AlsaProject - User contributions [en]

Main Page

2013-10-30T10:15:27Z

Tiwai:

__NOEDITSECTION__ __NOTOC__
=Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) project homepage=
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<div style="float:right;">{{ALSA download|layout=new}}</div>
<span style="font-size: 130%;">'''[[Introduction]]'''</span><br/>
The Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) provides audio and MIDI functionality to the Linux operating system. ALSA has the following significant features:
* Efficient support for all types of audio interfaces, from consumer sound cards to professional multichannel audio interfaces.
* Fully modularized sound drivers.
* SMP and thread-safe design ([[SMP_Design|PLEASE READ THIS]]).
* User space library (alsa-lib) to simplify application programming and provide higher level functionality.
* Support for the older Open Sound System (OSS) API, providing binary compatibility for most OSS programs.
|- valign="top"
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'''Please, help us''' to provide better content and organisation on this wiki. Read the [[AlsaProject:Community_Portal|Community Portal]] for more details.
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==New ALSA Users==
We need users to use, test and provide feedback on drivers and applications using ALSA. If you are interested, please subscribe to a [[mailing-lists|mailing list]].

* [[Matrix:Main|Is my soundcard supported?]]
* [[SoundcardTesting|How do I test my soundcard?]]

===Other information===
* [http://alsa.opensrc.org/ Unofficial wiki]

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{{ALSA Project News}}
|-
|- valign="top"
|style="border: 1px solid gray;padding-left:1em;padding-right:0.5em;background:#E4FFDF;padding-bottom:0.5em;" width="50%"|
==Advanced ALSA Users==
We need users to use, test and provide feedback on drivers and applications using ALSA. If you are interested, please subscribe to a [[mailing-lists|mailing list]].

* [[Download|How do I install the ALSA driver from source]]

===Other information===
* [http://alsa.opensrc.org/ Unofficial wiki]

|valign="top" bgcolor="#E8F1FF" style="border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-color:gray;padding-left:1em;padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.5em;" width="50%"|

==ALSA Developers==
We need application developers who choose to use ALSA as the basis for their programs, programmers to work on low level drivers, writers to extend and improve our documentation. If you are interested, please subscribe to a [[mailing-lists|mailing list]].

* [[ALSA Library API|ALSA Library API]]
* [[Tutorials_and_Presentations|Tutorials for application developers]]
* [[Developer_Zone|Developers area on this wiki]]
* [[ALSA_Driver_Documentation|Writing a driver?]]
* [[ALSA_Soundcard_Vendor_Information|Information for soundcard manufacturers]]
* [[Alsa_Team|ALSA Team - People]]
|-
|}

ALSA Driver Documentation

2008-05-09T10:56:24Z

Tiwai:

== ALSA Driver Documentation ==

Takashi Iwai has written "Writing an ALSA Driver" - a very comprehensive
guide to developing a device driver for ALSA.

The document focuses mainly on the PCI soundcard. In the case of other
device types, the API might be different. However the ALSA kernel API is
consistent so it will be helpful in that context.

*[http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/tiwai/docs/writing-an-alsa-driver/index.html HTML (multiple documents)]
*[http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/tiwai/docs/writing-an-alsa-driver.pdf pdf file]

== ALSA Driver API Reference ==

This document gives a complete rundown of the functions in the alsa-driver API.

*[http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/tiwai/docs/alsa-driver-api/index.html HTML (multiple documents)]
*[http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/tiwai/docs/alsa-driver-api.pdf pdf file]

ALSA Driver Documentation

2007-11-14T11:00:12Z

Tiwai: Fixed link URLs

== ALSA Driver Documentation ==

Takashi Iwai has written "Writing an ALSA Driver" - a very comprehensive
guide to developing a device driver for ALSA.

The document focuses mainly on the PCI soundcard. In the case of other
device types, the API might be different. However the ALSA kernel API is
consistent so it will be helpful in that context.

*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~tiwai/writing-an-alsa-driver/index.html HTML (multiple documents)]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~tiwai/writing-an-alsa-driver.pdf pdf file]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~tiwai/writing-an-alsa-driver.sgml The sgml source] is also available

== ALSA Driver API Reference ==

This document gives a complete rundown of the functions in the alsa-driver API.

*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~tiwai/alsa-driver-api/index.html HTML (multiple documents)]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~tiwai/alsa-driver-api.pdf pdf file]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~tiwai/alsa-driver-api.sgml The sgml source] is also available

SourceCodeRepository

2007-08-28T13:44:16Z

Tiwai:

How to use the Mercurial (hg) repository.

The [[Download]] page has more information about repositories and mirrors.

