1 ." Automatically generated text
2 .TH 8 "August 31, 2006" "OSS" "System Administration Commands"
4 vmixctl - Open Sound System utility to control the vmix subsystem.
7 o vmixctl attach [attach_options...] audiodev [inputdev]
8 o vmixctl detach [attach_options...] audiodev
9 o vmixctl rate audiodev samplerate
12 The vmixctl program can be used to attach or detach the virtual mixer subsystem
13 (vmix) to/from audio devices. In addition it can be used to control vmix
14 related parameters such as the sampling rate to be used with the device.
16 By default most OSS drivers will attach virtual mixer to the primary audio device
17 of the sound card (or motherboard audio chip) when the device is attached.
18 However possible secondary audio devices (engines) will not have vmix
19 attached by default. In additional professional audio devices will be
20 attached without vmix because mixing may cause some unwanted distortion
23 .SH ATTACHING VMIX TO AN AUDIO DEVICE
24 There are two forms of vmixctl attach command:
26 o vmixctl attach audiodev
27 This alternative is to be used with devices that support only output or
28 have a single audio device file that supports full duplex.
29 o vmixctl attach audiodev inputdev
30 The second form is to be used with devices that have separate output and
31 input device files. The "audiodev" parameter defines the output device and
32 the "inputdev" parameter is the device file to be used for input direction.
33 Note that both device files must belong to the same "physical" sound card.
34 In some cases it might be possible to use one sound card for playback and
35 another for recording. However this configuration is not supported and the
36 result may not be functional.
38 To find out the right device file names (audiodev and inputdev) you can use
39 the "ossinfo -a" command.
42 o -r Disable recording functionality. By default vmix will suppor
43 recording if the master device(s) support it.
44 o -p Do not preallocate client engines. By default vmix will
45 preallocate first 4 (out of 8) client engines when attaching
46 to the device. The remaining engines will be allocated
47 on-demand if there are more concurrent applications that
49 o -V Make client devices visible (have private device nodes under /dev).
50 o -c <n> Preallocate <n> client engines instead of 4. However -p
51 option makes this option ineffective.
54 o vmixctl attach /dev/oss/oss_envy240/pcm0
55 o vmixctl attach /dev/oss/oss_envy240/pcm0 /dev/oss/oss_envy240/pcmin0
57 .SH SETTING THE SAMPLING RATE USED BY VMIX
58 The virtual mixer subsystem will set the physical audio devce(s) to use
59 fixed sampling rate that is 48000 Hz by default. It is possible to use
60 "vmixctl rate audiodev" to switch vmix to use some different rate with this
61 device (pair). You should use "ossinfo -a -v2" to verify that the sampling rate
62 is actually supported by the device. Otherwise the actual device may enforce
63 vmix to use the nearest supported rate (or some default rate).
65 The "audiodev" parameter is the device file name (see ossinfo -a) that is
66 used for playback. The input device name doesn't need to be specified.
68 Note that some professional audio devices may be locked to external sampling
69 rate or some fixed rate (defined in ossmix/ossxmis). In such case the rate is
70 not changeable by vmixctl.
73 o vmixctl rate /dev/oss/oss_envy240/pcm0
75 .SH DETACHING VMIX FROM AN AUDIO DEVICE
76 It is possible to detach vmix from an audio device if it causes problems
77 with applications by using "vmix detach audiodev".
79 It is not possible to detach and (re)attach vmix to the same device more
80 than few times. Use the vmix-enable setting in the control panel
81 (ossxmix or ossmix) to disable/re-enable vmix if you need to do it
82 repeatedly. Use vmix detach only if you need to attach virtual mixer using
86 o vmix detach /dev/oss/oss_envy240/pcm0
89 o The control panel elements related with vmix are not removed from the
90 mixer API when vmix is detached. This may be somehow confusing.
93 soundoff(1), soundon(1), ossmix(1), ossxmix(1)