Setting Up Shairport-Sync for AirPlay on Linux ThinkPads

This repository contains a detailed guide to enable AirPlay audio streaming on Linux ThinkPads using the Realtek ALC257 codec with ALSA only, bypassing PulseAudio or PipeWire. It focuses on building and configuring Shairport-Sync to achieve direct AirPlay audio playback.

Features

• Step-by-step instructions to fix ALSA sound device recognition issues on ThinkPads with Realtek ALC257.
• Building Shairport-Sync from source with ALSA, Avahi, and SSL support.
• Minimal configuration example for Shairport-Sync tailored to ALSA output.

Tech Stack

• Shell scripting
• ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture)
• Shairport-Sync (AirPlay audio receiver)
• Avahi (mDNS/DNS-SD service discovery)
• OpenSSL

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 24.04 or later with kernel 6.8 or newer
• ThinkPad laptop with Realtek ALC257 audio codec

Installation

Run the install script to set up dependencies and build Shairport-Sync:

./install.sh

Alternatively, follow manual steps:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential git autoconf automake libtool libdaemon-dev libpopt-dev libconfig-dev libasound2-dev avahi-daemon libavahi-client-dev libssl-dev sox

git clone https://github.com/mikebrady/shairport-sync.git
cd shairport-sync
autoreconf -fi
./configure --with-alsa --with-avahi --with-ssl=openssl --with-soxr
make
sudo make install

Configuration

Create or modify /usr/local/etc/shairport-sync.conf with minimal settings:

general = {
  name = "ThinkPad-AirPlay";
  mdns_backend = "avahi";
  diagnostics = { log_verbosity = 2; };
};
alsa = {
  output_device = "plughw:0,0";
  use_mmap = "no";
  output_format = "S16";
};

Running

Start Shairport-Sync:

shairport-sync

Project Structure

• index.md: The main blog post explaining the problem, solution, and setup.
• install.sh: Shell script to automate dependency installation and Shairport-Sync build.

Future Work / Roadmap

• Expand support to other ThinkPad models and codecs.
• Add troubleshooting section for common ALSA and Shairport-Sync issues.
• Automate configuration generation based on detected hardware.
• Explore integration with PipeWire or PulseAudio once ALSA issues are resolved.