Get a copy of the repository
cd alsa-hg
hg clone http://hg.alsa-project.org/alsa-driver alsa-driver
hg clone http://hg.alsa-project.org/alsa-kernel alsa-kernel

Get latest updates
cd alsa-driver
hg pull -u
cd alsa-kernel
hg pull -u

Create a working copy
hg clone alsa-driver alsa-driver-fixbug1
cd alsa-driver-fixbug1
./hgcompile
do { code; test;} until finished;
hg commit -m"Fixed the foo in bar"

What to do about sending the changes back
hg diff > fixbug1.patch
# email fixbug1.patch] to alsa-devel

add to .hg/hgrc to avoid having to spec the path for hg
[incoming,outgoing,bundle]: default-push= /path/to/alsa-driver

View Changes
http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org

----
Copied from here [https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/wiki/wikka.php?wakka=SourceCodeRepository] and reformatted. Original was on alsa-devel mail list.

[[Category:Development]] [[Category:MigratedFromDev]]

Download

2007-08-28T13:43:06Z

Tiwai:

{| align="right"
| __TOC__
|}
==Latest Software Source Releases==
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"
! Package
! Stable Release
(2007-06-11)
! Development Release
! Description
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/ Driver ({{ALSA download package|module=driver}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=driver|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=driver|release=development|short=true}}
| Kernel drivers
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/firmware/ Firmware {{ALSA download package|module=firmware}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=firmware|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=firmware|release=development|short=true}}
| Firmware for cards that require it
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/lib/ Library ({{ALSA download package|module=lib}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=lib|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=lib|release=development|short=true}}
| Userspace library
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/plugins/ Plugins ({{ALSA download package|module=plugins}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=lib|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=lib|release=development|short=true}}
| Additional library plugins Eg.jack, pulse, maemo ...
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/utils/ Utilities ({{ALSA download package|module=utils}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=utils|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=utils|release=development|short=true}}
| Utilities aplay,arecord,amixer etc
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/tools/ Tools ({{ALSA download package|module=tools}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=tools|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=tools|release=development|short=true}}
| Tools
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/pyalsa/ PyALSA ({{ALSA download package|module=python}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=python|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=python|release=development|short=true}}
| Python bindings for ALSA lib
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/oss/ OSS compat lib ({{ALSA download package|module=oss}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=oss|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=oss|release=development|short=true}}
| OSS compatibility library
|-
|}

See [[ChangeLogs]] to find out what has changed since the previous release.

==<tt>.bz2</tt> extension handling==

The <tt>.bz2</tt> extension belongs to the bzip2 compression utility which replaces gzip. You may unpack the <tt>.tar.bz2</tt> files directly using one of the following commands:
''using the newer version of tar:''
<nowiki>tar xjf </nowiki>''<file>''

'''or''', ''using the older version of tar:''
<nowiki>tar xIf </nowiki>''<file>''

'''or''', ''with all versions of tar:''
<nowiki>bunzip2 -c </nowiki>''<file>''<nowiki> | tar xf -</nowiki>

==FTP Access==

'''Primary Site'''
*[ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org:/pub ftp.alsa-project.org:/pub]
'''US Mirrors'''
*[ftp://ftp.silug.org:/pub/alsa ftp.silug.org:/pub/alsa]
'''Europe Mirrors'''
*[ftp://ftp.task.gda.pl:/pub/linux/misc/alsa ftp.task.gda.pl:/pub/linux/misc/alsa]
*[ftp://gd.tuwien.ac.at:/opsys/linux/alsa gd.tuwien.ac.at:/opsys/linux/alsa]
*[ftp://ftp.iasi.roedu.net:/pub/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org ftp.iasi.roedu.net:/pub/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org]

==FTP via HTTP (web) access==

'''Europe Sites'''
*[http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org]
*[http://alsa.mirror.fr http://alsa.mirror.fr]
*[http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/alsa http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/alsa]
*[http://alsa.cybermirror.org http://alsa.cybermirror.org]

==Developers: HG access==

*[http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/ HG Repository]

==(Unofficial) Daily Snapshot Tarballs==

The tarballs of the latest HG version with ready-for-build configure script are available at:
*[ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/alsa/snapshot/ Daily Snapshot]

==Tracker System==

*[https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa-bug Bugs]

==ALSA HG (Mercurial) SCM repositories==

HG (Mercurial) SCM can be found at http://www.selenic.com/mercurial.

The ALSA sources can be obtained using:
<nowiki>hg clone http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/alsa-driver alsa-driver</nowiki>
A full list of ALSA repositories can be found at the [http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/ HG Repository].

