1 <!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN">
4 <?dbhtml filename="index.html">
6 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
8 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
10 <title>Writing an ALSA Driver</title>
12 <firstname>Takashi</firstname>
13 <surname>Iwai</surname>
16 <email>tiwai@suse.de</email>
21 <date>March 6, 2005</date>
22 <edition>0.3.4</edition>
26 This document describes how to write an ALSA (Advanced Linux
27 Sound Architecture) driver.
33 Copyright (c) 2002-2004 Takashi Iwai <email>tiwai@suse.de</email>
37 This document is free; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
38 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
39 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
40 (at your option) any later version.
44 This document is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
45 but <emphasis>WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY</emphasis>; without even the
46 implied warranty of <emphasis>MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
47 PARTICULAR PURPOSE</emphasis>. See the GNU General Public License
52 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
53 License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
54 Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston,
61 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
63 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
64 <preface id="preface">
65 <title>Preface</title>
67 This document describes how to write an
68 <ulink url="http://www.alsa-project.org/"><citetitle>
69 ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture)</citetitle></ulink>
70 driver. The document focuses mainly on the PCI soundcard.
71 In the case of other device types, the API might
72 be different, too. However, at least the ALSA kernel API is
73 consistent, and therefore it would be still a bit help for
78 The target of this document is ones who already have enough
79 skill of C language and have the basic knowledge of linux
80 kernel programming. This document doesn't explain the general
81 topics of linux kernel codes and doesn't cover the detail of
82 implementation of each low-level driver. It describes only how is
83 the standard way to write a PCI sound driver on ALSA.
87 If you are already familiar with the older ALSA ver.0.5.x, you
88 can check the drivers such as <filename>es1938.c</filename> or
89 <filename>maestro3.c</filename> which have also almost the same
90 code-base in the ALSA 0.5.x tree, so you can compare the differences.
94 This document is still a draft version. Any feedbacks and
100 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
101 <!-- File Tree Structure -->
102 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
103 <chapter id="file-tree">
104 <title>File Tree Structure</title>
106 <section id="file-tree-general">
107 <title>General</title>
109 The ALSA drivers are provided in the two ways.
113 One is the trees provided as a tarball or via cvs from the
114 ALSA's ftp site, and another is the 2.6 (or later) Linux kernel
115 tree. To synchronize both, the ALSA driver tree is split into
116 two different trees: alsa-kernel and alsa-driver. The former
117 contains purely the source codes for the Linux 2.6 (or later)
118 tree. This tree is designed only for compilation on 2.6 or
119 later environment. The latter, alsa-driver, contains many subtle
120 files for compiling the ALSA driver on the outside of Linux
121 kernel like configure script, the wrapper functions for older,
122 2.2 and 2.4 kernels, to adapt the latest kernel API,
123 and additional drivers which are still in development or in
124 tests. The drivers in alsa-driver tree will be moved to
125 alsa-kernel (eventually 2.6 kernel tree) once when they are
126 finished and confirmed to work fine.
130 The file tree structure of ALSA driver is depicted below. Both
131 alsa-kernel and alsa-driver have almost the same file
132 structure, except for <quote>core</quote> directory. It's
133 named as <quote>acore</quote> in alsa-driver tree.
136 <title>ALSA File Tree Structure</title>
168 <section id="file-tree-core-directory">
169 <title>core directory</title>
171 This directory contains the middle layer, that is, the heart
172 of ALSA drivers. In this directory, the native ALSA modules are
173 stored. The sub-directories contain different modules and are
174 dependent upon the kernel config.
177 <section id="file-tree-core-directory-oss">
178 <title>core/oss</title>
181 The codes for PCM and mixer OSS emulation modules are stored
182 in this directory. The rawmidi OSS emulation is included in
183 the ALSA rawmidi code since it's quite small. The sequencer
184 code is stored in core/seq/oss directory (see
185 <link linkend="file-tree-core-directory-seq-oss"><citetitle>
186 below</citetitle></link>).
190 <section id="file-tree-core-directory-ioctl32">
191 <title>core/ioctl32</title>
194 This directory contains the 32bit-ioctl wrappers for 64bit
195 architectures such like x86-64, ppc64 and sparc64. For 32bit
196 and alpha architectures, these are not compiled.
200 <section id="file-tree-core-directory-seq">
201 <title>core/seq</title>
203 This and its sub-directories are for the ALSA
204 sequencer. This directory contains the sequencer core and
205 primary sequencer modules such like snd-seq-midi,
206 snd-seq-virmidi, etc. They are compiled only when
207 <constant>CONFIG_SND_SEQUENCER</constant> is set in the kernel
212 <section id="file-tree-core-directory-seq-oss">
213 <title>core/seq/oss</title>
215 This contains the OSS sequencer emulation codes.
219 <section id="file-tree-core-directory-deq-instr">
220 <title>core/seq/instr</title>
222 This directory contains the modules for the sequencer
228 <section id="file-tree-include-directory">
229 <title>include directory</title>
231 This is the place for the public header files of ALSA drivers,
232 which are to be exported to the user-space, or included by
233 several files at different directories. Basically, the private
234 header files should not be placed in this directory, but you may
235 still find files there, due to historical reason :)
239 <section id="file-tree-drivers-directory">
240 <title>drivers directory</title>
242 This directory contains the codes shared among different drivers
243 on the different architectures. They are hence supposed not to be
244 architecture-specific.
245 For example, the dummy pcm driver and the serial MIDI
246 driver are found in this directory. In the sub-directories,
247 there are the codes for components which are independent from
248 bus and cpu architectures.
251 <section id="file-tree-drivers-directory-mpu401">
252 <title>drivers/mpu401</title>
254 The MPU401 and MPU401-UART modules are stored here.
258 <section id="file-tree-drivers-directory-opl3">
259 <title>drivers/opl3 and opl4</title>
261 The OPL3 and OPL4 FM-synth stuff is found here.
266 <section id="file-tree-i2c-directory">
267 <title>i2c directory</title>
269 This contains the ALSA i2c components.
273 Although there is a standard i2c layer on Linux, ALSA has its
274 own i2c codes for some cards, because the soundcard needs only a
275 simple operation and the standard i2c API is too complicated for
279 <section id="file-tree-i2c-directory-l3">
280 <title>i2c/l3</title>
282 This is a sub-directory for ARM L3 i2c.
287 <section id="file-tree-synth-directory">
288 <title>synth directory</title>
290 This contains the synth middle-level modules.
294 So far, there is only Emu8000/Emu10k1 synth driver under
295 synth/emux sub-directory.
299 <section id="file-tree-pci-directory">
300 <title>pci directory</title>
302 This and its sub-directories hold the top-level card modules
303 for PCI soundcards and the codes specific to the PCI BUS.
307 The drivers compiled from a single file is stored directly on
308 pci directory, while the drivers with several source files are
309 stored on its own sub-directory (e.g. emu10k1, ice1712).
313 <section id="file-tree-isa-directory">
314 <title>isa directory</title>
316 This and its sub-directories hold the top-level card modules
321 <section id="file-tree-arm-ppc-sparc-directories">
322 <title>arm, ppc, and sparc directories</title>
324 These are for the top-level card modules which are
325 specific to each given architecture.
329 <section id="file-tree-usb-directory">
330 <title>usb directory</title>
332 This contains the USB-audio driver. On the latest version, the
333 USB MIDI driver is integrated together with usb-audio driver.
337 <section id="file-tree-pcmcia-directory">
338 <title>pcmcia directory</title>
340 The PCMCIA, especially PCCard drivers will go here. CardBus
341 drivers will be on pci directory, because its API is identical
342 with the standard PCI cards.
346 <section id="file-tree-oss-directory">
347 <title>oss directory</title>
349 The OSS/Lite source files are stored here on Linux 2.6 (or
350 later) tree. (In the ALSA driver tarball, it's empty, of course :)
356 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
357 <!-- Basic Flow for PCI Drivers -->
358 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
359 <chapter id="basic-flow">
360 <title>Basic Flow for PCI Drivers</title>
362 <section id="basic-flow-outline">
363 <title>Outline</title>
365 The minimum flow of PCI soundcard is like the following:
368 <listitem><para>define the PCI ID table (see the section
369 <link linkend="pci-resource-entries"><citetitle>PCI Entries
370 </citetitle></link>).</para></listitem>
371 <listitem><para>create <function>probe()</function> callback.</para></listitem>
372 <listitem><para>create <function>remove()</function> callback.</para></listitem>
373 <listitem><para>create pci_driver table which contains the three pointers above.</para></listitem>
374 <listitem><para>create <function>init()</function> function just calling <function>pci_register_driver()</function> to register the pci_driver table defined above.</para></listitem>
375 <listitem><para>create <function>exit()</function> function to call <function>pci_unregister_driver()</function> function.</para></listitem>
380 <section id="basic-flow-example">
381 <title>Full Code Example</title>
383 The code example is shown below. Some parts are kept
384 unimplemented at this moment but will be filled in the
385 succeeding sections. The numbers in comment lines of
386 <function>snd_mychip_probe()</function> function are the
390 <title>Basic Flow for PCI Drivers Example</title>
393 #include <sound/driver.h>
394 #include <linux/init.h>
395 #include <linux/pci.h>
396 #include <linux/slab.h>
397 #include <sound/core.h>
398 #include <sound/initval.h>
400 /* module parameters (see "Module Parameters") */
401 static int index[SNDRV_CARDS] = SNDRV_DEFAULT_IDX;
402 static char *id[SNDRV_CARDS] = SNDRV_DEFAULT_STR;
403 static int enable[SNDRV_CARDS] = SNDRV_DEFAULT_ENABLE_PNP;
405 /* definition of the chip-specific record */
406 typedef struct snd_mychip mychip_t;
409 // rest of implementation will be in the section
410 // "PCI Resource Managements"
413 /* chip-specific destructor
414 * (see "PCI Resource Managements")
416 static int snd_mychip_free(mychip_t *chip)
418 .... // will be implemented later...
421 /* component-destructor
422 * (see "Management of Cards and Components")
424 static int snd_mychip_dev_free(snd_device_t *device)
426 mychip_t *chip = device->device_data;
427 return snd_mychip_free(chip);
430 /* chip-specific constructor
431 * (see "Management of Cards and Components")
433 static int __devinit snd_mychip_create(snd_card_t *card,
439 static snd_device_ops_t ops = {
440 .dev_free = snd_mychip_dev_free,
445 // check PCI availability here
446 // (see "PCI Resource Managements")
449 /* allocate a chip-specific data with zero filled */
450 chip = kcalloc(1, sizeof(*chip), GFP_KERNEL);
456 // rest of initialization here; will be implemented
457 // later, see "PCI Resource Managements"
460 if ((err = snd_device_new(card, SNDRV_DEV_LOWLEVEL,
462 snd_mychip_free(chip);
466 snd_card_set_dev(card, &pci->dev);
472 /* constructor -- see "Constructor" sub-section */
473 static int __devinit snd_mychip_probe(struct pci_dev *pci,
474 const struct pci_device_id *pci_id)
482 if (dev >= SNDRV_CARDS)
490 card = snd_card_new(index[dev], id[dev], THIS_MODULE, 0);
495 if ((err = snd_mychip_create(card, pci, &chip)) < 0) {
501 strcpy(card->driver, "My Chip");
502 strcpy(card->shortname, "My Own Chip 123");
503 sprintf(card->longname, "%s at 0x%lx irq %i",
504 card->shortname, chip->ioport, chip->irq);
507 .... // implemented later
510 if ((err = snd_card_register(card)) < 0) {
516 pci_set_drvdata(pci, card);
521 /* destructor -- see "Destructor" sub-section */
522 static void __devexit snd_mychip_remove(struct pci_dev *pci)
524 snd_card_free(pci_get_drvdata(pci));
525 pci_set_drvdata(pci, NULL);
533 <section id="basic-flow-constructor">
534 <title>Constructor</title>
536 The real constructor of PCI drivers is probe callback. The
537 probe callback and other component-constructors which are called
538 from probe callback should be defined with
539 <parameter>__devinit</parameter> prefix. You
540 cannot use <parameter>__init</parameter> prefix for them,
541 because any PCI device could be a hotplug device.
545 In the probe callback, the following scheme is often used.
548 <section id="basic-flow-constructor-device-index">
549 <title>1) Check and increment the device index.</title>
556 if (dev >= SNDRV_CARDS)
566 where enable[dev] is the module option.
570 At each time probe callback is called, check the
571 availability of the device. If not available, simply increment
572 the device index and returns. dev will be incremented also
574 linkend="basic-flow-constructor-set-pci"><citetitle>step
575 7</citetitle></link>).
579 <section id="basic-flow-constructor-create-card">
580 <title>2) Create a card instance</title>
587 card = snd_card_new(index[dev], id[dev], THIS_MODULE, 0);
594 The detail will be explained in the section
595 <link linkend="card-management-card-instance"><citetitle>
596 Management of Cards and Components</citetitle></link>.
600 <section id="basic-flow-constructor-create-main">
601 <title>3) Create a main component</title>
603 In this part, the PCI resources are allocated.
610 if ((err = snd_mychip_create(card, pci, &chip)) < 0) {
618 The detail will be explained in the section <link
619 linkend="pci-resource"><citetitle>PCI Resource
620 Managements</citetitle></link>.
624 <section id="basic-flow-constructor-main-component">
625 <title>4) Set the driver ID and name strings.</title>
630 strcpy(card->driver, "My Chip");
631 strcpy(card->shortname, "My Own Chip 123");
632 sprintf(card->longname, "%s at 0x%lx irq %i",
633 card->shortname, chip->ioport, chip->irq);
638 The driver field holds the minimal ID string of the
639 chip. This is referred by alsa-lib's configurator, so keep it
641 Even the same driver can have different driver IDs to
642 distinguish the functionality of each chip type.
646 The shortname field is a string shown as more verbose
647 name. The longname field contains the information which is
648 shown in <filename>/proc/asound/cards</filename>.
652 <section id="basic-flow-constructor-create-other">
653 <title>5) Create other components, such as mixer, MIDI, etc.</title>
655 Here you define the basic components such as
656 <link linkend="pcm-interface"><citetitle>PCM</citetitle></link>,
657 mixer (e.g. <link linkend="api-ac97"><citetitle>AC97</citetitle></link>),
658 MIDI (e.g. <link linkend="midi-interface"><citetitle>MPU-401</citetitle></link>),
659 and other interfaces.
660 Also, if you want a <link linkend="proc-interface"><citetitle>proc
661 file</citetitle></link>, define it here, too.
665 <section id="basic-flow-constructor-register-card">
666 <title>6) Register the card instance.</title>
671 if ((err = snd_card_register(card)) < 0) {
681 Will be explained in the section <link
682 linkend="card-management-registration"><citetitle>Management
683 of Cards and Components</citetitle></link>, too.
687 <section id="basic-flow-constructor-set-pci">
688 <title>7) Set the PCI driver data and return zero.</title>
693 pci_set_drvdata(pci, card);
700 In the above, the card record is stored. This pointer is
701 referred in the remove callback and power-management
707 <section id="basic-flow-destructor">
708 <title>Destructor</title>
710 The destructor, remove callback, simply releases the card
711 instance. Then the ALSA middle layer will release all the
712 attached components automatically.
716 It would be typically like the following:
721 static void __devexit snd_mychip_remove(struct pci_dev *pci)
723 snd_card_free(pci_get_drvdata(pci));
724 pci_set_drvdata(pci, NULL);
730 The above code assumes that the card pointer is set to the PCI
735 <section id="basic-flow-header-files">
736 <title>Header Files</title>
738 For the above example, at least the following include files
744 #include <sound/driver.h>
745 #include <linux/init.h>
746 #include <linux/pci.h>
747 #include <linux/slab.h>
748 #include <sound/core.h>
749 #include <sound/initval.h>
754 where the last one is necessary only when module options are
755 defined in the source file. If the codes are split to several
756 files, the file without module options don't need them.
760 In addition to them, you'll need
761 <filename><linux/interrupt.h></filename> for the interrupt
762 handling, and <filename><asm/io.h></filename> for the i/o
763 access. If you use <function>mdelay()</function> or
764 <function>udelay()</function> functions, you'll need to include
765 <filename><linux/delay.h></filename>, too.
769 The ALSA interfaces like PCM or control API are defined in other
770 header files as <filename><sound/xxx.h></filename>.
771 They have to be included after
772 <filename><sound/core.h></filename>.
779 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
780 <!-- Management of Cards and Components -->
781 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
782 <chapter id="card-management">
783 <title>Management of Cards and Components</title>
785 <section id="card-management-card-instance">
786 <title>Card Instance</title>
788 For each soundcard, a <quote>card</quote> record must be allocated.
792 A card record is the headquarters of the soundcard. It manages
793 the list of whole devices (components) on the soundcard, such as
794 PCM, mixers, MIDI, synthesizer, and so on. Also, the card
795 record holds the ID and the name strings of the card, manages
796 the root of proc files, and controls the power-management states
797 and hotplug disconnections. The component list on the card
798 record is used to manage the proper releases of resources at
803 As mentioned above, to create a card instance, call
804 <function>snd_card_new()</function>.
810 card = snd_card_new(index, id, module, extra_size);
817 The function takes four arguments, the card-index number, the
818 id string, the module pointer (usually
819 <constant>THIS_MODULE</constant>),
820 and the size of extra-data space. The last argument is used to
821 allocate card->private_data for the
822 chip-specific data. Note that this data
823 <emphasis>is</emphasis> allocated by
824 <function>snd_card_new()</function>.
828 <section id="card-management-component">
829 <title>Components</title>
831 After the card is created, you can attach the components
832 (devices) to the card instance. On ALSA driver, a component is
833 represented as a <type>snd_device_t</type> object.
834 A component can be a PCM instance, a control interface, a raw
835 MIDI interface, etc. Each of such instances has one component
840 A component can be created via
841 <function>snd_device_new()</function> function.
846 snd_device_new(card, SNDRV_DEV_XXX, chip, &ops);
853 This takes the card pointer, the device-level
854 (<constant>SNDRV_DEV_XXX</constant>), the data pointer, and the
855 callback pointers (<parameter>&ops</parameter>). The
856 device-level defines the type of components and the order of
857 registration and de-registration. For most of components, the
858 device-level is already defined. For a user-defined component,
859 you can use <constant>SNDRV_DEV_LOWLEVEL</constant>.
