/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Alexander Indenbaum]

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Hello,

I'm playing with embedded system without any hardware sound device. I'd like
to grab sound from ALSA application, for instance Firefox displaying YouTube
clip inside flash plugin and to store  output PCM stream into file on local
disk. I got an advice to use File extension. So I defined following
/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf

pcm.default{
        type
file
        file
/tmp/pcm.out
}

But when alsa lib still complains about
"Unknown PCM plughw:0,0"
"Cannot open shared library /usr/lib/alsa-lib/libasound_module_pcm_file.so"

I have a nasty feeling that syntax of my /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf  is
broken beyond recognition. I wonder what is the correct way to define my
situation:
* No real audio devices
* All sound is output goes to file as PCM stream

Do you have a clue?
Alexander Indenbaum

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Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Rene Herman]

On 17-03-08 03:57, Alexander Indenbaum wrote:

> I'm playing with embedded system without any hardware sound device. I'd like
> to grab sound from ALSA application, for instance Firefox displaying YouTube
> clip inside flash plugin and to store  output PCM stream into file on local
> disk. I got an advice to use File extension. So I defined following
> /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf

Don't do it there. Use /etc/asound.conf or $HOME/.asoundrc ...

> pcm.default{
>         type
> file
>         file
> /tmp/pcm.out
> }

... and make it

pcm.!default {
         type    file
         slave   {
                 pcm     null
         }
         file    "/tmp/pcm.out"
}

Exactly why you need that slave definition I'm not sure either, but it seems 
you do. Also note that /tmp/pcm.out will be headerless PCM and is recreated 
for individual opens. I don't believe there's an append mode or anything 
(and you'd need to make sure that everyone plays the same format) so not 
toot sure if this is what you need to have a catch all audio-sink...

Rene.

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Re: /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Alexander Indenbaum]

On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 5:18 AM, Rene Herman <rene.herman@keyaccess.nl>
wrote:

> On 17-03-08 03:57, Alexander Indenbaum wrote:
>
> > I'm playing with embedded system without any hardware sound device. I'd
> like
> > to grab sound from ALSA application, for instance Firefox displaying
> YouTube
> > clip inside flash plugin and to store  output PCM stream into file on
> local
> > disk. I got an advice to use File extension. So I defined following
> > /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf
>
> Don't do it there. Use /etc/asound.conf or $HOME/.asoundrc ...
>

Generally I'd agree with you that $HOME/.asoundrc is way to go if it was my
desktop workstation. But this is an embedded system, so I'd like to force it
on system level.


> > pcm.default{
> >         type
> > file
> >         file
> > /tmp/pcm.out
> > }
>
> ... and make it
>
> pcm.!default {
>         type    file
>         slave   {
>                 pcm     null
>         }
>         file    "/tmp/pcm.out"
> }
>

Still it does not  work ( I still use system alsa.conf though ). Now I get:
"Unknown PCM null"
"Unknown PCM plughw:0,0"


> Exactly why you need that slave definition I'm not sure either, but it
> seems
> you do. Also note that /tmp/pcm.out will be headerless PCM and is
> recreated
> for individual opens. I don't believe there's an append mode or anything
> (and you'd need to make sure that everyone plays the same format) so not
> toot sure if this is what you need to have a catch all audio-sink...


You touching here an interesting point. How  indeed I could get an PCM
header?


>
>
> Rene.
>

Thank you for your help, Rene.

-- 
Alexander Indenbaum

Re: /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Takashi Iwai]

At Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:18:15 +0100,
Rene Herman wrote:
> 
> On 17-03-08 03:57, Alexander Indenbaum wrote:
> 
> > I'm playing with embedded system without any hardware sound device. I'd like
> > to grab sound from ALSA application, for instance Firefox displaying YouTube
> > clip inside flash plugin and to store  output PCM stream into file on local
> > disk. I got an advice to use File extension. So I defined following
> > /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf
> 
> Don't do it there. Use /etc/asound.conf or $HOME/.asoundrc ...

Or /etc/asound.conf.  It's the additional place for the system-wide
definitions.

