Re: Tragic State of FreeBSD Audio/Sound

Mario Marietto <[email protected]> Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:16:38 +0200
Newsgroups gmane.os.freebsd.stable
Message-ID <CA+1FSih=zVZnGTryos6WvH_BzmyEw+TJeJ0Vx8jFd_83hEtFrA@mail.gmail.com>
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>Hi, afaik there is a huge rework of the sound subsystem in progress,
sponsored >by the FreeBSD foundation. But this should have been merged in
one commit and >not in small steps, because changes seem deep. I personally
fix the MIDI part so >that it is working on FreeBSD 13.x, but I don't know
what changes will be merged/>have been merged because the rework is now
massive.

Is that code valid also for ARM64 bit ?

On Mon, Jul 20, 2026 at 2:06=E2=80=AFPM np <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi, afaik there is a hudge rework of the sound subsystem in progress,
> sponsored by the FreeBSD foundation. But this should have been merged in
> one commit and not in small steps, because changes seem deep. I personall=
y
> fix the MIDI part so that it is working on FreeBSD 13.x, but I don't know
> what changes will be merged/have been merged because the rework is now
> massive.
>
> At worst, waiting until this job is achieved, you can take the code under
> sys/sound from FreeBSD 13.x and use it under 15.0, with minor tweaks in t=
he
> source tree.
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Le 20 juillet 2026 02:04:25 GMT+02:00, vermaden <[email protected]> a
> =C3=A9crit :
>
>> Hi.
>>
>> For a start lets define some TERMS. I use UPPERCASE not to shout - but t=
o underline a part of the sentence that is needed to be underlined - this i=
s plain email - I do not have Bold/Underscore/Italic options - keep that in=
 mind - now - to the core of the issue ...
>>
>> I always considered FreeBSD OSS audio/sound subsystem superior to all AL=
SA/PulseAudio/PipeWire and other dramas from the Linux world ... but not an=
ymore.
>>
>> Somewhere between 14.3-RELEASE and 14.4-RELEASE things begin to get brok=
en - I thought that upgrade to latest and greatest 15.1-RELEASE would solve=
 my issues - as there were LOTS of sound/audio related things.
>>
>> I will not even start about PITA syntax of mixer(1) which went into this=
:
>>
>> % mixer -f ${DEV} vol.volume=3D+0.05
>>
>> ... from MUCH MORE friendly syntax.
>>
>> But these random 'boozing' sounds are just unacceptable ... and I can no=
t even tell where they came from ... is it OSS problem? Is is PulseAudio pr=
oblem? Something in between? Because there is NOTHING in the logs for audio=
.
>>
>> Its also possible to get that file from my personal 'mediafire.com' acco=
unt here:
>> - https://mediafire.com/file/jw3cpk8g77rvks2/freebsd-tragic-audio-sound.=
mp4/file
>>
>> ... and its not some fancy laptop from yesterday ... its a ThinkPad T480=
 from 2018 for fuck sake - hardware like that used to run smooth as Carlos =
Sainz 'smooth operator' in Singapore GP ... but not anymore.
>>
>> I do not even know what to add here ... its a message send our of despai=
r ... as newer releases only made these things worse ... I have been repeat=
ing this over and over again - but its again probably the issue that 'too l=
ess' FreeBSD developers use FreeBSD as their daily driver/desktop/laptop sy=
stem.
>>
>> Sorry to disappoint.
>>
>> Regards,
>> vermaden
>>
>>
>>

--=20
Mario.

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div>&gt;Hi, afaik there is a huge rework of the sound sub=
system in progress,=20
sponsored &gt;by the FreeBSD foundation. But this should have been merged i=
n
 one commit and &gt;not in small steps, because changes seem deep. I=20
personally fix the MIDI part so &gt;that it is working on FreeBSD 13.x, but=
 I
 don&#39;t know what changes will be merged/&gt;have been merged because th=
e=20
rework is now massive.</div><div><br></div><div>Is that code valid also for=
 ARM64 bit ?</div></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container=
"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Mon, Jul 20, 2026 at 2:06=E2=80=
=AFPM np &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">dev@nicolas-provost.=
fr</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margi=
n:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex=
"><div><div dir=3D"auto">Hi, afaik there is a hudge rework of the sound sub=
system in progress, sponsored by the FreeBSD foundation. But this should ha=
ve been merged in one commit and not in small steps, because changes seem d=
eep. I personally fix the MIDI part so that it is working on FreeBSD 13.x, =
but I don&#39;t know what changes will be merged/have been merged because t=
he rework is now massive.<br><br>At worst, waiting until this job is achiev=
ed, you can take the code under sys/sound from FreeBSD 13.x and use it unde=
r 15.0, with minor tweaks in the source tree.<br><br>Regards,</div><br><br>=
<div class=3D"gmail_quote"><div dir=3D"auto">Le 20 juillet 2026 02:04:25 GM=
T+02:00, vermaden &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_bla=
nk">[email protected]</a>&gt; a =C3=A9crit :</div><blockquote class=3D"gm=
ail_quote" style=3D"margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,=
204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<pre><div dir=3D"auto">Hi.<br><br>For a start lets define some TERMS. I use=
 UPPERCASE not to shout - but to underline a part of the sentence that is n=
eeded to be underlined - this is plain email - I do not have Bold/Underscor=
e/Italic options - keep that in mind - now - to the core of the issue ...<b=
r><br>I always considered FreeBSD OSS audio/sound subsystem superior to all=
 ALSA/PulseAudio/PipeWire and other dramas from the Linux world ... but not=
 anymore.<br><br>Somewhere between 14.3-RELEASE and 14.4-RELEASE things beg=
in to get broken - I thought that upgrade to latest and greatest 15.1-RELEA=
SE would solve my issues - as there were LOTS of sound/audio related things=
.<br><br>I will not even start about PITA syntax of mixer(1) which went int=
o this:<br><br>% mixer -f ${DEV} vol.volume=3D+0.05<br><br>... from MUCH MO=
RE friendly syntax.<br><br>But these random &#39;boozing&#39; sounds are ju=
st unacceptable ... and I can not even tell where they came from ... is it =
OSS problem? Is is PulseAudio problem? Something in between? Because there =
is NOTHING in the logs for audio.<br><br>Its also possible to get that file=
 from my personal &#39;<a href=3D"http://mediafire.com" target=3D"_blank">m=
ediafire.com</a>&#39; account here:<br>- <a href=3D"https://mediafire.com/f=
ile/jw3cpk8g77rvks2/freebsd-tragic-audio-sound.mp4/file" target=3D"_blank">=
https://mediafire.com/file/jw3cpk8g77rvks2/freebsd-tragic-audio-sound.mp4/f=
ile</a><br><br>... and its not some fancy laptop from yesterday ... its a T=
hinkPad T480 from 2018 for fuck sake - hardware like that used to run smoot=
h as Carlos Sainz &#39;smooth operator&#39; in Singapore GP ... but not any=
more.<br><br>I do not even know what to add here ... its a message send our=
 of despair ... as newer releases only made these things worse ... I have b=
een repeating this over and over again - but its again probably the issue t=
hat &#39;too less&#39; FreeBSD developers use FreeBSD as their daily driver=
/desktop/laptop system.<br><br>Sorry to disappoint.<br><br>Regards,<br>verm=
aden<br><br><br></div></pre></blockquote></div></div></blockquote></div><di=
v><br clear=3D"all"></div><br><span class=3D"gmail_signature_prefix">-- </s=
pan><br><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_signature">Mario.<br></div>

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