Add native SCHED_FIFO promotion for the Linux build without dbus

.github/workflows/rust.yml

@@ -81,4 +81,11 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Test fallback (Linux without dbus)
       shell: bash
-      run: rustup run ${{ matrix.rust }} cargo test --no-default-features
+      # The native (no-dbus) path really promotes threads, so the tests need permission to request
+      # real-time scheduling. Raise RLIMIT_RTPRIO for this shell, as an admin would via systemd
+      # LimitRTPRIO or /etc/security/limits.conf; the unprivileged test process and its children
+      # inherit it. This mirrors a real deployment rather than running the tests as root.
+      run: |
+        sudo prlimit --pid $$ --rtprio=10:10
+        echo "RLIMIT_RTPRIO soft=$(ulimit -Sr) hard=$(ulimit -Hr)"
+        rustup run ${{ matrix.rust }} cargo test --no-default-features

audio_thread_priority.h

@@ -28,24 +28,27 @@ extern "C" {
  * or an upper bound.
  * audio_samplerate_hz: sample-rate for this audio stream, in Hz
  *
+ * On Linux built without D-Bus, the requested priority defaults to 10 and can be
+ * overridden with the AUDIO_RT_PRIORITY environment variable (an integer 1-99).
+ *
  * Returns an opaque handle in case of success, NULL otherwise.
  */
 atp_handle *atp_promote_current_thread_to_real_time(uint32_t audio_buffer_frames,
                                                     uint32_t audio_samplerate_hz);
 
 
 /**
- * Demotes the current thread promoted to real-time priority via
- * `atp_demote_current_thread_from_real_time` to its previous priority.
+ * Demotes the current thread, promoted to real-time priority via
+ * `atp_promote_current_thread_to_real_time`, back to its previous priority.
  *
  * Returns 0 in case of success, non-zero otherwise.
  */
 int32_t atp_demote_current_thread_from_real_time(atp_handle *handle);
 
 /**
- * Frees an atp_handle. This is useful when it impractical to call
- *`atp_demote_current_thread_from_real_time` on the right thread. Access to the
- * handle must be synchronized externaly (or the related thread must have
+ * Frees an atp_handle. This is useful when it is impractical to call
+ * `atp_demote_current_thread_from_real_time` on the right thread. Access to the
+ * handle must be synchronized externally (or the related thread must have
  * exited).
  *
  * Returns 0 in case of success, non-zero otherwise.
@@ -55,19 +58,21 @@ int32_t atp_free_handle(atp_handle *handle);
 /*
  * Linux-only API.
  *
- * The Linux backend uses DBUS to promote a thread to real-time priority. In
- * environment where this is not possible (due to sandboxing), this set of
- * functions allow remoting the call to a process that can make DBUS calls.
+ * This set of functions promotes a thread from another process or thread, for
+ * cases where the thread to promote cannot do so itself (for example because it
+ * is sandboxed). With the default build the actual promotion goes through the
+ * rtkit D-Bus service; when the library is built without the `dbus` feature it
+ * is done directly, and requires the promoting process to be privileged.
  *
  * To do so:
  * - Set the real-time limit from within the process where a
  *   thread will be promoted. This is a `setrlimit` call, that can be done
  *   before the sandbox lockdown.
  * - Then, gather information on the thread that will be promoted.
  * - Serialize this info.
- * - Send over the serialized data via an IPC mechanism
- * - Deserialize the inf
- * - Call `atp_promote_thread_to_real_time`
+ * - Send over the serialized data via an IPC mechanism.
+ * - Deserialize the info.
+ * - Call `atp_promote_thread_to_real_time`.
  */
 
 #ifdef __linux__
@@ -83,31 +88,34 @@ int32_t atp_free_handle(atp_handle *handle);
  *
  * Returns an opaque handle in case of success, NULL otherwise.
  *
- * This call is useful on Linux desktop only, when the process is sandboxed and
- * cannot promote itself directly.
+ * This is useful on Linux only, to promote a thread from another process or
+ * thread when the thread to promote cannot do so itself (for example because it
+ * is sandboxed).
  */
 atp_handle *atp_promote_thread_to_real_time(atp_thread_info *thread_info);
 
 /**
- * Demotes a thread promoted to real-time priority via
- * `atp_demote_thread_from_real_time` to its previous priority.
+ * Demotes a thread, promoted to real-time priority via
+ * `atp_promote_thread_to_real_time`, back to its previous priority.
  *
  * Returns 0 in case of success, non-zero otherwise.
  *
- * This call is useful on Linux desktop only, when the process is sandboxed and
- * cannot promote itself directly.
+ * This is useful on Linux only, to promote a thread from another process or
+ * thread when the thread to promote cannot do so itself (for example because it
+ * is sandboxed).
  */
 int32_t atp_demote_thread_from_real_time(atp_thread_info* thread_info);
 
 /**
- * Gather informations from the calling thread, to be able to promote it from
+ * Gather information from the calling thread, to be able to promote it from
  * another thread and/or process.
  *
  * Returns a non-null pointer to an `atp_thread_info` structure in case of
- * sucess, to be freed later with `atp_free_thread_info`, and NULL otherwise.
+ * success, to be freed later with `atp_free_thread_info`, and NULL otherwise.
  *
- * This call is useful on Linux desktop only, when the process is sandboxed and
- * cannot promote itself directly.
+ * This is useful on Linux only, to promote a thread from another process or
+ * thread when the thread to promote cannot do so itself (for example because it
+ * is sandboxed).
  */
 atp_thread_info *atp_get_current_thread_info();
 
@@ -132,14 +140,15 @@ void atp_serialize_thread_info(atp_thread_info *thread_info, uint8_t *bytes);
 atp_thread_info* atp_deserialize_thread_info(uint8_t *bytes);
 
 /**
- * Set real-time limit for the calling process.
+ * Set the real-time computation limit (RLIMIT_RTTIME) for the calling process.
  *
- * This is useful only on Linux desktop, and allows remoting the rtkit DBUS call
- * to a process that has access to DBUS. This function has to be called before
- * attempting to promote threads from another process.
+ * This is needed by the rtkit/D-Bus backend before a thread can be promoted
+ * from another process, and must be called from within that process (it can be
+ * done before a sandbox lockdown). Without the `dbus` feature no such limit is
+ * required and this is a no-op.
  *
- * This sets the real-time computation limit. For actually promoting the thread
- * to a real-time scheduling class, see `atp_promote_thread_to_real_time`.
+ * This only sets the limit. For actually promoting the thread to a real-time
+ * scheduling class, see `atp_promote_thread_to_real_time`.
  */
 int32_t atp_set_real_time_limit(uint32_t audio_buffer_frames,
                                 uint32_t audio_samplerate_hz);