As an alternative to HG you may also try via rsync access:
<nowiki>rsync -avz --delete rsync://alsa.alsa-project.org/hg </nowiki>''your_directory''

To get the latest code, but without the .hg repository (encouraged if you are not using HG):
<nowiki>rsync -avz --delete --exclude=.hg* rsync://alsa.alsa-project.org/hg </nowiki>''your_directory''

The detailed instruction for the development with HG repositories is found here:
* [[SourceCodeRepository]] - How to use the Mercurial (Hg) repository.

==Rsync==

{| border=1
|+ ''ALSA rsync access''
|URL
|rsync://alsa.alsa-project.org/ftp
|-
|Access
|read-only
|-
|Description
|read-only access to the whole FTP tree
|}

==Kernel GIT Repository==

The latest HG tree is synced with the kernel GIT tree in <nowiki>perex/alsa.git</nowiki> <nowiki>mm</nowiki> branch.

*[http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/perex/alsa.git;a=shortlog;h=mm ALSA kernel GIT mm branch]

Download

2007-08-27T13:48:59Z

Tiwai:

{| align="right"
| __TOC__
|}
==Latest Software Source Releases==
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"
! Package
! Stable Release
(2007-06-11)
! Development Release
! Description
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/ Driver ({{ALSA download package|module=driver}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=driver|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=driver|release=development|short=true}}
| Kernel drivers
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/firmware/ Firmware {{ALSA download package|module=firmware}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=firmware|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=firmware|release=development|short=true}}
| Firmware for cards that require it
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/lib/ Library ({{ALSA download package|module=lib}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=lib|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=lib|release=development|short=true}}
| Userspace library
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/plugins/ Plugins ({{ALSA download package|module=plugins}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=lib|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=lib|release=development|short=true}}
| Additional library plugins Eg.jack, pulse, maemo ...
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/utils/ Utilities ({{ALSA download package|module=utils}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=utils|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=utils|release=development|short=true}}
| Utilities aplay,arecord,amixer etc
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/tools/ Tools ({{ALSA download package|module=tools}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=tools|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=tools|release=development|short=true}}
| Tools
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/pyalsa/ PyALSA ({{ALSA download package|module=python}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=python|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=python|release=development|short=true}}
| Python bindings for ALSA lib
|-
| [ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/oss/ OSS compat lib ({{ALSA download package|module=oss}})]
| {{ALSA download file|module=oss|release=stable|short=true}}
| {{ALSA download file|module=oss|release=development|short=true}}
| OSS compatibility library
|-
|}

See [[ChangeLogs]] to find out what has changed since the previous release.

==<tt>.bz2</tt> extension handling==

The <tt>.bz2</tt> extension belongs to the bzip2 compression utility which replaces gzip. You may unpack the <tt>.tar.bz2</tt> files directly using one of the following commands:
''using the newer version of tar:''
<nowiki>tar xjf </nowiki>''<file>''

'''or''', ''using the older version of tar:''
<nowiki>tar xIf </nowiki>''<file>''

'''or''', ''with all versions of tar:''
<nowiki>bunzip2 -c </nowiki>''<file>''<nowiki> | tar xf -</nowiki>

==FTP Access==

'''Primary Site'''
*[ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org:/pub ftp.alsa-project.org:/pub]
'''US Mirrors'''
*[ftp://ftp.silug.org:/pub/alsa ftp.silug.org:/pub/alsa]
'''Europe Mirrors'''
*[ftp://ftp.task.gda.pl:/pub/linux/misc/alsa ftp.task.gda.pl:/pub/linux/misc/alsa]
*[ftp://gd.tuwien.ac.at:/opsys/linux/alsa gd.tuwien.ac.at:/opsys/linux/alsa]
*[ftp://ftp.iasi.roedu.net:/pub/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org ftp.iasi.roedu.net:/pub/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org]

==FTP via HTTP (web) access==

'''Europe Sites'''
*[http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org]
*[http://alsa.mirror.fr http://alsa.mirror.fr]
*[http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/alsa http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/alsa]
*[http://alsa.cybermirror.org http://alsa.cybermirror.org]

==Developers: HG access==

*[http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/ HG Repository]

==(Unofficial) Daily Snapshot Tarballs==

The tarballs of the latest HG version with ready-for-build configure script are available at:
*[ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/alsa/snapshot/ Daily Snapshot]

==Tracker System==

*[https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa-bug Bugs]

==ALSA HG (Mercurial) SCM repositories==

HG (Mercurial) SCM can be found at http://www.selenic.com/mercurial.

The ALSA sources can be obtained using:
<nowiki>hg clone http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/alsa-driver alsa-driver</nowiki>
A full list of ALSA repositories can be found at the [http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/ HG Repository].

