JACKD(1)

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)

-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)

-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)

-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)

-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)

-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)

-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)

-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)

-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.

SEE ALSO:

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

<http://www.github.com/jackaudio/>
The official JACK github code repository. Pull requests are welcome.

<http://lists.jackaudio.org/listinfo.cgi/jack-devel-jackaudio.org>
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.

<http://www.ffado.org/>
The Free Firewire Audio Drivers (FFADO) Site.

<irc.freenode.net#jack>
Join the JACK community with your favourite IRC client.

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