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Thread: /dev/dsp is missing

  1. #1
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    Question /dev/dsp is missing

    I'm using Ubuntu 12.04. When I use the Python library call ossaudiodev.open("w"), I get the error mesage "No such file or directory: '/dev/dsp'", and indeed /dev/dsp does not exist. This used to work under Ubuntu 10.04. I've searched for advice on this subject, and found nothing useful, despite some being marked "answered". I've installed the packages oss4-base, oss4-dev, liboss4-salsa2 and liboss4-salsa-dev, to no avail. Any ideas?

  2. #2
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    Re: /dev/dsp is missing

    I happen to be running a 9.04 machine. Do you have alsa-oss installed?


    tgalati4@tpad-Gloria7 /dev $ apt-cache policy alsa-oss
    alsa-oss:
    Installed: 1.0.17-1
    Candidate: 1.0.17-1
    Version table:
    *** 1.0.17-1 0
    500 http://old-releases.ubuntu.com jaunty/universe Packages
    100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

    OSS is an old linux audio framework (open sound system, I believe) that was replaced by ALSA. A wrapper is used to maintain compatibility with older software that makes OSS audio calls. I believe /dev/dsp is installed by alsa. So make sure you have the complete ALSA framework installed.
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  3. #3
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    Re: /dev/dsp is missing

    Yes, I have it installed:
    rick@Zebedee:~$ sudo apt-cache policy alsa-oss
    alsa-oss:
    Installed: 1.0.25-1
    Candidate: 1.0.25-1
    Version table:
    *** 1.0.25-1 0
    500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/universe amd64 Packages
    100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
    So, no, It doesn't install /dev/dsp. I did belatedly find that there's a python interface to alsa available, but it's still in development and not part of the official Python library yet. I find it hard to believe that there's currently no official way to play audio from Python. I must be missing something.

  4. #4
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    Re: /dev/dsp is missing

    Well, installing OSS4 should give you /dev/dsp, but Ubuntu ripped out OSS support a long time ago, so I doubt that's what you really want. You should purge the OSS4 packages and hope you didn't bork all your audio.

    I believe /dev/dsp is installed by alsa.
    It's not. For programs that still use OSS-style /dev/dsp, you can emulate it with padsp:
    Code:
    padsp <program>

  5. #5
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    Re: /dev/dsp is missing

    Oh, and I thought pyalsa was the official ALSA lib?
    https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/python-pyalsa

  6. #6
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    Re: /dev/dsp is missing

    Quote Originally Posted by Temüjin View Post
    Well, installing OSS4 should give you /dev/dsp, but Ubuntu ripped out OSS support a long time ago, so I doubt that's what you really want. You should purge the OSS4 packages and hope you didn't bork all your audio.
    Quite right. The oss4 packages did bork the audio, but mercifully removing them returned things to normal.

    It's not. For programs that still use OSS-style /dev/dsp, you can emulate it with padsp:
    Code:
    padsp <program>
    Ah. Thank you. That works, and is at least a good temporary fix.

  7. #7
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    Re: /dev/dsp is missing

    Oh, and I thought pyalsa was the official ALSA lib?
    https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/python-pyalsa
    I'd previously found pyalsa through http://pyalsaaudio.sourceforge.net/pyalsaaudio.html, which is where I got the impression that it's not official. I'll look into it. Thanks again.

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