Gentoo Linux ALSA Guide

1. Introduction

What is ALSA?

ALSA, which stands for Advanced Linux Sound Architecture, provides audio and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) functionality to the Linux operating system. ALSA is the default sound subsystem in the 2.6 kernel thereby replacing OSS (Open Sound System), which was used in the 2.4 kernels.

ALSA's main features include efficient support for all types of audio interfaces ranging from consumer sound cards to professional sound equipment, fully modularized drivers, SMP and thread safety, backward compatibility with OSS and a user-space library alsa-lib to make application development a breeze.

ALSA on Gentoo

One of Gentoo's main strengths lie in giving the user maximum control over how a system is installed/configured. ALSA on Gentoo follows the same principle. There are two ways you can get ALSA support up and running on your system. We shall look at them in detail in the next chapter.

2. Installing ALSA

Options

The two options are :

1. Use ALSA provided by your kernel. This is the preferred/recommended method.
2. Use Gentoo's media-sound/alsa-driver package.

We shall take a peek into both before finally deciding on one.

If you were to use ALSA provided by the kernel, the following are the pros and cons :

And, if you were to use alsa-driver,

So...

The main difference between using alsa-driver and ALSA that comes with the kernel is that alsa-driver is generally more up to date than the version in the kernel. Since this does not make any huge difference as such, you are encouraged to use the ALSA provided by the kernel.

Before you proceed

Whichever method of install you choose, you need to know what drivers your sound card uses. lspci will help you in digging out the required information. Please emerge sys-apps/pciutils to get lspci, if you don't have it installed already. We now proceed to find out details about the sound card.

# lspci -v | grep -i audio
0000:00:0a.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 06)

We now know that the sound card on the machine is a Sound Blaster Live! and the card manufacturer is Creative Labs. Head over to the ALSA Soundcard Matrix page and select Creative Labs from the drop down menu. You will be taken to the Creative Labs matrix page where you can see that the SB Live! uses the emu10k1 module. That is the information we need for now. If you are interested in detailed information, you can click on the link next to the "Details" and that will take you to the emu10k1 specific page.

Using ALSA provided by your Kernel

If you're a person who likes to keep things simple like I do, then this is the way to go.

Let us now configure the kernel to enable ALSA.

# cd /usr/src/linux
# make menuconfig

Now we will look at some of the options we will have to enable in the 2.6 kernel to ensure proper ALSA support for our sound card.

Device Drivers  --->
   Sound  --->
   
(This needs to be enabled)
<M> Sound card support

(Make sure OSS is disabled)
Open Sound System   --->
   < > Open Sound System (DEPRECATED)

(Move one step back and enter ALSA)
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture  --->
   <M> Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
   (Select this if you want MIDI sequencing and routing)
   <M> Sequencer support
   (Old style /dev/mixer* and /dev/dsp* support. Recommended.)
   <M> OSS Mixer API
   <M> OSS PCM (digital audio) API 

(You now have a choice of devices to enable support for. Generally,
you will have one type of device and not more. If you have more than one 
sound card, please enable them all here.)

(Mostly for testing and development purposes, not needed for normal 
users unless you know what you are doing.)
Generic devices  --->
   
(For ISA Sound cards)
ISA devices   --->
(IF you had the Gravis, you would select this option)
   <M> Gravis UltraSound Extreme

(Move one level back and into PCI devices. Most sound cards today are 
PCI devices)
PCI devices   --->
   (We now select the emu10k1 driver for our card)
   <M> Emu10k1 (SB Live!, Audigy, E-mu APS)
   (Or an Intel card would be)
   <M> Intel/SiS/nVidia/AMD/ALi AC97 Controller
   (Or if you have a VIA Card)
   <M> VIA 82C686A/B, 8233/8235 AC97 Controller

(Move one level back and select in case you have an USB sound card)
USB Devices   --->

Now that your options are set, you can (re)compile the kernel and ALSA support for your card should be functional once you reboot into the new kernel. You can now proceed to ALSA Utilities and see if everything is working as it should.

Using the ALSA Driver package

So you've decided to go the alsa-driver way. Let's get started then. There are a few minor things to be done to ensure only the drivers for your sound card are compiled. Although this is not really necessary, it cuts down on the unnecessary drivers that will be compiled otherwise.

If you don't have an idea of what drivers your sound card might need, please take a look at the lspci section of this guide. Once you have your driver name (emu10k1 in our example), edit /etc/make.conf and add a variable, ALSA_CARDS.

(For one sound card)
ALSA_CARDS="emu10k1"
(For more than one, seperate names with spaces)
ALSA_CARDS="emu10k1 via82xx"

If you have compiled your kernel and want to use alsa-driver, please ensure the following before proceeding, else alsa-driver is likely to fail. The next code listing gives you one way of performing the checks.

