status of Snd soundfile-editor in squeeze???

[Jim McCloskey]

* Alessio Treglia (alessio at debian.org) wrote:

  |>  >  can't play: open read /dev/dsp: No such file or directory
  |>  >             [audio.c[1825] linux_audio_open_with_error]
  |>  
  |>  This needs investigation too. Which snd packages have you installed now?

I believe I understand now what the problem is. There are two sound-cards on
this system---an on-board Intel sound chip (kernel module snd-hda-intel) and a
removable USB card (kernel module snd-usb-audio). To ensure consistent naming
of the cards I have entries in a file in /etc/modprobe.d/ which ensure that
the Intel sound-chip is always identified as card 1 and the USB card as card
0.

   alias snd-card-0 snd-usb-audio
   options snd-usb-audio index=0
   alias /dev/dsp snd-pcm-oss
   
     ........
   
   alias snd-card-1 snd-hda-intel
   options snd-hda-intel index=1
   options snd-hda-intel model=thinkpad
   
   alias /dev/dsp1 snd-pcm-oss

So /dev/dsp is created only when the USB card is plugged in and the
snd-usb-audio module loaded.  Most Alsa-aware applications seem to send
audio-data to whatever device is identified as the default (in /etc/asoundrc
or in ~/.asoundrc), but it looks like snd or snd-gtk is sending data directly
to /dev/dsp (which on this system exists only if the USB card has been
inserted).

This method of ensuring consistent naming of cards and devices, is standard in
Alsa, I believe.

The workaround is obvious: I have to make sure to use the USB card if I want
to use snd.

I'm not sure if this is properly regarded as a bug or not; if it would be
helpful, I'll be glad to file a formal bug-report.

Meanwhile, thank you for your attention and help, and thank you for all of
your work,

Jim