Ubuntu Manpage: jackd - JACK Audio Connection Kit sound server

Provided by: jackd2_1.9.21~dfsg-3ubuntu3_amd64

NAME

       jackd - JACK Audio Connection Kit sound server

SYNOPSIS

       jackd [options] -d backend [backend-parameters]
       jackd --help

DESCRIPTION

       jackd  is  the  JACK  audio server daemon that allows JACK client programs to process and route audio and
       MIDI data in a synchronous, sample-accurate and low-latency manner. Originally written for the  GNU/Linux
       operating  system,  it  also runs on various Unix platforms, Mac OS X and MS Windows.  JACK 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. JACK also supports internal clients,
       which run within the jackd process using a loadable "plugin" interface.

       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.

       The  name  JACK  makes a reference to the classical way of patching audio connections with physical audio
       jack cables.  JACK is also a recursive acronym, that is an abbreviation which is  part  of  itself.  JACK
       Audio Connection Kit.

       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, firewire, 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.

-a, --autoconnect modechar
Select how to handle self connect requests. They can be ignore or fail, on all port or just
external ones. Use the --help option to know your system specific options. The default is to not
restrict self connect requests.

-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. (default: "default")

-p, --port-max n
Set the maximum number of ports the JACK server can manage. (default: 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. 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. (default: true)

-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. In realtime mode the client timeout must be smaller
than the watchdog timeout (5000 msec). (default: 500)

-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.

-C, --internal-session-file internal-session-file
Load internal clients and connections from internal-session-file. Each line of this configuration
file starts with a command. The following commands are available:
l(oad) client-name lib-name client-args
With this command an internal JACK client will be instantiated. client-name and lib-name cannot
contain spaces. The rest of the line will be interpreted as client-args and sent to the client
library.
c(on) source-port destination-port
With this command a source port will be connected to a destination port. source-port and
destination-port cannot contain spaces.
Comments are allowed, they start with #.
An example configuration could look like the following:
l inprocess1 inprocess
l amp1 jalv http://lv2plug.in/plugins/eg-amp
c amp:out system:playback_1

-u, --unlock
Unlock libraries GTK+, QT, FLTK, Wine.

-v, --verbose
Give verbose output.

-c, --clocksource ( h(pet) | s(ystem) )
Select a specific wall clock (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. Optionally 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.
(default: true)

-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: maximum supported by hardware)

-I, --input-latency
Extra input latency (frames). (default: 0)

-n, --nperiods int
Number of periods of playback latency. In seconds, this corresponds to --nperiods times --period
divided by --rate. The default is 2, the minimum allowed. 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: maximum supported by hardware)

-O, --output-latency
Extra output latency (frames). (default: 0)

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

-p, --period int
Number of frames between JACK process() calls. This value must be a power of 2. 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. (default: 1024)

-r, --rate int
Sample rate. (default: 48000)

-S, --shorts
Try to configure card for 16-bit samples first, only trying 32-bits if unsuccessful. (default:
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]
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, --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)

-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, must be a power of 2. (default: 128)

-d, --device
CoreAudio device name. (default: none)

-I, --input-latency
Extra input latency (frames). (default: 0)

-O, --output-latency
Extra output latency (frames). (default: 0)

-l, --list-devices
Display available CoreAudio devices. (default: false)

-H, --hog
Take exclusive access of the audio device. (default: false)

-L, --async-latency
Extra output latency in asynchronous mode (percent). (default: 100)

-G, --grain
Computation grain in RT thread (percent). (default: 100)

-s, --clock-drift
Whether or not to compensate clock drift in dynamically created aggregate device. (default:
false)

DUMMY BACKEND PARAMETERS
-C, --capture int
Number of capture ports. (default: 2)

-P, --playback int
Number of playback ports. (default: 2)

-r, --rate int
Sample rate. (default: 48000)

-w, --wait int
Number of usecs to wait between engine processes. (default: 21333)

NETONE 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 or not to slave the transport to the master transport. (default: true)

-a, --autoconf int
Whether or not to use Autoconfig, or just start. (default: true)

-R, --redundancy int
Send packets N times. (default: 1)

-e, --native-endian int
Don't 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
Sample rate. (default: 48000)

-n, --nperiods int
Number of periods in the hardware buffer. 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. (default: 2)

-w, --wordlength int
Sample size in bits. (default: 16)

-i, --inchannels int
Number of capture channels. (default: 2)

-o, --outchannels int
Number of playback channels. (default: 2)