As an alternative to HG you may also try via rsync access:
<nowiki>rsync -avz --delete rsync://alsa.alsa-project.org/hg </nowiki>''your_directory''

To get the latest code, but without the .hg repository (encouraged if you are not using HG):
<nowiki>rsync -avz --delete --exclude=.hg* rsync://alsa.alsa-project.org/hg </nowiki>''your_directory''

==Rsync==

{| border=1
|+ ''ALSA rsync access''
|URL
|rsync://alsa.alsa-project.org/ftp
|-
|Access
|read-only
|-
|Description
|read-only access to the whole FTP tree
|}

==Kernel GIT Repository==

The latest HG tree is synced with the kernel GIT tree in <nowiki>perex/alsa.git</nowiki> <nowiki>mm</nowiki> branch.

*[http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/perex/alsa.git;a=shortlog;h=mm ALSA kernel GIT mm branch]

SoundcardTesting

2007-08-27T13:23:24Z

Tiwai: New page: == Rule of Thumb == Try the programs in alsa-utils package at first for testing. But above all, double-check your mixer setting before testing the sound! == Playback == In most sound card...

== Rule of Thumb ==
Try the programs in alsa-utils package at first for testing.
But above all, double-check your mixer setting before testing the sound!

== Playback ==
In most sound cards, you'll need to unmute and adjust ''Master'' and ''PCM'' volumes. Don't forget unmute it! Some devices have additional special mixer volumes, but usually they don't have to be adjusted (unless the values get broken accidentally).

For testing the simple playback, use aplay program. Prepare a WAV file and simply run like:

% aplay -vv somefile.wav

With the option -vv, aplay shows the verbose information of the PCM device, and a VU-peak meter during playing the file. If you want to test the secondary card, pass -Ddefault:1 in addition. It means the default PCM on the secondary card.

For testing a multi-channel PCM configuration, use speaker-test program. For testing 5.1 output, run like:

% speaker-test -Dplug:surround51 -c6 -twav

The option -Dplug:surround51 specifies that you're using 5.1-surround configuration with the automatic-conversion layer. Without this option, the default PCM would be chosen, and usually only two channels are used (and the rest channels are dropped silently).
The -c6 specifies that you use 6 channels. The last -twav is to choose the WAV output mode, where speaker-test will tell you the speaker position in a nice soft voice.

== Recording ==
In general, recording requires more mixer set-up. For many devices (typically on-board one), you'll need to turn on ''Capture Switch'', and raise ''Capture Volume''. Then, choose an appropriate recording source from ''Capture Source''.

Note that on alsamixer (and amixer), ''Capture Source'' appears often split mixer switches instead of an enum list. (It's because of the old design of alsamixer. Maybe changed in near future.) For example, you see the entry ''Mic'' in capture mode of alsamixer, which can be toggled via space key. It's basically the item of ''Capture Source'' in the driver expression.

For many on-board devices, the recording level can be quite low unless you set ''Mic Boost'' or ''Front Mic Boost'' mixer switch or volume. If you get too silent recording, check whether you have such a mixer element.

The simple way of recording-test is to use arecord. Run arecord like:

% arecord -vv -fdat foo.wav

where -vv option means the verbose output just like aplay, -fdat means 48kHz, 2-channel, 16bit format, and the sound is recorded in the file foo.wav. It shows a VU-peak meter, so you will see usually what is being recorded. Push Ctrl-C to quit the recording; otherwise it'll continue endlessly. After finishing the recording, try to play back the file via aplay again.

DevEmbedded

2007-08-10T16:30:46Z

Tiwai:

Try building the minimal alsa library.

--disable-aload disable reading /dev/aload*
--disable-mixer Disable the mixer component
--disable-pcm Disable the PCM component
--disable-rawmidi Disable the raw MIDI component
--disable-hwdep Disable the hwdep component
--disable-seq Disable the sequencer component
--disable-instr Disable the instrument component
--disable-alisp Disable the alisp component
--with-pcm-plugins=<list> Build PCM plugins

Note that only hw plugin is important for pcm if applications will do all
conversions itself.

Just quick test with:

./configure --disable-aload --disable-mixer --disable-rawmidi
--disable-hwdep --disable-seq --disable-instr --disable-alisp
--with-pcm-plugins=hw
#
strip -g --remove-section=.comment --remove-section=.note libasound.so
#
-rwxr-xr-x 1 perex users 366562 2006-12-09 09:22 libasound.so.2.0.0

It does not look so bad, doesn't?

With mixer stuff:

-rwxr-xr-x 1 perex users 420024 2006-12-09 09:25 libasound.so.2.0.0

''Question to embedded developers:''
The best thing is to discuss what else can be shrinked (removed from
build). If embedded platform developers stay quiet, we won't care.

For example, all dynamic configuration code can be removed, too.

