Bug#579938: [vlc-plugin-jack] Disconnects between tracks/songs

[Adrian Knoth]

On Sun, May 02, 2010 at 06:01:09PM +0300, David Baron wrote:

> > > I need to "connect" vlc###->system in the qjackctl connection pane to
> > > hear music. At each track playing an audio-CD, for example, it
> > > disconnects and I need to reconnect to hear music. Not a desirable
> > > behavior!
> > 
> > Shouldn't it be sufficient to go to the preference menu, select "Show
> > all settings", then choose Audio/Output modules/JACK and say "connect to
> > clients matching" with or without "automatically connect to writable
> > clients"?
> This, once found, works just fine! No need to touch qjackctl at all.

Glad it worked. ;)

> Question is: what should be the default mode when jackd is found
> running on program start (which would busy up alsa)? I think it should
> simply play.
> 
> At worst, auto-connect should be in the simple options and default
> checked.

I expected this proposal, and I think it's wrong. The point is: jack is
not a tool for ordinary desktop users but targeted at professional music
production. Jack is not supposed to run as a desktop sound server, this
is what pulseaudio is for.

Consequently, there is no sensible default where to connect. Physical
outs? Or some FX-chain in advance? Or no connection at all, because the
output will be fed to a streaming server?


And BTW: a running jackd doesn't imply that ALSA is busy. Normally,
there is a dedicated (separate) professional audio card in a jackd setup
that's connected to the studio. And if you run jackd in dummy mode, no
soundcard at all would be occupied.

> > BTW: Unless you really need to separate the vlc outputs from all other
> > system outputs, I recommend using the pulseaudio audio plugin instead
> > and then use pulseaudio-module-jack to bridge to jackd. This way, your
> > connections are always on, no need to mess with qjackctl at all. ;)

> I wish pulse was up to snuff but it is just too troublesome. Someday.

You think so? I claim that's FUD. If something isn't working, file a bug
report against pulseaudio or the application in question. To me, it
works like a charm, vlc, skype, flash, mplayer and the lot all
outputting to pulseaudio which then feeds everything to jackd. Way more
stable than the libasound2-jackd-alsa bridge.

And make sure to try the DBUS interface support in current qjackctl.
(setup/Misc-tab). This might be especially useful in your single card
setup: with DBUS support, jackd2 (then jackdbus) talks to pulseaudio,
and pulseaudio will release the soundcard, so jackd can be started.

In other words, pulseaudio and jackd hand over the card to each other.
No need to look for and shutdown all the apps that prevent jackd from
starting.

You should really give it a whirl. I never want to go back.


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