863 This function itself doesn't allocate the data space. The data
864 must be allocated manually beforehand, and its pointer is passed
865 as the argument. This pointer is used as the identifier
866 (<parameter>chip</parameter> in the above example) for the
871 Each ALSA pre-defined component such as ac97 or pcm calls
872 <function>snd_device_new()</function> inside its
873 constructor. The destructor for each component is defined in the
874 callback pointers. Hence, you don't need to take care of
875 calling a destructor for such a component.
879 If you would like to create your own component, you need to
880 set the destructor function to dev_free callback in
881 <parameter>ops</parameter>, so that it can be released
882 automatically via <function>snd_card_free()</function>. The
883 example will be shown later as an implementation of a
888 <section id="card-management-chip-specific">
889 <title>Chip-Specific Data</title>
891 The chip-specific information, e.g. the i/o port address, its
892 resource pointer, or the irq number, is stored in the
893 chip-specific record.
894 Usually, the chip-specific record is typedef'ed as
895 <type>xxx_t</type> like the following:
900 typedef struct snd_mychip mychip_t;
910 In general, there are two ways to allocate the chip record.
913 <section id="card-management-chip-specific-snd-card-new">
914 <title>1. Allocating via <function>snd_card_new()</function>.</title>
916 As mentioned above, you can pass the extra-data-length to the 4th argument of <function>snd_card_new()</function>, i.e.
921 card = snd_card_new(index[dev], id[dev], THIS_MODULE, sizeof(mychip_t));
926 whether <type>mychip_t</type> is the type of the chip record.
930 In return, the allocated record can be accessed as
935 mychip_t *chip = (mychip_t *)card->private_data;
940 With this method, you don't have to allocate twice.
941 The record is released together with the card instance.
945 <section id="card-management-chip-specific-allocate-extra">
946 <title>2. Allocating an extra device.</title>
949 After allocating a card instance via
950 <function>snd_card_new()</function> (with
951 <constant>NULL</constant> on the 4th arg), call
952 <function>kcalloc()</function>.
959 card = snd_card_new(index[dev], id[dev], THIS_MODULE, NULL);
961 chip = kcalloc(1, sizeof(*chip), GFP_KERNEL);
968 The chip record should have the field to hold the card
984 Then, set the card pointer in the returned chip instance.
996 Next, initialize the fields, and register this chip
997 record as a low-level device with a specified
998 <parameter>ops</parameter>,
1003 static snd_device_ops_t ops = {
1004 .dev_free = snd_mychip_dev_free,
1007 snd_device_new(card, SNDRV_DEV_LOWLEVEL, chip, &ops);
1012 <function>snd_mychip_dev_free()</function> is the
1013 device-destructor function, which will call the real
1021 static int snd_mychip_dev_free(snd_device_t *device)
1023 mychip_t *chip = device->device_data;
1024 return snd_mychip_free(chip);
1030 where <function>snd_mychip_free()</function> is the real destructor.
1035 <section id="card-management-registration">
1036 <title>Registration and Release</title>
1038 After all components are assigned, register the card instance
1039 by calling <function>snd_card_register()</function>. The access
1040 to the device files are enabled at this point. That is, before
1041 <function>snd_card_register()</function> is called, the
1042 components are safely inaccessible from external side. If this
1043 call fails, exit the probe function after releasing the card via
1044 <function>snd_card_free()</function>.
1048 For releasing the card instance, you can call simply
1049 <function>snd_card_free()</function>. As already mentioned, all
1050 components are released automatically by this call.
1054 As further notes, the destructors (both
1055 <function>snd_mychip_dev_free</function> and
1056 <function>snd_mychip_free</function>) cannot be defined with
1057 <parameter>__devexit</parameter> prefix, because they may be
1058 called from the constructor, too, at the false path.
1062 For a device which allows hotplugging, you can use
1063 <function>snd_card_free_in_thread</function>. This one will
1064 postpone the destruction and wait in a kernel-thread until all
1073 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
1074 <!-- PCI Resource Managements -->
1075 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
1076 <chapter id="pci-resource">
1077 <title>PCI Resource Managements</title>
1079 <section id="pci-resource-example">
1080 <title>Full Code Example</title>
1082 In this section, we'll finish the chip-specific constructor,
1083 destructor and PCI entries. The example code is shown first,
1087 <title>PCI Resource Managements Example</title>
1092 struct pci_dev *pci;
1098 static int snd_mychip_free(mychip_t *chip)
1100 /* disable hardware here if any */
1101 .... // (not implemented in this document)
1103 /* release the irq */
1105 free_irq(chip->irq, (void *)chip);
1106 /* release the i/o ports & memory */
1107 pci_release_regions(chip->pci);
1108 /* disable the PCI entry */
1109 pci_disable_device(chip->pci);
1110 /* release the data */
1115 /* chip-specific constructor */
1116 static int __devinit snd_mychip_create(snd_card_t *card,
1117 struct pci_dev *pci,
1122 static snd_device_ops_t ops = {
1123 .dev_free = snd_mychip_dev_free,
1128 /* initialize the PCI entry */
1129 if ((err = pci_enable_device(pci)) < 0)
1131 /* check PCI availability (28bit DMA) */
1132 if (pci_set_dma_mask(pci, 0x0fffffff) < 0 ||
1133 pci_set_consistent_dma_mask(pci, 0x0fffffff) < 0) {
1134 printk(KERN_ERR "error to set 28bit mask DMA\n");
1135 pci_disable_device(pci);
1139 chip = kcalloc(1, sizeof(*chip), GFP_KERNEL);
1141 pci_disable_device(pci);
1145 /* initialize the stuff */
1150 /* (1) PCI resource allocation */
1151 if ((err = pci_request_regions(pci, "My Chip")) < 0) {
1153 pci_disable_device(pci);
1156 chip->port = pci_resource_start(pci, 0);
1157 if (request_irq(pci->irq, snd_mychip_interrupt,
1158 SA_INTERRUPT|SA_SHIRQ, "My Chip",
1160 printk(KERN_ERR "cannot grab irq %d\n", pci->irq);
1161 snd_mychip_free(chip);
1164 chip->irq = pci->irq;
1166 /* (2) initialization of the chip hardware */
1167 .... // (not implemented in this document)
1169 if ((err = snd_device_new(card, SNDRV_DEV_LOWLEVEL,
1171 snd_mychip_free(chip);
1175 snd_card_set_dev(card, &pci->dev);
1182 static struct pci_device_id snd_mychip_ids[] = {
1183 { PCI_VENDOR_ID_FOO, PCI_DEVICE_ID_BAR,
1184 PCI_ANY_ID, PCI_ANY_ID, 0, 0, 0, },
1188 MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE(pci, snd_mychip_ids);
1190 /* pci_driver definition */
1191 static struct pci_driver driver = {
1192 .name = "My Own Chip",
1193 .id_table = snd_mychip_ids,
1194 .probe = snd_mychip_probe,
1195 .remove = __devexit_p(snd_mychip_remove),
1198 /* initialization of the module */
1199 static int __init alsa_card_mychip_init(void)
1201 return pci_register_driver(&driver);
1204 /* clean up the module */
1205 static void __exit alsa_card_mychip_exit(void)
1207 pci_unregister_driver(&driver);
1210 module_init(alsa_card_mychip_init)
1211 module_exit(alsa_card_mychip_exit)
1213 EXPORT_NO_SYMBOLS; /* for old kernels only */
1220 <section id="pci-resource-some-haftas">
1221 <title>Some Hafta's</title>
1223 The allocation of PCI resources is done in the
1224 <function>probe()</function> function, and usually an extra
1225 <function>xxx_create()</function> function is written for this
1230 In the case of PCI devices, you have to call at first
1231 <function>pci_enable_device()</function> function before
1232 allocating resources. Also, you need to set the proper PCI DMA
1233 mask to limit the accessed i/o range. In some cases, you might
1234 need to call <function>pci_set_master()</function> function,
1239 Suppose the 28bit mask, and the code to be added would be like:
1244 if ((err = pci_enable_device(pci)) < 0)
1246 if (pci_set_dma_mask(pci, 0x0fffffff) < 0 ||
1247 pci_set_consistent_dma_mask(pci, 0x0fffffff) < 0) {
1248 printk(KERN_ERR "error to set 28bit mask DMA\n");
1249 pci_disable_device(pci);
1259 <section id="pci-resource-resource-allocation">
1260 <title>Resource Allocation</title>
1262 The allocation of I/O ports and irqs are done via standard kernel
1263 functions. Unlike ALSA ver.0.5.x., there are no helpers for
1264 that. And these resources must be released in the destructor
1265 function (see below). Also, on ALSA 0.9.x, you don't need to
1266 allocate (pseudo-)DMA for PCI like ALSA 0.5.x.
1270 Now assume that this PCI device has an I/O port with 8 bytes
1271 and an interrupt. Then <type>mychip_t</type> will have the
1289 For an i/o port (and also a memory region), you need to have
1290 the resource pointer for the standard resource management. For
1291 an irq, you have to keep only the irq number (integer). But you
1292 need to initialize this number as -1 before actual allocation,
1293 since irq 0 is valid. The port address and its resource pointer
1294 can be initialized as null by
1295 <function>kcalloc()</function> automatically, so you
1296 don't have to take care of resetting them.
1300 The allocation of an i/o port is done like this:
1305 if ((err = pci_request_regions(pci, "My Chip")) < 0) {
1307 pci_disable_device(pci);
1310 chip->port = pci_resource_start(pci, 0);
1318 It will reserve the i/o port region of 8 bytes of the given
1319 PCI device. The returned value, chip->res_port, is allocated
1320 via <function>kmalloc()</function> by
1321 <function>request_region()</function>. The pointer must be
1322 released via <function>kfree()</function>, but there is some
1323 problem regarding this. This issue will be explained more below.
1327 The allocation of an interrupt source is done like this:
1332 if (request_irq(pci->irq, snd_mychip_interrupt,
1333 SA_INTERRUPT|SA_SHIRQ, "My Chip",
1335 printk(KERN_ERR "cannot grab irq %d\n", pci->irq);
1336 snd_mychip_free(chip);
1339 chip->irq = pci->irq;
1344 where <function>snd_mychip_interrupt()</function> is the
1345 interrupt handler defined <link
1346 linkend="pcm-interface-interrupt-handler"><citetitle>later</citetitle></link>.
1347 Note that chip->irq should be defined
1348 only when <function>request_irq()</function> succeeded.
1352 On the PCI bus, the interrupts can be shared. Thus,
1353 <constant>SA_SHIRQ</constant> is given as the interrupt flag of
1354 <function>request_irq()</function>.
1358 The last argument of <function>request_irq()</function> is the
1359 data pointer passed to the interrupt handler. Usually, the
1360 chip-specific record is used for that, but you can use what you
1365 I won't define the detail of the interrupt handler at this
1366 point, but at least its appearance can be explained now. The
1367 interrupt handler looks usually like the following:
1372 static irqreturn_t snd_mychip_interrupt(int irq, void *dev_id,
1373 struct pt_regs *regs)
1375 mychip_t *chip = dev_id;
1385 Now let's write the corresponding destructor for the resources
1386 above. The role of destructor is simple: disable the hardware
1387 (if already activated) and release the resources. So far, we
1388 have no hardware part, so the disabling is not written here.
1392 For releasing the resources, <quote>check-and-release</quote>
1393 method is a safer way. For the interrupt, do like this:
1399 free_irq(chip->irq, (void *)chip);
1404 Since the irq number can start from 0, you should initialize
1405 chip->irq with a negative value (e.g. -1), so that you can
1406 check the validity of the irq number as above.
1410 When you requested I/O ports or memory regions via
1411 <function>pci_request_region()</function> or
1412 <function>pci_request_regions()</function> like this example,
1413 release the resource(s) using the corresponding function,
1414 <function>pci_release_region()</function> or
1415 <function>pci_release_regions()</function>.
1420 pci_release_regions(chip->pci);
1427 When you requested manually via <function>request_region()</function>
1428 or <function>request_mem_region</function>, you can release it via
1429 <function>release_resource()</function>. Suppose that you keep
1430 the resource pointer returned from <function>request_region()</function>
1431 in chip->res_port, the release procedure looks like below:
1436 if (chip->res_port) {
1437 release_resource(chip->res_port);
1438 kfree_nocheck(chip->res_port);
1444 As you can see, the resource pointer is also to be freed
1445 via <function>kfree_nocheck()</function> after
1446 <function>release_resource()</function> is called. You
1447 cannot use <function>kfree()</function> here, because on ALSA,
1448 <function>kfree()</function> may be a wrapper to its own
1449 allocator with the memory debugging. Since the resource pointer
1450 is allocated externally outside the ALSA, it must be released
1452 <function>kfree()</function>.
1453 <function>kfree_nocheck()</function> is used for that; it calls
1454 the native <function>kfree()</function> without wrapper.
1458 Don't forget to call <function>pci_disable_device()</function>
1459 before all finished.
1463 And finally, release the chip-specific record.
1475 Again, remember that you cannot
1476 set <parameter>__devexit</parameter> prefix for this destructor.
1480 We didn't implement the hardware-disabling part in the above.
1481 If you need to do this, please note that the destructor may be
1482 called even before the initialization of the chip is completed.
1483 It would be better to have a flag to skip the hardware-disabling
1484 if the hardware was not initialized yet.
1488 When the chip-data is assigned to the card using
1489 <function>snd_device_new()</function> with
1490 <constant>SNDRV_DEV_LOWLELVEL</constant> , its destructor is
1491 called at the last. That is, it is assured that all other
1492 components like PCMs and controls have been already released.
1493 You don't have to call stopping PCMs, etc. explicitly, but just
1494 stop the hardware in the low-level.
1498 The management of a memory-mapped region is almost as same as
1499 the management of an i/o port. You'll need three fields like
1507 unsigned long iobase_phys;
1508 void __iomem *iobase_virt;
1514 and the allocation would be like below:
1519 if ((err = pci_request_regions(pci, "My Chip")) < 0) {
1523 chip->iobase_phys = pci_resource_start(pci, 0);
1524 chip->iobase_virt = ioremap_nocache(chip->iobase_phys,
1525 pci_resource_len(pci, 0));
1530 and the corresponding destructor would be:
1535 static int snd_mychip_free(mychip_t *chip)
1538 if (chip->iobase_virt)
1539 iounmap(chip->iobase_virt);
1541 pci_release_regions(chip->pci);
1551 <section id="pci-resource-device-struct">
1552 <title>Registration of Device Struct</title>
1554 At some point, typically after calling <function>snd_device_new()</function>,
1555 you need to register the <structname>struct device</structname> of the chip
1556 you're handling for udev and co. ALSA provides a macro for compatibility with
1557 older kernels. Simply call like the following:
1561 snd_card_set_dev(card, &pci->dev);
1565 so that it stores the PCI's device pointer to the card. This will be
1566 referred by ALSA core functions later when the devices are registered.
1569 In the case of non-PCI, pass the proper device struct pointer of the BUS
1570 instead. (In the case of legacy ISA without PnP, you don't have to do
1575 <section id="pci-resource-entries">
1576 <title>PCI Entries</title>
1578 So far, so good. Let's finish the rest of missing PCI
1579 stuffs. At first, we need a
1580 <structname>pci_device_id</structname> table for this
1581 chipset. It's a table of PCI vendor/device ID number, and some
1591 static struct pci_device_id snd_mychip_ids[] = {
1592 { PCI_VENDOR_ID_FOO, PCI_DEVICE_ID_BAR,
1593 PCI_ANY_ID, PCI_ANY_ID, 0, 0, 0, },
1597 MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE(pci, snd_mychip_ids);
1604 The first and second fields of
1605 <structname>pci_device_id</structname> struct are the vendor and
1606 device IDs. If you have nothing special to filter the matching
1607 devices, you can use the rest of fields like above. The last
1608 field of <structname>pci_device_id</structname> struct is a
1609 private data for this entry. You can specify any value here, for
1610 example, to tell the type of different operations per each
1611 device IDs. Such an example is found in intel8x0 driver.
1615 The last entry of this list is the terminator. You must
1616 specify this all-zero entry.
1620 Then, prepare the <structname>pci_driver</structname> record:
1625 static struct pci_driver driver = {
1626 .name = "My Own Chip",
1627 .id_table = snd_mychip_ids,
1628 .probe = snd_mychip_probe,
1629 .remove = __devexit_p(snd_mychip_remove),
1637 The <structfield>probe</structfield> and
1638 <structfield>remove</structfield> functions are what we already
1640 the previous sections. The <structfield>remove</structfield> should
1642 <function>__devexit_p()</function> macro, so that it's not
1643 defined for built-in (and non-hot-pluggable) case. The
1644 <structfield>name</structfield>
1645 field is the name string of this device. Note that you must not
1646 use a slash <quote>/</quote> in this string.
1650 And at last, the module entries:
1655 static int __init alsa_card_mychip_init(void)
1657 return pci_register_driver(&driver);
1660 static void __exit alsa_card_mychip_exit(void)
1662 pci_unregister_driver(&driver);
1665 module_init(alsa_card_mychip_init)
1666 module_exit(alsa_card_mychip_exit)
1673 Note that these module entries are tagged with
1674 <parameter>__init</parameter> and
1675 <parameter>__exit</parameter> prefixes, not
1676 <parameter>__devinit</parameter> nor
1677 <parameter>__devexit</parameter>.
1681 Oh, one thing was forgotten. If you have no exported symbols,
1682 you need to declare it on 2.2 or 2.4 kernels (on 2.6 kernels
1683 it's not necessary, though).
1699 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
1700 <!-- PCM Interface -->
1701 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
1702 <chapter id="pcm-interface">
1703 <title>PCM Interface</title>
1705 <section id="pcm-interface-general">
1706 <title>General</title>
1708 The PCM middle layer of ALSA is quite powerful and it is only
1709 necessary for each driver to implement the low-level functions
1710 to access its hardware.
1714 For accessing to the PCM layer, you need to include
1715 <filename><sound/pcm.h></filename> above all. In addition,
1716 <filename><sound/pcm_params.h></filename> might be needed
1717 if you access to some functions related with hw_param.
1721 Each card device can have up to four pcm instances. A pcm
1722 instance corresponds to a pcm device file. The limitation of
1723 number of instances comes only from the available bit size of
1724 the linux's device number. Once when 64bit device number is
1725 used, we'll have more available pcm instances.