''Somebody asked'' How could be removed the dynamic configuration? ( removing conf.c and confmisc.c ? )
How can i do a "fixed" alsa.conf?

One answer is to use [[SALSA-Library]]. It's source-level API compatible, but not binary-compatible with the normal ALSA library. The binary size is about 1/10 of above.

----
Copied from [https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/wiki/wikka.php?wakka=AlsaEmbedded]

[[Category:Development]] [[Category:MigratedFromDev]]

ALSA Library API

2007-08-03T15:37:37Z

Tiwai:

The ALSA library API is the interface to the ALSA drivers. Developers need to
use the functions in this API to achieve native ALSA support for their
applications. The ALSA lib documentation is a valuable developer reference
to the available functions. In many ways it is a tutorial. The latest
on-line documentation is generated from the alsa-lib CVS sources.

*[http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/alsa-lib/ ALSA-library API reference]

The currently designed interfaces are listed below:

#Information Interface (/proc/asound)
#Control Interface (/dev/snd/controlCX)
#Mixer Interface (/dev/snd/mixerCXDX)
#PCM Interface (/dev/snd/pcmCXDX)
#Raw MIDI Interface (/dev/snd/midiCXDX)
#Sequencer Interface (/dev/snd/seq)
#Timer Interface (/dev/snd/timer)

You can also generate it yourself. Install the
[http://www.doxygen.org doxygen tool] and type 'make doc' in
the alsa-lib directory.

There is a stripped version of ALSA-library for small systems like embedded devices, [[SALSA-Library]]. It's designed to be source-level API compatible with the normal ALSA library, but has no binary compatibility.

*[[SALSA-Library]]

SALSA-Library

2007-08-03T15:37:20Z

Tiwai: New page: ==SALSA-Lib - Small ALSA Library== SALSA-Lib is a small, light-weight, hot and spicy version of the ALSA library, mainly for embedded systems with limited resources. The library is design...

==SALSA-Lib - Small ALSA Library==

SALSA-Lib is a small, light-weight, hot and spicy version of the ALSA library, mainly for embedded systems with limited resources.
The library is designed to be source-level compatible with ALSA library API for limited contents. Most of function calls are inlined, and accesses directly to the hardware via system calls.
Some components like ALSA sequencer aren't supported, and most of all, the alsa-lib plugins and configurations are completely dropped. Thus, neither dmix nor format conversion is available with SALSA-lib.

The source code is available below:
*[ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/people/tiwai/salsa-lib/ SALSA-Lib source directory]

Documentation

2007-08-03T14:46:29Z

Tiwai:

== User Info ==

*[[ALSA User Info]]
*[http://www.agnula.info/documentation/dp_tutorials/alsa_jack_ladspa/ Overview of ALSA]
*Hardware Recommendations
*[http://lau.linuxaudio.org/ Linux Audio Users Guide]

== System Maintainers Info ==

*[[System Maintainers documentation]]

*[[Matrix:Main|Sound Card Matrix & INSTALL documentation]]
*[http://alsa.opensrc.org/ The ALSA Wiki]
*The latest [http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/alsa/alsa-driver/INSTALL INSTALL] file
*kerndriv Updating ALSA Kernel drivers
*olddocs Older documents
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/doc-php/asoundrc.php?company=Generic&card=Generic&chip=Generic&module=Generic .asoundrc]
*Kernel Module overview(snd, virmidi, etc..)

== Tools ==

*alsactl
*amixer, alsamixer
*aplay/arecord
*aconnect, aseqnet
*envy24control
*hdsploader, hdspmixer
*vxloader

== Developer Info ==

*[[ALSA Library API]]
*[[ALSA Driver Documentation]]
*[[Tutorials and Presentations]]
*[[ALSA 0.9.x Developer documentation]]
*[http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/ HG (Mercurial) Repositories]
*[[ALSA contributors]]

== Hardware Manufacturers ==

*[[ALSA Soundcard Vendor Information|Getting support for your hardware.]]

Documentation

2007-08-03T14:45:20Z

Tiwai:

== User Info ==

*[[ALSA User Info]]
*[http://www.agnula.info/documentation/dp_tutorials/alsa_jack_ladspa/ Overview of ALSA]
*Hardware Recommendations
*[http://lau.linuxaudio.org/ Linux Audio Users Guide]

== System Maintainers Info ==

*[[System Maintainers documentation]]

*[[Matrix:Main|Sound Card Matrix & INSTALL documentation]]
*[http://alsa.opensrc.org/ The ALSA Wiki]
*The latest [http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/alsa/alsa-driver/INSTALL INSTALL] file
*kerndriv Updating ALSA Kernel drivers
*olddocs Older documents
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/doc-php/asoundrc.php?company=Generic&card=Generic&chip=Generic&module=Generic .asoundrc]
*Kernel Module overview(snd, virmidi, etc..)

