I don't have any scientific benchmarks, but FWIW, here is a bit of my experience with CCRMA.
I have tried the stock FC3 kernel, built my own from vanilla sources + patches and now I use only CCRMA. I don't know about RH9, but the only significant difference between the stock FC3 kernel and the 'standard' CCRMA kernel is that CCRMA includes the LSM (Linux Security Module), which allows non-root users to run applications with real time priority. This is a convenience and not a performance enhancement. It also introduces a security vulnerability, so it should be used with care if your machine is on a LAN.
If you want serious a low latency, high performance system you need to go for one of the Planetedge kernels, which include Ingo Molnar's preemption patch. I don't use these, simply because I am happy with the latency/performance of my system already. I run Jackd at 64 frames per perid (2 periods per buffer), which gives a system latency of around 3 ms. I can do everything I need, but if I'm doing real time OpenGL with Gem, and Audio, I down clock to 256 fpp, which is system latency of around 11ms.
When you say just the kernel, do you mean the kernel and associated modules? If you switch to the CCRMA kernel, you will need to get the CCRMA ALSA drivers, and recompile any unique modules such as video wireless network.
Also - you'll need root access to install the kernel unless you plan to boot from a usb key or CD, in any case you'll be able to install the apps as well, or am I missing something.
Jamie
On Tue, 2005-04-26 at 19:13 -0400, Mike Wozniewski wrote:
Hi.
I asked a similar question about Gem a little while back, but now I'd like to focus on audio alone.
Has anyone ever published performance results/benchmarks when using the Planet CCRMA kernel vs. a regular RedHat/Fedora kernel? Where can I find them?
...or how about the benefit of using the -rt (realtime) option in Pd? I don't seem to notice a difference.
Is it worth it for me to install *just* the Planet CCRMA kernel for RedHat 9? ...note that I can't really install anything else since I'm on a networked machine with many restrictions. Will I get much improvement from just the kernel alone?
Also, is there a chance that the new kernel won't work with my existing (alsa-enabled) RedHat9 system? or could it break something so that I won't be able to return to my working system?
Thanks, Mike Wozniewski
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