1. CONFIG_SOUND is set. (Basic Sound support enabled)
2. CONFIG_SOUND_PRIME is not set. (In-built OSS support disabled)
3. CONFIG_SND is not set. (In-built ALSA support disabled)
4. /usr/src/linux points to the kernel you want ALSA working on.

(Assuming the linux symlink points to the correct kernel)
# cd /usr/src/linux
# grep SOUND .config
(1. is true)
CONFIG_SOUND=y
(2. is true)
CONFIG_SOUND_PRIME is not set
# grep SND .config
(and 3. is true)
CONFIG_SND is not set

Now all you have to do is type the magic words...and no, its not abracadabra.

# emerge alsa-driver

3. Configuring/Testing ALSA

ALSA Utilities

alsa-utils forms an integral part of ALSA as it has a truckload of programs that are highly useful, including the ALSA Initscripts. Hence we strongly recommend that you install alsa-utils

# emerge alsa-utils

Configuration

The easiest way to configure your sound card is to run alsaconf. Just type alsaconf in a shell as root.

# alsaconf

You will now see a neat menu guided interface that will automatically probe your devices and try to find out your sound card. You will be asked to pick your sound card from a list. Once that's done, it will ask you permission to automatically make required changes to /etc/modules.d/alsa. It will then adjust your volume settings to optimum levels and run modules-update and starts the /etc/init.d/alsasound service. Once alsaconf exits, you can proceed with setting up the ALSA initscript.

ALSA Initscript

We're now almost all setup. Whichever method you chose to install ALSA, you'll need to have something load your modules or initialize ALSA and restore your volume settings when your system comes up. The ALSA Initscript handles all of this for you and is called alsasound. Add it to the default run-level.

# rc-update add alsasound default
 * alsasound added to runlevel default
 * rc-update complete.

Next, just check the /etc/conf.d/alsasound file and ensure that SAVE_ON_STOP variable is set to yes. This saves your sound settings when you shutdown your system.

Volume Check!

We've completed all the setups and pre-requisites, so let's fire up ALSA. If you ran alsaconf, you can skip this step, since alsaconf already does this for you.

(Modular Kernels)
# /etc/init.d/alsasound start
 * Loading ALSA modules ...
 * Loading: snd-card-0 ...        [ ok ]
 * Loading: snd-pcm-oss ...       [ ok ]
 * Loading: snd-seq ...           [ ok ]	
 * Loading: snd-emu10k1-synth ... [ ok ]	
 * Loading: snd-seq-midi ...      [ ok ]	
 * Restoring Mixer Levels ...     [ ok ]
(ALSA compiled in)
# /etc/init.d/alsasound start
 * Loading ALSA modules ...
 * Restoring Mixer Levels ...     [ ok ]

Now that the required things have been take care of, we need to check up on the volume as in certain cases, it is muted. We use alsamixer for this purpose.

(Opens up a console program. Only required settings are shown)
# alsamixer

This is how the ALSA Mixer might look the first time you open it. Pay attention to the Master and PCM channels which both have an MM below them. That means they are muted. If you try to play anything with alsamixer in this state, you will not hear anything on your speakers.

Figure 3.1: The Alsa Mixer Main Window, Muted

Now, we shall unmute the channels, and set volume levels as needed.

• To move between channels, use your left and right arrow keys. (<- & ->)
• To toggle mute, move to the specific channel, for example Master and press the m key on the keyboard.
• To increase and decrease the volume levels, use the up and down arrow keys respectively.

After you're all done, your ALSA Mixer should look similar to the one below. Note the 00 instead of the MM and also the volume levels for some optimum settings.

Figure 3.2: Alsa Mixer ready to roll

Sound Check!

Finally. Some music. If everything above is perfect, you should be able to now listen to some good music. A quick way to test is to use a command line tool like media-sound/madplay. You could also use something more well known like mpg123 or xmms. If you are an ogg fan, you could use ogg123 provided by media-sound/vorbis-tools. Use any player you are comfortable with. As always, emerge what you need.

(Install the applications you want)
# emerge madplay mpg123 xmms
(To play .ogg files)
# emerge vorbis-tools

And then play your favorite sound track...

# madplay -v /mnt/shyam/Music/Paul\ Oakenfold\ -\ Dread\ Rock.mp3
MPEG Audio Decoder 0.15.2 (beta) - Copyright (C) 2000-2004 Robert Leslie et al.
          Title: Dread Rock
         Artist: Paul Oakenfold
          Album: Matrix Reloaded
           Year: 2003
          Genre: Soundtrack
                 Soundtrack
 00:04:19 Layer III, 160 kbps, 44100 Hz, joint stereo (MS), no CRC

# ogg123 Paul\ Oakenfold\ -\ Dread\ Rock.ogg
Audio Device:   Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) output

Playing: Paul Oakenfold - Dread Rock.ogg
Ogg Vorbis stream: 2 channel, 44100 Hz
Genre: Soundtrack
Transcoded: mp3;160
Title: Dread Rock
Artist: Paul Oakenfold
Date: 2003
Album: Matrix Reloaded
Time: 00:11.31 [04:28.75] of 04:40.06  (200.6 kbps)  Output Buffer  96.9%

Issues?