== Tools ==

*alsactl
*amixer, alsamixer
*aplay/arecord
*aconnect, aseqnet
*envy24control
*hdsploader, hdspmixer
*vxloader

== Developer Info ==

*[[ALSA Library API]]
*[[ALSA Driver Documentation]]
*[[Tutorials and Presentations]]
*[[ALSA 0.9.x Developer documentation]]
*[http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/ Driver HG (Mercurial) Repositories]
*[[ALSA contributors]]

== Hardware Manufacturers ==

*[[ALSA Soundcard Vendor Information|Getting support for your hardware.]]

ALSA 0.9.x Developer documentation

2007-08-03T14:40:46Z

Tiwai:

Tutorials and Presentations

2007-08-03T14:38:04Z

Tiwai: New page: == Developer tutorials == *[http://www.suse.de/~mana/alsa090_howto.html ALSA 0.9.0 HOWTO] - Dr Matthias Nagorni has writen a comprehensive tutorial for audio application developers. *[htt...

== Developer tutorials ==

*[http://www.suse.de/~mana/alsa090_howto.html ALSA 0.9.0 HOWTO] - Dr Matthias Nagorni has writen a comprehensive tutorial for audio application developers.
*[http://equalarea.com/paul/alsa-audio.html Howto use the ALSA API] - Paul Davis has also written a brief explanation.
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~frank/alsa-sequencer/ ALSA Sequencer (draft)] - Frank van de Pol's draft on programming the alsa sequencer.
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/OSS-Emulation.html Kernel OSS-Emulation] - Takashi Iwai has written some notes on how ALSA handles OSS applications.
*[http://www.salleurl.edu/~is04069/Modders/Docs/alsadoc.html Programming ALSA (Espanol)] - David Garcia Garzon has written Spanish docs and tutorials

=== Presentations: ===

*The [http://www.linuxdj.com/audio/lad/eventszkm2003.php LAD meeting] in Karlsruhe, April 2003 provided two presentations (among many) from the core ALSA developers Jaroslav and Takashi. You can view slides and listen to .ogg recordings of the presentations.

ALSA Driver Documentation

2007-08-03T14:33:04Z

Tiwai: ALSA driver documentation, splitted from old 0.9.x page

== ALSA Driver Documentation ==

Takashi Iwai has written "Writing an ALSA Driver" - a very comprehensive
guide to developing a device driver for ALSA.

The document focuses mainly on the PCI soundcard. In the case of other
device types, the API might be different. However the ALSA kernel API is
consistent so it will be helpful in that context.

*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/writing-an-alsa-driver/index.html HTML (multiple documents)]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/writing-an-alsa-driver.pdf pdf file]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/writing-an-alsa-driver.sgml The sgml source] is also available

== ALSA Driver API Reference ==

This document gives a complete rundown of the functions in the alsa-driver API.

*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/alsa-driver-api/index.html HTML (multiple documents)]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/alsa-driver-api.pdf pdf file]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/alsa-driver-api.sgml The sgml source] is also available

ALSA Library API

2007-08-03T14:30:55Z

Tiwai:

ALSA Library API

2007-08-03T14:30:10Z

Tiwai: Add a separate alsa-li API page

The ALSA library API is the interface to the ALSA drivers. Developers need to
use the functions in this API to achieve native ALSA support for their
applications. The ALSA lib documentation is a valuable developer reference
to the available functions. In many ways it is a tutorial. The latest
on-line documentation is generated from the alsa-lib CVS sources.

*[http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/alsa-lib/ ALSA-library API reference]

You can also generate it yourself. Install the
[http://www.doxygen.org doxygen tool] and type 'make doc' in
the alsa-lib directory.

The currently designed interfaces are listed below:

#Information Interface (/proc/asound)
#Control Interface (/dev/snd/controlCX)
#Mixer Interface (/dev/snd/mixerCXDX)
#PCM Interface (/dev/snd/pcmCXDX)
#Raw MIDI Interface (/dev/snd/midiCXDX)
#Sequencer Interface (/dev/snd/seq)
#Timer Interface (/dev/snd/timer)

ALSA 0.9.x Developer documentation

2007-08-03T13:54:52Z

Tiwai: Removed old text file, mark alsa-lib API reference more clear

== Background Info ==

The Advanced Linux Sound Architecture comes with a driver API & library API.
Our aim is to describe hardware as close as possible in drivers, but in
userspace, the alsa-lib covers the hardware differences (if required).
It's possible for applications to control all hardware features
(if required).