> > pcm.default{
> >         type
> > file
> >         file
> > /tmp/pcm.out
> > }
> 
> ... and make it
> 
> pcm.!default {
>          type    file
>          slave   {
>                  pcm     null
>          }
>          file    "/tmp/pcm.out"
> }
> 
> Exactly why you need that slave definition I'm not sure either, but it seems 
> you do.

The file plugin requires the slave for its configuration and as the
timing source.  Using "null" is just to accept any config and feed the
data as fast as possible.  If you need to save the data as if it's
being played, use the kernel dummy driver as the slave.

> Also note that /tmp/pcm.out will be headerless PCM and is recreated 
> for individual opens. I don't believe there's an append mode or anything 
> (and you'd need to make sure that everyone plays the same format) so not 
> toot sure if this is what you need to have a catch all audio-sink...

Recently I added a new option "truncate" to file plugin.  As default,
it's set to true (for compatibility reason), and the plugin overwrite
the existing file if reopened.  When it's set to false, a new file is
created with a different suffix (up to 1000 files) at each time.


Takashi

Re: /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Rene Herman]

On 17-03-08 04:35, Alexander Indenbaum wrote:

> On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 5:18 AM, Rene Herman <rene.herman@keyaccess.nl 

>     Don't do it there. Use /etc/asound.conf or $HOME/.asoundrc ...
> 
> 
> Generally I'd agree with you that $HOME/.asoundrc is way to go if it was 
> my desktop workstation. But this is an embedded system, so I'd like to 
> force it on system level.

As I said, use /etc/asound.conf

> Still it does not  work ( I still use system alsa.conf though ).

That's the reason.

> You touching here an interesting point. How  indeed I could get an PCM 
> header?

You don't really need one if you know the format. Ie, with aplay (and 
foo.wav being CD format):

aplay foo.wav
aplay -D hw:0 -f cd /tmp/pcm.out

Rene.

Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Rene Herman]

On 17-03-08 09:05, Takashi Iwai wrote:
> At Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:18:15 +0100,
> Rene Herman wrote:

>> Don't do it there. Use /etc/asound.conf or $HOME/.asoundrc ...
> 
> Or /etc/asound.conf.  It's the additional place for the system-wide
> definitions.

That's what I said. What happened? Alexander also completely missed that...

>> Exactly why you need that slave definition I'm not sure either, but it seems 
>> you do.
> 
> The file plugin requires the slave for its configuration and as the
> timing source.  Using "null" is just to accept any config and feed the
> data as fast as possible.  If you need to save the data as if it's
> being played, use the kernel dummy driver as the slave.

I see, thanks.

>> Also note that /tmp/pcm.out will be headerless PCM and is recreated 
>> for individual opens. I don't believe there's an append mode or anything 
>> (and you'd need to make sure that everyone plays the same format) so not 
>> toot sure if this is what you need to have a catch all audio-sink...
> 
> Recently I added a new option "truncate" to file plugin.  As default,
> it's set to true (for compatibility reason), and the plugin overwrite
> the existing file if reopened.  When it's set to false, a new file is
> created with a different suffix (up to 1000 files) at each time.

That sounds useful...

Rene.

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Re: /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Takashi Iwai]

At Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:34:11 +0100,
Rene Herman wrote:
> 
> On 17-03-08 09:05, Takashi Iwai wrote:
> > At Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:18:15 +0100,
> > Rene Herman wrote:
> 
> >> Don't do it there. Use /etc/asound.conf or $HOME/.asoundrc ...
> > 
> > Or /etc/asound.conf.  It's the additional place for the system-wide
> > definitions.
> 
> That's what I said.

Ah, I must have been too careless...

> >> Also note that /tmp/pcm.out will be headerless PCM and is recreated 
> >> for individual opens. I don't believe there's an append mode or anything 
> >> (and you'd need to make sure that everyone plays the same format) so not 
> >> toot sure if this is what you need to have a catch all audio-sink...
> > 
> > Recently I added a new option "truncate" to file plugin.  As default,
> > it's set to true (for compatibility reason), and the plugin overwrite
> > the existing file if reopened.  When it's set to false, a new file is
> > created with a different suffix (up to 1000 files) at each time.
> 
> That sounds useful...

And I added another new feature to the file plugin to write WAV files
instead of raw files now to HG tree.  You can specify the format "wav"
instead of "raw" (the default one).

