JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

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DungeonMystic
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JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by DungeonMystic »

Hi there everyone, this is my first post.

I've been using AV Linux for about a month and have not been able to use my mic with JACK. I have a USB mic going in and a headphone jack going out. PulseAudio picks it up just fine, and I see levels in pavucontrol. But Jack doesn't provide it as an input device to the system. i.e. I can't see or use it in my DAW, nor does it appear in the Connections window for me to create that connection.

I am aware that "JACK wants to control the whole soundcard", and that this creates problems with PulseAudio. But AV Linux is meant to provide "seamless integration" between PA and JACK. Maybe that claim is true, but at the very least, it is extremely seamful on my machine. I have followed the instructions to set up audio in the AV Linux manual, to no avail. I am very confused.

My mic appears as an "interface" in the settings of qjackctl. I was under the impression that "interfaces" were each separate sound cards? But I don't think my mic has a dedicated sound card. Regardless, if I set my mic as the interface, it works. Pavucontrol sees the JACK sink as an input (getting sound from my mic) and the mic itself does not appear there. I can also can record the mic from my DAW as "system capture / 1". However, now there is no output. So that obviously is not acceptable either. Setting up separate input and output interfaces in the advanced tab has the same result: input, no audio.

After each setting change, I killed the JACK server, killed pulseaudio, then restarted the JACK server.

After resetting back to defaults, I have no input and no output on the system. Literally with the exact same settings as before, when I had output only. That happened just now as I was testing the settings again for accuracy at this post. So now I will have to deal with that. Hopefully it fixes on a restart, or I will have another four hours of fruitless googling ahead of me.

I am a musician, not a technician. At this point I am simply sick of hearing about how "powerful" JACK is. I feel extremely disempowered using this distro. I heard that Cadence made JACK easy to use, but it's just qjackctl with a prettier window. Is this all a prank? I just want to have one input, and one output. That is literally all.

I am utterly baffled by JACK and no matter how much I read I don't seem to learn anything. I feel like there are assumptions behind JACK's design that have not been explained to me. Like why is "system" an audio device, but my mic and speakers are not? Except my mic is an audio device in the options menu. And I honestly can't tell which "Hw" is my speakers, if any of them even is. Can JACK record in multiple channels? Because there's only one "input" dropdown in the settings. I'm not explicitly seeking answers to those questions here. Just it's like I said, it seems like there's just something fundamental that I have not grasped. Because nothing about this makes any sense or follows a logic I can comprehend.

I like everything else about AV Linux. I want to keep using it. But this is my last stop.

Apologies for being a bit dramatic. I am at the end of my rope here. PipeWire is not an option, as the reason I switched to AV Linux in the first place is because PipeWire caused completely different horrible problems with my pro audio setup.

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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by merlyn »

It's not really a good way to do it -- one device for input, and a different device for output. You should be able to choose the USB mic in qjackctl's setup dialogue though.

You could try selecting a different input and output in qjackctl. It may xrun (produce pops, clicks and crackling).

DungeonMystic
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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by DungeonMystic »

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by the word "device" here. In my mind, microphone is one device, speakers is another device. I can't record from my speakers, or listen from my microphone. I need two devices.

Obviously that's not what you're saying, but that's what I'm hearing so I clearly don't understand. I just feel like if a microphone and speakers are plugged into my computer, they should function as input and output respectively.

merlyn
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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by merlyn »

Time to get into the nitty-gritty. Here's my setup page for qjackctl. The device in question in my case is DSP24_1. This is providing inputs and outputs.

Image

What have you got there?

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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by tavasti »

1) to have peaceful living together with pulseaudio and jack, pulseaudio needs to have module to connect pulse to jack. In debian it is package pulseaudio-module-jack. After installing it, from qjackctl you need to anable dbus + dbus-jack.

2) Sounds like you mic is some usb mic, which means it is own audio interface. And here it turns tricky. Simplest thing is configure your output-interface as jack interface, and then add mic when needed. Simplest way is to run 'arecord -l' to see interface names and then run alsa_in with suitable parameters, like this:

Code: Select all

tavasti@hermo:~$ arecord -l
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC221 Analog [ALC221 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 2: ALC221 Alt Analog [ALC221 Alt Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: Ultra [Fast Track Ultra], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 4: Adapter [Rocksmith USB Guitar Adapter], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 5: io2 [io|2], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
tavasti@hermo:~$ alsa_in -d hw:io2 -j second_interface

For 'state of art' way to do it, read viewtopic.php?t=18785&start=25

Linux veteran & Novice musician

Latest track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycVrgGtrBmM

DungeonMystic
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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by DungeonMystic »

Thanks you guys. I got it working, or at least it's working right now at this moment. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

I think I understand JACK a little bit better now. Though I sill have questions, after I show what I did to get this working.

  1. Stop JACK server in qjackctl
  2. Code: Select all

    pulseaudio -k
  3. set interface to default in qjackctl basic settings
  4. In advanced settings, set output device to "(default)" and input device to my USB mic.
  5. Make sure dbus options are checked in the other settings
  6. Open my DAW
    7.Add mono input: "system / capture_1"
    8.Record arm the audio track, finally get input playing back from the monitor.

Now, I thought I had already done this. But maybe I did a step in the wrong order, or didn't try "(default)" as the output device. Regardless, the above is what worked for me. I didn't even have to restart my computer.

