JACKD

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

JACK differs from other audio servers in being designed from the ground up for professional audio work. It focuses on two key areas: synchronous execution of all clients, and low latency operation.

For the latest JACK information, please consult the web site, <http://www.jackaudio.org>.  

OPTIONS

-d, --driver backend [backend-parameters ]

Select the audio interface backend. The current list of supported backends is: alsa, coreaudio, dummy, freebob, oss sun and portaudio. They are not all available on all platforms. All backend-parameters are optional.

-h, --help

Print a brief usage message describing the main jackd options. These do not include backend-parameters, which are listed using the --help option for each specific backend. Examples below show how to list them.

-m, --no-mlock

Do not attempt to lock memory, even if --realtime.

-n, --name server-name

Name this jackd instance server-name. If unspecified, this name comes from the $JACK_DEFAULT_SERVER environment variable. It will be "default" if that is not defined.

-p, --port-max n

Set the maximum number of ports the JACK server can manage. The default value is 256.

--replace-registry

Remove the shared memory registry used by all JACK server instances before startup. This should rarely be used, and is intended only for occasions when the structure of this registry changes in ways that are incompatible across JACK versions (which is rare).

-R, --realtime

Use realtime scheduling (default = true). This is needed for reliable low-latency performance. On many systems, it requires jackd to run with special scheduler and memory allocation privileges, which may be obtained in several ways.

-r, --no-realtime

Do not use realtime scheduling.

-P, --realtime-priority int

When running --realtime, set the scheduler priority to int.

--silent

Silence any output during operation.

-T, --temporary

Exit once all clients have closed their connections.

-t, --timeout int

Set client timeout limit in milliseconds. The default is 500 msec. In realtime mode the client timeout must be smaller than the watchdog timeout (5000 msec).

-Z, --nozombies

Prevent JACK from ever kicking out clients because they were too slow. This cancels the effect any specified timeout value, but JACK and its clients are still subject to the supervision of the watchdog thread or its equivalent.

-u, --unlock

Unlock libraries GTK+, QT, FLTK, Wine.

-v, --verbose

Give verbose output.

-c, --clocksource ( c(ycle) | h(pet) | s(ystem) )

Select a specific wall clock (Cycle Counter, HPET timer, System timer).

-V, --version

Print the current JACK version number and exit.

ALSA BACKEND OPTIONS

-C, --capture [ name ]

Provide only capture ports, unless combined with -D or -P. Parameterally set capture device name.

-d, --device name

The ALSA pcm device name to use. If none is specified, JACK will use "hw:0", the first hardware card defined in /etc/modules.conf.

-z, --dither [rectangular,triangular,shaped,none]

Set dithering mode. If none or unspecified, dithering is off. Only the first letter of the mode name is required.

-D, --duplex

Provide both capture and playback ports. Defaults to on unless only one of -P or -C is specified.

-h, --help Print a brief usage message describing only the

alsa backend parameters.

-M, --hwmeter

Enable hardware metering for devices that support it. Otherwise, use software metering.

-H, --hwmon

Enable hardware monitoring of capture ports. This is a method for obtaining "zero latency" monitoring of audio input. It requires support in hardware and from the underlying ALSA device driver.

When enabled, requests to monitor capture ports will be satisfied by creating a direct signal path between audio interface input and output connectors, with no processing by the host computer at all. This offers the lowest possible latency for the monitored signal.

Presently (March 2003), only the RME Hammerfall series and cards based on the ICE1712 chipset (M-Audio Delta series, Terratec, and others) support --hwmon. In the future, some consumer cards may also be supported by modifying their mixer settings.

Without --hwmon, port monitoring requires JACK to read audio into system memory, then copy it back out to the hardware again, imposing the basic JACK system latency determined by the --period and --nperiods parameters.

-i, --inchannels int

Number of capture channels. Default is maximum supported by hardware.

-n, --nperiods int

Specify the number of periods of playback latency. In seconds, this corresponds to --nperiods times --period divided by --rate. The default is 2, the minimum allowable. For most devices, there is no need for any other value with the --realtime option. Without realtime privileges or with boards providing unreliable interrupts (like ymfpci), a larger value may yield fewer xruns. This can also help if the system is not tuned for reliable realtime scheduling.

For most ALSA devices, the hardware buffer has exactly --period times --nperiods frames. Some devices demand a larger buffer. If so, JACK will use the smallest possible buffer containing at least --nperiods, but the playback latency does not increase.

For USB audio devices it is recommended to use -n 3. Firewire devices supported by FFADO (formerly Freebob) are configured with -n 3 by default.

-o, --outchannels int

Number of playback channels. Default is maximum supported by hardware.

-P, --playback [ name ]

Provide only playback ports, unless combined with -D or -C. Optionally set playback device name.