It's a so dumb implmenetation and has no check for over 2GB files.
But it might be more useful in many cases than raw outputs.


Takashi

Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Rene Herman]

On 17-03-08 16:07, Takashi Iwai wrote:

>>> Recently I added a new option "truncate" to file plugin.  As default,
>>> it's set to true (for compatibility reason), and the plugin overwrite
>>> the existing file if reopened.  When it's set to false, a new file is
>>> created with a different suffix (up to 1000 files) at each time.
> 
> And I added another new feature to the file plugin to write WAV files
> instead of raw files now to HG tree.  You can specify the format "wav"
> instead of "raw" (the default one).
> 
> It's a so dumb implmenetation and has no check for over 2GB files.
> But it might be more useful in many cases than raw outputs.

Yes. I've used the file plugin occasionally if only for some testing and 
appreciate this. Many thanks.

Rene.

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Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Alexander Indenbaum]

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>
> > pcm.!default {
> >          type    file
> >          slave   {
> >                  pcm     null
> >          }
> >          file    "/tmp/pcm.out"
> > }
>

OK  - this goes to /etc/alsa.conf


>
> >
> > Exactly why you need that slave definition I'm not sure either, but it
> seems
> > you do.
>
> The file plugin requires the slave for its configuration and as the
> timing source.  Using "null" is just to accept any config and feed the
> data as fast as possible.  If you need to save the data as if it's
> being played, use the kernel dummy driver as the slave.


OK, I compiled alsa-drivers with Dummy as one and only card and loaded it
into the kernel:
# cat /proc/asound/card0/id
Dummy

Still no PCM in /tmp/pcm.out. I get following error messages though:
"(snd_determine_driver) could not open control for card 0"
"(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such
file or directory"
"(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings"
"(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such
file or directory"
"(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name"
"(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such file
or directory"
"(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such file or directory"
"(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default"
"(_snd_pcm_plug_open) Unknown field hint"

Any clues?

Alexander Indenbaum

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Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Lee Revell]

On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 8:27 PM, Alexander Indenbaum
<alexander.indenbaum@gmail.com> wrote:
> Still no PCM in /tmp/pcm.out. I get following error messages though:
>  "(snd_determine_driver) could not open control for card 0"
> "(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such
> file or directory"
> "(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings"
>  "(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such
> file or directory"
> "(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name"
>  "(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such
> file or directory"
>  "(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such file or directory"
> "(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default"
>  "(_snd_pcm_plug_open) Unknown field hint"

Please strace aplay and see what files it's trying to open.

Lee

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Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Alexander Indenbaum]

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On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 2:45 AM, Lee Revell <rlrevell@joe-job.com> wrote:

>
> Please strace aplay and see what files it's trying to open.
>

You're absolutely right.  I was missing /dev device files.
So my test goes like this:
- run snddevices script to create  /dev
- load snd drivers with Dummy compiled in
- open browser on YouTube clip

 Now there is no error messages. From other hand I do not see /tmp/pcm.out.
I tried to "touch" this file but it stays zero length.

So what next?


> Lee
>



-- 
Alexander Indenbaum

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Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Rene Herman]

On 18-03-08 01:27, Alexander Indenbaum wrote:

> Still no PCM in /tmp/pcm.out. I get following error messages though:
> "(snd_determine_driver) could not open control for card 0"
> "(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such 
> file or directory"
> "(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings"
> "(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such 
> file or directory"
> "(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name"
> "(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such 
> file or directory"
> "(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such file or directory"
> "(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default"
> "(_snd_pcm_plug_open) Unknown field hint"
> 
> Any clues? 

Yes, aplay would've worked. What you are using is trying to open controls 
for the card though and non are defined. If you will be using the dummy 
driver anyway, use:

pcm.!default {
	type	file
	slave	{
		pcm	"hw:0"	
	}
	file	"/tmp/pcm.out"
}


with snd-dummy having index 0. I tested this just now with firefox and the 
flash plugin on youtube and it works for me.

Rene.

