7 Ubuntu Linux is the most popular variety of Linux in use on desktop
8 and laptop systems. It has the backing of a for-profit corporation
9 (Canonical Inc.), a defined philosophy and a huge and
10 worldwide user base. As a result, it is a common platform for people
11 who want to use Ardour and other tools for music creation and
15 <h2>High Level Recommendations for Ubuntu Users</h2>
18 Currently, installing pro audio applications on vanilla Ubuntu requires
19 some configuration, in order for the user to gain realtime privilege
21 Ubuntu Studio, which is an official flavor of Ubuntu, and thus shares
22 the repositories with Ubuntu, has this already configured.
23 Another distribution, KXStudio, is largely based on Ubuntu, and also has
24 these settings preconfigured - also containing many customized and often
25 more up to date packages.
28 <h2>Installing Ardour</h2>
29 There may be unintended differences, and even bugs in Ubuntu native
30 packages, as a result of a different building method. For this reason,
31 Ardour developers highly recommend you to install the official
32 ready-to-run version of the program that you can get from <a
33 href="http://ardour.org/download">ardour.org</a>, as Ubuntu native
34 packages are not supported in official Ardour forums or other
37 <h2>Problems with the interaction between PulseAudio and JACK</h2>
40 <dt>Background Info</dt>
43 Like many distributions, Ubuntu has decide to use PulseAudio as the
44 default audio system. PulseAudio is a rich and capable system that
45 provides excellent services for typical users of Linux on the
46 desktop. However, it is not capable of the type of performance that
47 tools like Ardour require and in particular does not offer the
48 possibility of sending audio between applications that can makes the
49 Linux audio environment a very interesting one.
52 This would not a problem if it were not for the fact that JACK will
53 not run correctly (if at all) if it needs to use the same
54 soundcard/audio interface that PulseAudio is using. And since on
55 Ubuntu, PulseAudio is configured by default to always use the
56 (typically single) audio interface on your computer, this is a bit
60 The developers of JACK and PulseAudio got together in 2009 and
61 agreed upon a mechanism by which PulseAudio and JACK could cooperate
62 in their use of a single soundcard. Whether or not PulseAudio is running by
63 default, when JACK starts up it sends out a request to use the
64 soundcard. If PulseAudio is running, it will give up its use of the
65 soundcard to allow JACK to take over (and can optionally be told to
66 route its own audio through JACK). When JACK finishes, it sends out
67 another message, and PulseAudio can once again use the soundcard
71 <dt>What is the problem?</dt>
74 The specific issues known at this time for all flavors of Ubuntu
77 <li>a bug in PulseAudio that causes it not to give up the
78 soundcard when JACK asks (<a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio/+bug/1163638">LP: #1163638</a>
79 (fixed in Ubuntu 13.04).</li>
80 <li>a bug that causes jackdbus v.1.9.8 (jackd does not suffer from this)
81 to freeze up when told to stop, causing issues with restarting (<a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/precise/+source/jackd2/+bug/956438">LP: #956438</a></li>
82 (fixed in Ubuntu 13.04)
90 <li>Cannot start JACK (though see the next section for other
97 These bugs do not affect the upcoming 13.04 release, and earlier
98 releases (12.04 and 12.10) are in the process of being fixed.
104 <h2>Problems with JACK configuration</h2>
107 <dt>What is the problem?</dt>
110 To function as intended, JACK needs to run with access to two
111 operating system facilities called "realtime scheduling" and "memory
112 locking". This means that you, the user who starts JACK, must be
113 allowed access to these facilities. By default, Ubuntu does create a
114 user group that has this permission but ... it does not put new
115 users into this group by default. Read more about why <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/TheAudioGroup">here</a>.
116 Consequently, you will not have permission to run JACK in the way you should.
122 A message like "Cannot lock down memory" in the output from JACK as
123 it starts up. This output may be "hidden" in the Messages window of
124 QJackctrl (aka JACK Control), so you should check there.
130 Make sure the file /etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf exists. If it is
131 named /etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf.disabled, rename it to the former.
132 Run the command <code>sudo usermod -a -G
133 audio <em>YOUR-LOGIN-NAME</em></code>. Then logout and login again.
134 On Ubuntu Studio the user is a member of audio group by default, but not
135 on other official flavors.
139 <h2>Reporting Issues</h2>
140 <p>Given the difficulties in supporting Ubuntu and the limited time/resources of the Ardour team, the <code>Ubuntu Studio Project</code> has requested that issues and bug reports related to Ubuntu, Ubuntu Studio and other derivitives be directed to them.<p>
141 <h4>Contact Information for Ubuntu Studio</h4>
142 <p><a href="http://ubuntustudio.org" target="_blank">The Ubuntu Studio Homepage</a></p>
143 <p><a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=335" target="_blank">The Ubuntu Studio Forums.</a></p>
144 <p><a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio/MailLists" target="_blank">Information on the Ubuntu Studio Mailing Lists.</a></p>
145 <p><a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio/IRC" target-"_blank">Information on the Ubuntu Studio IRC channel.</a> #ubuntustudio on irc.freenode.net</p>