1729 A pcm instance consists of pcm playback and capture streams,
1730 and each pcm stream consists of one or more pcm substreams. Some
1731 soundcard supports the multiple-playback function. For example,
1732 emu10k1 has a PCM playback of 32 stereo substreams. In this case, at
1733 each open, a free substream is (usually) automatically chosen
1734 and opened. Meanwhile, when only one substream exists and it was
1735 already opened, the succeeding open will result in the blocking
1736 or the error with <constant>EAGAIN</constant> according to the
1737 file open mode. But you don't have to know the detail in your
1738 driver. The PCM middle layer will take all such jobs.
1742 <section id="pcm-interface-example">
1743 <title>Full Code Example</title>
1745 The example code below does not include any hardware access
1746 routines but shows only the skeleton, how to build up the PCM
1750 <title>PCM Example Code</title>
1753 #include <sound/pcm.h>
1756 /* hardware definition */
1757 static snd_pcm_hardware_t snd_mychip_playback_hw = {
1758 .info = (SNDRV_PCM_INFO_MMAP |
1759 SNDRV_PCM_INFO_INTERLEAVED |
1760 SNDRV_PCM_INFO_BLOCK_TRANSFER |
1761 SNDRV_PCM_INFO_MMAP_VALID),
1762 .formats = SNDRV_PCM_FMTBIT_S16_LE,
1763 .rates = SNDRV_PCM_RATE_8000_48000,
1768 .buffer_bytes_max = 32768,
1769 .period_bytes_min = 4096,
1770 .period_bytes_max = 32768,
1772 .periods_max = 1024,
1775 /* hardware definition */
1776 static snd_pcm_hardware_t snd_mychip_capture_hw = {
1777 .info = (SNDRV_PCM_INFO_MMAP |
1778 SNDRV_PCM_INFO_INTERLEAVED |
1779 SNDRV_PCM_INFO_BLOCK_TRANSFER |
1780 SNDRV_PCM_INFO_MMAP_VALID),
1781 .formats = SNDRV_PCM_FMTBIT_S16_LE,
1782 .rates = SNDRV_PCM_RATE_8000_48000,
1787 .buffer_bytes_max = 32768,
1788 .period_bytes_min = 4096,
1789 .period_bytes_max = 32768,
1791 .periods_max = 1024,
1795 static int snd_mychip_playback_open(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
1797 mychip_t *chip = snd_pcm_substream_chip(substream);
1798 snd_pcm_runtime_t *runtime = substream->runtime;
1800 runtime->hw = snd_mychip_playback_hw;
1801 // more hardware-initialization will be done here
1805 /* close callback */
1806 static int snd_mychip_playback_close(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
1808 mychip_t *chip = snd_pcm_substream_chip(substream);
1809 // the hardware-specific codes will be here
1815 static int snd_mychip_capture_open(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
1817 mychip_t *chip = snd_pcm_substream_chip(substream);
1818 snd_pcm_runtime_t *runtime = substream->runtime;
1820 runtime->hw = snd_mychip_capture_hw;
1821 // more hardware-initialization will be done here
1825 /* close callback */
1826 static int snd_mychip_capture_close(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
1828 mychip_t *chip = snd_pcm_substream_chip(substream);
1829 // the hardware-specific codes will be here
1834 /* hw_params callback */
1835 static int snd_mychip_pcm_hw_params(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream,
1836 snd_pcm_hw_params_t * hw_params)
1838 return snd_pcm_lib_malloc_pages(substream,
1839 params_buffer_bytes(hw_params));
1842 /* hw_free callback */
1843 static int snd_mychip_pcm_hw_free(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
1845 return snd_pcm_lib_free_pages(substream);
1848 /* prepare callback */
1849 static int snd_mychip_pcm_prepare(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
1851 mychip_t *chip = snd_pcm_substream_chip(substream);
1852 snd_pcm_runtime_t *runtime = substream->runtime;
1854 /* set up the hardware with the current configuration
1857 mychip_set_sample_format(chip, runtime->format);
1858 mychip_set_sample_rate(chip, runtime->rate);
1859 mychip_set_channels(chip, runtime->channels);
1860 mychip_set_dma_setup(chip, runtime->dma_area,
1866 /* trigger callback */
1867 static int snd_mychip_pcm_trigger(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream,
1871 case SNDRV_PCM_TRIGGER_START:
1872 // do something to start the PCM engine
1874 case SNDRV_PCM_TRIGGER_STOP:
1875 // do something to stop the PCM engine
1882 /* pointer callback */
1883 static snd_pcm_uframes_t
1884 snd_mychip_pcm_pointer(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
1886 mychip_t *chip = snd_pcm_substream_chip(substream);
1887 unsigned int current_ptr;
1889 /* get the current hardware pointer */
1890 current_ptr = mychip_get_hw_pointer(chip);
1895 static snd_pcm_ops_t snd_mychip_playback_ops = {
1896 .open = snd_mychip_playback_open,
1897 .close = snd_mychip_playback_close,
1898 .ioctl = snd_pcm_lib_ioctl,
1899 .hw_params = snd_mychip_pcm_hw_params,
1900 .hw_free = snd_mychip_pcm_hw_free,
1901 .prepare = snd_mychip_pcm_prepare,
1902 .trigger = snd_mychip_pcm_trigger,
1903 .pointer = snd_mychip_pcm_pointer,
1907 static snd_pcm_ops_t snd_mychip_capture_ops = {
1908 .open = snd_mychip_capture_open,
1909 .close = snd_mychip_capture_close,
1910 .ioctl = snd_pcm_lib_ioctl,
1911 .hw_params = snd_mychip_pcm_hw_params,
1912 .hw_free = snd_mychip_pcm_hw_free,
1913 .prepare = snd_mychip_pcm_prepare,
1914 .trigger = snd_mychip_pcm_trigger,
1915 .pointer = snd_mychip_pcm_pointer,
1919 * definitions of capture are omitted here...
1922 /* create a pcm device */
1923 static int __devinit snd_mychip_new_pcm(mychip_t *chip)
1928 if ((err = snd_pcm_new(chip->card, "My Chip", 0, 1, 1,
1931 pcm->private_data = chip;
1932 strcpy(pcm->name, "My Chip");
1935 snd_pcm_set_ops(pcm, SNDRV_PCM_STREAM_PLAYBACK,
1936 &snd_mychip_playback_ops);
1937 snd_pcm_set_ops(pcm, SNDRV_PCM_STREAM_CAPTURE,
1938 &snd_mychip_capture_ops);
1939 /* pre-allocation of buffers */
1940 /* NOTE: this may fail */
1941 snd_pcm_lib_preallocate_pages_for_all(pcm, SNDRV_DMA_TYPE_DEV,
1942 snd_dma_pci_data(chip->pci),
1952 <section id="pcm-interface-constructor">
1953 <title>Constructor</title>
1955 A pcm instance is allocated by <function>snd_pcm_new()</function>
1956 function. It would be better to create a constructor for pcm,
1962 static int __devinit snd_mychip_new_pcm(mychip_t *chip)
1967 if ((err = snd_pcm_new(chip->card, "My Chip", 0, 1, 1,
1970 pcm->private_data = chip;
1971 strcpy(pcm->name, "My Chip");
1982 The <function>snd_pcm_new()</function> function takes the four
1983 arguments. The first argument is the card pointer to which this
1984 pcm is assigned, and the second is the ID string.
1988 The third argument (<parameter>index</parameter>, 0 in the
1989 above) is the index of this new pcm. It begins from zero. When
1990 you will create more than one pcm instances, specify the
1991 different numbers in this argument. For example,
1992 <parameter>index</parameter> = 1 for the second PCM device.
1996 The fourth and fifth arguments are the number of substreams
1997 for playback and capture, respectively. Here both 1 are given in
1998 the above example. When no playback or no capture is available,
1999 pass 0 to the corresponding argument.
2003 If a chip supports multiple playbacks or captures, you can
2004 specify more numbers, but they must be handled properly in
2005 open/close, etc. callbacks. When you need to know which
2006 substream you are referring to, then it can be obtained from
2007 <type>snd_pcm_substream_t</type> data passed to each callback
2013 snd_pcm_substream_t *substream;
2014 int index = substream->number;
2021 After the pcm is created, you need to set operators for each
2027 snd_pcm_set_ops(pcm, SNDRV_PCM_STREAM_PLAYBACK,
2028 &snd_mychip_playback_ops);
2029 snd_pcm_set_ops(pcm, SNDRV_PCM_STREAM_CAPTURE,
2030 &snd_mychip_capture_ops);
2037 The operators are defined typically like this:
2042 static snd_pcm_ops_t snd_mychip_playback_ops = {
2043 .open = snd_mychip_pcm_open,
2044 .close = snd_mychip_pcm_close,
2045 .ioctl = snd_pcm_lib_ioctl,
2046 .hw_params = snd_mychip_pcm_hw_params,
2047 .hw_free = snd_mychip_pcm_hw_free,
2048 .prepare = snd_mychip_pcm_prepare,
2049 .trigger = snd_mychip_pcm_trigger,
2050 .pointer = snd_mychip_pcm_pointer,
2056 Each of callbacks is explained in the subsection
2057 <link linkend="pcm-interface-operators"><citetitle>
2058 Operators</citetitle></link>.
2062 After setting the operators, most likely you'd like to
2063 pre-allocate the buffer. For the pre-allocation, simply call
2069 snd_pcm_lib_preallocate_pages_for_all(pcm, SNDRV_DMA_TYPE_DEV,
2070 snd_dma_pci_data(chip->pci),
2076 It will allocate up to 64kB buffer as default. The details of
2077 buffer management will be described in the later section <link
2078 linkend="buffer-and-memory"><citetitle>Buffer and Memory
2079 Management</citetitle></link>.
2083 Additionally, you can set some extra information for this pcm
2084 in pcm->info_flags.
2085 The available values are defined as
2086 <constant>SNDRV_PCM_INFO_XXX</constant> in
2087 <filename><sound/asound.h></filename>, which is used for
2088 the hardware definition (described later). When your soundchip
2089 supports only half-duplex, specify like this:
2094 pcm->info_flags = SNDRV_PCM_INFO_HALF_DUPLEX;
2101 <section id="pcm-interface-destructor">
2102 <title>... And the Destructor?</title>
2104 The destructor for a pcm instance is not always
2105 necessary. Since the pcm device will be released by the middle
2106 layer code automatically, you don't have to call destructor
2111 The destructor would be necessary when you created some
2112 special records internally and need to release them. In such a
2113 case, set the destructor function to
2114 pcm->private_free:
2117 <title>PCM Instance with a Destructor</title>
2120 static void mychip_pcm_free(snd_pcm_t *pcm)
2122 mychip_t *chip = snd_pcm_chip(pcm);
2123 /* free your own data */
2124 kfree(chip->my_private_pcm_data);
2125 // do what you like else
2129 static int __devinit snd_mychip_new_pcm(mychip_t *chip)
2133 /* allocate your own data */
2134 chip->my_private_pcm_data = kmalloc(...);
2135 /* set the destructor */
2136 pcm->private_data = chip;
2137 pcm->private_free = mychip_pcm_free;
2146 <section id="pcm-interface-runtime">
2147 <title>Runtime Pointer - The Chest of PCM Information</title>
2149 When the PCM substream is opened, a PCM runtime instance is
2150 allocated and assigned to the substream. This pointer is
2151 accessible via <constant>substream->runtime</constant>.
2152 This runtime pointer holds the various information; it holds
2153 the copy of hw_params and sw_params configurations, the buffer
2154 pointers, mmap records, spinlocks, etc. Almost everyhing you
2155 need for controlling the PCM can be found there.
2159 The definition of runtime instance is found in
2160 <filename><sound/pcm.h></filename>. Here is the
2165 struct _snd_pcm_runtime {
2167 snd_pcm_substream_t *trigger_master;
2168 snd_timestamp_t trigger_tstamp; /* trigger timestamp */
2170 snd_pcm_uframes_t avail_max;
2171 snd_pcm_uframes_t hw_ptr_base; /* Position at buffer restart */
2172 snd_pcm_uframes_t hw_ptr_interrupt; /* Position at interrupt time*/
2174 /* -- HW params -- */
2175 snd_pcm_access_t access; /* access mode */
2176 snd_pcm_format_t format; /* SNDRV_PCM_FORMAT_* */
2177 snd_pcm_subformat_t subformat; /* subformat */
2178 unsigned int rate; /* rate in Hz */
2179 unsigned int channels; /* channels */
2180 snd_pcm_uframes_t period_size; /* period size */
2181 unsigned int periods; /* periods */
2182 snd_pcm_uframes_t buffer_size; /* buffer size */
2183 unsigned int tick_time; /* tick time */
2184 snd_pcm_uframes_t min_align; /* Min alignment for the format */
2186 unsigned int frame_bits;
2187 unsigned int sample_bits;
2189 unsigned int rate_num;
2190 unsigned int rate_den;
2192 /* -- SW params -- */
2193 int tstamp_timespec; /* use timeval (0) or timespec (1) */
2194 snd_pcm_tstamp_t tstamp_mode; /* mmap timestamp is updated */
2195 unsigned int period_step;
2196 unsigned int sleep_min; /* min ticks to sleep */
2197 snd_pcm_uframes_t xfer_align; /* xfer size need to be a multiple */
2198 snd_pcm_uframes_t start_threshold;
2199 snd_pcm_uframes_t stop_threshold;
2200 snd_pcm_uframes_t silence_threshold; /* Silence filling happens when
2201 noise is nearest than this */
2202 snd_pcm_uframes_t silence_size; /* Silence filling size */
2203 snd_pcm_uframes_t boundary; /* pointers wrap point */
2205 snd_pcm_uframes_t silenced_start;
2206 snd_pcm_uframes_t silenced_size;
2208 snd_pcm_sync_id_t sync; /* hardware synchronization ID */
2211 volatile snd_pcm_mmap_status_t *status;
2212 volatile snd_pcm_mmap_control_t *control;
2213 atomic_t mmap_count;
2215 /* -- locking / scheduling -- */
2217 wait_queue_head_t sleep;
2218 struct timer_list tick_timer;
2219 struct fasync_struct *fasync;
2221 /* -- private section -- */
2223 void (*private_free)(snd_pcm_runtime_t *runtime);
2225 /* -- hardware description -- */
2226 snd_pcm_hardware_t hw;
2227 snd_pcm_hw_constraints_t hw_constraints;
2229 /* -- interrupt callbacks -- */
2230 void (*transfer_ack_begin)(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream);
2231 void (*transfer_ack_end)(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream);
2234 unsigned int timer_resolution; /* timer resolution */
2237 unsigned char *dma_area; /* DMA area */
2238 dma_addr_t dma_addr; /* physical bus address (not accessible from main CPU) */
2239 size_t dma_bytes; /* size of DMA area */
2241 struct snd_dma_buffer *dma_buffer_p; /* allocated buffer */
2243 #if defined(CONFIG_SND_PCM_OSS) || defined(CONFIG_SND_PCM_OSS_MODULE)
2244 /* -- OSS things -- */
2245 snd_pcm_oss_runtime_t oss;
2254 For the operators (callbacks) of each sound driver, most of
2255 these records are supposed to be read-only. Only the PCM
2256 middle-layer changes / updates these info. The exceptions are
2257 the hardware description (hw), interrupt callbacks
2258 (transfer_ack_xxx), DMA buffer information, and the private
2259 data. Besides, if you use the standard buffer allocation
2260 method via <function>snd_pcm_lib_malloc_pages()</function>,
2261 you don't need to set the DMA buffer information by yourself.
2265 In the sections below, important records are explained.
2268 <section id="pcm-interface-runtime-hw">
2269 <title>Hardware Description</title>
2271 The hardware descriptor (<type>snd_pcm_hardware_t</type>)
2272 contains the definitions of the fundamental hardware
2273 configuration. Above all, you'll need to define this in
2274 <link linkend="pcm-interface-operators-open-callback"><citetitle>
2275 the open callback</citetitle></link>.
2276 Note that the runtime instance holds the copy of the
2277 descriptor, not the pointer to the existing descriptor. That
2278 is, in the open callback, you can modify the copied descriptor
2279 (<constant>runtime->hw</constant>) as you need. For example, if the maximum
2280 number of channels is 1 only on some chip models, you can
2281 still use the same hardware descriptor and change the
2286 snd_pcm_runtime_t *runtime = substream->runtime;
2288 runtime->hw = snd_mychip_playback_hw; /* common definition */
2289 if (chip->model == VERY_OLD_ONE)
2290 runtime->hw.channels_max = 1;
2297 Typically, you'll have a hardware descriptor like below:
2301 static snd_pcm_hardware_t snd_mychip_playback_hw = {
2302 .info = (SNDRV_PCM_INFO_MMAP |
2303 SNDRV_PCM_INFO_INTERLEAVED |
2304 SNDRV_PCM_INFO_BLOCK_TRANSFER |
2305 SNDRV_PCM_INFO_MMAP_VALID),
2306 .formats = SNDRV_PCM_FMTBIT_S16_LE,
2307 .rates = SNDRV_PCM_RATE_8000_48000,
2312 .buffer_bytes_max = 32768,
2313 .period_bytes_min = 4096,
2314 .period_bytes_max = 32768,
2316 .periods_max = 1024,
2326 The <structfield>info</structfield> field contains the type and
2327 capabilities of this pcm. The bit flags are defined in
2328 <filename><sound/asound.h></filename> as
2329 <constant>SNDRV_PCM_INFO_XXX</constant>. Here, at least, you
2330 have to specify whether the mmap is supported and which
2331 interleaved format is supported.
2332 When the mmap is supported, add
2333 <constant>SNDRV_PCM_INFO_MMAP</constant> flag here. When the
2334 hardware supports the interleaved or the non-interleaved
2335 format, <constant>SNDRV_PCM_INFO_INTERLEAVED</constant> or
2336 <constant>SNDRV_PCM_INFO_NONINTERLEAVED</constant> flag must
2337 be set, respectively. If both are supported, you can set both,
2342 In the above example, <constant>MMAP_VALID</constant> and
2343 <constant>BLOCK_TRANSFER</constant> are specified for OSS mmap
2344 mode. Usually both are set. Of course,
2345 <constant>MMAP_VALID</constant> is set only if the mmap is
2350 The other possible flags are
2351 <constant>SNDRV_PCM_INFO_PAUSE</constant> and
2352 <constant>SNDRV_PCM_INFO_RESUME</constant>. The
2353 <constant>PAUSE</constant> bit means that the pcm supports the
2354 <quote>pause</quote> operation, while the
2355 <constant>RESUME</constant> bit means that the pcm supports
2356 the <quote>suspend/resume</quote> operation. If these flags
2357 are set, the <structfield>trigger</structfield> callback below
2358 must handle the corresponding commands.
