oss_usb(7)

📦
version 4.2-build2020 · 3 versions
, in ubuntu noble

✨ oss_usb — the USB Audio/MIDI/Mixer driver ✨

okay bestie, welcome to oss_usb(7), a page from the OSS Devices manual set, and it's literally the driver that makes your USB audio + MIDI + mixer situation work 💖

🌸 NAME 🌸

oss_usb — USB Audio/MIDI/Mixer driver 🎧🎹🎚️

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

It's the Open Sound System driver for USB Audio and MIDI devices. That's the whole vibe. Now let's get into the deets because there are a lot of them and they all matter 💅

🎶 AUDIO

The Audio driver supports, and I'm listing every single one:

  • 8-96Khz Playback/Recording 🎵
  • 8 or 16 or 32 bits ✨
  • 2, 4, 6 or 8 channel audio. 🔥
  • SPDIF digital output and Input 💫
  • AC3 passthrough 🎬
  • Volume control and device input mixer 🎚️

🎹 MIDI

The oss_usb driver supports all MIDI devices that are compatible with the official USB MIDI specification. and on top of that? it also supports a few devices that use their own private protocol (including some Yamaha and Midiman models). we love an overachiever 🫶

🎛️ USB MIXER

The USB Audio mixer is a new type of mixer that doesn't have the normal volume controls found on AC97 or Legacy SB devices. The USB audio mixer provides control for selecting the Alternate device setting — this usually allows the device to be switched into a Professional audio mode (eg 24bit or 96Khz mode). it's giving glow-up 💅

🌈 ALTERNATIVE SETTINGS

Some USB audio devices use a feature called alternative settings for bandwidth management. Typically such devices have multiple high speed inputs and outputs that may require more bandwidth than provided by the USB bus. The alternative settings feature is used to select between multiple low speed devices or just few high speed devices.

When the device has multiple alternative settings an "altsetting" selector will be visible in the control panel for the device (use ossmix(1) or ossxmix(1) to change it). Alternative setting OFF means that all audio devices are disabled. The other settings provide different combinations of high/medium speed devices. You can use the ossinfo(1) command (ossinfo -a -v3) to find out the devices supported by the currently selected alternative settings and the capabilities of them. so like, go check it, fr fr 🔍

💀 KNOWN BUGS 💀

Under Linux it is necessary to run the ossdetect -d and ossdevlinks commands after an USB device has been hot-plugged. Alternatively you can execute soundoff and soundon to reload OSS.

not me having to run extra commands every time I plug something in 😭 but that's just how it is, bestie. do it and move on. periodt.

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • None — yeah there are literally no options here. iconic minimalism, honestly. 👑

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • /etc/oss4/conf/oss_usb.conf — Device configuration file.

👑 AUTHOR 👑

4Front Technologies

and that's the whole page, bestie 💖 this was oss_usb(7) from the OSS Devices crew, dated 11 February 2015, brought to you with love by 4Front Technologies. go make some music 🎧🦋🌸

📦 where this page comes from