[Ardour-Users] Could not create session

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Sat, 13 Aug 2016 15:05:29 -0500, John Aten wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>I just installed Ubuntu Studio packages onto my working install of
>Ubuntu 16.04, following the instructions here:
>https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Ubuntu%20Studio%20Upgrade%20from%20Ubuntu .
>I installed all the packages, except for ubuntustudio-desktop, and
>followed the instructions there as closely as possible. Configuration
>basically consisted of adding my user to the audio and video groups,
>because, as I read it, none of the other changes are required or
>available for 16.04. The only thing that didn't work was the attempt
>to install linux-lowlatency-pae, giving the error that the package was
>not found. After this I restarted, and can get audio in and out
>through my interface (Scarlett focusrite) . I was able to record audio
>through the interface into audacity, and can get output from audacity,
>lmms, firefox and other programs. 
>
>The trouble starts when I try to setup a new session in Ardour4: I
>click 'New Session,' enter a session name and do not modify 'advanced
>options' in any way. The Audio/MIDI setup screen comes up, and I
>switch the input and output devices to the scarlet. The hiccup seems
>to come in the selection of 'Audio system;' here I can choose ALSA or
>JACK, with ALSA being already selected. If I leave ALSA selected and
>hit start, the session comes right up just fine, but isn't connected
>with JACK. If I select JACK and hit 'start', a screen pops up that
>says: "JACK is already running. Ardour will connect to it and use the
>existing settings." I click "connect to JACK." At this point, a
>warning comes up about my system having a limited maximum amount of
>locked memory. (I was under the impression that this was preferable
>for stability, and I don't think this is the problem.) I click ok;
>JACK seems to be connected. I hit okay to start the session, and I get
>a 'Loading error', which says: "Could not create session in... <home
>directory>"
>
>It happens this way even if I have stopped jack through QjackCtl;
>Ardour claims it is running and connects to it. 
>
>I did some googling on this, as well as searching the Ubuntu studio
>forums, and I can find no problem description that seems to be exactly
>the same. 
>
>I am not attempting to use the low latency kernel. I am pretty new at
>this, and I am not sure how to go about it yet; I wanted to get audio
>and midi working before looking into that.
>
>I would greatly appreciate any help with this conundrum!

The Ubuntu Studio howtos are a PITA and contributing to the Wiki/help
became a PITA, too, more important for the team nowadays is announcing
merchandising shops, that sell clothes and cups with the Ubuntu Studio
logo.

Consider to sent your request to an Ubuntu Studio mailing list.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-users
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel

JFTR Ubuntu dropped PAE kernels (resp. non-PAE kernels are dropped [1])
a relatively long time ago and soon it will drop 32 bit architecture
completely. Since Ubuntu Studio is an official Ubuntu flavour, it's
plausible that there isn't a PAE kernel available. The help page was
edited 2013-10-12 and as already pointed out, it isn't fun anymore to
help keeping Ubuntu Studio Wikis and help pages up to date, since a
regular account that could be used in the past and that still is good
enough for all Wikis, that aren't related to Ubuntu, isn't good enough
anymore to contribute to Ubuntu related Wikis.

For troubleshooting keep in mind that you most likely run jackdbus.

Good Luck!
Ralf

[1] https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PAE