How to install qjackctl on Zorin?

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Matt73
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How to install qjackctl on Zorin?

Post by Matt73 »

Hello Good People,

Just trying to get JACK working on Zorin 16 core. I watched a video by JHoerman on Youtube about how to set up your machine (install low latency kernel, configure real time). The configure real time bit involved editing the file: etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf but this file doesn't exist. Maybe things have changed since he did his video. I completed succesfully the previous steps in his vid: installed the low latency kernel and added myself as an audio user. Should I worry about editing/creating this file?

Also, I couldn't see qjackctl in the software section when I clicked and searched. Maybe I can install it with terminal. Just trying to get it installed.

Any help appreciated.

Best

Matt
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Re: How to install qjackctl on Zorin?

Post by sunrat »

Zorin appears to be basically a pretty Ubuntu respin so probably it can use the same repos. Add the developer's PPA and you will always have the latest versions.
https://launchpad.net/~rncbc/+archive/ubuntu/apps-focal

I think choosing a niche distro like Zorin would make setting it up more difficult than a mainstream distro, but not impossible. Presumably you have followed the system configuration guide https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/system_configuration , slightly dated but mostly still helpful. As mentioned there, a full RT kernel is much less essential than it used to be so ignore that unless you find a special need for one (can help with MIDI jitter).
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Re: How to install qjackctl on Zorin?

Post by Ingrid »

use cadence https://kxstudio.linuxaudio.org/Applications:Cadence instead of qjackctl, it takes care of the pulseaudio stuff for you.
if you have jack2---which must modern distros do ootb--just go qjackctl > setup > misc > other > enable jack d-bus interface and you'll get all the amenities of cadence without having to deal with any pulseaudio bridge or whatever: it is all included in modern jack2 nowadays.
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Re: How to install qjackctl on Zorin?

Post by Matt73 »

Hmm. Just more confused now. I am a relative newbie. I've noticed that when I use my DAW (Tracktion Waveform) and select my USB interface, it all works well...until I close the program and reopen it. Then I get a lot of distortion in the audio. The way I fix this is to change the audio settings to something else and then reverting back to the original settings and then it works ok until then next time I close and reopen the program. It's a bit of a pain. Apparently using JACK instead of ALSA in the dropdown menu will resolve this. So I am just trying to install qjackctl.

Please remember I am a relative newbie so please explain things as you would to a 5 yr old. I just want to get my DAW to use JACK. Does this not involve installing qjackctl first. There is no sign of it on my computer at this point.

Thanks

Matt
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Re: How to install qjackctl on Zorin?

Post by Largos »

Zorin is ubuntu based, so you should be able to install by typing the following into terminal

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sudo apt install qjackctl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEduGnD6ZKQ - i recommend watching this to properly explain JACK and also qjackctl.

Cadence is an alternative to using qjackctl that you can install by adding the kxstudio repository (a location for hosting software). Both are great programs.
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Re: How to install qjackctl on Zorin?

Post by Linuxmusician01 »

Matt73 wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 8:54 am Hmm. Just more confused now. I am a relative newbie. I've noticed that when I use my DAW (Tracktion Waveform) and select my USB interface, it all works well...until I close the program and reopen it. Then I get a lot of distortion in the audio. The way I fix this is to change the audio settings to something else and then reverting back to the original settings and then it works ok until then next time I close and reopen the program. It's a bit of a pain. Apparently using JACK instead of ALSA in the dropdown menu will resolve this. So I am just trying to install qjackctl.

Please remember I am a relative newbie so please explain things as you would to a 5 yr old. I just want to get my DAW to use JACK. Does this not involve installing qjackctl first. There is no sign of it on my computer at this point.

Thanks

Matt
You've already opened other topics about these problems (distortion in the audio and installing another distro). Wasn't the problem solved?

If I recall correctly then you switched from Zorin Linux to AV-Linux. And now you want to use Zorin again? Why? Anyway, like others said Jack and Qjackctl are in every distro. Try to find it in Synaptic or another package manager of your liking.