2362 When the PCM substreams can be synchronized (typically,
2363 synchorinized start/stop of a playback and a capture streams),
2364 you can give <constant>SNDRV_PCM_INFO_SYNC_START</constant>,
2365 too. In this case, you'll need to check the linked-list of
2366 PCM substreams in the trigger callback. This will be
2367 described in the later section.
2373 <structfield>formats</structfield> field contains the bit-flags
2374 of supported formats (<constant>SNDRV_PCM_FMTBIT_XXX</constant>).
2375 If the hardware supports more than one format, give all or'ed
2376 bits. In the example above, the signed 16bit little-endian
2377 format is specified.
2383 <structfield>rates</structfield> field contains the bit-flags of
2384 supported rates (<constant>SNDRV_PCM_RATE_XXX</constant>).
2385 When the chip supports continuous rates, pass
2386 <constant>CONTINUOUS</constant> bit additionally.
2387 The pre-defined rate bits are provided only for typical
2388 rates. If your chip supports unconventional rates, you need to add
2389 <constant>KNOT</constant> bit and set up the hardware
2390 constraint manually (explained later).
2396 <structfield>rate_min</structfield> and
2397 <structfield>rate_max</structfield> define the minimal and
2398 maximal sample rate. This should correspond somehow to
2399 <structfield>rates</structfield> bits.
2405 <structfield>channel_min</structfield> and
2406 <structfield>channel_max</structfield>
2407 define, as you might already expected, the minimal and maximal
2414 <structfield>buffer_bytes_max</structfield> defines the
2415 maximal buffer size in bytes. There is no
2416 <structfield>buffer_bytes_min</structfield> field, since
2417 it can be calculated from the minimal period size and the
2418 minimal number of periods.
2419 Meanwhile, <structfield>period_bytes_min</structfield> and
2420 define the minimal and maximal size of the period in bytes.
2421 <structfield>periods_max</structfield> and
2422 <structfield>periods_min</structfield> define the maximal and
2423 minimal number of periods in the buffer.
2427 The <quote>period</quote> is a term, that corresponds to
2428 fragment in the OSS world. The period defines the size at
2429 which the PCM interrupt is generated. This size strongly
2430 depends on the hardware.
2431 Generally, the smaller period size will give you more
2432 interrupts, that is, more controls.
2433 In the case of capture, this size defines the input latency.
2434 On the other hand, the whole buffer size defines the
2435 output latency for the playback direction.
2441 There is also a field <structfield>fifo_size</structfield>.
2442 This specifies the size of the hardware FIFO, but it's not
2443 used currently in the driver nor in the alsa-lib. So, you
2444 can ignore this field.
2451 <section id="pcm-interface-runtime-config">
2452 <title>PCM Configurations</title>
2454 Ok, let's go back again to the PCM runtime records.
2455 The most frequently referred records in the runtime instance are
2456 the PCM configurations.
2457 The PCM configurations are stored on runtime instance
2458 after the application sends <type>hw_params</type> data via
2459 alsa-lib. There are many fields copied from hw_params and
2460 sw_params structs. For example,
2461 <structfield>format</structfield> holds the format type
2462 chosen by the application. This field contains the enum value
2463 <constant>SNDRV_PCM_FORMAT_XXX</constant>.
2467 One thing to be noted is that the configured buffer and period
2468 sizes are stored in <quote>frames</quote> in the runtime
2469 In the ALSA world, 1 frame = channels * samples-size.
2470 For conversion between frames and bytes, you can use the
2471 helper functions, <function>frames_to_bytes()</function> and
2472 <function>bytes_to_frames()</function>.
2476 period_bytes = frames_to_bytes(runtime, runtime->period_size);
2483 Also, many software parameters (sw_params) are
2484 stored in frames, too. Please check the type of the field.
2485 <type>snd_pcm_uframes_t</type> is for the frames as unsigned
2486 integer while <type>snd_pcm_sframes_t</type> is for the frames
2491 <section id="pcm-interface-runtime-dma">
2492 <title>DMA Buffer Information</title>
2494 The DMA buffer is defined by the following four fields,
2495 <structfield>dma_area</structfield>,
2496 <structfield>dma_addr</structfield>,
2497 <structfield>dma_bytes</structfield> and
2498 <structfield>dma_private</structfield>.
2499 The <structfield>dma_area</structfield> holds the buffer
2500 pointer (the logical address). You can call
2501 <function>memcpy</function> from/to
2502 this pointer. Meanwhile, <structfield>dma_addr</structfield>
2503 holds the physical address of the buffer. This field is
2504 specified only when the buffer is a linear buffer.
2505 <structfield>dma_bytes</structfield> holds the size of buffer
2506 in bytes. <structfield>dma_private</structfield> is used for
2507 the ALSA DMA allocator.
2511 If you use a standard ALSA function,
2512 <function>snd_pcm_lib_malloc_pages()</function>, for
2513 allocating the buffer, these fields are set by the ALSA middle
2514 layer, and you should <emphasis>not</emphasis> change them by
2515 yourself. You can read them but not write them.
2516 On the other hand, if you want to allocate the buffer by
2517 yourself, you'll need to manage it in hw_params callback.
2518 At least, <structfield>dma_bytes</structfield> is mandatory.
2519 <structfield>dma_area</structfield> is necessary when the
2520 buffer is mmapped. If your driver doesn't support mmap, this
2521 field is not necessary. <structfield>dma_addr</structfield>
2522 is also not mandatory. You can use
2523 <structfield>dma_private</structfield> as you like, too.
2527 <section id="pcm-interface-runtime-status">
2528 <title>Running Status</title>
2530 The running status can be referred via <constant>runtime->status</constant>.
2531 This is the pointer to <type>snd_pcm_mmap_status_t</type>
2532 record. For example, you can get the current DMA hardware
2533 pointer via <constant>runtime->status->hw_ptr</constant>.
2537 The DMA application pointer can be referred via
2538 <constant>runtime->control</constant>, which points
2539 <type>snd_pcm_mmap_control_t</type> record.
2540 However, accessing directly to this value is not recommended.
2544 <section id="pcm-interface-runtime-private">
2545 <title>Private Data</title>
2547 You can allocate a record for the substream and store it in
2548 <constant>runtime->private_data</constant>. Usually, this
2550 <link linkend="pcm-interface-operators-open-callback"><citetitle>
2551 the open callback</citetitle></link>.
2552 Don't mix this with <constant>pcm->private_data</constant>.
2553 The <constant>pcm->private_data</constant> usually points the
2554 chip instance assigned statically at the creation of PCM, while the
2555 <constant>runtime->private_data</constant> points a dynamic
2556 data created at the PCM open callback.
2561 static int snd_xxx_open(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
2563 my_pcm_data_t *data;
2565 data = kmalloc(sizeof(*data), GFP_KERNEL);
2566 substream->runtime->private_data = data;
2575 The allocated object must be released in
2576 <link linkend="pcm-interface-operators-open-callback"><citetitle>
2577 the close callback</citetitle></link>.
2581 <section id="pcm-interface-runtime-intr">
2582 <title>Interrupt Callbacks</title>
2584 The field <structfield>transfer_ack_begin</structfield> and
2585 <structfield>transfer_ack_end</structfield> are called at
2586 the beginning and the end of
2587 <function>snd_pcm_period_elapsed()</function>, respectively.
2593 <section id="pcm-interface-operators">
2594 <title>Operators</title>
2596 OK, now let me explain the detail of each pcm callback
2597 (<parameter>ops</parameter>). In general, every callback must
2598 return 0 if successful, or a negative number with the error
2599 number such as <constant>-EINVAL</constant> at any
2604 The callback function takes at least the argument with
2605 <type>snd_pcm_substream_t</type> pointer. For retrieving the
2606 chip record from the given substream instance, you can use the
2613 mychip_t *chip = snd_pcm_substream_chip(substream);
2620 The macro reads <constant>substream->private_data</constant>,
2621 which is a copy of <constant>pcm->private_data</constant>.
2622 You can override the former if you need to assign different data
2623 records per PCM substream. For example, cmi8330 driver assigns
2624 different private_data for playback and capture directions,
2625 because it uses two different codecs (SB- and AD-compatible) for
2626 different directions.
2629 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-open-callback">
2630 <title>open callback</title>
2635 static int snd_xxx_open(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream);
2640 This is called when a pcm substream is opened.
2644 At least, here you have to initialize the runtime->hw
2645 record. Typically, this is done by like this:
2650 static int snd_xxx_open(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
2652 mychip_t *chip = snd_pcm_substream_chip(substream);
2653 snd_pcm_runtime_t *runtime = substream->runtime;
2655 runtime->hw = snd_mychip_playback_hw;
2662 where <parameter>snd_mychip_playback_hw</parameter> is the
2663 pre-defined hardware description.
2667 You can allocate a private data in this callback, as described
2668 in <link linkend="pcm-interface-runtime-private"><citetitle>
2669 Private Data</citetitle></link> section.
2673 If the hardware configuration needs more constraints, set the
2674 hardware constraints here, too.
2675 See <link linkend="pcm-interface-constraints"><citetitle>
2676 Constraints</citetitle></link> for more details.
2680 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-close-callback">
2681 <title>close callback</title>
2686 static int snd_xxx_close(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream);
2691 Obviously, this is called when a pcm substream is closed.
2695 Any private instance for a pcm substream allocated in the
2696 open callback will be released here.
2701 static int snd_xxx_close(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
2704 kfree(substream->runtime->private_data);
2713 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-ioctl-callback">
2714 <title>ioctl callback</title>
2716 This is used for any special action to pcm ioctls. But
2717 usually you can pass a generic ioctl callback,
2718 <function>snd_pcm_lib_ioctl</function>.
2722 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-hw-params-callback">
2723 <title>hw_params callback</title>
2728 static int snd_xxx_hw_params(snd_pcm_substream_t * substream,
2729 snd_pcm_hw_params_t * hw_params);
2734 This and <structfield>hw_free</structfield> callbacks exist
2739 This is called when the hardware parameter
2740 (<structfield>hw_params</structfield>) is set
2741 up by the application,
2742 that is, once when the buffer size, the period size, the
2743 format, etc. are defined for the pcm substream.
2747 Many hardware set-up should be done in this callback,
2748 including the allocation of buffers.
2752 Parameters to be initialized are retrieved by
2753 <function>params_xxx()</function> macros. For allocating a
2754 buffer, you can call a helper function,
2759 snd_pcm_lib_malloc_pages(substream, params_buffer_bytes(hw_params));
2764 <function>snd_pcm_lib_malloc_pages()</function> is available
2765 only when the DMA buffers have been pre-allocated.
2766 See the section <link
2767 linkend="buffer-and-memory-buffer-types"><citetitle>
2768 Buffer Types</citetitle></link> for more details.
2772 Note that this and <structfield>prepare</structfield> callbacks
2773 may be called multiple times per initialization.
2774 For example, the OSS emulation may
2775 call these callbacks at each change via its ioctl.
2779 Thus, you need to take care not to allocate the same buffers
2780 many times, which will lead to memory leak! Calling the
2781 helper function above many times is OK. It will release the
2782 previous buffer automatically when it was already allocated.
2786 Another note is that this callback is non-atomic
2787 (schedulable). This is important, because the
2788 <structfield>trigger</structfield> callback
2789 is atomic (non-schedulable). That is, mutex or any
2790 schedule-related functions are not available in
2791 <structfield>trigger</structfield> callback.
2792 Please see the subsection
2793 <link linkend="pcm-interface-atomicity"><citetitle>
2794 Atomicity</citetitle></link> for details.
2798 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-hw-free-callback">
2799 <title>hw_free callback</title>
2804 static int snd_xxx_hw_free(snd_pcm_substream_t * substream);
2811 This is called to release the resources allocated via
2812 <structfield>hw_params</structfield>. For example, releasing the
2814 <function>snd_pcm_lib_malloc_pages()</function> is done by
2815 calling the following:
2820 snd_pcm_lib_free_pages(substream);
2827 This function is always called before the close callback is called.
2828 Also, the callback may be called multiple times, too.
2829 Keep track whether the resource was already released.
2833 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-prepare-callback">
2834 <title>prepare callback</title>
2839 static int snd_xxx_prepare(snd_pcm_substream_t * substream);
2846 This callback is called when the pcm is
2847 <quote>prepared</quote>. You can set the format type, sample
2848 rate, etc. here. The difference from
2849 <structfield>hw_params</structfield> is that the
2850 <structfield>prepare</structfield> callback will be called at each
2852 <function>snd_pcm_prepare()</function> is called, i.e. when
2853 recovered after underruns, etc.
2857 Note that this callback became non-atomic since the recent version.
2858 You can use schedule-related fucntions safely in this callback now.
2862 In this and the following callbacks, you can refer to the
2863 values via the runtime record,
2864 substream->runtime.
2865 For example, to get the current
2866 rate, format or channels, access to
2868 runtime->format or
2869 runtime->channels, respectively.
2870 The physical address of the allocated buffer is set to
2871 runtime->dma_area. The buffer and period sizes are
2872 in runtime->buffer_size and runtime->period_size,
2877 Be careful that this callback will be called many times at
2882 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-trigger-callback">
2883 <title>trigger callback</title>
2888 static int snd_xxx_trigger(snd_pcm_substream_t * substream, int cmd);
2893 This is called when the pcm is started, stopped or paused.
2897 Which action is specified in the second argument,
2898 <constant>SNDRV_PCM_TRIGGER_XXX</constant> in
2899 <filename><sound/pcm.h></filename>. At least,
2900 <constant>START</constant> and <constant>STOP</constant>
2901 commands must be defined in this callback.
2907 case SNDRV_PCM_TRIGGER_START:
2908 // do something to start the PCM engine
2910 case SNDRV_PCM_TRIGGER_STOP:
2911 // do something to stop the PCM engine
2922 When the pcm supports the pause operation (given in info
2923 field of the hardware table), <constant>PAUSE_PUSE</constant>
2924 and <constant>PAUSE_RELEASE</constant> commands must be
2925 handled here, too. The former is the command to pause the pcm,
2926 and the latter to restart the pcm again.
2930 When the pcm supports the suspend/resume operation
2931 (i.e. <constant>SNDRV_PCM_INFO_RESUME</constant> flag is set),
2932 <constant>SUSPEND</constant> and <constant>RESUME</constant>
2933 commands must be handled, too.
2934 These commands are issued when the power-management status is
2935 changed. Obviously, the <constant>SUSPEND</constant> and
2936 <constant>RESUME</constant>
2937 do suspend and resume of the pcm substream, and usually, they
2938 are identical with <constant>STOP</constant> and
2939 <constant>START</constant> commands, respectively.
2943 As mentioned, this callback is atomic. You cannot call
2944 the function going to sleep.
2945 The trigger callback should be as minimal as possible,
2946 just really triggering the DMA. The other stuff should be
2947 initialized hw_params and prepare callbacks properly
2952 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-pointer-callback">
2953 <title>pointer callback</title>
2958 static snd_pcm_uframes_t snd_xxx_pointer(snd_pcm_substream_t * substream)
2963 This callback is called when the PCM middle layer inquires
2964 the current hardware position on the buffer. The position must
2965 be returned in frames (which was in bytes on ALSA 0.5.x),
2966 ranged from 0 to buffer_size - 1.
2970 This is called usually from the buffer-update routine in the
2971 pcm middle layer, which is invoked when
2972 <function>snd_pcm_period_elapsed()</function> is called in the
2973 interrupt routine. Then the pcm middle layer updates the
2974 position and calculates the available space, and wakes up the
2975 sleeping poll threads, etc.
2979 This callback is also atomic.
2983 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-copy-silence">
2984 <title>copy and silence callbacks</title>
2986 These callbacks are not mandatory, and can be omitted in
2987 most cases. These callbacks are used when the hardware buffer
2988 cannot be on the normal memory space. Some chips have their
2989 own buffer on the hardware which is not mappable. In such a
2990 case, you have to transfer the data manually from the memory
2991 buffer to the hardware buffer. Or, if the buffer is
2992 non-contiguous on both physical and virtual memory spaces,
2993 these callbacks must be defined, too.
2997 If these two callbacks are defined, copy and set-silence
2998 operations are done by them. The detailed will be described in
2999 the later section <link
3000 linkend="buffer-and-memory"><citetitle>Buffer and Memory
3001 Management</citetitle></link>.
3005 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-ack">
3006 <title>ack callback</title>
3008 This callback is also not mandatory. This callback is called
3009 when the appl_ptr is updated in read or write operations.
3010 Some drivers like emu10k1-fx and cs46xx need to track the
3011 current appl_ptr for the internal buffer, and this callback
3012 is useful only for such a purpose.
3015 This callback is atomic.
3019 <section id="pcm-interface-operators-page-callback">
3020 <title>page callback</title>
3023 This callback is also not mandatory. This callback is used
3024 mainly for the non-contiguous buffer. The mmap calls this
3025 callback to get the page address. Some examples will be
3026 explained in the later section <link
3027 linkend="buffer-and-memory"><citetitle>Buffer and Memory
3028 Management</citetitle></link>, too.
3033 <section id="pcm-interface-interrupt-handler">
3034 <title>Interrupt Handler</title>
3036 The rest of pcm stuff is the PCM interrupt handler. The
3037 role of PCM interrupt handler in the sound driver is to update
3038 the buffer position and to tell the PCM middle layer when the
3039 buffer position goes across the prescribed period size. To
3040 inform this, call <function>snd_pcm_period_elapsed()</function>
3045 There are several types of sound chips to generate the interrupts.
3048 <section id="pcm-interface-interrupt-handler-boundary">
3049 <title>Interrupts at the period (fragment) boundary</title>
3051 This is the most frequently found type: the hardware
3052 generates an interrupt at each period boundary.
