ALSA specifications differ between Ubuntu and CoreELEC

VIM4
1

Which system do you use? Android, Ubuntu, OOWOW or others?

All except Android

Which version of system do you use? Khadas official images, self built images, or others?

Official immages

Please describe your issue below:

I’m using 2 different OS’s (Ubuntu, CoreElec) on the same VIM4 and to my surprise the ALSA specifications differ between the two.

  1. Ubuntu
Welcome to Fenix 1.5 Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS Linux 5.4.180  

khadas@Khadas:~$ aplay -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default
    Playback/recording through the PulseAudio sound server
samplerate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Samplerate Library
speexrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Speex Resampler
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
oss
    Open Sound System
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
hw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=0
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=1
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=2
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=3
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=5
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=6
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=0
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=1
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=2
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=3
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=5
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=6
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Hardware device with all software conversions
sysdefault:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Default Audio Device
dmix:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=0
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=1
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=2
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=3
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=5
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=6
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Direct sample mixing device
usbstream:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND
    AML-AUGESOUND
    USB Stream Output
khadas@Khadas:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 0: TDM-B-dummy-alsaPORT-i2s-i2s4hdmirx soc:dummy-0 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 1: SPDIF-dummy-alsaPORT-spdif soc:dummy-1 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 2: TDM-A-dummy-alsaPORT-pcm soc:dummy-2 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 3: TDM-C-dummy-alsaPORT-i2s4parser soc:dummy-3 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 5: SPDIF-B-dummy-alsaPORT-spdifb soc:dummy-5 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 6: EXTN-dummy-alsaPORT-tv soc:dummy-6 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
khadas@Khadas:~$
  1. CoreElec
CoreELEC (official): 20.1-Nexus_nightly_20230620 (Amlogic-ne.arm)
      Machine model: Khadas VIM4
     CoreELEC dt-id: t7_a311d2_khadas_vim4

CoreELEC:~ # aplay -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Default Audio Device
sysdefault:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    Default Audio Device
surround71:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=0
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=0
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=AMLAUGESOUND,DEV=0
    AML-AUGESOUND, 
    HDMI Audio Output
CoreELEC:~ # aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 0: SPDIF-B-SPDIF-B SPDIF-B-0 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 1: TDM-B-TDM-B TDM-B-1 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 2: SPDIF-SPDIF SPDIF-2 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: AMLAUGESOUND [AML-AUGESOUND], device 3: TDM-C-dummy soc:dummy-3 []
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

My questions:

  • Which one should I use in the context of getting out 5.1 via HDMI?
  • Can I port the ALSA specifications from the one to the other and how?
2

A tad late to reply. Hopefully you used -man which you found through searching the world wide web :wink:

-l, --list-devices
    List all soundcards and digital audio devices
-L, --list-pcms
    List all PCMs defined

Why would you think that two different options: -l/-L would give the same answer?
Sorry for poking.

3

Hi Fritz,

I used for both OSs the 2 commands and -l and -L, so I’m a little bit confused by your response.