if you do not have any MIDI I/O available on your system, then it is impossible to use MIDI Time Code.

ensure that you have defined at least one MIDI port in your ardour.rc file. The default configuration includes a single port that is part of the ALSA MIDI router/sequencer system. open the Options Editor. switch to the MIDI tab. if you have more than one MIDI port, click on the button in the MTC column for the port you plan where MTC will be received. if you have more than one MIDI port, then you should probably click on the button in the MMC column for the port you plan where MMC will be received. This is not required, but many devices that send MTC also send MIDI Machine Control commands and may not be able to control Ardour correctly unless Ardour is also responding to MMC. switch to the Sync tab. Open the Positional Sync selector to see the list of possible sources of timeline synchronization: Internal use Ardour's own sense of position and time Slave to JACK follow JACK Transport information Slave to MTC follow incoming MTC information choose Slave to MTC To test that Ardour is now slaved, press the Play button on the MTC master, or some other action that will cause it to start transmitting MTC. Ardour should jump to the position indicated by incoming MTC, and start playing. Press Stop on the master (or do some other action that will cause the master to stop sending MTC) and Ardour should stop at the precise time indicated by the master.