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If I were to install the packages linux-ubuntu-modules-2.6.22-14-rt and linux-headers-2.6.22-14-rt , what would be the downfalls of using a realtime kernal?

I'm a musician, and getting JACK set up basically requires a realtime kernal (as does every other music based thing with Linux). However, will I lose any functionality from this?

ie: Graphics, speed, games, development (Tkinter?), Wine, etc.

Also, how can I remove my old 2.4 kernel that came with Ubuntu? I would have two 2.6's as well as two 2.4's (one regular and one realtime of each), and I find the 2.4's burdensome.

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Okay, this is solved on my own, with a little research.

Realtime kernels dedicate 95% of your CPU to the current Audio application running. So if Ardour is recording, 95% of your CPU is dedicated to Ardour, leaving but 5% to your other applications.

So, using a realtime kernel for desktop use isn't the greatest choice. So you should keep a regular and a realtime kernel (or not the latter, if you don't use audio applications too much) to balance your machine.

Also, the package linux-rt is required by the realtime kernel, or else wireless and many other features will not work.

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>Also, how can I remove my old 2.4 kernel that came with Ubuntu?

If I recall correctly, you can remove kernels on a Debian-based system with:

apt-get remove linux-image-version

If you don't know the exact version, try searching through your packages:

dpkg -l "linux-image*2.4*"

Something like that.

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Thanks, John A. I installed the rt kernel, and removed all of my 2.4's. Everything's working now, except JACK. But that's a different thread... (HINT HINT JOHN A)

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I've never used JACK, so can't help you there. :)

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