title: Ubuntu Linux
---
-<h2>Ubuntu Linux</h2>
-
<p>
Ubuntu Linux is the most popular variety of Linux in use on desktop
and laptop systems. It has the backing of a for-profit corporation
- (Canonical Inc.) behind it, a defined philosophy and a huge and
- worldwide user base.As a result, it is a common platform for people
+ (Canonical Inc.), a defined philosophy and a huge and
+ worldwide user base. As a result, it is a common platform for people
who want to use Ardour and other tools for music creation and
pro-audio work.
</p>
-<p>
- Unfortunately, Ubuntu has repeatedly caused major headaches for
- people who want to use Ardour. These problems have arisen from a
- combination of two basic issues:
-
- <ul>
- <li>Badly built packages of Ardour</li>
- <li>Poor system configuration related to JACK, which Ardour (and
- most other pro-audio tools on Linux) uses for audio and MIDI I/O.
- </li>
- </ul>
-</p>
-<h3>Problems with Ardour Packages</h3>
+<h2>High Level Recommendations for Ubuntu Users</h2>
-<dl class="faq">
-<dt>What is the problem?</dt>
-<dd>
-<p>
- It is not possible to know whether the current package of Ardour
- released by Ubuntu has been correctly built or not. Ubuntu has a
- history of making packaging errors that lead to crashes, missing
- functionality and odd behaviour that is not present in the
- ready-to-run version of the program that you can get from ardour.org
- (or in the packages released by other distributions)
-</p>
-<dt>Symptoms</dt>
-<dd>
<p>
- If you plan to use Ardour on Ubuntu, you are <strong>strongly
- recommended</strong> to download the ready-to-run version from
- ardour.org. Ardour's lead developer (and many of the most active
- members of our user community) will not provide support for, and
- will not investigate bugs reported for, Ubuntu's own packages of
- Ardour.
+ Currently, installing pro audio applications on vanilla Ubuntu requires
+ some configuration, in order for the user to gain realtime privilege
+ (read below).
+ Ubuntu Studio, which is an official flavor of Ubuntu, and thus shares
+ the repositories with Ubuntu, has this already configured.
+ Other distributions, such as KXStudio, and Dreamstudio are largely based
+ on Ubuntu, and like Ubuntu Studio, has these settings preconfigured, while
+ also containing customized versions of Ubuntu packages, which often are
+ more up to date.
</p>
-</dd>
-<dt>How to Fix</dt>
-<dd>
-<p>
- If have already installed the Ubuntu package of Ardour and find that
- although the program starts up and basically runs, but you are
- running into more subtle problems (for example, with plugin GUIs or
- with export, or with the use of certain specific plugins), then you
- are <strong>strongly recommended</strong> to download the
- ready-to-run version from ardour.org.
-</p>
-</dd>
-</dl>
+<h2>Installing Ardour</h2>
+ There may be unintended differences, and even bugs in Ubuntu native
+ packages, as a result of a different building method. For this reason,
+ Ardour developers highly recommend you to install the official
+ ready-to-run version of the program that you can get from <a
+ href="http://ardour.org/download">ardour.org</a>, as Ubuntu native
+ packages are not supported in official Ardour forums or other
+ support channels.
-<h3>Problems with PulseAudio and JACK Configuration</h3>
-
-<h4>Problems with the interaction between PulseAudio and JACK</h4>
+<h2>Problems with the interaction between PulseAudio and JACK</h2>
+<dl>
+<dt>Background Info</dt>
+<dd>
<p>
Like many distributions, Ubuntu has decide to use PulseAudio as the
default audio system. PulseAudio is a rich and capable system that
another message, and PulseAudio can once again use the soundcard
directly.
</p>
+</dd>
+<dt>What is the problem?</dt>
+<dd>
<p>
- This relatively simple system ought to be the basis for excellent
- cooperation between PulseAudio and JACK. Unfortunately, it relies on
- everything being correctly configured for it to work, and Ubuntu
- have repeatedly failed to get this configuration correct.
