[linux-audio-user] jack: "unlock memory" and "soft mode"

[Lars Luthman]

On Wed, 2006-11-08 at 00:39 +0100, Atte André Jensen wrote:
> Hi
> 
> I'm wondering *exactly* "unlock memory" and "soft mode" (as they appear 
> in qjackctl) do? Moreover:
> 
> 1) Are they advised to be selected or not?
> 
> 2) Under what circumstances would a check in either be beneficial and 
> when not?

From the jackd manual:

       -u, --unlock
              Unlock libraries GTK+, QT, FLTK, Wine.

This means that even if you are running jackd in realtime mode (and thus
locking all memory of the clients into physical RAM), the actual code
from the GTK+, Qt, FLTK, and Wine libraries will be recognised and
unlocked (if the clients link to those libraries) so the kernel can swap
it to disk if it wants. The idea is that the code from those libraries
is typically not used in the JACK clients' realtime threads, so it is OK
to have to wait a while for it to get swapped back to RAM before you use
it. May be useful if you are running low on RAM.

       -s, --softmode
              Ignore xruns reported by the ALSA driver.  This makes JACK
less
              likely  to  disconnect  unresponsive  ports when running
without
              --realtime.

What it says. Probably useful when you are playing live or care more
about keeping all your synths connected than about keeping the xruns at
a minimum (by kicking badly behaved clients from the graph).

-- 
Lars Luthman - please encrypt any email sent to me if possible
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