3053 In this case, you can call
3054 <function>snd_pcm_period_elapsed()</function> at each
3059 <function>snd_pcm_period_elapsed()</function> takes the
3060 substream pointer as its argument. Thus, you need to keep the
3061 substream pointer accessible from the chip instance. For
3062 example, define substream field in the chip record to hold the
3063 current running substream pointer, and set the pointer value
3064 at open callback (and reset at close callback).
3068 If you aquire a spinlock in the interrupt handler, and the
3069 lock is used in other pcm callbacks, too, then you have to
3070 release the lock before calling
3071 <function>snd_pcm_period_elapsed()</function>, because
3072 <function>snd_pcm_period_elapsed()</function> calls other pcm
3077 A typical coding would be like:
3080 <title>Interrupt Handler Case #1</title>
3083 static irqreturn_t snd_mychip_interrupt(int irq, void *dev_id,
3084 struct pt_regs *regs)
3086 mychip_t *chip = dev_id;
3087 spin_lock(&chip->lock);
3089 if (pcm_irq_invoked(chip)) {
3090 /* call updater, unlock before it */
3091 spin_unlock(&chip->lock);
3092 snd_pcm_period_elapsed(chip->substream);
3093 spin_lock(&chip->lock);
3094 // acknowledge the interrupt if necessary
3097 spin_unlock(&chip->lock);
3106 <section id="pcm-interface-interrupt-handler-timer">
3107 <title>High-frequent timer interrupts</title>
3109 This is the case when the hardware doesn't generate interrupts
3110 at the period boundary but do timer-interrupts at the fixed
3111 timer rate (e.g. es1968 or ymfpci drivers).
3112 In this case, you need to check the current hardware
3113 position and accumulates the processed sample length at each
3114 interrupt. When the accumulated size overcomes the period
3116 <function>snd_pcm_period_elapsed()</function> and reset the
3121 A typical coding would be like the following.
3124 <title>Interrupt Handler Case #2</title>
3127 static irqreturn_t snd_mychip_interrupt(int irq, void *dev_id,
3128 struct pt_regs *regs)
3130 mychip_t *chip = dev_id;
3131 spin_lock(&chip->lock);
3133 if (pcm_irq_invoked(chip)) {
3134 unsigned int last_ptr, size;
3135 /* get the current hardware pointer (in frames) */
3136 last_ptr = get_hw_ptr(chip);
3137 /* calculate the processed frames since the
3140 if (last_ptr < chip->last_ptr)
3141 size = runtime->buffer_size + last_ptr
3144 size = last_ptr - chip->last_ptr;
3145 /* remember the last updated point */
3146 chip->last_ptr = last_ptr;
3147 /* accumulate the size */
3149 /* over the period boundary? */
3150 if (chip->size >= runtime->period_size) {
3151 /* reset the accumulator */
3152 chip->size %= runtime->period_size;
3154 spin_unlock(&chip->lock);
3155 snd_pcm_period_elapsed(substream);
3156 spin_lock(&chip->lock);
3158 // acknowledge the interrupt if necessary
3161 spin_unlock(&chip->lock);
3170 <section id="pcm-interface-interrupt-handler-both">
3171 <title>On calling <function>snd_pcm_period_elapsed()</function></title>
3173 In both cases, even if more than one period are elapsed, you
3175 <function>snd_pcm_period_elapsed()</function> many times. Call
3176 only once. And the pcm layer will check the current hardware
3177 pointer and update to the latest status.
3182 <section id="pcm-interface-atomicity">
3183 <title>Atomicity</title>
3185 One of the most important (and thus difficult to debug) problem
3186 on the kernel programming is the race condition.
3187 On linux kernel, usually it's solved via spin-locks or
3188 semaphores. In general, if the race condition may
3189 happen in the interrupt handler, it's handled as atomic, and you
3190 have to use spinlock for protecting the critical session. If it
3191 never happens in the interrupt and it may take relatively long
3192 time, you should use semaphore.
3196 As already seen, some pcm callbacks are atomic and some are
3197 not. For example, <parameter>hw_params</parameter> callback is
3198 non-atomic, while <parameter>trigger</parameter> callback is
3199 atomic. This means, the latter is called already in a spinlock
3200 held by the PCM middle layer. Please take this atomicity into
3201 account when you use a spinlock or a semaphore in the callbacks.
3205 In the atomic callbacks, you cannot use functions which may call
3206 <function>schedule</function> or go to
3207 <function>sleep</function>. The semaphore and mutex do sleep,
3208 and hence they cannot be used inside the atomic callbacks
3209 (e.g. <parameter>trigger</parameter> callback).
3210 For taking a certain delay in such a callback, please use
3211 <function>udelay()</function> or <function>mdelay()</function>.
3215 All three atomic callbacks (trigger, pointer, and ack) are
3216 called with local interrupts disabled.
3220 <section id="pcm-interface-constraints">
3221 <title>Constraints</title>
3223 If your chip supports unconventional sample rates, or only the
3224 limited samples, you need to set a constraint for the
3229 For example, in order to restrict the sample rates in the some
3230 supported values, use
3231 <function>snd_pcm_hw_constraint_list()</function>.
3232 You need to call this function in the open callback.
3235 <title>Example of Hardware Constraints</title>
3238 static unsigned int rates[] =
3239 {4000, 10000, 22050, 44100};
3240 static snd_pcm_hw_constraint_list_t constraints_rates = {
3241 .count = ARRAY_SIZE(rates),
3246 static int snd_mychip_pcm_open(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream)
3250 err = snd_pcm_hw_constraint_list(substream->runtime, 0,
3251 SNDRV_PCM_HW_PARAM_RATE,
3252 &constraints_rates);
3263 There are many different constraints.
3264 Look in <filename>sound/pcm.h</filename> for a complete list.
3265 You can even define your own constraint rules.
3266 For example, let's suppose my_chip can manage a substream of 1 channel
3267 if and only if the format is S16_LE, otherwise it supports any format
3268 specified in the <type>snd_pcm_hardware_t</type> stucture (or in any
3269 other constraint_list). You can build a rule like this:
3272 <title>Example of Hardware Constraints for Channels</title>
3275 static int hw_rule_format_by_channels(snd_pcm_hw_params_t *params,
3276 snd_pcm_hw_rule_t *rule)
3278 snd_interval_t *c = hw_param_interval(params, SNDRV_PCM_HW_PARAM_CHANNELS);
3279 snd_mask_t *f = hw_param_mask(params, SNDRV_PCM_HW_PARAM_FORMAT);
3282 snd_mask_any(&fmt); /* Init the struct */
3284 fmt.bits[0] &= SNDRV_PCM_FMTBIT_S16_LE;
3285 return snd_mask_refine(f, &fmt);
3295 Then you need to call this function to add your rule:
3300 snd_pcm_hw_rule_add(substream->runtime, 0, SNDRV_PCM_HW_PARAM_CHANNELS,
3301 hw_rule_channels_by_format, 0, SNDRV_PCM_HW_PARAM_FORMAT,
3309 The rule function is called when an application sets the number of
3310 channels. But an application can set the format before the number of
3311 channels. Thus you also need to define the inverse rule:
3314 <title>Example of Hardware Constraints for Channels</title>
3317 static int hw_rule_channels_by_format(snd_pcm_hw_params_t *params,
3318 snd_pcm_hw_rule_t *rule)
3320 snd_interval_t *c = hw_param_interval(params, SNDRV_PCM_HW_PARAM_CHANNELS);
3321 snd_mask_t *f = hw_param_mask(params, SNDRV_PCM_HW_PARAM_FORMAT);
3324 snd_interval_any(&ch);
3325 if (f->bits[0] == SNDRV_PCM_FMTBIT_S16_LE) {
3326 ch.min = ch.max = 1;
3328 return snd_interval_refine(c, &ch);
3338 ...and in the open callback:
3342 snd_pcm_hw_rule_add(substream->runtime, 0, SNDRV_PCM_HW_PARAM_FORMAT,
3343 hw_rule_format_by_channels, 0, SNDRV_PCM_HW_PARAM_CHANNELS,
3351 I won't explain more details here, rather I
3352 would like to say, <quote>Luke, use the source.</quote>
3359 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
3360 <!-- Control Interface -->
3361 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
3362 <chapter id="control-interface">
3363 <title>Control Interface</title>
3365 <section id="control-interface-general">
3366 <title>General</title>
3368 The control interface is used widely for many switches,
3369 sliders, etc. which are accessed from the user-space. Its most
3370 important use is the mixer interface. In other words, on ALSA
3371 0.9.x, all the mixer stuff is implemented on the control kernel
3372 API (while there was an independent mixer kernel API on 0.5.x).
3376 ALSA has a well-defined AC97 control module. If your chip
3377 supports only the AC97 and nothing else, you can skip this
3382 The control API is defined in
3383 <filename><sound/control.h></filename>.
3384 Include this file if you add your own controls.
3388 <section id="control-interface-definition">
3389 <title>Definition of Controls</title>
3391 For creating a new control, you need to define the three
3392 callbacks: <structfield>info</structfield>,
3393 <structfield>get</structfield> and
3394 <structfield>put</structfield>. Then, define a
3395 <type>snd_kcontrol_new_t</type> record, such as:
3398 <title>Definition of a Control</title>
3401 static snd_kcontrol_new_t my_control __devinitdata = {
3402 .iface = SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_IFACE_MIXER,
3403 .name = "PCM Playback Switch",
3405 .access = SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_ACCESS_READWRITE,
3406 .private_values = 0xffff,
3407 .info = my_control_info,
3408 .get = my_control_get,
3409 .put = my_control_put
3417 Most likely the control is created via
3418 <function>snd_ctl_new1()</function>, and in such a case, you can
3419 add <parameter>__devinitdata</parameter> prefix to the
3420 definition like above.
3424 The <structfield>iface</structfield> field specifies the type of
3425 the control, <constant>SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_IFACE_XXX</constant>, which
3426 is usually <constant>MIXER</constant>.
3427 Use <constant>CARD</constant> for global controls that are not
3428 logically part of the mixer.
3429 If the control is closely associated with some specific device on
3430 the sound card, use <constant>HWDEP</constant>,
3431 <constant>PCM</constant>, <constant>RAWMIDI</constant>,
3432 <constant>TIMER</constant>, or <constant>SEQUENCER</constant>, and
3433 specify the device number with the
3434 <structfield>device</structfield> and
3435 <structfield>subdevice</structfield> fields.
3439 The <structfield>name</structfield> is the name identifier
3440 string. On ALSA 0.9.x, the control name is very important,
3441 because its role is classified from its name. There are
3442 pre-defined standard control names. The details are described in
3444 <link linkend="control-interface-control-names"><citetitle>
3445 Control Names</citetitle></link>.
3449 The <structfield>index</structfield> field holds the index number
3450 of this control. If there are several different controls with
3451 the same name, they can be distinguished by the index
3452 number. This is the case when
3453 several codecs exist on the card. If the index is zero, you can
3454 omit the definition above.
3458 The <structfield>access</structfield> field contains the access
3459 type of this control. Give the combination of bit masks,
3460 <constant>SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_ACCESS_XXX</constant>, there.
3461 The detailed will be explained in the subsection
3462 <link linkend="control-interface-access-flags"><citetitle>
3463 Access Flags</citetitle></link>.
3467 The <structfield>private_values</structfield> field contains
3468 an arbitrary long integer value for this record. When using
3469 generic <structfield>info</structfield>,
3470 <structfield>get</structfield> and
3471 <structfield>put</structfield> callbacks, you can pass a value
3472 through this field. If several small numbers are necessary, you can
3473 combine them in bitwise. Or, it's possible to give a pointer
3474 (casted to unsigned long) of some record to this field, too.
3479 <link linkend="control-interface-callbacks"><citetitle>
3480 callback functions</citetitle></link>.
3484 <section id="control-interface-control-names">
3485 <title>Control Names</title>
3487 There are some standards for defining the control names. A
3488 control is usually defined from the three parts as
3489 <quote>SOURCE DIRECTION FUNCTION</quote>.
3493 The first, <constant>SOURCE</constant>, specifies the source
3494 of the control, and is a string such as <quote>Master</quote>,
3495 <quote>PCM</quote>, <quote>CD</quote> or
3496 <quote>Line</quote>. There are many pre-defined sources.
3500 The second, <constant>DIRECTION</constant>, is one of the
3501 following strings according to the direction of the control:
3502 <quote>Playback</quote>, <quote>Capture</quote>, <quote>Bypass
3503 Playback</quote> and <quote>Bypass Capture</quote>. Or, it can
3504 be omitted, meaning both playback and capture directions.
3508 The third, <constant>FUNCTION</constant>, is one of the
3509 following strings according to the function of the control:
3510 <quote>Switch</quote>, <quote>Volume</quote> and
3511 <quote>Route</quote>.
3515 The example of control names are, thus, <quote>Master Capture
3516 Switch</quote> or <quote>PCM Playback Volume</quote>.
3520 There are some exceptions:
3523 <section id="control-interface-control-names-global">
3524 <title>Global capture and playback</title>
3526 <quote>Capture Source</quote>, <quote>Capture Switch</quote>
3527 and <quote>Capture Volume</quote> are used for the global
3528 capture (input) source, switch and volume. Similarly,
3529 <quote>Playback Switch</quote> and <quote>Playback
3530 Volume</quote> are used for the global output gain switch and
3535 <section id="control-interface-control-names-tone">
3536 <title>Tone-controls</title>
3538 tone-control switch and volumes are specified like
3539 <quote>Tone Control - XXX</quote>, e.g. <quote>Tone Control -
3540 Switch</quote>, <quote>Tone Control - Bass</quote>,
3541 <quote>Tone Control - Center</quote>.
3545 <section id="control-interface-control-names-3d">
3546 <title>3D controls</title>
3548 3D-control switches and volumes are specified like <quote>3D
3549 Control - XXX</quote>, e.g. <quote>3D Control -
3550 Switch</quote>, <quote>3D Control - Center</quote>, <quote>3D
3551 Control - Space</quote>.
3555 <section id="control-interface-control-names-mic">
3556 <title>Mic boost</title>
3558 Mic-boost switch is set as <quote>Mic Boost</quote> or
3559 <quote>Mic Boost (6dB)</quote>.
3563 More precise information can be found in
3564 <filename>Documentation/sound/alsa/ControlNames.txt</filename>.
3569 <section id="control-interface-access-flags">
3570 <title>Access Flags</title>
3573 The access flag is the bit-flags which specifies the access type
3574 of the given control. The default access type is
3575 <constant>SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_ACCESS_READWRITE</constant>,
3576 which means both read and write are allowed to this control.
3577 When the access flag is omitted (i.e. = 0), it is
3578 regarded as <constant>READWRITE</constant> access as default.
3582 When the control is read-only, pass
3583 <constant>SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_ACCESS_READ</constant> instead.
3584 In this case, you don't have to define
3585 <structfield>put</structfield> callback.
3586 Similarly, when the control is write-only (although it's a rare
3587 case), you can use <constant>WRITE</constant> flag instead, and
3588 you don't need <structfield>get</structfield> callback.
3592 If the control value changes frequently (e.g. the VU meter),
3593 <constant>VOLATILE</constant> flag should be given. This means
3594 that the control may be changed without
3595 <link linkend="control-interface-change-notification"><citetitle>
3596 notification</citetitle></link>. Applications should poll such
3597 a control constantly.
3601 When the control is inactive, set
3602 <constant>INACTIVE</constant> flag, too.
3603 There are <constant>LOCK</constant> and
3604 <constant>OWNER</constant> flags for changing the write
3610 <section id="control-interface-callbacks">
3611 <title>Callbacks</title>
3613 <section id="control-interface-callbacks-info">
3614 <title>info callback</title>
3616 The <structfield>info</structfield> callback is used to get
3617 the detailed information of this control. This must store the
3618 values of the given <type>snd_ctl_elem_info_t</type>
3619 object. For example, for a boolean control with a single
3623 <title>Example of info callback</title>
3626 static int snd_myctl_info(snd_kcontrol_t *kcontrol,
3627 snd_ctl_elem_info_t *uinfo)
3629 uinfo->type = SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_TYPE_BOOLEAN;
3631 uinfo->value.integer.min = 0;
3632 uinfo->value.integer.max = 1;
3641 The <structfield>type</structfield> field specifies the type
3642 of the control. There are <constant>BOOLEAN</constant>,
3643 <constant>INTEGER</constant>, <constant>ENUMERATED</constant>,
3644 <constant>BYTES</constant>, <constant>IEC958</constant> and
3645 <constant>INTEGER64</constant>. The
3646 <structfield>count</structfield> field specifies the
3647 number of elements in this control. For example, a stereo
3648 volume would have count = 2. The
3649 <structfield>value</structfield> field is a union, and
3650 the values stored are depending on the type. The boolean and
3651 integer are identical.
3655 The enumerated type is a bit different from others. You'll
3656 need to set the string for the currently given item index.
3661 static int snd_myctl_info(snd_kcontrol_t *kcontrol,
3662 snd_ctl_elem_info_t *uinfo)
3664 static char *texts[4] = {
3665 "First", "Second", "Third", "Fourth"
3667 uinfo->type = SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_TYPE_ENUMERATED;
3669 uinfo->value.enumerated.items = 4;
3670 if (uinfo->value.enumerated.item > 3)
3671 uinfo->value.enumerated.item = 3;
3672 strcpy(uinfo->value.enumerated.name,
3673 texts[uinfo->value.enumerated.item]);
3682 <section id="control-interface-callbacks-get">
3683 <title>get callback</title>
3686 This callback is used to read the current value of the
3687 control and to return to the user-space.
3694 <title>Example of get callback</title>
3697 static int snd_myctl_get(snd_kcontrol_t *kcontrol,
3698 snd_ctl_elem_value_t *ucontrol)
3700 mychip_t *chip = snd_kcontrol_chip(kcontrol);
3701 ucontrol->value.integer.value[0] = get_some_value(chip);
3710 Here, the chip instance is retrieved via
3711 <function>snd_kcontrol_chip()</function> macro. This macro
3712 converts from kcontrol->private_data to the type defined by
3713 <type>chip_t</type>. The
3714 kcontrol->private_data field is
3715 given as the argument of <function>snd_ctl_new()</function>
3716 (see the later subsection
3717 <link linkend="control-interface-constructor"><citetitle>Constructor</citetitle></link>).