*Click [http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/ here to view the code online] - highlighted syntax
*Extra driver/architecture specific information is available in the http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/alsa/alsa-kernel/Documentation/ alsa-kernel/Documentation dir

'''Q: Why is ALSA more advanced than OSS?'''

*kernel-space supports only h/w-level capabilities
*multi-thread safe design
*transparent use of plugin architecture to handle format,rate,channel cnt and many other conversions
*support for non-interleaved interfaces
*user-space software mixing (dmix)
*user-space "loopback/snoop" capabilities
*merging multiple cards into a single virtual device
*hiding non-ALSA-drivers behind a consistent user-space API (e.g. IEEE1394 drivers, or JACK)
*consistent and generic control API for managing h/w controls
*sufficiently flexible mixer architecture to handle modern audio interfaces fully (rather than reducing them to a simplistic device)
*consistent support for multiple instances of the same card
*linked operations of multiple cards
*and more...

Currently we need developers to write docs on the ctl API. Until then you
will have to read the code and reference other applications for more advanced
info.

== Developer tutorials ==

*[http://www.suse.de/~mana/alsa090_howto.html ALSA 0.9.0 HOWTO] - Dr Matthias Nagorni has writen a comprehensive tutorial for audio application developers.
*[http://equalarea.com/paul/alsa-audio.html Howto use the ALSA API] - Paul Davis has also written a brief explanation.
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~frank/alsa-sequencer/ ALSA Sequencer (draft)] - Frank van de Pol's draft on programming the alsa sequencer.
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/OSS-Emulation.html Kernel OSS-Emulation] - Takashi Iwai has written some notes on how ALSA handles OSS applications.
*[http://www.salleurl.edu/~is04069/Modders/Docs/alsadoc.html Programming ALSA (Espanol)] - David Garcia Garzon has written Spanish docs and tutorials

=== Presentations: ===

*The [http://www.linuxdj.com/audio/lad/eventszkm2003.php LAD meeting] in Karlsruhe, April 2003 provided two presentations (among many) from the core ALSA developers Jaroslav and Takashi. You can view slides and listen to .ogg recordings of the presentations.

== ALSA Library API ==

The ALSA lib api is the interface to the ALSA drivers. Developers need to
use the functions in this api to achieve native ALSA support for their
applications. The ALSA lib documentation is a valuable developer reference
to the available functions. In many ways it is a tutorial. The latest
on-line documentation is generated from the alsa-lib CVS sources.

*[http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/alsa-lib/ ALSA-lib API reference]

You can also generate it yourself. Install the
[http://www.doxygen.org doxygen tool] and type 'make doc' in
the alsa-lib directory.

The currently designed interfaces are listed below:

#Information Interface (/proc/asound)
#Control Interface (/dev/snd/controlCX)
#Mixer Interface (/dev/snd/mixerCXDX)
#PCM Interface (/dev/snd/pcmCXDX)
#Raw MIDI Interface (/dev/snd/midiCXDX)
#Sequencer Interface (/dev/snd/seq)
#Timer Interface (/dev/snd/timer)

== ALSA Driver Documentation ==

Takashi Iwai has written "Writing an ALSA Driver" - a very comprehensive
guide to developing a device driver for ALSA.

The document focuses mainly on the PCI soundcard. In the case of other
device types, the API might be different. However the ALSA kernel API is
consistent so it will be helpful in that context.

*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/writing-an-alsa-driver/index.html HTML (multiple documents)]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/writing-an-alsa-driver.pdf pdf file]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/writing-an-alsa-driver.sgml The sgml source] is also available

== ALSA Driver API ==

This document gives a complete rundown of the functions in the alsa-driver API.

*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/alsa-driver-api/index.html HTML (multiple documents)]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/alsa-driver-api.pdf pdf file]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~iwai/alsa-driver-api.sgml The sgml source] is also available

=== Older documents ===

The [http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/alsa-howto ALSA HOWTO/FAQ documentation] tries
to do the ALSA driver installation easier. If you have any ideas or questions
regarding this documentation, please, leave a message on
the [[Mailing-lists|alsa-devel at lists.sourceforge.net]] mailing list.

The [http://www.alsa-project.org/~valentyn/Alsa-sound-mini-HOWTO.html ALSA-sound-mini-HOWTO]
describes the installation of the ALSA sound
drivers for Linux. This HOWTO is also available from the Linux Documentation Project, take
a look at [http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/mirrors.html http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/mirrors.html]
to find your nearest mirror. You can get this HOWTO in various formats:

*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~valentyn/Alsa-sound-mini-HOWTO.html HTML (multiple documents)]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~valentyn/other-formats/Alsa-sound-mini-HOWTO.html HTML (one document)]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~valentyn/other-formats/Alsa-sound-mini-HOWTO.txt plain text]
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/~valentyn/other-formats/Alsa-sound-mini-HOWTO.sgml sgml source] of the HOWTO is also available.

