[linux-audio-user] questions re: 2.6.15 kernel

[Frank Barknecht]

Hallo,
Dave Phillips hat gesagt: // Dave Phillips wrote:

> First, is the kernel itself enough for low-latency performance ? I 
> opted for the PREEMPT config, along with the 1000 MHz resolution for the 
> timer, and I've compiled the RTC into the kernel. 

Just try it. For me the stock kernel already is low latency enough,
others may want to go even lower.

> So do I now need a PAM or lsm or what ? It's been a long while since
> I configured and compiled a kernel, lots of choices exist that
> weren't there the last time I looked. I'm not even sure I know what
> PAM and lsm do.

Do you remember "jackstart" and the Capabilities-hack? This is
replaced by the PAM module pam_limits now. The don't give you better
realtime performance itself, they just allow non-root users to run
with higher priorities or nice values and do the memory lock to avoid
swapping.

> Second, do I need to compile anything other than ALSA for audio/MIDI 
> USB support ?

No. Just make sure, you don't build the OSS modules or blacklist them
in /etc/hotplug/blacklist

> Finally, the build instructions still assume LILO. What considerations 
> need to be made for using GRUB instead ?

If you build with make-kpkg (recommended!) you can do some
configuration in "/etc/kernel-img.conf": 

postinst_hook=/sbin/update-grub
postrm_hook=/sbin/update-grub

This will update your grub-loader automatically, once you install a
new kernel image from a Debian package. 

Ciao
-- 
 Frank Barknecht                 _ ______footils.org_ __goto10.org__