Here's what I've come to understand. Coming from my background as a simple audio consumer and Macintosh musician, to me, "audio device" means an input or output source. But it seems like in JACK, "audio device/interface" refers to a single piece of hardware connected to a system bus. So my computer's sound card is one "device", and my mic is one "device" because it's connected to a USB and not to the sound card.

If I was using a mic connected to my computer's 1/4 inch input plug, I could keep the JACK "interface" setting at "(default)" and it would work fine, because that connects to the soundcard. But since my mic is a different "device" it must be selected separately for the input.

Is my understanding here on the right track?

Here is what I still do not understand. Why am I only able to choose one input and one output device? Why is it so widely recommended to use just one device for input and output? On Windows, Mac, and with PulseAudio, "device" means what I expect it to mean. pavucontrol easily handles as many inputs and outputs, physical and virtual, as I can fit into my machine. I can use them in Discord and Audacity.

So I have the same bafflement as before. Everyone talks about how "powerful" JACK is and how it's "so good at routing" but It can't even record from more than one microphone at a time? I feel like a powerful audio routing system should be able to route inputs from multiple pieces of hardware.

I'm speculating, maybe if your interface is a twelve channel USB mixerboard, maybe JACK can handle each of those channels separately because they're each coming through one "device". But what if you have multiple mixerboards? You don't use them and just buy a bigger board instead?

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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by GMaq »

tavasti wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 3:03 pm

1) to have peaceful living together with pulseaudio and jack, pulseaudio needs to have module to connect pulse to jack. In debian it is package pulseaudio-module-jack. After installing it, from qjackctl you need to anable dbus + dbus-jack.

2) Sounds like you mic is some usb mic, which means it is own audio interface. And here it turns tricky. Simplest thing is configure your output-interface as jack interface, and then add mic when needed. Simplest way is to run 'arecord -l' to see interface names and then run alsa_in with suitable parameters, like this:

Code: Select all

tavasti@hermo:~$ arecord -l
**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC221 Analog [ALC221 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 2: ALC221 Alt Analog [ALC221 Alt Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 2: Ultra [Fast Track Ultra], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 4: Adapter [Rocksmith USB Guitar Adapter], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 5: io2 [io|2], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
tavasti@hermo:~$ alsa_in -d hw:io2 -j second_interface

For 'state of art' way to do it, read viewtopic.php?t=18785&start=25

@tavasti

This is already all done in AV Linux, enabling dbus here is only muddying the water and will likely undo what is already set up with pajackconnect..

For other's reference the Audio system in AV Linux is fully explained in Menu-->Accessories-->User Manual--> Page 50

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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by asbak »

DungeonMystic wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:42 pm

So I have the same bafflement as before. Everyone talks about how "powerful" JACK is and how it's "so good at routing" but It can't even record from more than one microphone at a time? I feel like a powerful audio routing system should be able to route inputs from multiple pieces of hardware.

Welcome to Linux Audio.

You thought it was going to be easy. Funny. :mrgreen:
You thought you were just "going to make music" and that "it just works". :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Audio on Linux can be hell to understand to the uninitiated. I also guarantee that a basement dweller (there are many) will turn up pretty soon to claim that it isn't and that it is "simple".

JACK can and does record as many inputs at a time as are allowed for by configuration & hardware. This has been the case for many years already.

JACK ain't the problem. The meatware (the user!) is the problem.

If you want to use this platform you're going to have to invest time to understand how it works and that's going to be an adventure. Guaranteed.

Good luck, or buy a Mac. :)

Some Focal / 20.04 audio packages and resources https://midistudio.groups.io/g/linuxaudio
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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by merlyn »

Sadly, asbak thinks everyone else is as Linux-challenged as he is. Setting up Linux audio certainly isn't impossible, and I don't live in a basement.

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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by Linuxmusician01 »

asbak wrote: Thu Jun 22, 2023 5:19 am
DungeonMystic wrote: Sat Jun 03, 2023 3:42 pm

[...] I feel like a powerful audio routing system should be able to route inputs from multiple pieces of hardware.

[...]
Good luck, or buy a Mac. :)

On any computer (Mac, Raspberry Pi, PC or whatever) multiple audio devices have multiple (hardware) clocks. So no OS in the world will work correctly with more than one audio device/hardware. Some software/drivers do support it but the developers of it warn you: clocks will "drift".

Audio with its divers (ASIO, ASIO4AL? non-class compliancy) and in- & output confusion is difficult on any platform. On Linux it's even more confusing because of the whole Alsa-Jack-Pulse-Pipewire SNAFU. I'll give you that. And then there's the myriad of problems arising from audio devices for which they don't read the manual (and thus blame us or Linux) or don't realize that it's not or barely supported by Linux. Or worse: they quote the wrong model number. But most problems here concerning audio arise from connecting input to output the wrong way (Midi OUT to Audio IN, Plugin output to DAW output instead of input, etc., etc.). And yes: I struggle with that too. :wink:

Last edited by Linuxmusician01 on Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by asbak »

merlyn wrote: Fri Jun 23, 2023 10:04 am

Sadly, asbak thinks everyone else is as Linux-challenged as he is. Setting up Linux audio certainly isn't impossible, and I don't live in a basement.

My systems work fine. I bought a new laptop and yes there were some issues which turned out to be hardware, not software related and which were solved by throwing money at the problem.

Fufunnyman.

Some Focal / 20.04 audio packages and resources https://midistudio.groups.io/g/linuxaudio
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Re: JACK Does Not Detect Microphone On AV Linux

Post by Linuxmusician01 »

Unsubscribed from topic since TS is not active in topic anymore.

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