snd_pcm_format_big_endian(9)

💅 snd_pcm_format_big_endian 💅

ok so bestie, we're deep in the Kernel API Manual today and this lil function is a whole vibe check for your PCM format's endianness ✨ it's snd_pcm_format_big_endian(9) and she is literally the main character of this page 🎀

---

✨ NAME ✨

snd_pcm_format_big_endian — the girl whose entire job is checking whether a PCM format is big-endian 🦋

---

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int snd_pcm_format_big_endian (snd_pcm_format_t format );

like… that's it. that's the whole signature. cute, short, iconic 👑

---

💖 ARGUMENTS 💖

• format — the format you want to check, bestie 🫶 that's the thing going in, and she's gonna tell you all about it

---

⭐ RETURN ⭐

so here's the tea, and it comes in three (3) flavours 🍓:

• 1 — yay!! the given PCM format is big-endian 💅 ate and left no crumbs
• 0 — nope, she's little-endian 😭
• a negative error code — endian was not specified at all, so like… no data, no answer, no vibes 💀

fr fr remember: that third one is a negative error code, not a cute little zero. don't be out here treating an error like a bool, i'm begging 🙈

---

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

ok this is the group chat, everyone's here 🧚‍♀️:

• Kernel file ./sound/core/pcm_misc.c — where the magic lives ✨
• snd_pcm_format_signed(9)
• snd_pcm_format_unsigned(9)
• snd_pcm_format_linear(9)
• snd_pcm_format_little_endian(9) — yes she's the sister, they're a matching set 👯‍♀️
• snd_pcm_format_width(9)
• snd_pcm_format_physical_width(9)
• snd_pcm_format_size(9)
• snd_pcm_format_silence_64(9)
• snd_pcm_format_set_silence(9)
• snd_pcm_hw_limit_rates(9)
• snd_pcm_rate_to_rate_bit(9)
• snd_pcm_rate_bit_to_rate(9)
• snd_pcm_rate_mask_intersect(9)

like go read all of them, i'll wait 🫶💜

---

and that's the whole page, no cap 🎀 this lil masterpiece lives in ./sound/core, dated October 2026, and it's giving kernel docs but make it iconic 🌸✨ bye bestie, mwah 💋💅