3721 The <structfield>value</structfield> field is depending on
3722 the type of control as well as on info callback. For example,
3723 the sb driver uses this field to store the register offset,
3724 the bit-shift and the bit-mask. The
3725 <structfield>private_value</structfield> is set like
3729 .private_value = reg | (shift << 16) | (mask << 24)
3733 and is retrieved in callbacks like
3737 static int snd_sbmixer_get_single(snd_kcontrol_t *kcontrol,
3738 snd_ctl_elem_value_t *ucontrol)
3740 int reg = kcontrol->private_value & 0xff;
3741 int shift = (kcontrol->private_value >> 16) & 0xff;
3742 int mask = (kcontrol->private_value >> 24) & 0xff;
3751 In <structfield>get</structfield> callback, you have to fill all the elements if the
3752 control has more than one elements,
3753 i.e. <structfield>count</structfield> > 1.
3754 In the example above, we filled only one element
3755 (<structfield>value.integer.value[0]</structfield>) since it's
3756 assumed as <structfield>count</structfield> = 1.
3760 <section id="control-interface-callbacks-put">
3761 <title>put callback</title>
3764 This callback is used to write a value from the user-space.
3771 <title>Example of put callback</title>
3774 static int snd_myctl_put(snd_kcontrol_t *kcontrol,
3775 snd_ctl_elem_value_t *ucontrol)
3777 mychip_t *chip = snd_kcontrol_chip(kcontrol);
3779 if (chip->current_value !=
3780 ucontrol->value.integer.value[0]) {
3781 change_current_value(chip,
3782 ucontrol->value.integer.value[0]);
3791 As seen above, you have to return 1 if the value is
3792 changed. If the value is not changed, return 0 instead.
3793 If any fatal error happens, return a negative error code as
3798 Like <structfield>get</structfield> callback,
3799 when the control has more than one elements,
3800 all elemehts must be evaluated in this callback, too.
3804 <section id="control-interface-callbacks-all">
3805 <title>Callbacks are not atomic</title>
3807 All these three callbacks are basically not atomic.
3812 <section id="control-interface-constructor">
3813 <title>Constructor</title>
3815 When everything is ready, finally we can create a new
3816 control. For creating a control, there are two functions to be
3817 called, <function>snd_ctl_new1()</function> and
3818 <function>snd_ctl_add()</function>.
3822 In the simplest way, you can do like this:
3827 if ((err = snd_ctl_add(card, snd_ctl_new1(&my_control, chip))) < 0)
3833 where <parameter>my_control</parameter> is the
3834 <type>snd_kcontrol_new_t</type> object defined above, and chip
3835 is the object pointer to be passed to
3836 kcontrol->private_data
3837 which can be referred in callbacks.
3841 <function>snd_ctl_new1()</function> allocates a new
3842 <type>snd_kcontrol_t</type> instance (that's why the definition
3843 of <parameter>my_control</parameter> can be with
3844 <parameter>__devinitdata</parameter>
3845 prefix), and <function>snd_ctl_add</function> assigns the given
3846 control component to the card.
3850 <section id="control-interface-change-notification">
3851 <title>Change Notification</title>
3853 If you need to change and update a control in the interrupt
3854 routine, you can call <function>snd_ctl_notify()</function>. For
3860 snd_ctl_notify(card, SNDRV_CTL_EVENT_MASK_VALUE, id_pointer);
3865 This function takes the card pointer, the event-mask, and the
3866 control id pointer for the notification. The event-mask
3867 specifies the types of notification, for example, in the above
3868 example, the change of control values is notified.
3869 The id pointer is the pointer of <type>snd_ctl_elem_id_t</type>
3871 You can find some examples in <filename>es1938.c</filename> or
3872 <filename>es1968.c</filename> for hardware volume interrupts.
3879 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
3880 <!-- API for AC97 Codec -->
3881 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
3882 <chapter id="api-ac97">
3883 <title>API for AC97 Codec</title>
3886 <title>General</title>
3888 The ALSA AC97 codec layer is a well-defined one, and you don't
3889 have to write many codes to control it. Only low-level control
3890 routines are necessary. The AC97 codec API is defined in
3891 <filename><sound/ac97_codec.h></filename>.
3895 <section id="api-ac97-example">
3896 <title>Full Code Example</title>
3899 <title>Example of AC97 Interface</title>
3908 static unsigned short snd_mychip_ac97_read(ac97_t *ac97,
3911 mychip_t *chip = ac97->private_data;
3913 // read a register value here from the codec
3914 return the_register_value;
3917 static void snd_mychip_ac97_write(ac97_t *ac97,
3918 unsigned short reg, unsigned short val)
3920 mychip_t *chip = ac97->private_data;
3922 // write the given register value to the codec
3925 static int snd_mychip_ac97(mychip_t *chip)
3928 ac97_template_t ac97;
3930 static ac97_bus_ops_t ops = {
3931 .write = snd_mychip_ac97_write,
3932 .read = snd_mychip_ac97_read,
3935 if ((err = snd_ac97_bus(chip->card, 0, &ops, NULL, &bus)) < 0)
3937 memset(&ac97, 0, sizeof(ac97));
3938 ac97.private_data = chip;
3939 return snd_ac97_mixer(bus, &ac97, &chip->ac97);
3948 <section id="api-ac97-constructor">
3949 <title>Constructor</title>
3951 For creating an ac97 instance, first call <function>snd_ac97_bus</function>
3952 with an <type>ac97_bus_ops_t</type> record with callback functions.
3958 static ac97_bus_ops_t ops = {
3959 .write = snd_mychip_ac97_write,
3960 .read = snd_mychip_ac97_read,
3963 snd_ac97_bus(card, 0, &ops, NULL, &pbus);
3968 The bus record is shared among all belonging ac97 instances.
3972 And then call <function>snd_ac97_mixer()</function> with an <type>ac97_template_t</type>
3973 record together with the bus pointer created above.
3978 ac97_template_t ac97;
3981 memset(&ac97, 0, sizeof(ac97));
3982 ac97.private_data = chip;
3983 snd_ac97_mixer(bus, &ac97, &chip->ac97);
3988 where chip->ac97 is the pointer of a newly created
3989 <type>ac97_t</type> instance.
3990 In this case, the chip pointer is set as the private data, so that
3991 the read/write callback functions can refer to this chip instance.
3992 This instance is not necessarily stored in the chip
3993 record. When you need to change the register values from the
3994 driver, or need the suspend/resume of ac97 codecs, keep this
3995 pointer to pass to the corresponding functions.
3999 <section id="api-ac97-callbacks">
4000 <title>Callbacks</title>
4002 The standard callbacks are <structfield>read</structfield> and
4003 <structfield>write</structfield>. Obviously they
4004 correspond to the functions for read and write accesses to the
4005 hardware low-level codes.
4009 The <structfield>read</structfield> callback returns the
4010 register value specified in the argument.
4015 static unsigned short snd_mychip_ac97_read(ac97_t *ac97,
4018 mychip_t *chip = ac97->private_data;
4020 return the_register_value;
4026 Here, the chip can be cast from ac97->private_data.
4030 Meanwhile, the <structfield>write</structfield> callback is
4031 used to set the register value.
4036 static void snd_mychip_ac97_write(ac97_t *ac97,
4037 unsigned short reg, unsigned short val)
4044 These callbacks are non-atomic like the callbacks of control API.
4048 There are also other callbacks:
4049 <structfield>reset</structfield>,
4050 <structfield>wait</structfield> and
4051 <structfield>init</structfield>.
4055 The <structfield>reset</structfield> callback is used to reset
4056 the codec. If the chip requires a special way of reset, you can
4057 define this callback.
4061 The <structfield>wait</structfield> callback is used for a
4062 certain wait at the standard initialization of the codec. If the
4063 chip requires the extra wait-time, define this callback.
4067 The <structfield>init</structfield> callback is used for
4068 additional initialization of the codec.
4072 <section id="api-ac97-updating-registers">
4073 <title>Updating Registers in The Driver</title>
4075 If you need to access to the codec from the driver, you can
4076 call the following functions:
4077 <function>snd_ac97_write()</function>,
4078 <function>snd_ac97_read()</function>,
4079 <function>snd_ac97_update()</function> and
4080 <function>snd_ac97_update_bits()</function>.
4084 Both <function>snd_ac97_write()</function> and
4085 <function>snd_ac97_update()</function> functions are used to
4086 set a value to the given register
4087 (<constant>AC97_XXX</constant>). The difference between them is
4088 that <function>snd_ac97_update()</function> doesn't write a
4089 value if the given value has been already set, while
4090 <function>snd_ac97_write()</function> always rewrites the
4096 snd_ac97_write(ac97, AC97_MASTER, 0x8080);
4097 snd_ac97_update(ac97, AC97_MASTER, 0x8080);
4104 <function>snd_ac97_read()</function> is used to read the value
4105 of the given register. For example,
4110 value = snd_ac97_read(ac97, AC97_MASTER);
4117 <function>snd_ac97_update_bits()</function> is used to update
4118 some bits of the given register.
4123 snd_ac97_update_bits(ac97, reg, mask, value);
4130 Also, there is a function to change the sample rate (of a
4131 certain register such as
4132 <constant>AC97_PCM_FRONT_DAC_RATE</constant>) when VRA or
4133 DRA is supported by the codec:
4134 <function>snd_ac97_set_rate()</function>.
4139 snd_ac97_set_rate(ac97, AC97_PCM_FRONT_DAC_RATE, 44100);
4146 The following registers are available for setting the rate:
4147 <constant>AC97_PCM_MIC_ADC_RATE</constant>,
4148 <constant>AC97_PCM_FRONT_DAC_RATE</constant>,
4149 <constant>AC97_PCM_LR_ADC_RATE</constant>,
4150 <constant>AC97_SPDIF</constant>. When the
4151 <constant>AC97_SPDIF</constant> is specified, the register is
4152 not really changed but the corresponding IEC958 status bits will
4157 <section id="api-ac97-clock-adjustment">
4158 <title>Clock Adjustment</title>
4160 On some chip, the clock of the codec isn't 48000 but using a
4161 PCI clock (to save a quartz!). In this case, change the field
4162 bus->clock to the corresponding
4163 value. For example, intel8x0
4164 and es1968 drivers have the auto-measurement function of the
4169 <section id="api-ac97-proc-files">
4170 <title>Proc Files</title>
4172 The ALSA AC97 interface will create a proc file such as
4173 <filename>/proc/asound/card0/codec97#0/ac97#0-0</filename> and
4174 <filename>ac97#0-0+regs</filename>. You can refer to these files to
4175 see the current status and registers of the codec.
4179 <section id="api-ac97-multiple-codecs">
4180 <title>Multiple Codecs</title>
4182 When there are several codecs on the same card, you need to
4183 call <function>snd_ac97_new()</function> multiple times with
4184 ac97.num=1 or greater. The <structfield>num</structfield> field
4190 If you have set up multiple codecs, you need to either write
4191 different callbacks for each codec or check
4200 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
4201 <!-- MIDI (MPU401-UART) Interface -->
4202 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
4203 <chapter id="midi-interface">
4204 <title>MIDI (MPU401-UART) Interface</title>
4206 <section id="midi-interface-general">
4207 <title>General</title>
4209 Many soundcards have built-in MIDI (MPU401-UART)
4210 interfaces. When the soundcard supports the standard MPU401-UART
4211 interface, most likely you can use the ALSA MPU401-UART API. The
4212 MPU401-UART API is defined in
4213 <filename><sound/mpu401.h></filename>.
4217 Some soundchips have similar but a little bit different
4218 implementation of mpu401 stuff. For example, emu10k1 has its own
4223 <section id="midi-interface-constructor">
4224 <title>Constructor</title>
4226 For creating a rawmidi object, call
4227 <function>snd_mpu401_uart_new()</function>.
4232 snd_rawmidi_t *rmidi;
4233 snd_mpu401_uart_new(card, 0, MPU401_HW_MPU401, port, integrated,
4234 irq, irq_flags, &rmidi);
4241 The first argument is the card pointer, and the second is the
4242 index of this component. You can create up to 8 rawmidi
4247 The third argument is the type of the hardware,
4248 <constant>MPU401_HW_XXX</constant>. If it's not a special one,
4249 you can use <constant>MPU401_HW_MPU401</constant>.
4253 The 4th argument is the i/o port address. Many
4254 backward-compatible MPU401 has an i/o port such as 0x330. Or, it
4255 might be a part of its own PCI i/o region. It depends on the
4260 When the i/o port address above is a part of the PCI i/o
4261 region, the MPU401 i/o port might have been already allocated
4262 (reserved) by the driver itself. In such a case, pass non-zero
4264 (<parameter>integrated</parameter>). Otherwise, pass 0 to it,
4266 the mpu401-uart layer will allocate the i/o ports by itself.
4270 Usually, the port address corresponds to the command port and
4271 port + 1 corresponds to the data port. If not, you may change
4272 the <structfield>cport</structfield> field of
4273 <type>mpu401_t</type> manually
4274 afterward. However, <type>mpu401_t</type> pointer is not
4275 returned explicitly by
4276 <function>snd_mpu401_uart_new()</function>. You need to cast
4277 rmidi->private_data to
4278 <type>mpu401_t</type> explicitly,
4284 mpu = rmidi->private_data;
4289 and reset the cport as you like:
4294 mpu->cport = my_own_control_port;
4301 The 6th argument specifies the irq number for UART. If the irq
4302 is already allocated, pass 0 to the 7th argument
4303 (<parameter>irq_flags</parameter>). Otherwise, pass the flags
4305 (<constant>SA_XXX</constant> bits) to it, and the irq will be
4306 reserved by the mpu401-uart layer. If the card doesn't generates
4307 UART interrupts, pass -1 as the irq number. Then a timer
4308 interrupt will be invoked for polling.
4312 <section id="midi-interface-interrupt-handler">
4313 <title>Interrupt Handler</title>
4315 When the interrupt is allocated in
4316 <function>snd_mpu401_uart_new()</function>, the private
4317 interrupt handler is used, hence you don't have to do nothing
4318 else than creating the mpu401 stuff. Otherwise, you have to call
4319 <function>snd_mpu401_uart_interrupt()</function> explicitly when
4320 a UART interrupt is invoked and checked in your own interrupt
4325 In this case, you need to pass the private_data of the
4326 returned rawmidi object from
4327 <function>snd_mpu401_uart_new()</function> as the second
4328 argument of <function>snd_mpu401_uart_interrupt()</function>.
4333 snd_mpu401_uart_interrupt(irq, rmidi->private_data, regs);
4343 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
4344 <!-- RawMIDI Interface -->
4345 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
4346 <chapter id="rawmidi-interface">
4347 <title>RawMIDI Interface</title>
4349 <section id="rawmidi-interface-overview">
4350 <title>Overview</title>
4353 The raw MIDI interface is used for hardware MIDI ports that can
4354 be accessed as a byte stream. It is not used for synthesizer
4355 chips that do not directly understand MIDI.
4359 ALSA handles file and buffer management. All you have to do is
4360 to write some code to move data between the buffer and the
4365 The rawmidi API is defined in
4366 <filename><sound/rawmidi.h></filename>.
4370 <section id="rawmidi-interface-constructor">
4371 <title>Constructor</title>
4374 To create a rawmidi device, call the
4375 <function>snd_rawmidi_new</function> function:
4379 snd_rawmidi_t *rmidi;
4380 err = snd_rawmidi_new(chip->card, "MyMIDI", 0, outs, ins, &rmidi);
4383 rmidi->private_data = chip;
4384 strcpy(rmidi->name, "My MIDI");
4385 rmidi->info_flags = SNDRV_RAWMIDI_INFO_OUTPUT |
4386 SNDRV_RAWMIDI_INFO_INPUT |
4387 SNDRV_RAWMIDI_INFO_DUPLEX;
4394 The first argument is the card pointer, the second argument is
4399 The third argument is the index of this component. You can
4400 create up to 8 rawmidi devices.
4404 The fourth and fifth arguments are the number of output and
4405 input substreams, respectively, of this device. (A substream is
4406 the equivalent of a MIDI port.)
4410 Set the <structfield>info_flags</structfield> field to specify
4411 the capabilities of the device.
4412 Set <constant>SNDRV_RAWMIDI_INFO_OUTPUT</constant> if there is
4413 at least one output port,
4414 <constant>SNDRV_RAWMIDI_INFO_INPUT</constant> if there is at
4415 least one input port,
4416 and <constant>SNDRV_RAWMIDI_INFO_DUPLEX</constant> if the device
4417 can handle output and input at the same time.
4421 After the rawmidi device is created, you need to set the
4422 operators (callbacks) for each substream. There are helper
4423 functions to set the operators for all substream of a device:
4427 snd_rawmidi_set_ops(rmidi, SNDRV_RAWMIDI_STREAM_OUTPUT, &snd_mymidi_output_ops);
4428 snd_rawmidi_set_ops(rmidi, SNDRV_RAWMIDI_STREAM_INPUT, &snd_mymidi_input_ops);
4435 The operators are usually defined like this:
4439 static snd_rawmidi_ops_t snd_mymidi_output_ops = {
4440 .open = snd_mymidi_output_open,
4441 .close = snd_mymidi_output_close,
4442 .trigger = snd_mymidi_output_trigger,
4447 These callbacks are explained in the <link
4448 linkend="rawmidi-interface-callbacks"><citetitle>Callbacks</citetitle></link>
4453 If there is more than one substream, you should give each one a
4458 struct list_head *list;
4459 snd_rawmidi_substream_t *substream;
4460 list_for_each(list, &rmidi->streams[SNDRV_RAWMIDI_STREAM_OUTPUT].substreams) {
4461 substream = list_entry(list, snd_rawmidi_substream_t, list);
4462 sprintf(substream->name, "My MIDI Port %d", substream->number + 1);
4464 /* same for SNDRV_RAWMIDI_STREAM_INPUT */
4471 <section id="rawmidi-interface-callbacks">
4472 <title>Callbacks</title>
4475 In all callbacks, the private data that you've set for the
4476 rawmidi device can be accessed as
4477 substream->rmidi->private_data.
4478 <!-- <code> isn't available before DocBook 4.3 -->
4482 If there is more than one port, your callbacks can determine the
4483 port index from the snd_rawmidi_substream_t data passed to each
4488 snd_rawmidi_substream_t *substream;
4489 int index = substream->number;
4495 <section id="rawmidi-interface-op-open">
4496 <title><function>open</function> callback</title>
4501 static int snd_xxx_open(snd_rawmidi_substream_t *substream);
4507 This is called when a substream is opened.
4508 You can initialize the hardware here, but you should not yet
4509 start transmitting/receiving data.
