS

Push 3 Standalone Preferences Sideload Check

Before editing arbitrary bytes, verify that Push Live will accept a sideloaded Preferences.cfg that was already produced by Live. The helper script defaults to dry-run discovery:

.\scripts\push-preferences-sideload.ps1

Install one known-good captured preference file:

.\scripts\push-preferences-sideload.ps1 -LocalCfg .\preferences\p3sa\in-m-1-2-enabled.cfg

Restart Live or reboot Push, then verify that Live did not rewrite or reject the file:

.\scripts\push-preferences-sideload.ps1 -VerifyOnly -LocalCfg .\preferences\p3sa\in-m-1-2-enabled.cfg

If the remote SHA-256 still matches the local SHA-256 after restart, the sideload path is viable. The script creates a timestamped backup next to the remote Preferences.cfg before replacing it.

If Live rejects a broken file, remove it and power cycle Push so Live regenerates defaults:

.\scripts\push-preferences-sideload.ps1 -DeleteRemotePreferences

References

A list of links I've found useful while exploring what sort of work can be done on Push 3 Standalone.

• Ableton Forum: Unlock Push 3
• Yocto Kernel SDK
• Max Docs