NAME
sndstat - Open Sound System status device
DESCRIPTION
/dev/sndstat is a text formatted device special file that returns
information about available (OSS) sound devices. This device file is
obsolete and the ossinfo(1) utility should be used instead.
Notice that the device numbering used in this file is different that
the official numbering used by ossinfo(1) and some other utilities.
/dev/sndstat uses device numbers that match the "legacy" /dev/dspN,
/dev/midiN and /dev/mixerN device files.
Application programs should not use /dev/sndstat to obtain information
about the sound devices. The format of this file may change in the
future and /dev/sndstat may even be removed from OSS in distant future.
OSS 4.0 and later has an ioctl interface for getting detailed and
reliable information about the devices.
AUDIO USAGE HISTORY
/dev/sndstat reports some history information about previously run
audio applications. This section is a debugging aid for application
developers and it will be moved to the ossinfo program in the future.
For example:
History:
/dev/oss/hdaudio0/pcm0.10: pid 6326 cmd 'error_test' OUT Play events:01009:2 Rec events:01002:0
/dev/oss/hdaudio0/pcm0.10: pid 6329 cmd 'mpg123' OUT
/dev/oss/hdaudio0/pcm0.10: pid 6329 cmd 'mpg123' OUT
/dev/oss/hdaudio0/pcm0.10: pid 6329 cmd 'mpg123' OUT
Each line will show the the device name, PID and name of the
application (if known) and access mode (IN and/or OUT). There may also
be additional info about buffer underruns/overruns and other recording
and playback related events.
Each Play and rec events consist of 5-6 digit event code and a
parameter separated by a colon. A list of defined event codes and their
explanations can be found from
http://manuals.opensound.com/developer/oss_error_codes.html. Purpose
of these events is to inform application developers by potential
problems in their code.
COMPATIBILITY
/dev/sndstat has been available in all OSS versions. However in OSS 4.0
and later this device file should only be used by applications written
for earlier OSS versions.
OPTIONS
None
PROGRAMMING INFORMATION
Some applications use /dev/sndstat to find the audio devices available
in the system. This method is no longer recommended. Applications
should use the SNDCTL_AUDIOINFO(2) ioctl call to find the devices.
SEE ALSO
o dsp(7) - Audio device files
o mixer(7) - Mixer (control panel) device files
o midi(7) - MIDI device files
FILES
/dev/sndstat
AUTHOR
4Front Technologies