4513 <section id="rawmidi-interface-op-close">
4514 <title><function>close</function> callback</title>
4519 static int snd_xxx_close(snd_rawmidi_substream_t *substream);
4529 The <function>open</function> and <function>close</function>
4530 callbacks of a rawmidi device are serialized with a mutex,
4535 <section id="rawmidi-interface-op-trigger-out">
4536 <title><function>trigger</function> callback for output
4542 static void snd_xxx_output_trigger(snd_rawmidi_substream_t *substream, int up);
4548 This is called with a nonzero <parameter>up</parameter>
4549 parameter when there is some data in the substream buffer that
4550 must be transmitted.
4554 To read data from the buffer, call
4555 <function>snd_rawmidi_transmit_peek</function>. It will
4556 return the number of bytes that have been read; this will be
4557 less than the number of bytes requested when there is no more
4559 After the data has been transmitted successfully, call
4560 <function>snd_rawmidi_transmit_ack</function> to remove the
4561 data from the substream buffer:
4566 while (snd_rawmidi_transmit_peek(substream, &data, 1) == 1) {
4567 if (mychip_try_to_transmit(data))
4568 snd_rawmidi_transmit_ack(substream, 1);
4570 break; /* hardware FIFO full */
4578 If you know beforehand that the hardware will accept data, you
4579 can use the <function>snd_rawmidi_transmit</function> function
4580 which reads some data and removes it from the buffer at once:
4584 while (mychip_transmit_possible()) {
4586 if (snd_rawmidi_transmit(substream, &data, 1) != 1)
4587 break; /* no more data */
4588 mychip_transmit(data);
4596 If you know beforehand how many bytes you can accept, you can
4597 use a buffer size greater than one with the
4598 <function>snd_rawmidi_transmit*</function> functions.
4602 The <function>trigger</function> callback must not sleep. If
4603 the hardware FIFO is full before the substream buffer has been
4604 emptied, you have to continue transmitting data later, either
4605 in an interrupt handler, or with a timer if the hardware
4606 doesn't have a MIDI transmit interrupt.
4610 The <function>trigger</function> callback is called with a
4611 zero <parameter>up</parameter> parameter when the transmission
4612 of data should be aborted.
4616 <section id="rawmidi-interface-op-trigger-in">
4617 <title><function>trigger</function> callback for input
4623 static void snd_xxx_input_trigger(snd_rawmidi_substream_t *substream, int up);
4629 This is called with a nonzero <parameter>up</parameter>
4630 parameter to enable receiving data, or with a zero
4631 <parameter>up</parameter> parameter do disable receiving data.
4635 The <function>trigger</function> callback must not sleep; the
4636 actual reading of data from the device is usually done in an
4641 When data reception is enabled, your interrupt handler should
4642 call <function>snd_rawmidi_receive</function> for all received
4647 void snd_mychip_midi_interrupt(...)
4649 while (mychip_midi_available()) {
4651 data = mychip_midi_read();
4652 snd_rawmidi_receive(substream, &data, 1);
4661 <section id="rawmidi-interface-op-drain">
4662 <title><function>drain</function> callback</title>
4667 static void snd_xxx_drain(snd_rawmidi_substream_t *substream);
4673 This is only used with output substreams. This function should wait
4674 until all data read from the substream buffer has been transmitted.
4675 This ensures that the device can be closed and the driver unloaded
4676 without losing data.
4680 This callback is optional. If you do not set
4681 <structfield>drain</structfield> in the snd_rawmidi_ops_t
4682 structure, ALSA will simply wait for 50 milliseconds
4691 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
4692 <!-- Miscellaneous Devices -->
4693 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
4694 <chapter id="misc-devices">
4695 <title>Miscellaneous Devices</title>
4697 <section id="misc-devices-opl3">
4698 <title>FM OPL3</title>
4700 The FM OPL3 is still used on many chips (mainly for backward
4701 compatibility). ALSA has a nice OPL3 FM control layer, too. The
4702 OPL3 API is defined in
4703 <filename><sound/opl3.h></filename>.
4707 FM registers can be directly accessed through direct-FM API,
4708 defined in <filename><sound/asound_fm.h></filename>. In
4709 ALSA native mode, FM registers are accessed through
4710 Hardware-Dependant Device direct-FM extension API, whereas in
4711 OSS compatible mode, FM registers can be accessed with OSS
4712 direct-FM compatible API on <filename>/dev/dmfmX</filename> device.
4716 For creating the OPL3 component, you have two functions to
4717 call. The first one is a constructor for <type>opl3_t</type>
4724 snd_opl3_create(card, lport, rport, OPL3_HW_OPL3_XXX,
4732 The first argument is the card pointer, the second one is the
4733 left port address, and the third is the right port address. In
4734 most cases, the right port is placed at the left port + 2.
4738 The fourth argument is the hardware type.
4742 When the left and right ports have been already allocated by
4743 the card driver, pass non-zero to the fifth argument
4744 (<parameter>integrated</parameter>). Otherwise, opl3 module will
4745 allocate the specified ports by itself.
4749 When the accessing to the hardware requires special method
4750 instead of the standard I/O access, you can create opl3 instance
4751 separately with <function>snd_opl3_new()</function>.
4757 snd_opl3_new(card, OPL3_HW_OPL3_XXX, &opl3);
4764 Then set <structfield>command</structfield>,
4765 <structfield>private_data</structfield> and
4766 <structfield>private_free</structfield> for the private
4767 access function, the private data and the destructor.
4768 The l_port and r_port are not necessarily set. Only the
4769 command must be set properly. You can retrieve the data
4770 from opl3->private_data field.
4774 After creating the opl3 instance via <function>snd_opl3_new()</function>,
4775 call <function>snd_opl3_init()</function> to initialize the chip to the
4776 proper state. Note that <function>snd_opl3_create()</function> always
4777 calls it internally.
4781 If the opl3 instance is created successfully, then create a
4782 hwdep device for this opl3.
4787 snd_hwdep_t *opl3hwdep;
4788 snd_opl3_hwdep_new(opl3, 0, 1, &opl3hwdep);
4795 The first argument is the <type>opl3_t</type> instance you
4796 created, and the second is the index number, usually 0.
4800 The third argument is the index-offset for the sequencer
4801 client assigned to the OPL3 port. When there is an MPU401-UART,
4802 give 1 for here (UART always takes 0).
4806 <section id="misc-devices-hardware-dependent">
4807 <title>Hardware-Dependent Devices</title>
4809 Some chips need the access from the user-space for special
4810 controls or for loading the micro code. In such a case, you can
4811 create a hwdep (hardware-dependent) device. The hwdep API is
4812 defined in <filename><sound/hwdep.h></filename>. You can
4813 find examples in opl3 driver or
4814 <filename>isa/sb/sb16_csp.c</filename>.
4818 Creation of the <type>hwdep</type> instance is done via
4819 <function>snd_hwdep_new()</function>.
4825 snd_hwdep_new(card, "My HWDEP", 0, &hw);
4830 where the third argument is the index number.
4834 You can then pass any pointer value to the
4835 <parameter>private_data</parameter>.
4836 If you assign a private data, you should define the
4837 destructor, too. The destructor function is set to
4838 <structfield>private_free</structfield> field.
4843 mydata_t *p = kmalloc(sizeof(*p), GFP_KERNEL);
4844 hw->private_data = p;
4845 hw->private_free = mydata_free;
4850 and the implementation of destructor would be:
4855 static void mydata_free(snd_hwdep_t *hw)
4857 mydata_t *p = hw->private_data;
4866 The arbitrary file operations can be defined for this
4867 instance. The file operators are defined in
4868 <parameter>ops</parameter> table. For example, assume that
4869 this chip needs an ioctl.
4874 hw->ops.open = mydata_open;
4875 hw->ops.ioctl = mydata_ioctl;
4876 hw->ops.release = mydata_release;
4881 And implement the callback functions as you like.
4885 <section id="misc-devices-IEC958">
4886 <title>IEC958 (S/PDIF)</title>
4888 Usually the controls for IEC958 devices are implemented via
4889 control interface. There is a macro to compose a name string for
4890 IEC958 controls, <function>SNDRV_CTL_NAME_IEC958()</function>
4891 defined in <filename><include/asound.h></filename>.
4895 There are some standard controls for IEC958 status bits. These
4896 controls use the type <type>SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_TYPE_IEC958</type>,
4897 and the size of element is fixed as 4 bytes array
4898 (value.iec958.status[x]). For <structfield>info</structfield>
4899 callback, you don't specify
4900 the value field for this type (the count field must be set,
4905 <quote>IEC958 Playback Con Mask</quote> is used to return the
4906 bit-mask for the IEC958 status bits of consumer mode. Similarly,
4907 <quote>IEC958 Playback Pro Mask</quote> returns the bitmask for
4908 professional mode. They are read-only controls, and are defined
4909 as MIXER controls (iface =
4910 <constant>SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_IFACE_MIXER</constant>).
4914 Meanwhile, <quote>IEC958 Playback Default</quote> control is
4915 defined for getting and setting the current default IEC958
4916 bits. Note that this one is usually defined as a PCM control
4917 (iface = <constant>SNDRV_CTL_ELEM_IFACE_PCM</constant>),
4918 although in some places it's defined as a MIXER control.
4922 In addition, you can define the control switches to
4923 enable/disable or to set the raw bit mode. The implementation
4924 will depend on the chip, but the control should be named as
4925 <quote>IEC958 xxx</quote>, preferably using
4926 <function>SNDRV_CTL_NAME_IEC958()</function> macro.
4930 You can find several cases, for example,
4931 <filename>pci/emu10k1</filename>,
4932 <filename>pci/ice1712</filename>, or
4933 <filename>pci/cmipci.c</filename>.
4940 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
4941 <!-- Buffer and Memory Management -->
4942 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
4943 <chapter id="buffer-and-memory">
4944 <title>Buffer and Memory Management</title>
4946 <section id="buffer-and-memory-buffer-types">
4947 <title>Buffer Types</title>
4949 ALSA provides several different buffer allocation functions
4950 depending on the bus and the architecture. All these have a
4951 consistent API. The allocation of physically-contiguous pages is
4953 <function>snd_malloc_xxx_pages()</function> function, where xxx
4958 The allocation of pages with fallback is
4959 <function>snd_malloc_xxx_pages_fallback()</function>. This
4960 function tries to allocate the specified pages but if the pages
4961 are not available, it tries to reduce the page sizes until the
4962 enough space is found.
4966 For releasing the space, call
4967 <function>snd_free_xxx_pages()</function> function.
4971 Usually, ALSA drivers try to allocate and reserve
4972 a large contiguous physical space
4973 at the time the module is loaded for the later use.
4974 This is called <quote>pre-allocation</quote>.
4975 As already written, you can call the following function at the
4976 construction of pcm instance (in the case of PCI bus).
4981 snd_pcm_lib_preallocate_pages_for_all(pcm, SNDRV_DMA_TYPE_DEV,
4982 snd_dma_pci_data(pci), size, max);
4987 where <parameter>size</parameter> is the byte size to be
4988 pre-allocated and the <parameter>max</parameter> is the maximal
4989 size to be changed via <filename>prealloc</filename> proc file.
4990 The allocator will try to get as large area as possible
4991 within the given size.
4995 The second argument (type) and the third argument (device pointer)
4996 are dependent on the bus.
4997 In the case of ISA bus, pass <function>snd_dma_isa_data()</function>
4998 as the third argument with <constant>SNDRV_DMA_TYPE_DEV</constant> type.
4999 For the continuous buffer unrelated to the bus can be pre-allocated
5000 with <constant>SNDRV_DMA_TYPE_CONTINUOUS</constant> type and the
5001 <function>snd_dma_continuous_data(GFP_KERNEL)</function> device pointer,
5002 whereh <constant>GFP_KERNEL</constant> is the kernel allocation flag to
5003 use. For the SBUS, <constant>SNDRV_DMA_TYPE_SBUS</constant> and
5004 <function>snd_dma_sbus_data(sbus_dev)</function> are used instead.
5005 For the PCI scatter-gather buffers, use
5006 <constant>SNDRV_DMA_TYPE_DEV_SG</constant> with
5007 <function>snd_dma_pci_data(pci)</function>
5009 <link linkend="buffer-and-memory-non-contiguous"><citetitle>Non-Contiguous Buffers
5010 </citetitle></link>).
5014 Once when the buffer is pre-allocated, you can use the
5015 allocator in the <structfield>hw_params</structfield> callback
5020 snd_pcm_lib_malloc_pages(substream, size);
5025 Note that you have to pre-allocate to use this function.
5029 <section id="buffer-and-memory-external-hardware">
5030 <title>External Hardware Buffers</title>
5032 Some chips have their own hardware buffers and the DMA
5033 transfer from the host memory is not available. In such a case,
5034 you need to either 1) copy/set the audio data directly to the
5035 external hardware buffer, or 2) make an intermediate buffer and
5036 copy/set the data from it to the external hardware buffer in
5037 interrupts (or in tasklets, preferably).
5041 The first case works fine if the external hardware buffer is enough
5042 large. This method doesn't need any extra buffers and thus is
5043 more effective. You need to define the
5044 <structfield>copy</structfield> and
5045 <structfield>silence</structfield> callbacks for
5046 the data transfer. However, there is a drawback: it cannot
5047 be mmapped. The examples are GUS's GF1 PCM or emu8000's
5052 The second case allows the mmap of the buffer, although you have
5053 to handle an interrupt or a tasklet for transferring the data
5054 from the intermediate buffer to the hardware buffer. You can find an
5055 example in vxpocket driver.
5059 Another case is that the chip uses a PCI memory-map
5060 region for the buffer instead of the host memory. In this case,
5061 mmap is available only on certain architectures like intel. In
5062 non-mmap mode, the data cannot be transferred as the normal
5063 way. Thus you need to define <structfield>copy</structfield> and
5064 <structfield>silence</structfield> callbacks as well
5065 as in the cases above. The examples are found in
5066 <filename>rme32.c</filename> and <filename>rme96.c</filename>.
5070 The implementation of <structfield>copy</structfield> and
5071 <structfield>silence</structfield> callbacks depends upon
5072 whether the hardware supports interleaved or non-interleaved
5073 samples. The <structfield>copy</structfield> callback is
5074 defined like below, a bit
5075 differently depending whether the direction is playback or
5081 static int playback_copy(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream, int channel,
5082 snd_pcm_uframes_t pos, void *src, snd_pcm_uframes_t count);
5083 static int capture_copy(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream, int channel,
5084 snd_pcm_uframes_t pos, void *dst, snd_pcm_uframes_t count);
5091 In the case of interleaved samples, the second argument
5092 (<parameter>channel</parameter>) is not used. The third argument
5093 (<parameter>pos</parameter>) points the
5094 current position offset in frames.
5098 The meaning of the fourth argument is different between
5099 playback and capture. For playback, it holds the source data
5100 pointer, and for capture, it's the destination data pointer.
5104 The last argument is the number of frames to be copied.
5108 What you have to do in this callback is again different
5109 between playback and capture directions. In the case of
5110 playback, you do: copy the given amount of data
5111 (<parameter>count</parameter>) at the specified pointer
5112 (<parameter>src</parameter>) to the specified offset
5113 (<parameter>pos</parameter>) on the hardware buffer. When
5114 coded like memcpy-like way, the copy would be like:
5119 my_memcpy(my_buffer + frames_to_bytes(runtime, pos), src,
5120 frames_to_bytes(runtime, count));
5127 For the capture direction, you do: copy the given amount of
5128 data (<parameter>count</parameter>) at the specified offset
5129 (<parameter>pos</parameter>) on the hardware buffer to the
5130 specified pointer (<parameter>dst</parameter>).
5135 my_memcpy(dst, my_buffer + frames_to_bytes(runtime, pos),
5136 frames_to_bytes(runtime, count));
5141 Note that both of the position and the data amount are given
5146 In the case of non-interleaved samples, the implementation
5147 will be a bit more complicated.
5151 You need to check the channel argument, and if it's -1, copy
5152 the whole channels. Otherwise, you have to copy only the
5153 specified channel. Please check
5154 <filename>isa/gus/gus_pcm.c</filename> as an example.
5158 The <structfield>silence</structfield> callback is also
5159 implemented in a similar way.
5164 static int silence(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream, int channel,
5165 snd_pcm_uframes_t pos, snd_pcm_uframes_t count);
5172 The meanings of arguments are identical with the
5173 <structfield>copy</structfield>
5174 callback, although there is no <parameter>src/dst</parameter>
5175 argument. In the case of interleaved samples, the channel
5176 argument has no meaning, as well as on
5177 <structfield>copy</structfield> callback.
5181 The role of <structfield>silence</structfield> callback is to
5182 set the given amount
5183 (<parameter>count</parameter>) of silence data at the
5184 specified offset (<parameter>pos</parameter>) on the hardware
5185 buffer. Suppose that the data format is signed (that is, the
5186 silent-data is 0), and the implementation using a memset-like
5187 function would be like:
5192 my_memcpy(my_buffer + frames_to_bytes(runtime, pos), 0,
5193 frames_to_bytes(runtime, count));
5200 In the case of non-interleaved samples, again, the
5201 implementation becomes a bit more complicated. See, for example,
5202 <filename>isa/gus/gus_pcm.c</filename>.
5206 <section id="buffer-and-memory-non-contiguous">
5207 <title>Non-Contiguous Buffers</title>
5209 If your hardware supports the page table like emu10k1 or the
5210 buffer descriptors like via82xx, you can use the scatter-gather
5211 (SG) DMA. ALSA provides an interface for handling SG-buffers.
5212 The API is provided in <filename><sound/pcm.h></filename>.
5216 For creating the SG-buffer handler, call
5217 <function>snd_pcm_lib_preallocate_pages()</function> or
5218 <function>snd_pcm_lib_preallocate_pages_for_all()</function>
5219 with <constant>SNDRV_DMA_TYPE_DEV_SG</constant>
5220 in the PCM constructor like other PCI pre-allocator.
5221 You need to pass the <function>snd_dma_pci_data(pci)</function>,
5222 where pci is the struct <structname>pci_dev</structname> pointer
5223 of the chip as well.
