snd_pcm_capture_hw_avail(9)

💖 snd_pcm_capture_hw_avail 💖

okay so this is a page from the Kernel API Manual (yeah, the kernel, we're fancy now ✨) and it's all about snd_pcm_capture_hw_avail — literally the little function that tells you how much free space your capture stream has. bestie, it's a one-liner of a manpage but we're gonna treat it with the respect it deserves 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

snd_pcm_capture_hw_avail — get the free space for capture 🦋

like, the actual free room you've got to capture into. that's the whole vibe check.

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

snd_pcm_sframes_t snd_pcm_capture_hw_avail (struct snd_pcm_runtime
*runtime );

one function, one argument, returns a snd_pcm_sframes_t. no drama, no cap 💅

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🫶 ARGUMENTS 🫶

• runtime — the PCM runtime instance 🎧. yeah that's it. that's the whole argument list. she's low maintenance, we love her.

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🔥 RETURN 🔥

the available frame size 👑 — literally how many frames of free space you've got. that's your answer, periodt.

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

okay this is the part where the page goes absolutely feral with cross-references, and we are NOT skipping a single one, so buckle up bestie 😭 every single one of these, exactly as written:

• the kernel file ./include/sound/pcm.h
• snd_pcm_stream_linked(9)
• snd_pcm_stream_lock_irqsave(9)
• snd_pcm_stream_lock_irqsave_nested(9)
• snd_pcm_group_for_each_entry(9)
• snd_pcm_running(9)
• __snd_pcm_set_state(9)
• bytes_to_samples(9)
• bytes_to_frames(9)
• samples_to_bytes(9)
• frames_to_bytes(9)
• frame_aligned(9)
• snd_pcm_lib_buffer_bytes(9)
• snd_pcm_lib_period_bytes(9)
• snd_pcm_playback_avail(9)
• snd_pcm_capture_avail(9)
• snd_pcm_playback_hw_avail(9)
• snd_pcm_playback_ready(9)
• snd_pcm_capture_ready(9)
• snd_pcm_playback_data(9)
• snd_pcm_playback_empty(9)
• snd_pcm_capture_empty(9)
• snd_pcm_trigger_done(9)
• params_channels(9)
• params_rate(9)
• params_period_size(9)
• params_periods(9)
• params_buffer_size(9)
• params_buffer_bytes(9)
• snd_pcm_hw_constraint_single(9)
• snd_pcm_format_cpu_endian(9)
• snd_pcm_set_sync(9)
• snd_pcm_set_runtime_buffer(9)
• snd_pcm_gettime(9)
• snd_pcm_set_fixed_buffer(9)
• snd_pcm_set_fixed_buffer_all(9)
• snd_pcm_sgbuf_get_addr(9)
• snd_pcm_sgbuf_get_chunk_size(9)
• snd_pcm_limit_isa_dma_size(9)
• snd_pcm_direction_name(9)
• snd_pcm_stream_str(9)
• snd_pcm_chmap_substream(9)
• pcm_format_to_bits(9)
• pcm_for_each_format(9)

like I said. feral. but we respect the hustle 🫡💜

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ngl if you're writing ALSA capture code, this whole list is your group chat. screen it, bestie 📱✨

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and that's the whole page!! short and iconic, just how we like it 🧚‍♀️ so go forth and check your capture free space, main character 💅

signing off from ./include/sound, dated October 2026 — mwah, see you in the next manpage 🎀💖