Can I run Ardour parallel to other audio software?

I have Ardour 4 on Linux mint 17.1. I’d like to have Ardour open and running whilst watching a tutorial on Ardour with the Totem player.

But both choosing Jack or ALSA as sound system in the Ardour startup-dialog gives me a “could not reconnect to the audio/midi engine” when I have the Totem player open. Choosing a second (external soundcard) in the Ardour startup-dialog gives the same error.

Is it actually possible to run (or maybe even only open without sound) Ardour parallel to other audio software? If so, how?

Thanks a lot for any hints!

Cheers,
Torsten

P.S. Small correction to my above posting: Choosing ALSA in the Ardour startup-dialog steals the sound from the playing Totem player. i.e. the Totem player turns silent when Ardour starts.

see “How can I play audio from … via JACK?” on http://jackaudio.org/faq/
most pro-audio Linux distros (AVLinux, KXStudio, etc) do set this up out-of-the-box.

@torsten_peh

It should work fine to have Ardour running on a second sound card while other software runs on your built in, I have run this exact setup for years. Ardour runs on my RME in my workstation, and everything else is routed through my desktop sound card.

Alternatively yes see what x42 posted which gives many other options.

   Seablade

thanks x42 and seablade, I will try it with your suggestions.