+ The specific issues known at this time for all flavors of Ubuntu
+ 12.04 and 12.10 are:
</p>
-
-<p>
- The specific issues known at this time (spring 2013) are:
<ul>
<li>a bug in PulseAudio that causes it not to give up the
- soundcard when JACK asks</li>
- <li>bad package dependency information that causes a critical
- package to be missing even when JACK and PulseAudio are
- installed</li>
- <li>a bug that causes JACK to freeze up when told to stop,
- causing issues with restarting</li>
+ soundcard when JACK asks (<a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pulseaudio/+bug/1163638">LP: #1163638</a>
+ (fixed in Ubuntu 13.04).</li>
</ul>
-
-<h5>Symptoms</h5>
-
+</dd>
+<dt>Symptoms</dt>
+<dd>
<p>
<ul>
<li>Cannot start JACK (though see the next section for other
causes of this)</li>
- <li>JACK starts but there is no sound coming from Ardour or other
- applications that use JACK.</li>
</ul>
</p>
-
-<h5>How to fix</h5>
-
-<h2>Problems with JACK configuration<h2>
-
-<p>
- To function as intended, JACK needs to run with access to two
- operating system facilities called "realtime scheduling" and "memory
- locking". This means that you, the user who starts JACK, must be
- allowed access to these facilities. By default, Ubuntu does create a
- user group that has this permission but ... it does not put new
- users into this group by default. Consequently, you will not have
- permission to run JACK in the way you should.
-</p>
-
-<h5>Symptoms</h5>
-
+</dd>
+<dt>How to fix</dt>
+<dd>
<p>
- A message like "Cannot lock down memory" in the output from JACK as
- it starts up. This output may be "hidden" in the Messages window of
- QJackctrl (aka JACK Control), so you should check there.
+ These bugs do not affect the upcoming 13.04 release, and earlier
+ releases (12.04 and 12.10) are in the process of being fixed.
</p>
+</dd>
+</dl>
-<h5>How to fix</h5>
-
-<p>
- Run the command <code>sudo usermod -a -G
- audio <em>YOUR-LOGIN-NAME</em></code>. Then logout and login again.
-</p>
+<h2>Problems with JACK configuration</h2>
+
+<dl>
+ <dt>What is the problem?</dt>
+ <dd>
+ <p>
+ To function as intended, JACK needs to run with access to two
+ operating system facilities called "realtime scheduling" and "memory
+ locking". This means that you, the user who starts JACK, must be
+ allowed access to these facilities. By default, Ubuntu does create a
+ user group that has this permission but ... it does not put new
+ users into this group by default. Read more about why <a href="https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Audio/TheAudioGroup">here</a>.
+ Consequently, you will not have permission to run JACK in the way you should.
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+ <dt>Symptoms</dt>
+ <dd>
+ <p>
+ A message like "Cannot lock down memory" in the output from JACK as
+ it starts up. This output may be "hidden" in the Messages window of
+ QJackctrl (aka JACK Control), so you should check there.
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+ <dt>How to fix</dt>
+ <dd>
+ <p>
+ Make sure the file /etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf exists. If it is
+ named /etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf.disabled, rename it to the former.
+ Run the command <code>sudo usermod -a -G
+ audio <em>YOUR-LOGIN-NAME</em></code>. Then logout and login again.
+ On Ubuntu Studio the user is a member of audio group by default, but not
+ on other official flavors.
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+</dl>
+ <h2>Reporting Issues</h2>
+<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>
+<h3>Contact Information for Ubuntu Studio</h3>
+<p><a href="http://ubuntustudio.org" target="_blank">The Ubuntu Studio Homepage</a></p>
+<p><a href="http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=335" target="_blank">The Ubuntu Studio Forums.</a></p>
+<p><a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudio/MailLists" target="_blank">Information on the Ubuntu Studio Mailing Lists.</a></p>
+<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>
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