Under NSM, midi port contains nsm client id, but sometimes not

[grammoboy2]

Using
jackd 2
a2jmidid -eu
Zyn 3.0.7

Most of the time the midi port of Zyn fusion contains the nsm client id, but sometimes not, which make reconnecting unreliable.

The last one has no nsm id, see below. I've encountered this several times.

I could not replicate this with drumkv1_jack or non-sequencer.
jack_lsp:

ZynAddSubFX.nAJHP:out_1
ZynAddSubFX.nAJHP:out_2
ZynAddSubFX.nAJHP:osc
a2j:ZynAddSubFX nAJHP (playback): ZynAddSubFX
ZynAddSubFX.nGMOB:out_1
ZynAddSubFX.nGMOB:out_2
ZynAddSubFX.nGMOB:osc
a2j:ZynAddSubFX nGMOB (playback): ZynAddSubFX
ZynAddSubFX.nRWTL:out_1
ZynAddSubFX.nRWTL:out_2
ZynAddSubFX.nRWTL:osc
a2j:ZynAddSubFX (playback): ZynAddSubFX

also

port_name "a2j:ZynAddSubFX (playback): ZynAddSubFX" already exists
ERROR: a2j_port_create: jack_port_register() failed for 'ZynAddSubFX (playback): ZynAddSubFX'

[grammoboy2]

Ok, I just could replicate it with drumkv1_jack after a few launches.

a2j:drumkv1 nMXER (playback): in
... 
... 
a2j:drumkv1 (playback): in

[grammoboy2]

probably a bug in https://github.com/jackaudio/a2jmidid

[grammoboy2]

Still trying to debug this, maybe it is cause by the application: is Zynaddsubfx maybe changing it's ALSA port name, when it find the NSM_URL? I see the port name change in njconnect. The same for drumkv1.

[grammoboy2]

I think the bug is in zynaddsubfx and drumkv1

client name: 'ZynAddSubFX'
port name: 'ZynAddSubFX'
port created: ZynAddSubFX (playback): ZynAddSubFX
port deleted: ZynAddSubFX (playback): ZynAddSubFX
client name: 'ZynAddSubFX.nLTOJ'
port name: 'ZynAddSubFX'
port created: ZynAddSubFX.nLTOJ (playback): ZynAddSubFX

This is the output of a2jmidid. It looks there is one port deleted just before a other is created. I don't see this when using seq192 or qmidiarp and I can't reproduce the issue with those applications.

[grammoboy2]

So, when it gets the open message from the NSM server, it renames or recreates the ALSA MIDI port? @fundamental

Is it possible to build zynaddsubfx/ zyn-fusion with JACK MIDI only by the way? How?

[grammoboy2]

Is it possible to build zynaddsubfx/ zyn-fusion with JACK MIDI only by the way? How?

It looks like ALSA midi is set to default here:

https://github.com/zynaddsubfx/zynaddsubfx/blob/master/src/CMakeLists.txt#L83
https://github.com/zynaddsubfx/zynaddsubfx/blob/master/src/CMakeLists.txt#L146

cmake option -D AlsaEnable=OFF

[fundamental]

Is it possible to build zynaddsubfx/ zyn-fusion with JACK MIDI only by the way? How?

You can as per today's message disable other MIDI backends, though there will always be the NULL MIDI fallback backend. Just in case you were asking about jack MIDI without jack audio, that specifically wouldn't be possible, but I suspect that wasn't the original question.

[grammoboy2]

I've enjoyed Zynaddsubfx with JACK MIDI today. Nice that it's available (shouldn't JACK MIDI be the default?).

What about my diagnosis: the ALSA MIDI port name of Zynaddsubfx changes when the it handles the NSM open message? (Fix: It shouldn't already set the ALSA MIDI client / port name when it finds NSM_URL in the environment? )

What do you think is happening here?

[fundamental]

shouldn't JACK MIDI be the default?

General impressions from users is that the primary users were for quite some time physical MIDI device users where JACK complicated things, but you'd want to target JACK for a more reliable audio backend and then users who were typically going to want to use the plugin version. So, the defaults are optimized mostly for those to use cases.

What about my diagnosis: the ALSA MIDI port name of Zynaddsubfx changes when the it handles the NSM open message?

I see in NSM.C that on the open command the audio+midi interfaces are stopped and then restarted after changing 'instance_name'. 'instance_name' is used in AlsaEngine.cpp and is fed into 'snd_seq_set_client_name'.