There is also an old [http://www.alsa-project.org/~jfulmer/alsa-faq.html ALSA FAQ document] from John Fulmer.

== ALSA 0.5.x Developer documentation ==

'''N.B. The 0.5.x series is considered deprecated and is no longer supported by ALSA developers'''

The [http://www.math.tu-berlin.de/~sbartels/alsa/ ALSA 0.4.0 Developer documentation] describes the internals of the ALSA kernel driver.
It is a document for kernel developers and others which want to know more
about ALSA internals. It is '''not''' for application programmers.
Application programmers should use the ALSA library API found in the alsa-lib
package. Incomplete documentation for ALSA 0.5.x API is available in HTML format
on [http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/alsa-lib-old ALSA WWW server] or you
may get [http://www.alsa-project.org/~perex/alsa-lib-old/alsa-lib.tgz tarball] for off-line
reading.

Download

2007-08-03T13:44:22Z

Tiwai: Add daily snapshot URL

{| align="right"
| __TOC__
|}

==<tt>.bz2</tt> extension handling==

The <tt>.bz2</tt> extension belongs to the bzip2 compression utility which replaces gzip. You may unpack the <tt>.tar.bz2</tt> files directly using one of the following commands:
''using the newer version of tar:''
<nowiki>tar xjf </nowiki>''<file>''

'''or''', ''using the older version of tar:''
<nowiki>tar xIf </nowiki>''<file>''

'''or''', ''with all versions of tar:''
<nowiki>bunzip2 -c </nowiki>''<file>''<nowiki> | tar xf -</nowiki>

==FTP Access==

'''Primary Site'''
*[ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org:/pub ftp.alsa-project.org:/pub]
'''US Mirrors'''
*[ftp://ftp.silug.org:/pub/alsa ftp.silug.org:/pub/alsa]
*[ftp://ftp.rfc822.org:/pub/mirror/ftp.alsa-project.org/pub ftp.rfc822.org:/pub/mirror/ftp.alsa-project.org/pub]
'''Europe Mirrors'''
*[ftp://ftp.sunet.se:/pub/Linux/alsa ftp.sunet.se:/pub/Linux/alsa]
*[ftp://ftp.task.gda.pl:/pub/linux/misc/alsa ftp.task.gda.pl:/pub/linux/misc/alsa]
*[ftp://gd.tuwien.ac.at:/opsys/linux/alsa gd.tuwien.ac.at:/opsys/linux/alsa]
*[ftp://ftp.iasi.roedu.net:/pub/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org ftp.iasi.roedu.net:/pub/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org]
'''Asia Mirrors'''
*[ftp://linux.sarang.net:/mirror/driver/sound/alsa linux.sarang.net:/mirror/driver/sound/alsa]

==FTP via HTTP (web) access==

'''Primary Site'''
*[http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa/ftp http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa/ftp]
'''Europe Sites'''
*[http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org http://dl.ambiweb.de/mirrors/ftp.alsa-project.org]
*[http://alsa.mirror.fr http://alsa.mirror.fr]
*[http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/alsa http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/opsys/linux/alsa]
*[http://alsa.cybermirror.org http://alsa.cybermirror.org]

==Developers: HG access==

*[http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/ HG Repository]

==(Unofficial) Daily Snapshot Tarballs==

The tarballs of the latest HG version with ready-for-build configure script are available at:
*[ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/alsa/snapshot/ Daily Snapshot]

==Tracker System==

*[https://bugtrack.alsa-project.org/alsa-bug Bugs]

==ALSA HG (Mercurial) SCM repositories==

HG (Mercurial) SCM can be found at http://www.selenic.com/mercurial.

The ALSA sources can be obtained using:
<nowiki>hg clone http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/alsa-driver alsa-driver</nowiki>
A full list of ALSA repositories can be found at the [http://hg-mirror.alsa-project.org/ HG Repository].

As an alternative to HG you may also try via rsync access:
<nowiki>rsync -avz --delete rsync://alsa.alsa-project.org/hg </nowiki>''your_directory''

To get the latest code, but without the .hg repository (encouraged if you are not using HG):
<nowiki>rsync -avz --delete --exclude=.hg* rsync://alsa.alsa-project.org/hg </nowiki>''your_directory''

==Rsync==

{| border=1
|+ ''ALSA rsync access''
|URL
|rsync://alsa.alsa-project.org/ftp
|-
|Access
|read-only
|-
|Description
|read-only access to the whole FTP tree
|}