Mon, 01 Aug 2005
Configuring the Jack Audio Connection Kit with Debian Sarge (stable)
I get a lot of requests to explain how to use the Jack Audio Connection Kit with Linux. As it is a fairly
complicated process, I figured I'd write it down. Here it is and here is what I'm assuming your situation looks
like. If your situation is different and you send me an email about why it didn't work, well...caveate emptor.
Hardware
- Debian GNU/Linux.
- A Pentium compatible PC, the faster the better. Pentium IIs will probably suck and at worst be completely
non-functional. Apple hardware may not work at all.
- A Linux compatible sound card. This means many cards but
excluding all firewire devices. USB sound cards are spotty too,
although I have got an Emagic A26 to work with a laptop.
- Speakers.
Software
The Debian packaging system makes getting a Jack system up and running quite simple when
compared to other distributions. We begin with installing your operating system and setting up the sound card.
- Download Debian (Sarge) CD #1 or the netinst minimal CD if you also have a fast Internet connection. Install
with a 2.6 kernel by giving the 'linux26' option at the boot prompt
- Follow the menus and reboot when prompted. When you are done with the questions after reboot, open a shell and
type this:
apt-get install alsa-base alsa-utils discover1. Then run alsaconf. It will ask
you some questions, reset your sound drivers and edit some configuration files. After this you should be able to
hear sound. Try playing an internet radio stream or a sound file. If it still doesn't work, reboot. I know it
sucks but sometimes it's simpler than troubleshooting.
- Once you have ALSA drivers loaded, you need to compile the realtime-lsm kernel module to get good audio
performance. Debian makes this exceptionally simple. First, check if you have some development tools installed with
apt-get install g++ make build-essential module-assistant. Now you have to install your kernel headers.
At this point you can get away with nothing more than apt-get install kernel-headers-2.6.8-2. Now you
have to download the source code for the realtime driver. apt-get install realtime-lsm-source
realtime-lsm.
- Now that you have all the software, let's build it. Start with
cd /usr/src; m-a prepare, followed
by m-a build realtime-lsm. It should finish without error and you should find a file called
realtime-lsm-module-2.6.8-2_0.1.1-6+10.00.Custom_i386.deb or something similar. Install it with dpkg -i
realtime-lsm-module-2.6.8-2_0.1.1-6+10.00.Custom_i386.deb.
- Congradulation. Your realtime driver is installed. Now you have to load it into your running kernel. Do this
invoke-rc.d realtime start. You shouldn't see any error messages. To confirm that the driver is loaded,
type dmesg and you should see a line like Realtime LSM initialized (group 29, mlock=1). If
not, something is wrong. Read the errors to diagnose your problem.
- Lastly, we install JACK.
apt-get install jackd qjackctl. Qjackctl is a graphical utility for
managing your audio system. Highly recommended.
- Start qjackctl and click the "start" button. If it says it started you are good to go. If not it should tell
you why.
Enjoy your new JACK audio system. For applications to use it they need to be compatible. Some of my favorites are
the xmms-jack plugin, alsaplayer, jamin, ardour, darkice from
my custom package, and pure data.
posted at: 13:36 | path:
/debian |
permanent link to this entry