-p, --period int

Specify the number of frames between JACK process() calls. This value must be a power of 2, and the default is 1024. If you need low latency, set -p as low as you can go without seeing xruns. A larger period size yields higher latency, but makes xruns less likely. The JACK capture latency in seconds is --period divided by --rate.

-r, --rate int

Specify the sample rate. The default is 48000.

-S, --shorts

Try to configure card for 16-bit samples first, only trying 32-bits if unsuccessful. Default is to prefer 32-bit samples.

-s, --softmode

Ignore xruns reported by the ALSA driver. This makes JACK less likely to disconnect unresponsive ports when running without --realtime.

-X, --midi [seq|raw]

Specify which ALSA MIDI system to provide access to. Using raw will provide a set of JACK MIDI ports that correspond to each raw ALSA device on the machine. Using seq will provide a set of JACK MIDI ports that correspond to each ALSA "sequencer" client (which includes each hardware MIDI port on the machine). raw provides slightly better performance but does not permit JACK MIDI communication with software written to use the ALSA "sequencer" API.

COREAUDIO BACKEND PARAMETERS

-c --channel

Maximum number of channels (default: 2)

-i --channelin

Maximum number of input channels (default: 2)

-o --channelout

Maximum number of output channels (default: 2)

-C --capture

Whether or not to capture (default: true)

-P --playback

Whether or not to playback (default: true)

-D --duplex

Capture and playback (default: true)

-r --rate

Sample rate (default: 44100)

-p --period

Frames per period (default: 128). Must be a power of 2.

-n --name

Driver name (default: none)

-I --id

Audio Device ID (default: 0)

DUMMY BACKEND PARAMETERS

-C, --capture int

Specify number of capture ports. The default value is 2.

-P, --playback int

Specify number of playback ports. The default value is 2.

-r, --rate int

Specify sample rate. The default value is 48000.

-p, --period int

Specify the number of frames between JACK process() calls. This value must be a power of 2, and the default is 1024. If you need low latency, set -p as low as you can go without seeing xruns. A larger period size yields higher latency, but makes xruns less likely. The JACK capture latency in seconds is --period divided by --rate.

-w, --wait int

Specify number of usecs to wait between engine processes. The default value is 21333.

NET BACKEND PARAMETERS

 -i, --audio-ins int

Number of capture channels (default: 2)

 -o, --audio-outs int

Number of playback channels (default: 2)

 -I, --midi-ins int

Number of midi capture channels (default: 1)

-O, --midi-outs int

Number of midi playback channels (default: 1)

 -r, --rate int

Sample rate (default: 48000)

-p, --period int

Frames per period (default: 1024)

-n, --num-periods int

Network latency setting in no. of periods (default: 5)

-l, --listen-port int

The socket port we are listening on for sync packets (default: 3000)

-f, --factor int

Factor for sample rate reduction (default: 1)

-u, --upstream-factor int

Factor for sample rate reduction on the upstream (default: 0)

-c, --celt int

sets celt encoding and number of kbits per channel (default: 0)

-b, --bit-depth int

Sample bit-depth (0 for float, 8 for 8bit and 16 for 16bit) (default: 0)

-t, --transport-sync int

Whether to slave the transport to the master transport (default: true)

-a, --autoconf int

Whether to use Autoconfig, or just start. (default: true)

-R, --redundancy int

Send packets N times (default: 1)

-e, --native-endian int

Dont convert samples to network byte order. (default: false)

-J, --jitterval int

attempted jitterbuffer microseconds on master (default: 0)

-D, --always-deadline int

always use deadline (default: false)

OSS BACKEND PARAMETERS

-r, --rate int

Specify the sample rate. The default is 48000.

-p, --period int

Specify the number of frames between JACK process() calls. This value must be a power of 2, and the default is 1024. If you need low latency, set -p as low as you can go without seeing xruns. A larger period size yields higher latency, but makes xruns less likely. The JACK capture latency in seconds is --period divided by --rate.

-n, --nperiods int

Specify the number of periods in the hardware buffer. The default is 2. The period size (-p) times --nperiods times four is the JACK buffer size in bytes. The JACK output latency in seconds is --nperiods times --period divided by --rate.

-w, --wordlength int

Specify the sample size in bits. The default is 16.

-i, --inchannels int

Specify how many channels to capture (default: 2)

-o, --outchannels int

Specify number of playback channels (default: 2)

-C, --capture device_file

Specify input device for capture (default: /dev/dsp)

-P, --playback device_file

Specify output device for playback (default: /dev/dsp)

-b, --ignorehwbuf boolean

Specify, whether to ignore hardware period size (default: false)

SUN BACKEND PARAMETERS

-r, --rate int

Specify the sample rate. The default is 48000.