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sudo apt-get install synaptic
or:

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sudo apt-get install qjackctl
You might be confused by us, but now I'm confused by you. It's three different topics about basically the same problem. I can't follow it anymore with pages and pages about using jack and/or Zorin Linux, not using Zorin Linux but AV-Linux etc.

I give up. :?
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Re: How to install qjackctl on Zorin?

Post by Matt73 »

Hi,

No, none of my issues have been solved. There is the initial issue of the laptop brightness controls not working and the power button not working right. I pursued this for 3 weeks in other forums and no solution was found. I tried several different distros. I found AV linux confusing to install (requests to partition the disk manually etc) and then confused by the system init and system d options (which one). I found Ubuntu studio to be overly bloated with stuff I would never use. Zorin is the only user friendly one I've tried where the brightness controls work so I'm sticking with that. Apparently, it is an ACPI issue and there is nothing that can be done. I just have to live with not being able to use the power button to put the computer to sleep and bring it out of sleep. I bought a laptop with no system which I guess is geared toward Windows (these issues aren't present when I use Windows on this machine). But obviously I don't want to switch back to Windows.

The other issue was not resolved with the USB audio interface and all the distortion static. Turning off USB auto-suspend didn't work. So now, I am looking into getting JACK up and running so that when I get inspired to make music I can reliably fire up the laptop and the DAW and get to work without a load of frustrating tech headaches. I haven't recorded anything in weeks because I have been trying to resolve the ACPI issue (have given up on that) and now I have to figure out how to use jack so that, hopefully, the DAW will work reliably everytime I fire it up.

I will try the things suggested above to get JACK up and running. Thanks for the suggestions but I am not a geek so it's hardgoing.

Best Wishes

Matt
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Re: How to install qjackctl on Zorin?

Post by sunrat »

This thread and the distortion one are directly related so should be one thread. Spreading issues through different threads only makes it hard to recognise any related issues so is detrimental to your quest.
I still think working out your installation problem with AVL-MXE would be a smoother path than trying to tweak Zorin to get it to the same degree of functionality. I'm also not convinced JACK will help, it adds complexity so may make it worse.

About Cadence, yes it may work to start JACK but I found it didn't support my use case whereas Qjackctl does as it is more configurable. Development on Cadence seems to have stalled as latest in the repo is from Dec 2019. I vaguely recall developer falktx posting somewhere that he doesn't use it any more. In fact JACK doesn't need either Cadence or Qjackctl but then must be managed by CLI so you probably don't want that either.
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Re: How to install qjackctl on Zorin?

Post by Linuxmusician01 »

Matt73 wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 12:05 pm No, none of my issues have been solved.
That wasn't clear to me at all. Neither that in the end you decided not to use AV Linux.
Matt73 wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 12:05 pm [...] I bought a laptop with no system which I guess is geared toward Windows (these issues aren't present when I use Windows on this machine). But obviously I don't want to switch back to Windows.
There's no shame in using Windows. Had you asked in a Linux forum on beforehand to buy a laptop to use only for Linux they might have warned yuo. Linux on your average basic desktop usually works fine. Laptops have less-standard hardware (for better power consumption etc.). Using Linux on a laptop is a gamble. If I ever buy me a new laptop it'll be a Chromebook. I'll try to determine on beforehand if Crouton will work on it and if there's a chance of ever upgrading to a newer Linux distro w/ Crouton. As of now you can use Ubuntu 20.04 LTS but not with Gnome 3. There you go... And some things like Samba (to fully support Windows sharing) probably won't work.
Matt73 wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 12:05 pm [...] So now, I am looking into getting JACK up and running [...]
Install jack and qjackctl via the command line:

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sudo apt-get install jackd2
sudo apt-get install qjackctl
Then, like I told you before:

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jackd -d alsa --device hw:
if your audio device is hw:1.

It can not be made any easier than that. Linux is a bit too much for a beginner on a laptop and with music. Most of us start with Linux on an old PC we have lying around and not immediately with music production. Linux has a steep learning curve and must be considered to be somewhat as one's hobby...

Now try to make some music, don't start and stop your DAW all the time, and test if things are stable. I seem to remember that all was reasonably well until you started using your Linux computer for all kinds of things at once: that's for experienced users.
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