Program stops working when adding new code

Question

I am trying to capture data via ALSA API using this c code:

#define ALSA_PCM_NEW_HW_PARAMS_API

#include <alsa/asoundlib.h>

int main() {
long loops;
int rc;
int size;
snd_pcm_t *handle;
snd_pcm_hw_params_t *params;
unsigned int val;
int dir;
snd_pcm_uframes_t frames;
char *buffer;

/* Open PCM device for recording (capture). */
rc = snd_pcm_open(&handle, "default",
                SND_PCM_STREAM_CAPTURE, 0);
if (rc < 0) {
fprintf(stderr,
        "unable to open pcm device: %s\n",
        snd_strerror(rc));
exit(1);
}

/* Allocate a hardware parameters object. */
snd_pcm_hw_params_alloca(&params);

/* Fill it in with default values. */
snd_pcm_hw_params_any(handle, params);

/* Set the desired hardware parameters. */

/* Interleaved mode */
snd_pcm_hw_params_set_access(handle, params,
                  SND_PCM_ACCESS_RW_INTERLEAVED);

/* Signed 16-bit little-endian format */
snd_pcm_hw_params_set_format(handle, params,
                          SND_PCM_FORMAT_S16_LE);

/* Two channels (stereo) */
snd_pcm_hw_params_set_channels(handle, params, 2);

/* 44100 bits/second sampling rate (CD quality) */
val = 44100;
snd_pcm_hw_params_set_rate_near(handle, params,
                              &val, &dir);

/* Set period size to 32 frames. */
frames = 32;
snd_pcm_hw_params_set_period_size_near(handle,
                          params, &frames, &dir);

/* Write the parameters to the driver */
rc = snd_pcm_hw_params(handle, params);
if (rc < 0) {
fprintf(stderr,
        "unable to set hw parameters: %s\n",
        snd_strerror(rc));
  exit(1);
}

/* Use a buffer large enough to hold one period */
snd_pcm_hw_params_get_period_size(params,
                                  &frames, &dir);
size = frames * 4; /* 2 bytes/sample, 2 channels */
buffer = (char *) malloc(size);

/* We want to loop for 5 seconds */
snd_pcm_hw_params_get_period_time(params,
                                     &val, &dir);
loops = 5000000 / val;

while (loops > 0) {
loops--;
rc = snd_pcm_readi(handle, buffer, frames);
if (rc == -EPIPE) {
  /* EPIPE means overrun */
  fprintf(stderr, "overrun occurred\n");
  snd_pcm_prepare(handle);
} else if (rc < 0) {
  fprintf(stderr,
          "error from read: %s\n",
          snd_strerror(rc));
} else if (rc != (int)frames) {
  fprintf(stderr, "short read, read %d frames\n", rc);
}
rc = write(1, buffer, size);
if (rc != size)
  fprintf(stderr,
          "short write: wrote %d bytes\n", rc);
}

snd_pcm_drain(handle);
snd_pcm_close(handle);
free(buffer);

return 0;
}

So the code actually works, but if I add another loop into the "while (loops > 0)" for example:

int i;
for(i=0;i<128;i++){
printf("I: %i \n", i);
}

the output of the program will be:

unable to set hw parameters: Invalid argument

I really don't understand how a simple loop at the end can affect a program at the beginning? Does anyone know how to fix/prevent that error? Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

The error unable to set hw parameters: Invalid argument is not due to your additional code snippet. The actual reason of error is uninitialized dir variable. To fix that issue, you have to initialize dir properly or pass 0or NULL instead of &dir .