If for some reason you're unable to hear sound, the first thing to do would be to check your alsamixer settings. 80% of the issues lie with muted channels or low volume. Also check your Window Manager's sound applet and verify that volumes are set to audible levels.

/proc is your friend. And in this case, /proc/asound is your best friend. We shall just take a short look at how much info is made available to us there.

(First and foremost, if /proc/asound/cards shows your card, ALSA has 
picked up your sound card fine.)
# cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [Live           ]: EMU10K1 - Sound Blaster Live!
                     Sound Blaster Live! (rev.6, serial:0x80271102) at 0xb800, irq 11

(If you run ALSA off the kernel like I do and wonder how far behind 
you are from alsa-driver, this displays current running ALSA version)
# cat /proc/asound/version
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.8 (Thu Jan 13 09:39:32 2005 UTC).

(ALSA OSS emulation details)
# cat /proc/asound/oss/sndstat
Sound Driver:3.8.1a-980706 (ALSA v1.0.8 emulation code)
Kernel: Linux airwolf.zion 2.6.11ac1 #2 Wed May 4 00:35:08 IST 2005 i686
Config options: 0

Installed drivers:
Type 10: ALSA emulation

Card config:
Sound Blaster Live! (rev.6, serial:0x80271102) at 0xb800, irq 11

Audio devices:
0: EMU10K1 (DUPLEX)

Synth devices: NOT ENABLED IN CONFIG

Midi devices:
0: EMU10K1 MPU-401 (UART)

Timers:
7: system timer

Mixers:
0: SigmaTel STAC9721/23

4. Other things ALSA

Setting up MIDI support

If your sound card is one of those that come with on-board MIDI synthesizers and you would like to listen to some .mid files, you have to install awesfx which is basically a set of utilities for controlling the AWE32 driver. We need to install it first. If you don't have a hardware synthesizer, you can use a virtual one. Please see the section on Virtual Synthesizers for more information.

# emerge awesfx

After copying over the Soundfont files, we can then play a midi file as shown. You can also add the asfxload command to /etc/conf.d/local.start, so that the sound font is loaded every time the system starts up.

(First, copy the Soundfont)
# cp /mnt/win2k/Program\ Files/CreativeSBLive2k/SFBank/8MBGMSFX.SF2 /usr/share/sounds/sf2/
(We load the specific Soundfont)
# asfxload /usr/share/sounds/sf2/8MBGMSFX.SF2

You can now play midi files using a program like aplaymidi. Run aplaymidi -l to get a list of available ports and then pick one to play the file on.

(Check open ports)
# aplaymidi -l
 Port    Client name                      Port name
 64:0    EMU10K1 MPU-401 (UART)           EMU10K1 MPU-401 (UART)
 65:0    Emu10k1 WaveTable                Emu10k1 Port 0
 65:1    Emu10k1 WaveTable                Emu10k1 Port 1
 65:2    Emu10k1 WaveTable                Emu10k1 Port 2
 65:3    Emu10k1 WaveTable                Emu10k1 Port 3
(Pick a port, and play a mid file)
#  aplaymidi --port=65:0 /mnt/shyam/music/midi/mi2.mid

Virtual Synthesizers

If your sound card lacks a hardware synthesizer, you could use a virtual one like timidity++. Installation is a breeze.

# emerge timidity++

For timidity to play sounds, it needs a sound font. If you do not have any, install timidity-eawpatches or timidity-shompatches which will give you some sound fonts. You can have multiple sound font configurations installed, and you can place your own in /usr/share/timidity/. To switch between different timidity configurations, you should use the timidity-update tool provided in the timidity++ package.

# emerge timidity-eawpatches
# timidity-update -g -s eawpatches

(or)

# emerge timidity-shompatches
# timidity-update -g -s shompatches

Don't forget to add timidity to the default runlevel.

# rc-update add timidity default
# /etc/init.d/timidity start

You can now try out Playing MIDI files.

Tools and Firmware

Some specific sound cards can benefit from certain tools provided by the alsa-tools and alsa-firmware packages. If you need alsa-tools, be sure to define the ALSA_TOOLS variable in /etc/make.conf with the tools you require. For instance:

ALSA_TOOLS="as10k1 ac3dec"

If the ALSA_TOOLS variable is not set, all available tools will be built. Now, install the alsa-tools (and/or alsa-firmware) package(s):

# emerge alsa-tools

A Big thank you to...

Everyone who contributed to the earlier version of the Gentoo ALSA Guide: Vincent Verleye, Grant Goodyear, Arcady Genkin, Jeremy Huddleston, John P. Davis, Sven Vermeulen, Benny Chuang, Tiemo Kieft and Erwin.

References

• The ALSA Project
• Linux Sound/MIDI Software