[LAU] Jack frequently crashes when running LinuxSampler + Qsynth

[Jonathan E. Brickman]

> Also, I've noticed that the realtime kernel + Icewm option *does* reduce 
> the crash frequency by a huge margin, something which I did not make 
> clear in my last mail. However, the realtime kernel hung twice on one 
> occasion (before a live perfomance), forcing me to switch to the generic 
> kernel, and the crash happened during the performance (does not help 
> increase my fanbase.. :(). On the whole, I cannot confidently rely on 
> the linux setup until there is some failsafe in place, and I'm convinced 
> that it is very, very unlikely for a crash to happen during a live 
> performance.
> Looking forward to suggestions/pointers/questions.
> Thanks in advance!
> Cheers,
>
> Guru
>   
I hear you, and you're right, I use Linux live and have had exactly the 
same thought.  Behavior such as you're reporting, is why I won't use 
Ubuntu and several other distros, including updated 64 Studio; I have 
been where you are and won't go back :-).  If I were you, I would try 
AVLinux, use its highly tweaked default kernel, and see how it works for 
you.  One of the interesting aspects of AVLinux is the default kernel is 
not RT, but is capable of running Jack in RT mode anyway.  I suspect 
that this has kept me out of a lot of trouble.  I imagine my latency 
using this kernel is higher -- 5.8 ms -- but it's low enough that I 
don't have to care, and don't have to worry about issues RT can bring up.

I'm pretty sure that if I weren't running AVLinux, I would probably be 
using Sabayon, probably with an RT Gentoo kernel.  The stability yet 
up-to-date nature of Sabayon has surprised me quite a few times.

I have never had a crash under AVLinux with Qsynth.  But I have never 
had strong reliability with LinuxSampler, it tends to crash (not the 
machine, just the app) when closing, and takes an attempt or two to 
reopen when it does.  I like my 800MB Yamaha piano sample too, but 
ghostess + fluidsynth-dssi gives me an SF2 Steinway which is very good 
indeed, and I like Steinway tone better.  I did play a real Bosendorfer 
once...heavenly...

J.E.B.