Seamus and list, On Sun, Oct 27, 2024 at 4:51 PM Seamus de Mora via Alsa-user < alsa-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote:
> I'm a bit confused about where & how 'alsa' fits in the "sound system" > on my Linux computers. > Why not have a read of this Wikipedia article? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Linux_Sound_Architecture > > I struggled for a long time to get sound working on my computers. I > finally heard of 'pipewire', and finally I can now play music on my > systems. > Once you've read the ALSA article above, you might follow the link in it to the Wikipedia pipewire article. ALSA is the lowest level component of the Linux sound system, a part of the kernel. Things like pipewire are sound servers that sit on top of ALSA and provide a greater range of functionality. I'm now been using 'cmus' for a few months, and very much enjoying that! > However, I've been comparing the configuration between two of my Linux > systems (one has 'cmus' installed, the other uses 'mpg123'), and the > differences are absolutely baffling to me. > Those are different music players. In general music players use some kind of lower level sound capability; could be ALSA or pipewire or others. You don't specify which configuration files you're reviewing that baffle you, so it's hard to help clear things up. > > Both systems are Debian-based, using the 'bookworm' release. One is a > "Raspberry Pi Zero 2W", the other a "Raspberry Pi 3A+". I opted for the > "Lite" version (aka headless) of the OS as these are lightweight > computers. The "sound system" consists of a single Bluetooth speaker for > each system. > > Initial questions are these: > > 1. What role does 'alsa' play on my systems? > > 2. Is alsa's role determined at all by the installation of 'pipewire'? > > 3. Why would two identically-installed OS (on the Pi Zero & Pi 3A+; both > with 'pipewire') have such different sound configurations? > > 4. Is there any intelligible documentation that discusses these questions? > The answers to the above questions should be more clear after reading the suggested articles. I also generally like the Arch Linux Wiki for the breadth of information provided. This could be useful: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Sound_system You might also find these useful https://wiki.linuxaudio.org/wiki/start https://www.alsa-project.org/wiki/Main_Page -- Chris Hermansen · clhermansen "at" gmail "dot" com C'est ma façon de parler.
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