Skip to content

Commit 9543c77

Browse files
committed
cleanup faq device naming
- line length and highlighting
1 parent 484b17b commit 9543c77

1 file changed

Lines changed: 21 additions & 20 deletions

File tree

faq/device_naming.md

Lines changed: 21 additions & 20 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -5,40 +5,41 @@ title: "How do I refer to a soundcard so that the name always works?"
55

66
# How do I refer to a soundcard so that the name always works?
77

8-
The precise order in which a Linux system discovers any soundcards can vary
9-
each time the machine is rebooted. This is particularly true of USB devices.
10-
The device that used to be "hw:0" can become "hw:1" after a reboot, or vice
11-
versa. Fortunately, you don't need to use names like this, and can instead use
12-
a form that isn't dependent on the order that the Linux discovers your
13-
soundcards.
14-
15-
First, in a terminal window, run this command: `cat /proc/asound/cards`.
8+
The precise order in which a Linux system discovers any soundcards can
9+
vary each time the machine is rebooted. This is particularly true of USB
10+
devices. The device that used to be `hw:0` can become `hw:1` after a
11+
reboot, or vice versa. Fortunately, you don't need to use names like
12+
this, and can instead use a form that isn't dependent on the order that
13+
the Linux discovers your soundcards.
14+
15+
First, in a terminal window, run this command:
16+
`cat /proc/asound/cards`.
1617
You'll see output a bit like this:
1718

18-
19-
19+
20+
2021
0 [SB ]: HDA-Intel - HDA ATI SB
2122
HDA ATI SB at 0xfcef8000 irq 16
2223
1 [DSP ]: H-DSP - Hammerfall DSP
2324
RME Hammerfall DSP + Digiface at 0xfcff0000, irq 20
2425
2 [NVidia ]: HDA-Intel - HDA NVidia
2526
HDA NVidia at 0xfe57c000 irq 32
26-
27+
2728

2829
The "name" of each soundcard is in square brackets.
2930

3031
With this information, you can now refer to a particular device as, for
31-
example **hw:DSP** (for the RME Hammerfall DSP in the above example. Even if
32-
the devices end up re-ordered for any reason, **hw:DSP** will still refer to
33-
the same device.
32+
example `hw:DSP` (for the RME Hammerfall DSP in the above example.
33+
Even if the devices end up re-ordered for any reason, `hw:DSP` will
34+
still refer to the same device.
3435

35-
The one case where this fails is if you have multiple instances of the same
36-
type of soundcard. This is a much trickier situation to deal with and is
37-
covered in detail [here](http://alsa.opensrc.org/Udev).
36+
The one case where this fails is if you have multiple instances of the
37+
same type of soundcard. This is a much trickier situation to deal with
38+
and is covered in detail [here](http://alsa.opensrc.org/Udev).
3839

3940
### Where do I use this name?
4041

41-
You can type it into the device name selector in the upper left of qjacktl's
42-
setup dialog. You can use it as the argument to the -d flag of JACK's ALSA
43-
backend (e.g. `jackd -d alsa -d hw:DSP`.
42+
You can type it into the device name selector in the upper left of
43+
qjacktl's setup dialog. You can use it as the argument to the `-d` flag
44+
of JACK's ALSA backend (e.g. `jackd -d alsa -d hw:DSP`.
4445

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)