This is actually the copy of a thread that I opened on the Linux Mint forum some time ago, but they invited me to join this forum to get better help, so I will replicate my original post here, and add some potentially useful info.
I wanted to produce some music on linux, so here are my specs:
OS: Linux Mint 19.1 Cinnamon 4.0.10
Kernel: 4.15.0-48-lowlatency
Processor: AMD FX-8350
Memory: 16GB
SSD: Samsung EVO 860
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
Motherboard: Asrok 970M Pro3
Audio Interface: Steinberg-Yamaha UR22 (USB 2.0)
WIFI: TP-Link, Qualcomm Atheros AR93xx
I installed qjackctl and I set it up to 128-sample-per frame, 2 buffers, 48kHz.
When my audio interface is connected to USB 2.0 I get many many xruns while reproducing sound or recording. Connecting it to an USB 3.0 port helps a lot but I still get occasional audible xruns. I tried disabling wifi and even disconnecting all USB peripherals except for the mouse without success.
However I did the same experiment booting windows 10 on the same exact machine and same exact recording software and I can set asio drivers as low as 48 sample buffers without having audible dropouts, even when connected to USB 2.0.
So I installed the same Linux mint and kernel on an old lenovo W510, same audio interface, still on USB 2.0 port and I can set QJackctl all the way down to 64-samples-per-frame and 2 buffers without ever having xruns (neither audible nor measured by the software).
Here is the output of lsusb (at the moment the audio interface is connected to USB 2.0):
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 010: ID 0403:6010 Future Technology Devices International, Ltd FT2232C Dual USB-UART/FIFO IC
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 046d:0825 Logitech, Inc. Webcam C270
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 1a40:0101 Terminus Technology Inc. Hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 046d:c31c Logitech, Inc. Keyboard K120
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 1a40:0201 Terminus Technology Inc. FE 2.1 7-port Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 002: ID 0499:1509 Yamaha Corp.
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Here is the output of cat /proc/interrupts with qjackctl up & running:
Code: Select all
CPU0 CPU1 CPU2 CPU3 CPU4 CPU5 CPU6 CPU7
0: 121 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 IO-APIC 2-edge timer
8: 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 IO-APIC 8-edge rtc0
9: 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 IO-APIC 9-fasteoi acpi
14: 474623 0 0 0 0 0 69403 0 IO-APIC 14-edge pata_atiixp
15: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 IO-APIC 15-edge pata_atiixp
16: 226425 0 1653 0 314042 673199 1474 0 IO-APIC 16-fasteoi ath9k, snd_hda_intel:card0
17: 808386 0 59914 0 0 0 3856 0 IO-APIC 17-fasteoi ehci_hcd:usb1, ehci_hcd:usb2, ehci_hcd:usb3
18: 180640 101854 0 31377 11552 0 81015 0 IO-APIC 18-fasteoi ohci_hcd:usb4, ohci_hcd:usb5, ohci_hcd:usb6, ohci_hcd:usb7
19: 601 0 0 111 0 0 0 0 IO-APIC 19-fasteoi ahci[0000:00:11.0]
27: 2670562 0 0 0 53 0 0 854355 PCI-MSI 1048576-edge xhci_hcd
28: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 PCI-MSI 2621440-edge enp5s0
29: 0 2580 0 0 0 0 0 0 IO-APIC 21-fasteoi snd_hda_intel:card1
31: 3062302 0 0 419 0 1505711 0 0 PCI-MSI 524288-edge nvidia
NMI: 44 75 124 79 127 85 127 83 Non-maskable interrupts
LOC: 4605934 2244637 4563741 2151393 4407764 2376807 4894042 2436888 Local timer interrupts
SPU: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Spurious interrupts
PMI: 44 75 124 79 127 85 127 83 Performance monitoring interrupts
IWI: 4146696 1791447 3029008 2154402 2183476 1939071 3224444 2257501 IRQ work interrupts
RTR: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 APIC ICR read retries
RES: 7195741 4476425 8251162 4911949 6730785 3220325 8400639 4115789 Rescheduling interrupts
CAL: 313001 271695 301671 266011 299536 263109 300447 257948 Function call interrupts
TLB: 258640 211832 264661 222807 263107 216754 260344 212262 TLB shootdowns
TRM: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Thermal event interrupts
THR: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Threshold APIC interrupts
DFR: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Deferred Error APIC interrupts
MCE: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Machine check exceptions
MCP: 120 118 118 118 118 118 118 118 Machine check polls
HYP: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Hypervisor callback interrupts
ERR: 3699
MIS: 0
PIN: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Posted-interrupt notification event
NPI: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Nested posted-interrupt event
PIW: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Posted-interrupt wakeup event
Any idea of what may cause the problem on my specific machine, and in particular, why the problem does not appear on windows with the same exact machine?
Thank you all very much