[Ardour-Users] Ardour... now with extra connections???

[Joe Hartley]

Tech details:
Fedora 9/CCRMA based system, Delta 1010,
2.6.26.8-1.rt13.4.fc9.ccrma.i686.rt kernel (usually)
jackdmp 1.9.1, Ardour 2.7.1 (both pre-built and hand-compiled)
/usr/bin/jackd -R -P70 -p512 -dalsa -r44100 -p128 -n2 -D -Chw:0 -Phw:0 -m

Prologue: it helps to understand that in my Ardour sessions, I have 
the master bus output going only to the monitor bus, and the monitor bus
outputs connect only to the system:playback inputs.  I then control the
volume to the powered monitors with the fader for the monitor bus.  

I started up an Ardour session today to listen to a band I'd recently
recorded with Ardour 2.7.1, and heard feedback that started quietly but
started growing rather quickly.  I turned down the amp and saw the
master bus's VU meters full on into the red, with the monitor channel
about half that.

I pulled up the master bus input list and saw this:

in 1
----
ardour:Drum Submix/out 1
ardour:Bass/out 1
ardour:master/out 1
ardour:Vox FXout 1
ardour:Marty Guitar/out 1
ardour:Harry guitar/out 1

in 2
----
ardour:Drum Submix/out 2
ardour:Bass/out 2
ardour:master/out 2
ardour:Vox FXout 2
ardour:Marty Guitar/out 2
ardour:Harry guitar/out 2

'Ere, what's all this then?  Master outs in the master in?  That ain't right!

So I click on the master/out 1 item, and it goes away.  I click on the 
master/out 2 item, and it goes away...  but it brings back the master/out 1
item.  WTF?

I open the master outputs, and see this:

out 1
-----
system:playback_1
system:playback_5

out 2
-----
system:playback_2
system:playback_6

Ports 1 and 2 are fine, but 5 and 6 go to the mixer.  Odd, but it 
shouldn't matter, since the mixer's got everything down right now.  
Let me just remove playback_5, I don't need it.  Now for 6... oh 
sh!+, I take 6 out but it pops 5 back.

What's in the monitor input?

in 1
----
ardour:master/out 1
ardour:auditioner/out 1

in 2
----
ardour:master/out 2
ardour:auditioner/out 2

Auditioner?  Do I use it?  let's try and remove it....  Nope, I can 
take one out but the other pops back.

Oddly enough, the real buses are fine.  I can remove the monitor 
inputs from the master outputs fine.  It's only these odd ports that 
I haven't used in the session.

I've opened other sessions and found the same problems.  If I look at
the session.ardour file, there's no mention of the Auditioner or the
playback 5&6 ports.

Not weird enough for you yet??  I just opened the session under 
another login on the system (non-root), and it's fine.  No oddball
non-removeable ports, no feedback, no problems whatsoever.

Anyone got a clue as to what's happening here?

"It's driving me crazy, it's driving me nuts"
  - William S Burroughs in "Sharkey's Night"

-- 
======================================================================
       Joe Hartley - UNIX/network Consultant - jh at brainiac.com
 Without deviation from the norm, "progress" is not possible. - FZappa