audioplay(1) on Solnix vs Linux and the BSDs
On Solnix, audioplay is the illumos audioplay at /usr/bin/audioplay. Among the counterparts in the bundle only NetBSD ships audioplay, and its flags differ: -v takes 0 to 255 there but 0 to 100 on Solnix, and the default device and environment variables are different. Linux, FreeBSD and OpenBSD have no counterpart page in the bundle.
The manual pages
- Solnix: audioplay(1) from
pkgs.solnix.illumos-world-man· illumos.org - NetBSD: audioplay(1) 11.0
What Solnix runs
A default Solnix system runs the illumos audioplay at /usr/bin/audioplay. No other variants are shipped. The bundle contains no Linux, FreeBSD or OpenBSD audioplay page, so nothing is claimed about those systems.
Differences
| Compared with | Topic | What differs |
|---|---|---|
| NetBSD | default audio device | Solnix audioplay uses /dev/audio by default. NetBSD uses /dev/sound by default. A script that hard-codes either path will not work on the other system. Source: Solnix audioplay(1) -d; NetBSD audioplay(1) -d |
| NetBSD | environment variables | Solnix reads AUDIODEV for the device and AUDIOPATH for a search path for relative file names. NetBSD documents AUDIODEVICE and AUDIOCTLDEVICE instead, and no search path variable. Source: Solnix audioplay(1) ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES; NetBSD audioplay(1) ENVIRONMENT |
| NetBSD | -v volume range | Solnix -v takes an integer from 0 to 100 and resets the volume to its previous level when audioplay exits. NetBSD -v takes 0 to 255 and the page does not say it restores the level.Source: Solnix audioplay(1) -v; NetBSD audioplay(1) -v |
| NetBSD | -V meaning | On Solnix, -V prints messages on standard error when waiting for the device or when a sample-rate deviation is detected. On NetBSD, -V is documented only as 'Be verbose'. NetBSD -q ('Be quiet') has no Solnix equivalent.Source: Solnix audioplay(1) -V; NetBSD audioplay(1) -V, -q |
| NetBSD | options missing on Solnix | Solnix has no -f, -c, -e, -P or -s to force a format or override channels, encoding, precision and sample rate. It also has no -n (parse only), -b (balance), -B (block size) or -p (output port). Solnix skips files whose header the device cannot match.Source: Solnix audioplay(1) SYNOPSIS, DESCRIPTION; NetBSD audioplay(1) -f, -c, -e, -P, -s, -n, -b, -B, -p |
| NetBSD | help option | Solnix prints usage with -?. NetBSD uses -h. The Solnix SYNOPSIS does not list -h.Source: Solnix audioplay(1) OPTIONS -?; NetBSD audioplay(1) -h |
| NetBSD | standard input handling | Both read standard input when no file is named. Solnix exits with an error if standard input is a tty. The NetBSD page does not describe the tty case. Both require a valid audio file header in the input. Source: Solnix audioplay(1) DESCRIPTION, OPERANDS; NetBSD audioplay(1) DESCRIPTION |
| NetBSD | supported file formats | Solnix documents ADPCM (G.721) mono decompression and limited format conversion, and suggests audioconvert for other formats. NetBSD says it plays Sun/NeXT audio files and RIFF WAVE files, including native-size IEEE floating point WAVE data. The Solnix page does not mention WAVE. Source: Solnix audioplay(1) DESCRIPTION, BUGS; NetBSD audioplay(1) NOTES |
| NetBSD | large files | The Solnix page refers to largefile(7) for behaviour with files of 2 Gbyte or more. The NetBSD page says nothing about large files. Source: Solnix audioplay(1) USAGE; NetBSD audioplay(1) |
Standards
- POSIX: audioplay is not a POSIX.1-2024 utility.
- NetBSD: The HISTORY section says audioplay was first seen in SunOS 5 and first made available in NetBSD 1.4. The page cites no standard.
Writing portable scripts
- Do not rely on audioplay existing everywhere. The bundle shows it only on Solnix (illumos) and NetBSD, and it has no counterpart page for Linux, FreeBSD or OpenBSD.
- Pass the device explicitly with
-d, since the default is /dev/audio on Solnix and /dev/sound on NetBSD, and avoid-vin portable scripts because its range differs (0-100 vs 0-255).
Every difference here is taken from the manual pages linked above: Solnix's published page, Linux (man-pages and the GNU and util-linux manuals), FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Each row names its source. Where a manual is silent, this page is too. Compiled 2026-10-26. Found a mistake? Mail hackers@lists.solnix.io.