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Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Alexander Indenbaum]

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On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 3:42 AM, Rene Herman <rene.herman@keyaccess.nl>
wrote:

> Yes, aplay would've worked. What you are using is trying to open controls
> for the card though and non are defined. If you will be using the dummy
> driver anyway, use:
>
> pcm.!default {
>        type    file
>        slave   {
>                 pcm     "hw:0"
>        }
>        file    "/tmp/pcm.out"
> }
>
>
> with snd-dummy having index 0. I tested this just now with firefox and the
> flash plugin on youtube and it works for me.
>

I wish I could say it works for me too :) But still there is no data in
/tmp/pcm.out in my setup.
There is no error messages, as if everything works OK.
How can I troubleshoot it more deeply?


>
> Rene.
>

Alexander Indenbaum

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Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Alexander Indenbaum]

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On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 4:06 AM, Alexander Indenbaum <
alexander.indenbaum@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 3:42 AM, Rene Herman <rene.herman@keyaccess.nl>
> wrote:
>
> > Yes, aplay would've worked. What you are using is trying to open
> > controls
> > for the card though and non are defined. If you will be using the dummy
> > driver anyway, use:
> >
> > pcm.!default {
> >        type    file
> >        slave   {
> >                 pcm     "hw:0"
> >        }
> >        file    "/tmp/pcm.out"
> > }
> >
> >
> > with snd-dummy having index 0. I tested this just now with firefox and
> > the
> > flash plugin on youtube and it works for me.
> >
>
OK, it works on Linux 2.6 but silently fails on Linux 2.4.
Unfortunately, I need it to work on  Linux 2.4 :)
So what can be done?

-- 
Alexander Indenbaum

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Re: /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Rene Herman]

On 18-03-08 05:28, Alexander Indenbaum wrote:

> OK, it works on Linux 2.6 but silently fails on Linux 2.4.
> Unfortunately, I need it to work on  Linux 2.4 :)
> So what can be done?

Sorry, but I just don't care about 2.4. It's obsolete. This was a proof of 
concept for you -- a final solution might involve something like Jack, so 
you may want to look into that directly.

Rene.

Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Sergei Steshenko]

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:44:59 +0100
Rene Herman <rene.herman@keyaccess.nl> wrote:

> On 18-03-08 05:28, Alexander Indenbaum wrote:
> 
> > OK, it works on Linux 2.6 but silently fails on Linux 2.4.
> > Unfortunately, I need it to work on  Linux 2.4 :)
> > So what can be done?
> 
> Sorry, but I just don't care about 2.4. It's obsolete. 

It's a very nice way to say that finally Linux kernel has stable ABI.

Regards,
  Sergei.

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Re: [Alsa-user] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Rene Herman]

On 18-03-08 14:02, Sergei Steshenko wrote:

> On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:44:59 +0100
> Rene Herman <rene.herman@keyaccess.nl> wrote:
> 
>> On 18-03-08 05:28, Alexander Indenbaum wrote:
>>
>>> OK, it works on Linux 2.6 but silently fails on Linux 2.4.
>>> Unfortunately, I need it to work on  Linux 2.4 :)
>>> So what can be done?
>> Sorry, but I just don't care about 2.4. It's obsolete. 
> 
> It's a very nice way to say that finally Linux kernel has stable ABI.

Every Linux kernel has a stable ABI. If you don't care about progress, feel 
free to stick with it.

Rene.

Re: [alsa-devel] /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf :and file extention

[Takashi Iwai]

At Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:28:28 +0200,
Alexander Indenbaum wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 4:06 AM, Alexander Indenbaum <
> alexander.indenbaum@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>     On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 3:42 AM, Rene Herman <rene.herman@keyaccess.nl>
>     wrote:
>    
>         Yes, aplay would've worked. What you are using is trying to open
>         controls
>         for the card though and non are defined. If you will be using the dummy
>         driver anyway, use:
>        
>         pcm.!default {
>                type    file
>                slave   {
>                        pcm     "hw:0"
>                }
>                file    "/tmp/pcm.out"
>         }
> 
>         with snd-dummy having index 0. I tested this just now with firefox and
>         the
>         flash plugin on youtube and it works for me.
> 
> OK, it works on Linux 2.6 but silently fails on Linux 2.4.
> Unfortunately, I need it to work on  Linux 2.4 :)

It must work (assuming that you are using the same hardware but only
different kernels).

> So what can be done?

Double-check whether you really set up all the things 100% correctly.


Takashi

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