-p, --period int

Specify the number of frames between JACK process() calls. This value must be a power of 2, and the default is 1024. If you need low latency, set -p as low as you can go without seeing xruns. A larger period size yields higher latency, but makes xruns less likely. The JACK capture latency in seconds is --period divided by --rate.

-n, --nperiods int

Specify the number of periods in the hardware buffer. The default is 2. The period size (-p) times --nperiods times four (assuming 2 channels 16-bit samples) is the JACK buffer size in bytes. The JACK output latency in seconds is --nperiods times --period divided by --rate.

-w, --wordlength int

Specify the sample size in bits. The default is 16.

-i, --inchannels int

Specify how many channels to capture (default: 2)

-o, --outchannels int

Specify number of playback channels (default: 2)

-C, --capture device_file

Specify input device for capture (default: /dev/audio)

-P, --playback device_file

Specify output device for playback (default: /dev/audio)

-b, --ignorehwbuf boolean

Specify, whether to ignore hardware period size (default: false)

PORTAUDIO BACKEND PARAMETERS

-c --channel

Maximum number of channels (default: all available hardware channels)

-i --channelin

Maximum number of input channels (default: all available hardware channels)

-o --channelout

Maximum number of output channels (default: all available hardware channels)

-C --capture

Whether or not to capture (default: true)

-P --playback

Whether or not to playback (default: true)

-D --duplex

Capture and playback (default: true)

-r --rate

Sample rate (default: 48000)

-p --period

Frames per period (default: 1024). Must be a power of 2.

-n --name

Driver name (default: none)

-z --dither

Dithering mode (default: none)

EXAMPLES

Print usage message for the parameters specific to each backend.

jackd -d alsa --help
jackd -d coreaudio --help
jackd -d net --help
jackd -d dummy --help
jackd -d firewire --help
jackd -d freebob --help
jackd -d oss --help
jackd -d sun --help
jackd -d portaudio --help

Run the JACK daemon with realtime priority using the first ALSA hardware card defined in /etc/modules.conf.

jackstart --realtime --driver=alsa

Run the JACK daemon with low latency giving verbose output, which can be helpful for trouble-shooting system latency problems. A reasonably well-tuned system with a good sound card and a low-latency kernel can handle these values reliably. Some can do better. If you get xrun messages, try a larger buffer. Tuning a system for low latency can be challenging. The JACK FAQ, http://jackit.sourceforge.net/docs/faq.php has some useful suggestions.

jackstart -Rv -d alsa -p 128 -n 2 -r 44100

Run jackd with realtime priority using the "sblive" ALSA device defined in ~/.asoundrc. Apply shaped dithering to playback audio.

jackd -R -d alsa -d sblive --dither=shaped

Run jackd with no special privileges using the second ALSA hardware card defined in /etc/modules.conf. Any xruns reported by the ALSA backend will be ignored. The larger buffer helps reduce data loss. Rectangular dithering will be used for playback.

jackd -d alsa -d hw:1 -p2048 -n3 --softmode -zr

Run jackd in full-duplex mode using the ALSA hw:0,0 device for playback and the hw:0,2 device for capture.

jackd -d alsa -P hw:0,0 -C hw:0,2

Run jackd in playback-only mode using the ALSA hw:0,0 device.

jackd -d alsa -P hw:0,0

ENVIRONMENT

As a transition, this only happens when $JACK_START_SERVER is defined in the environment of the calling process. In the future this will become normal behavior. In either case, defining $JACK_NO_START_SERVER disables this feature.

To change where JACK looks for the backend drivers, set $JACK_DRIVER_DIR.

$JACK_DEFAULT_SERVER specifies the default server name. If not defined, the string "default" is used. If set in their respective environments, this affects jackd unless its --name parameter is set, and all JACK clients unless they pass an explicit name to jack_client_open().

SEE ALSO:

http://www.jackaudio.org
The official JACK website with news, docs and a list of JACK clients.

http://jackaudio.org/email
The JACK developers' mailing list. Subscribe, to take part in development of JACK or JACK clients. User questions are also welcome, there is no user-specific mailing list.

http://www.jackosx.com/
Tools specific to the Mac OS X version of JACK.

http://www.alsa-project.org
The Advanced Linux Sound Architecture.  

BUGS

AUTHORS

Original design Group: Paul Davis, David Olofson, Kai Vehmanen, Benno Sennoner, Richard Guenther, and other members of the Linux Audio Developers group.

Programming: Paul Davis, Jack O'Quin, Taybin Rutkin, Stephane Letz, Fernando Pablo Lopez-Lezcano, Steve Harris, Jeremy Hall, Andy Wingo, Kai Vehmanen, Melanie Thielker, Jussi Laako, Tilman Linneweh, Johnny Petrantoni, Torben Hohn.

Manpage written by Stefan Schwandter, Jack O'Quin and Alexandre Prokoudine.