JA CKD(1) JACKD(1)

NAME
jackd JACK Audio Connection Kit sound server
SYNOPSIS
jackd [options] d backend [backendparameters]
jackd help
DESCRIPTION
jackd is the JACK audio server daemon, a lowlatency audio server. Originally written for the GNU/Linux
operating system, it also supports Mac OS X and various Unix platforms. JA CK can connect a number of
different client applications to an audio device and also to each other. Most clients are external, running in
their own processes as normal applications. JA CK also supports internal clients, which run within the
jackd process using a loadable "plugin" interface.
JA CK 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 [backendparameters ]
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 back-
endparameters are optional.
h, help
Print a brief usage message describing the main jackd options. These do not include back-
endparameters, which are listed using the help option for each specic backend. Examples
below show how to list them.
m, nomlock
Do not attempt to lock memory, even if realtime.
n, name servername
Name this jackd instance servername. If unspecied, this name comes from the
$JACK_DEFAULT_SERVER environment variable. It will be "default" if that is not dened.
p, portmax 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 lowlatency 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, realtimepriority int
When running realtime, set the scheduler priority to int.
silent
Silence any output during operation.
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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 specied 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 specic 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 specied, JACK will use "hw:0", the rst hardware
card dened in /etc/modules.conf.
z, dither [rectangular,triangular,shaped,none]
Set dithering mode. If none or unspecied, dithering is off. Only the rst 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 specied.
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" moni-
toring of audio input. It requires support in hardware and from the underlying ALSA device
driver.
When enabled, requests to monitor capture ports will be satised 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
(MAudio 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.
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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 congured 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 congure card for 16bit samples rst, only trying 32bits if unsuccessful. Default is to
prefer 32bit samples.
s, softmode
Ignore xruns reported by the ALSA driver. This makes JACK less likely to disconnect unrespon-
sive 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 hard-
ware MIDI port on the machine). raw provides slightly better performance but does not permit
JA CK MIDI communication with software written to use the ALSA "sequencer" API.
COREAUDIO BACKEND PARAMETERS
c channels
Maximum number of channels (default: 2)
i inchannels
Maximum number of input channels (default: 2)
o outchannels
Maximum number of output channels (default: 2)
C capture
Whether or not to capture (default: true)
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P playback
Whether or not to playback (default: true)
D monitor
Provide monitor ports for the output (default: false)
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.
d device
CoreAudio device name (default: none)
I inputlatency
Extra input latency (frames) (default: 0)
O outputlatency
Extra output latency (frames) (default: 0)
l listdevices
Display available CoreAudio devices (default: false)
H hog
Take exclusive access of the audio device (default: false)
L asynclatency
Extra output latency in asynchronous mode (percent) (default: 100)
G grain
Computation grain in RT thread (percent) (default: 100)
s clockdrift
Whether to compensate clock drift in dynamically created aggregate device (default: false)
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.
NETONE BACKEND PARAMETERS
i, audioins int
Number of capture channels (default: 2)
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o, audioouts int
Number of playback channels (default: 2)
I, midiins int
Number of midi capture channels (default: 1)
O, midiouts int
Number of midi playback channels (default: 1)
r, rate int
Sample rate (default: 48000)
p, period int
Frames per period (default: 1024)
n, numperiods int
Network latency setting in no. of periods (default: 5)
l, listenport int
The socket port we are listening on for sync packets (default: 3000)
f, factor int
Factor for sample rate reduction (default: 1)
u, upstreamfactor 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, bitdepth int
Sample bitdepth (0 for oat, 8 for 8bit and 16 for 16bit) (default: 0)
t, transportsync int
Whether to slave the transport to the master transport (default: true)
a, autoconf int
Whether to use Autocong, or just start. (default: true)
R, redundancy int
Send packets N times (default: 1)
e, nativeendian int
Dont convert samples to network byte order. (default: false)
J, jitterval int
attempted jitterbuffer microseconds on master (default: 0)
D, alwaysdeadline 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
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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_le
Specify input device for capture (default: /dev/dsp)
P, playback device_le
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_le
Specify input device for capture (default: /dev/audio)
P, playback device_le
Specify output device for playback (default: /dev/audio)
b, ignorehwbuf boolean
Specify, whether to ignore hardware period size (default: false)
PORTA UDIO 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)
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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 specic to each backend.
jackd d alsa help
jackd d coreaudio help
jackd d net help
jackd d dummy help
jackd d rewire 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 rst ALSA hardware card dened in /etc/mod-
ules.conf.
jackstart realtime driver=alsa
Run the JACK daemon with low latency giving verbose output, which can be helpful for troubleshooting
system latency problems. A reasonably welltuned system with a good sound card and a lowlatency ker-
nel 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.source-
forge.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 dened 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 dened in /etc/modules.conf.
Any xruns reported by the ALSA backend will be ignored. The larger buffer helps reduce data loss. Rec-
tangular dithering will be used for playback.
jackd d alsa d hw:1 p2048 n3 softmode zr
Run jackd in fullduplex mode using the ALSA hw:0,0 device for playback and the hw:0,2 device for cap-
ture.
jackd d alsa P hw:0,0 C hw:0,2
Run jackd in playbackonly mode using the ALSA hw:0,0 device.
jackd d alsa P hw:0,0
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ENVIRONMENT
JA CK is evolving a mechanism for automatically starting the server when needed. Any client started with-
out a running JACK server will attempt to start one itself using the command line found in the rst line of
$HOME/.jackdrc if it exists, or /etc/jackdrc if it does not. If neither le exists, a builtin default com-
mand will be used, including the T ag, which causes the server to shut down when all clients have exited.
As a transition, this only happens when $JACK_START_SERVER is dened in the environment of the
calling process. In the future this will become normal behavior. In either case, dening
$JACK_NO_START_SERVER disables this feature.
To change where JACK looks for the backend drivers, set $JACK_DRIVER_DIR.
$JACK_DEFAULT_SERVER species the default server name. If not dened, the string "default" is
used. If set in their respective environments, this affects jackd unless its name parameter is set, and all
JA CK clients unless they pass an explicit name to jack_client_open().
SEE ALSO:
http://www.jackaudio.org
The ofcial JACK website with news, docs and a list of JACK clients.
http://jackaudio.org/email
The JACK dev elopers mailing list. Subscribe, to take part in development of JACK or JACK clients. User
questions are also welcome, there is no user-specic mailing list.
http://www.jackosx.com/
Tools specic to the Mac OS X version of JACK.
http://www.alsaproject.org
The Advanced Linux Sound Architecture.
BUGS
Please report bugs to
http://trac.jackaudio.org/
AUTHORS
Architect and original implementor: Paul Davis
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 OQuin, 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 OQuin and Alexandre Prokoudine.
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