5224 The <type>snd_sg_buf_t</type> instance is created as
5225 substream->dma_private. You can cast
5231 snd_pcm_sgbuf_t *sgbuf = (snd_pcm_sgbuf_t*)substream->dma_private;
5238 Then call <function>snd_pcm_lib_malloc_pages()</function>
5239 in <structfield>hw_params</structfield> callback
5240 as well as in the case of normal PCI buffer.
5241 The SG-buffer handler will allocate the non-contiguous kernel
5242 pages of the given size and map them onto the virtually contiguous
5243 memory. The virtual pointer is addressed in runtime->dma_area.
5244 The physical address (runtime->dma_addr) is set to zero,
5245 because the buffer is physically non-contigous.
5246 The physical address table is set up in sgbuf->table.
5247 You can get the physical address at a certain offset via
5248 <function>snd_pcm_sgbuf_get_addr()</function>.
5252 When a SG-handler is used, you need to set
5253 <function>snd_pcm_sgbuf_ops_page</function> as
5254 the <structfield>page</structfield> callback.
5255 (See <link linkend="pcm-interface-operators-page-callback">
5256 <citetitle>page callback section</citetitle></link>.)
5260 For releasing the data, call
5261 <function>snd_pcm_lib_free_pages()</function> in the
5262 <structfield>hw_free</structfield> callback as usual.
5266 <section id="buffer-and-memory-vmalloced">
5267 <title>Vmalloc'ed Buffers</title>
5269 It's possible to use a buffer allocated via
5270 <function>vmalloc</function>, for example, for an intermediate
5271 buffer. Since the allocated pages are not contiguous, you need
5272 to set the <structfield>page</structfield> callback to obtain
5273 the physical address at every offset.
5277 The implementation of <structfield>page</structfield> callback
5283 #include <linux/vmalloc.h>
5285 /* get the physical page pointer on the given offset */
5286 static struct page *mychip_page(snd_pcm_substream_t *substream,
5287 unsigned long offset)
5289 void *pageptr = substream->runtime->dma_area + offset;
5290 return vmalloc_to_page(pageptr);
5301 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
5302 <!-- Proc Interface -->
5303 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
5304 <chapter id="proc-interface">
5305 <title>Proc Interface</title>
5307 ALSA provides an easy interface for procfs. The proc files are
5308 very useful for debugging. I recommend you set up proc files if
5309 you write a driver and want to get a running status or register
5310 dumps. The API is found in
5311 <filename><sound/info.h></filename>.
5315 For creating a proc file, call
5316 <function>snd_card_proc_new()</function>.
5321 snd_info_entry_t *entry;
5322 int err = snd_card_proc_new(card, "my-file", &entry);
5327 where the second argument specifies the proc-file name to be
5328 created. The above example will create a file
5329 <filename>my-file</filename> under the card directory,
5330 e.g. <filename>/proc/asound/card0/my-file</filename>.
5334 Like other components, the proc entry created via
5335 <function>snd_card_proc_new()</function> will be registered and
5336 released automatically in the card registration and release
5341 When the creation is successful, the function stores a new
5342 instance at the pointer given in the third argument.
5343 It is initialized as a text proc file for read only. For using
5344 this proc file as a read-only text file as it is, set the read
5345 callback with a private data via
5346 <function>snd_info_set_text_ops()</function>.
5351 snd_info_set_text_ops(entry, chip, read_size, my_proc_read);
5356 where the second argument (<parameter>chip</parameter>) is the
5357 private data to be used in the callbacks. The third parameter
5358 specifies the read buffer size and the fourth
5359 (<parameter>my_proc_read</parameter>) is the callback function, which
5365 static void my_proc_read(snd_info_entry_t *entry,
5366 snd_info_buffer_t *buffer);
5374 In the read callback, use <function>snd_iprintf()</function> for
5375 output strings, which works just like normal
5376 <function>printf()</function>. For example,
5381 static void my_proc_read(snd_info_entry_t *entry,
5382 snd_info_buffer_t *buffer)
5384 chip_t *chip = entry->private_data;
5386 snd_iprintf(buffer, "This is my chip!\n");
5387 snd_iprintf(buffer, "Port = %ld\n", chip->port);
5395 The file permission can be changed afterwards. As default, it's
5396 set as read only for all users. If you want to add the write
5397 permission to the user (root as default), set like below:
5402 entry->mode = S_IFREG | S_IRUGO | S_IWUSR;
5407 and set the write buffer size and the callback
5412 entry->c.text.write_size = 256;
5413 entry->c.text.write = my_proc_write;
5420 The buffer size for read is set to 1024 implicitly by
5421 <function>snd_info_set_text_ops()</function>. It should suffice
5422 in most cases (the size will be aligned to
5423 <constant>PAGE_SIZE</constant> anyway), but if you need to handle
5424 very large text files, you can set it explicitly, too.
5429 entry->c.text.read_size = 65536;
5436 For the write callback, you can use
5437 <function>snd_info_get_line()</function> to get a text line, and
5438 <function>snd_info_get_str()</function> to retrieve a string from
5439 the line. Some examples are found in
5440 <filename>core/oss/mixer_oss.c</filename>, core/oss/and
5441 <filename>pcm_oss.c</filename>.
5445 For a raw-data proc-file, set the attributes like the following:
5450 static struct snd_info_entry_ops my_file_io_ops = {
5451 .read = my_file_io_read,
5454 entry->content = SNDRV_INFO_CONTENT_DATA;
5455 entry->private_data = chip;
5456 entry->c.ops = &my_file_io_ops;
5458 entry->mode = S_IFREG | S_IRUGO;
5465 The callback is much more complicated than the text-file
5466 version. You need to use a low-level i/o functions such as
5467 <function>copy_from/to_user()</function> to transfer the
5473 static long my_file_io_read(snd_info_entry_t *entry,
5474 void *file_private_data,
5477 unsigned long count,
5481 if (pos + size > local_max_size)
5482 size = local_max_size - pos;
5483 if (copy_to_user(buf, local_data + pos, size))
5495 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
5496 <!-- Power Management -->
5497 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
5498 <chapter id="power-management">
5499 <title>Power Management</title>
5501 If the chip is supposed to work with with suspend/resume
5502 functions, you need to add the power-management codes to the
5503 driver. The additional codes for the power-management should be
5504 <function>ifdef</function>'ed with
5505 <constant>CONFIG_PM</constant>.
5509 ALSA provides the common power-management layer. Each card driver
5510 needs to have only low-level suspend and resume callbacks.
5516 static int snd_my_suspend(snd_card_t *card, pm_message_t state)
5518 .... // do things for suspsend
5521 static int snd_my_resume(snd_card_t *card)
5523 .... // do things for suspsend
5533 The scheme of the real suspend job is as following.
5536 <listitem><para>Retrieve the chip data from pm_private_data field.</para></listitem>
5537 <listitem><para>Call <function>snd_pcm_suspend_all()</function> to suspend the running PCM streams.</para></listitem>
5538 <listitem><para>Save the register values if necessary.</para></listitem>
5539 <listitem><para>Stop the hardware if necessary.</para></listitem>
5540 <listitem><para>Disable the PCI device by calling <function>pci_disable_device()</function>.</para></listitem>
5545 A typical code would be like:
5550 static int mychip_suspend(snd_card_t *card, pm_message_t state)
5553 mychip_t *chip = card->pm_private_data;
5555 snd_pcm_suspend_all(chip->pcm);
5557 snd_mychip_save_registers(chip);
5559 snd_mychip_stop_hardware(chip);
5561 pci_disable_device(chip->pci);
5570 The scheme of the real resume job is as following.
5573 <listitem><para>Retrieve the chip data from pm_private_data field.</para></listitem>
5574 <listitem><para>Enable the pci device again by calling
5575 <function>pci_enable_device()</function>.</para></listitem>
5576 <listitem><para>Re-initialize the chip.</para></listitem>
5577 <listitem><para>Restore the saved registers if necessary.</para></listitem>
5578 <listitem><para>Resume the mixer, e.g. calling
5579 <function>snd_ac97_resume()</function>.</para></listitem>
5580 <listitem><para>Restart the hardware (if any).</para></listitem>
5585 A typical code would be like:
5590 static void mychip_resume(mychip_t *chip)
5593 mychip_t *chip = card->pm_private_data;
5595 pci_enable_device(chip->pci);
5597 snd_mychip_reinit_chip(chip);
5599 snd_mychip_restore_registers(chip);
5601 snd_ac97_resume(chip->ac97);
5603 snd_mychip_restart_chip(chip);
5612 OK, we have all callbacks now. Let's set up them now. In the
5613 initialization of the card, add the following:
5618 static int __devinit snd_mychip_probe(struct pci_dev *pci,
5619 const struct pci_device_id *pci_id)
5625 snd_card_set_pm_callback(card, snd_my_suspend, snd_my_resume, chip);
5632 Here you don't have to put ifdef CONFIG_PM around, since it's already
5633 checked in the header and expanded to empty if not needed.
5637 If you need a space for saving the registers, you'll need to
5638 allocate the buffer for it here, too, since it would be fatal
5639 if you cannot allocate a memory in the suspend phase.
5640 The allocated buffer should be released in the corresponding
5645 And next, set suspend/resume callbacks to the pci_driver,
5646 This can be done by passing a macro SND_PCI_PM_CALLBACKS
5647 in the pci_driver struct. This macro is expanded to the correct
5648 (global) callbacks if CONFIG_PM is set.
5653 static struct pci_driver driver = {
5655 .id_table = snd_my_ids,
5656 .probe = snd_my_probe,
5657 .remove = __devexit_p(snd_my_remove),
5658 SND_PCI_PM_CALLBACKS
5668 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
5669 <!-- Module Parameters -->
5670 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
5671 <chapter id="module-parameters">
5672 <title>Module Parameters</title>
5674 There are standard module options for ALSA. At least, each
5675 module should have <parameter>index</parameter>,
5676 <parameter>id</parameter> and <parameter>enable</parameter>
5681 If the module supports multiple cards (usually up to
5682 8 = <constant>SNDRV_CARDS</constant> cards), they should be
5683 arrays. The default initial values are defined already as
5684 constants for ease of programming:
5689 static int index[SNDRV_CARDS] = SNDRV_DEFAULT_IDX;
5690 static char *id[SNDRV_CARDS] = SNDRV_DEFAULT_STR;
5691 static int enable[SNDRV_CARDS] = SNDRV_DEFAULT_ENABLE_PNP;
5698 If the module supports only a single card, they could be single
5699 variables, instead. <parameter>enable</parameter> option is not
5700 always necessary in this case, but it wouldn't be so bad to have a
5701 dummy option for compatibility.
5705 The module parameters must be declared with the standard
5706 <function>module_param()()</function>,
5707 <function>module_param_array()()</function> and
5708 <function>MODULE_PARM_DESC()</function> macros.
5712 The typical coding would be like below:
5717 #define CARD_NAME "My Chip"
5719 module_param_array(index, int, NULL, 0444);
5720 MODULE_PARM_DESC(index, "Index value for " CARD_NAME " soundcard.");
5721 module_param_array(id, charp, NULL, 0444);
5722 MODULE_PARM_DESC(id, "ID string for " CARD_NAME " soundcard.");
5723 module_param_array(enable, bool, NULL, 0444);
5724 MODULE_PARM_DESC(enable, "Enable " CARD_NAME " soundcard.");
5731 Also, don't forget to define the module description, classes,
5732 license and devices. Especially, the recent modprobe requires to
5733 define the module license as GPL, etc., otherwise the system is
5734 shown as <quote>tainted</quote>.
5739 MODULE_DESCRIPTION("My Chip");
5740 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
5741 MODULE_SUPPORTED_DEVICE("{{Vendor,My Chip Name}}");
5750 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
5751 <!-- How To Put Your Driver -->
5752 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
5753 <chapter id="how-to-put-your-driver">
5754 <title>How To Put Your Driver Into ALSA Tree</title>
5756 <title>General</title>
5758 So far, you've learned how to write the driver codes.
5759 And you might have a question now: how to put my own
5760 driver into the ALSA driver tree?
5761 Here (finally :) the standard procedure is described briefly.
5765 Suppose that you'll create a new PCI driver for the card
5766 <quote>xyz</quote>. The card module name would be
5767 snd-xyz. The new driver is usually put into alsa-driver
5768 tree, <filename>alsa-driver/pci</filename> directory in
5769 the case of PCI cards.
5770 Then the driver is evaluated, audited and tested
5771 by developers and users. After a certain time, the driver
5772 will go to alsa-kernel tree (to the corresponding directory,
5773 such as <filename>alsa-kernel/pci</filename>) and eventually
5774 integrated into Linux 2.6 tree (the directory would be
5775 <filename>linux/sound/pci</filename>).
5779 In the following sections, the driver code is supposed
5780 to be put into alsa-driver tree. The two cases are assumed:
5781 a driver consisting of a single source file and one consisting
5782 of several source files.
5787 <title>Driver with A Single Source File</title>
5792 Modify alsa-driver/pci/Makefile
5796 Suppose you have a file xyz.c. Add the following
5801 snd-xyz-objs := xyz.o
5802 obj-$(CONFIG_SND_XYZ) += snd-xyz.o
5811 Create the Kconfig entry
5815 Add the new entry of Kconfig for your xyz driver.
5820 tristate "Foobar XYZ"
5824 Say Y here to include support for Foobar XYZ soundcard.
5826 To compile this driver as a module, choose M here: the module
5827 will be called snd-xyz.
5832 the line, select SND_PCM, specifies that the driver xyz supports
5833 PCM. In addition to SND_PCM, the following components are
5834 supported for select command:
5835 SND_RAWMIDI, SND_TIMER, SND_HWDEP, SND_MPU401_UART,
5836 SND_OPL3_LIB, SND_OPL4_LIB, SND_VX_LIB, SND_AC97_CODEC.
5837 Add the select command for each supported component.
5841 Note that some selections imply the lowlevel selections.
5842 For example, PCM includes TIMER, MPU401_UART includes RAWMIDI,
5843 AC97_CODEC includes PCM, and OPL3_LIB includes HWDEP.
5844 You don't need to give the lowlevel selections again.
5848 For the details of Kconfig script, refer to the kbuild
5856 Run cvscompile script to re-generate the configure script and
5857 build the whole stuff again.
5865 <title>Drivers with Several Source Files</title>
5867 Suppose that the driver snd-xyz have several source files.
5868 They are located in the new subdirectory,
5874 Add a new directory (<filename>xyz</filename>) in
5875 <filename>alsa-driver/pci/Makefile</filename> like below
5880 obj-$(CONFIG_SND) += xyz/
5889 Under the directory <filename>xyz</filename>, create a Makefile
5892 <title>Sample Makefile for a driver xyz</title>
5899 include $(SND_TOPDIR)/toplevel.config
5900 include $(SND_TOPDIR)/Makefile.conf
5902 snd-xyz-objs := xyz.o abc.o def.o
5904 obj-$(CONFIG_SND_XYZ) += snd-xyz.o
5906 include $(SND_TOPDIR)/Rules.make
5915 Create the Kconfig entry
5919 This procedure is as same as in the last section.
5925 Run cvscompile script to re-generate the configure script and
5926 build the whole stuff again.
5935 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
5936 <!-- Useful Functions -->
5937 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
5938 <chapter id="useful-functions">
5939 <title>Useful Functions</title>
5941 <section id="useful-functions-snd-printk">
5942 <title><function>snd_printk()</function> and friends</title>
5944 ALSA provides a verbose version of
5945 <function>printk()</function> function. If a kernel config
5946 <constant>CONFIG_SND_VERBOSE_PRINTK</constant> is set, this
5947 function prints the given message together with the file name
5948 and the line of the caller. The <constant>KERN_XXX</constant>
5949 prefix is processed as
5950 well as the original <function>printk()</function> does, so it's
5951 recommended to add this prefix, e.g.
5956 snd_printk(KERN_ERR "Oh my, sorry, it's extremely bad!\n");
5963 There are also <function>printk()</function>'s for
5964 debugging. <function>snd_printd()</function> can be used for
5965 general debugging purposes. If
5966 <constant>CONFIG_SND_DEBUG</constant> is set, this function is
5967 compiled, and works just like
5968 <function>snd_printk()</function>. If the ALSA is compiled
5969 without the debugging flag, it's ignored.
5973 <function>snd_printdd()</function> is compiled in only when
5974 <constant>CONFIG_SND_DEBUG_DETECT</constant> is set. Please note
5975 that <constant>DEBUG_DETECT</constant> is not set as default
5976 even if you configure the alsa-driver with
5977 <option>--with-debug=full</option> option. You need to give
5978 explicitly <option>--with-debug=detect</option> option instead.
5982 <section id="useful-functions-snd-assert">
5983 <title><function>snd_assert()</function></title>
5985 <function>snd_assert()</function> macro is similar with the
5986 normal <function>assert()</function> macro. For example,
5991 snd_assert(pointer != NULL, return -EINVAL);
5998 The first argument is the expression to evaluate, and the
5999 second argument is the action if it fails. When
6000 <constant>CONFIG_SND_DEBUG</constant>, is set, it will show an
6001 error message such as <computeroutput>BUG? (xxx) (called from
6002 yyy)</computeroutput>. When no debug flag is set, this is
6007 <section id="useful-functions-snd-runtime-check">
6008 <title><function>snd_runtime_check()</function></title>
6010 This macro is quite similar with
6011 <function>snd_assert()</function>. Unlike
6012 <function>snd_assert()</function>, the expression is always
6013 evaluated regardless of
6014 <constant>CONFIG_SND_DEBUG</constant>. When
6015 <constant>CONFIG_SND_DEBUG</constant> is set, the macro will
6016 show a message like <computeroutput>ERROR (xx) (called from
6017 yyy)</computeroutput>.
6021 <section id="useful-functions-snd-bug">
6022 <title><function>snd_BUG()</function></title>
6024 It calls <function>snd_assert(0,)</function> -- that is, just
6025 prints the error message at the point. It's useful to show that
6026 a fatal error happens there.
6032 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
6033 <!-- Acknowledgments -->
6034 <!-- ****************************************************** -->
6035 <chapter id="acknowledments">
6036 <title>Acknowledgments</title>
6038 I would like to thank Phil Kerr for his help for improvement and
6039 corrections of this document.
6042 Kevin Conder reformatted the original plain-text to the
6046 Giuliano Pochini corrected typos and contributed the example codes
6047 in the hardware constraints section.