snd_pcm_playback_ready(9)

✨ snd_pcm_playback_ready 💖

okay so bestie, we're deep in the ALSA kernel API docs rn — this one lives in the Kernel API Manual, and it's literally called snd_pcm_playback_ready. it's giving "are we there yet" but for audio buffers 🎀

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🌸 NAME

snd_pcm_playback_ready — check whether the playback buffer is available 💅

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⭐ SYNOPSIS

int snd_pcm_playback_ready (struct snd_pcm_substream *substream );

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🦋 ARGUMENTS

• substream — the pcm substream instance. that's your lil audio stream babe, the one we're checking on 🫶

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💜 DESCRIPTION

Checks whether enough free space is available on the playback buffer. that's it. that's the whole vibe check ✨

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🔥 RETURN

Non-zero if available, or zero if not. so: truthy = yes queen, go ahead and write 🎀 / zero = not yet bestie, the buffer said no 🙈

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👑 SEE ALSO

Kernel file ./include/sound/pcm.h — and honestly the whole friend group showed up, so say hi to:

• 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_capture_hw_avail(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)

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ngl there are a lot of them, but every single one is here and that's the point 💀 no skips, no cuts, we don't do that here 🧚

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okay that's the whole page bestie!! mwah 💋 this lil drop shipped out from ./include/sound and it's dated October 2026 — so like, future-core but make it kernel API ⭐💖