AlexxIT/go2rtc · error

alsa: unknown path

Error message

alsa: unknown path: %s

What it means

Open determined the device path is neither a playback ('p' suffix) nor capture ('c' suffix) ALSA node, so it cannot choose a producer type. The device was opened and format-checked successfully but is closed again and rejected; the input path at fault is included in the message.

Solutions

1. Use a standard ALSA path ending with the direction letter, e.g. hw:0,0p for playback or hw:0,0c for capture
2. Verify the device name with aplay -l / arecord -l

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at pkg/alsa/open_linux.go:43 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of AlexxIT/go2rtc@c245815e75 (2026-09-07). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6c98111801f1c3ff. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at pkg/alsa/open_linux.go:43

	dev, err := device.Open(path)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	if !dev.CheckFormat(device.SNDRV_PCM_FORMAT_S16_LE) {
		_ = dev.Close()
		return nil, errors.New("alsa: format S16LE not supported")
	}

	switch path[len(path)-1] {
	case 'p': // playback
		return newPlayback(dev)
	case 'c': // capture
		return newCapture(dev)
	}

	_ = dev.Close()
	return nil, fmt.Errorf("alsa: unknown path: %s", path)
}

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