Shairport Sync on FreeBSD using `sndio` ---- Shairport Sync runs natively on FreeBSD using the `sndio` back end, thanks to the work of [Tobias Kortkamp (t6)](https://github.com/t6). [`sndio`](http://www.sndio.org) is *"a small audio and MIDI framework part of the OpenBSD project and ported to FreeBSD, Linux and NetBSD"* developed by Alexandre Ratchov (see also [this paper](http://www.openbsd.org/papers/asiabsdcon2010_sndio.pdf) for more details). This is an initial note about installing Shairport Sync on FreeBSD. The build instructions here install back ends both for `sndio` and ALSA. ALSA is, or course, the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture, so it is not "native" to FreeBSD, but has been ported to some architectures under FreeBSD. General ---- This build was done on a default build of `FreeBSD 11.0-RELEASE-p9`. First, update everything: ``` # freebsd-update fetch # freebsd-update install ``` Next, install the `pkg` package manager and update its lists: ``` # pkg # pkg update ``` Subsystems ---- Install the Avahi subsystem. FYI, `avahi-app` is chosen because it doesn’t require X11. `nss_mdns` is included to allow FreeBSD to resolve mDNS-originated addresses – it's not actually needed by Shairport Sync. Thanks to [reidransom](https://gist.github.com/reidransom/6033227) for this. ``` # pkg install avahi-app nss_mdns ``` Add these lines to `/etc/rc.conf`: ``` dbus_enable="YES" avahi_daemon_enable="YES" ``` Next, change the `hosts:` line in `/etc/nsswitch.conf` to ``` hosts: files dns mdns ``` Reboot for these changes to take effect. Building ---- Install the packages that are needed for Shairport Sync to be downloaded and built successfully: ``` # pkg install git autotools pkgconf popt libconfig openssl sndio alsa-utils ``` Omit `alsa-utils` if you're not using ALSA. Likewise, omit `sndio` if you don't intend to use the `sndio` subsystem. Now, download Shairport Sync from GitHub: ``` $ git clone https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync.git $ cd shairport-sync ``` Next, configure the build and compile it: ``` $ autoreconf -i -f ./configure --with-avahi --with-ssl=openssl --with-alsa --with-sndio --with-os=freebsd --with-freebsd-service $ make ``` Omit `--with-alsa` if you don't want to include the ALSA back end. Omit the `--with-sndio` if you don't want the `sndio` back end. Omit the `--with-freebsd-service` if you don't want to install a FreeBSD startup script, runtime folder and user and group -- see below for more details. Installation ---- Enter the superuser mode and do a `make install`: ``` $ su # make install ``` With the `./configure` options shown above, this will install the `shairport-sync` program along with a sample configuration file at `/usr/local/etc/shairport-sync.conf`. A service startup script will also be installed to launch Shairport Sync as a daemon. In addition, a `shairport-sync` user and group will be added and a directory will be created at `/var/run/shairport-sync` owned by the user `shairport-sync`. This will be used to hold the daemon's PID file. Finally, edit `/usr/local/etc/shairport-sync.conf` to customise your installation, e.g. service name, etc. To make the `shairport-sync` daemon load at startup, add the following line to `/etc/rc.conf`: ``` shairport_sync_enable="YES" ``` You can launch the service as superuser, or simply reboot the machine. Using the `sndio` backend ---- The `sndio` back end does not yet have a hardware volume control facility. You should set the volume to maximum before use, using, for example, the `mixer` command described below. Setting Overall Volume ---- The `mixer` command can be used for setting the output device's volume settings. You may have to experiment to figure out which settings are appropriate. ``` $ mixer vol 100 # sets overall volume ``` If you've installed `alsa-utils`, then `alsamixer` and friends will also be available.