How to Install alsa-base package on Ubuntu?

Last Updated : 14 Jul, 2022

Simply ALSA is made up of two parts: a kernel API that allows higher-level sound servers and apps to access your sound card, and a userspace library that provides more generic functionality (like effects, mixing, routing, etc.)In terms of the kernel API, there is no method to “replace” ALSA. OSS (Open Sound System) was previously available, however, it has been deprecated for nearly 20 years. The same cannot be said for ALSA’s userspace library, which is replaceable.A sound server will be placed between ALSA and your apps. These are often PulseAudio (for simple and automatic audio), JACK (for professional-grade low-latency audio), or PipeWire (for any use case, but is still experimental). A sound server is not required because apps can directly output sound to ALSA, however, some applications will make use of a sound server’s API and thus require it to be present in order to produce sound. Most notably, Firefox does not directly support ALSA and instead uses the PulseAudio API, mandating the use of PulseAudio (or a compatibility layer) as well.

On Ubuntu 20.04, there are three options for installing abs-guide. Apt-get, apt, and aptitude are all available. Each strategy will be described in detail in the following sections. You may select any of them.

Using apt-get to install
Using aptitude to install
Using apt to install

Method 1: Using the apt-get command

Step 1: Using the following command, update the apt database using apt-get.

sudo apt-get update

Step 2: After upgrading the apt database, we can use apt-get to install abs-guide by performing the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install alsa-base

Method 2: Using apt-get

Step 1: The following command will update the apt database.

sudo apt update

Step 2: After upgrading the apt database, we can use apt to install abs-guide by performing the following command:

sudo apt -y install alsa-base

Method 3: Using aptitude

Step 1: If you want to use this method, you may need to install aptitude first because it is not normally installed by default on Ubuntu. Use the following command to update the apt database with aptitude.