One solution to XRUNs Ardour and Jack

English Multimedia
1

Hi, msg to all Jack users with xrun problems.

I had Xruns with Ardour and Jack making a xrun free recording a bit of draw of luck. These xruns did occur with other Jack based applications too eg. Musescore or Hydrogen. I was trying all sorts of things with no luck.
But there was a hint from the internet:

Wifi is interfering with Jack. I disabled wifi , so there were no wifi related processes running resulting in ZERO xruns.

According to the net this happens with other linux flavours too.

This is not the solutions for all xruns but something for first line of trouble shooting.

It looks like that the wifi process is forcing jack out of the schedule ?!? I wonder if it is necessary to run the wifi processes as such high priority ?

… or what other remedy may be found for future releases ? Bare in mind that Jack is an excellent tool for audio applications.

Thanks and happy recording

2

Other ways to reduce xruns:
Increase Frames/Period
Increase Periods/Buffer

Do that on both in Jack Settings until xruns disappear.

3

… I tried adjusting the frames per period and other things with no results.

Also I am not saying that disableing wifi will cure all xruns but it seams at least on my system that the majority of xruns are gone. And for the remaining xruns maybe adjusting the frames per period will do the job. … sofar no need for that.

4

Yes, depending on how heavy your session is, you might need to set FRAMES/PERIOD 2048 or higher and PERIODS/BUFFER 30 to 50 at times.

… but normally, should not need that.

And, as you say about the WiFi, I am actually using Ethernet on mine, but I still disable networking when doing serious recording or mixing.

5

@Fraser-Bell … interesting comment. I wonder if you have a write up or give further advice to solve possible Ardour/Jack issues. That would be much appreciated and save time.

I for myself was testing and changing settings for about 2 weeks before I properly disabled wifi. Not to worry, that’s why I run Linux.

I also wonder if it is really necessary to run a realtime kernel for Ardour as the Ardour forum people tell me. There must be a way to influence the CPU scheduling as such that one could come close to a realtime environment. What do the Suse developers think about the xrun problems ? This will not go away.

Last question : Are there any thoughts for a “SuseStudio” ? Even if this could be realised specific alteration of the standard system a user themself could perform.

Thanks and happy recording

6

I am no Jack expert, just know a couple things I had to do in certain circumstances, not much.

I also wonder if it is really necessary to run a realtime kernel for Ardour as the Ardour forum people tell me.

If doing serious or Professional Studio Recording, yes, an absolute must. However, if not, the openSUSE kernels are now quite low-latency kernels, though not realtime.

Last question : Are there any thoughts for a “SuseStudio” ? Even if this could be realised specific alteration of the standard system a user themself could perform.

A couple of people have bounced the idea around a little, but there is nothing at this point.

My own take? Why reinvent the wheel? I use openSUSE for almost everything, but for my Albums and Singles, and Studio Work for others, I use AV Linux, which is already designed and optimized for the job. I have it on my main multi-boot (42.3, 15.0, Tumbleweed, and AV Linux) work machine.

There are two excellent and notable dedicated Audio/Video Linux versions out there, AV Linux and KXStudio.

That would be my advice for Pro work.