[LAU] Specifying sample format in ALSA

[Iain Mott]

Please ignore, a solution arrived on the Arch Linux Arm forum. A tiny 
change to /boot/config.txt meant that there is no need to adjust the 
ALSA config. See:

https://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=15231&p=66234#p66234


On 19/03/2021 14:14, Iain Mott wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I'm using Arch Linux (AArch64) for the first time on a Raspberry Pi 4. 
> I need to use HDMI sound and the first HDMI port on the pi is card 0. 
> If I try to use aplay to play a sound file it prints:
>
> aplay: set_params:1343: Sample format non available
> Available formats:
> - IEC958_SUBFRAME_LE
>
> I find that I can play audio through HDMI by specifying the sample 
> format. eg.
>
> aplay -D iec958 mysound.wav
>
> What I'm stuck with is trying to configure ALSA to make this 
> specification. I've tried the following in my ~/.asoundrc
>
> pcm.!default {
>         type plug
>         slave {
>               pcm "hw:0,0"
>               format IEC958_SUBFRAME_LE
> }
> }
>
> While this produces no Alsa syntax errors when I use aplay, it still 
> won't play the audio and prints:
>
> Playing WAVE 'wav48k.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 
> Hz, Stereo
> aplay: set_params:1343: Sample format non available
> Available formats:
> - IEC958_SUBFRAME_LE
>
> Can anyone please help?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Iain
>
>
>
-- 
________
Iain Mott
https://escuta.org