ALSA and OSS at the same time?

[Silent-Hunter]

How did you guys get OSS and ALSA kernel modules loaded at the same time? I wanted to do it on my Gentoo machine as well, but they say it can't be done.

Also, how come cat /dev/dsp > a.a creates an empty file? According to Wikipedia, it should create a file with data from the microphone.

 

[slaeshjag]

It's no more magic than a compatibility mode by alsa. On my debian box, I enable it by loading the kernel module "snd-pcm-oss".

 

[WizardStan]

It's not actually OSS, it's a compatibility layer of ALSA that just looks and behaves like OSS.

edit: and as far as recording the microphone, you need to use /dev/adsp

 

[Letalis Sonus]

The actual problem with the OSS compatibility layer of ALSA is that it has no software mixer - if a program accesses the audio hardware via OSS, no other program is able to do so, even through ALSA.