7 <dfn>Ubuntu Linux</dfn> 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>
17 Currently, installing pro audio applications on vanilla Ubuntu requires
18 some configuration, in order for the user to gain realtime privilege
20 Ubuntu Studio, which is an official flavor of Ubuntu, and thus shares
21 the repositories with Ubuntu, has this already configured.
22 Other distributions, such as KXStudio, and Dreamstudio are largely based
23 on Ubuntu, and like Ubuntu Studio, has these settings preconfigured, while
24 also containing customized versions of Ubuntu packages, which often are
28 <h2>Installing Ardour</h2>
30 There may be unintended differences, and even bugs in Ubuntu native
31 packages, as a result of a different building method. For this reason,
32 Ardour developers highly recommend you to install the official
33 ready-to-run version of the program that you can get from <a
34 href="http://ardour.org/download">ardour.org</a>, as Ubuntu native
35 packages are not supported in official Ardour forums or other
39 <h2>Problems with the interaction between PulseAudio and JACK</h2>
41 <h3>Background Info</h3>
43 Like many distributions, Ubuntu has decided to use <dfn>PulseAudio</dfn> 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
70 <h3>What is the problem?</h3>
72 The specific issues known at this time for all flavors of Ubuntu
76 <li>a bug in PulseAudio that causes it not to give up the
77 soundcard when JACK asks
78 (<a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio/+bug/1163638">LP:
80 fixed in Ubuntu 13.04).</li>
85 <samp>Cannot start JACK</samp> (though see the next section for other
91 These bugs do not affect the upcoming 13.04 release, and earlier
92 releases (12.04 and 12.10) are in the process of being fixed.
95 <h2>Problems with JACK configuration</h2>
97 <h3>What is the problem?</h3>
99 To function as intended, JACK needs to run with access to two
100 operating system facilities called <dfn>realtime scheduling</dfn> and
101 <dfn>memory locking</dfn>. This means that you, the user who starts JACK, must be
102 allowed access to these facilities. By default, Ubuntu does create a
103 user group that has this permission but — it does not put new
104 users into this group by default. Read more about why <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/TheAudioGroup">here</a>.
105 Consequently, you will not have permission to run JACK in the way you should.
109 A message like <samp>Cannot lock down memory</samp> in the output from JACK as
110 it starts up. This output may be hidden in the Messages window of
111 QJackctrl (aka JACK Control), so you should check there.
116 Make sure the file /etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf exists. If it is
117 named /etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf.disabled, rename it to the former.
120 <kbd class="cmd lin">sudo usermod -a -G audio
121 <em>YOUR-LOGIN-NAME</em></kbd>
123 Then log out and log in again. On Ubuntu Studio the user is a member of audio
124 group by default, but not on other official flavors.
127 <h2>Reporting Issues</h2>
129 Given the difficulties in supporting Ubuntu and the limited time/resources
130 of the Ardour team, the <dfn>Ubuntu Studio Project</dfn> has requested that
131 issues and bug reports related to Ubuntu, Ubuntu Studio and other
132 derivitives be directed to them.
134 <h3>Contact Information for Ubuntu Studio</h3>
135 <p><a href="http://ubuntustudio.org">The Ubuntu Studio Homepage</a></p>
136 <p><a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=335">The Ubuntu Studio Forums.</a></p>
137 <p><a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio/MailLists">Information on the Ubuntu Studio Mailing Lists.</a></p>
138 <p><a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio/IRC">Information on the Ubuntu Studio IRC channel.</a> #ubuntustudio on irc.freenode.net</p>