-C, --capture device_file
Input device for capture. (default: /dev/dsp)

-P, --playback device_file
Output device for playback. (default: /dev/dsp)

-b, --ignorehwbuf boolean
Whether or not to ignore hardware period size. (default: false)

-e, --excl boolean
Request exclusive and direct access to the sound device. This avoids mixing and automatic audio
conversion in the OSS driver, and the extra latency that comes with that. (default: false)

-I, --input-latency
Extra input latency (frames). (default: 0)

-O, --output-latency
Extra output latency (frames). (default: 0)

SUN BACKEND PARAMETERS
-r, --rate int
Sample rate. (default: 48000)

-n, --nperiods int
Number of periods in the hardware buffer. 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. (default: 2)

-w, --wordlength int
Sample size in bits. (default: 16)

-i, --inchannels int
Number of capture channels. (default: 2)

-o, --outchannels int
Number of playback channels. (default: 2)

-C, --capture device_file
Input device for capture. (default: /dev/audio)

-P, --playback device_file
Output device for playback. (default: /dev/audio)

-b, --ignorehwbuf boolean
Whether or not 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)

-I, --input-latency
Extra input latency (frames). (default: 0)

-o, --channelout
Maximum number of output channels. (default: all available hardware channels)

-O, --output-latency
Extra output latency (frames). (default: 0)

-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, must be a power of 2. (default: 1024)

-n, --name
Driver name. (default: none)

-z, --dither
Dithering mode. (default: none)

FIREWIRE BACKEND PARAMETERS
-d, --device name
The Firewire device name to use. If none is specified, JACK will try to use "hw:0". To get a list
of available Firewire devices, see ffado-test. It's recommended to use the GUID of a Firewire
device to rule out any ambiguities. Once the GUID of the device is known ("ffado-test
ListDevices"), it can be used like -dguid:0xff2584e39b078a2e to tell JACK which interface to use.
Sometimes resetting the Firewire bus can help ("ffado-test BusReset") if there is any problem.
(default: hw:0)

-n, --nperiods int
Number of periods of playback latency. Value must be greater or equal 2. In seconds, this
corresponds to --nperiods times --period divided by --rate. (default: 3)

-r, --rate int
Sample rate. (default: 48000)

-C, --capture [ name ]
Provide only capture ports, unless combined with -D or -P. Optionally set capture device name.

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

-D, --duplex
Provide both capture and playback ports. This option is the default behaviour and can normally be
omitted. -D can not be combined with -P or -C.

-I, --input-latency
Extra input latency (frames). (default: 0)

-O, --output-latency
Extra output latency (frames). (default: 0)

-v, --verbose
libffado verbose level. (default: 3)

-X, --snoop
Snoop Firewire traffic. (default: false)

-h, --help Print a brief usage message describing only the
firewire backend parameters.

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 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. Please consult the JACK FAQ for more 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

JACK is evolving a mechanism for automatically starting the server when needed. Any client started
without a running JACK server will attempt to start one itself using the command line found in the first
line of $HOME/.jackdrc if it exists, or /etc/jackdrc if it does not. If neither file exists, a built-in
default command will be used, including the -T flag, which causes the server to shut down when all
clients have exited.

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().

Defining $JACK_NO_AUDIO_RESERVATION will bypass audio device reservation via session bus (DBus). This can
be useful if JACK was compiled with DBus support but should run on a headless system.

$JACK_PROMISCUOUS_SERVER enables an alternate way of handling the various shared resources (Unix sockets,
semaphores, ...). In this mode, the generated names will not contain the user id anymore, and the
permissions of those resources will be relaxed, allowing clients from different users to talk with the
same server. Moreover, on platforms that support it (all POSIX variants), if set to a valid Unix group
name or id, the permissions will be restricted to that group, so only members of that group will be able
to launch clients that talk to this server. Important note: it must be set with the same value for both
server and clients to work as expected.

BUGS

       Please report bugs as issues to the corresponding repository:
       <http://www.github.com/jackaudio/>

AUTHORS

       Architect and original implementer: 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 O'Quin, Taybin Rutkin, Stéphane 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, Alexandre Prokoudine and Thomas Brand.

       Create a PDF file from this manpage:

              man -t jackd | ps2pdf - > jackd.pdf

1.9.21                                             2024-04-06                                           JACKD(1)

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

OPTIONS

EXAMPLES

ENVIRONMENT

SEE ALSO:

BUGS

AUTHORS