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MIDI 2.0 now available in OpenWRT

Florian Bomers

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As of November 11, 2025, the OpenWRT distribution has a convenient option to enable MIDI 2.0 support. OpenWRT is an embedded Linux originally created as an open source network router operating system. It is, however, available for a wide range of devices.

Welcome to the OpenWrt Project

The OpenWrt Project is a Linux operating system targeting embedded devices. Instead of trying to create a single, static firmware, OpenWrt provides a fully writable filesystem with package management. This frees you from the application selection and configuration provided by the vendor and allows you to customize the device through the use of packages to suit any application.

For developers, OpenWrt is the framework to build an application without having to build a complete firmware around it; for users this means the ability for full customization, to use the device in ways never envisioned.

See the Table of Hardware for supported devices.

For more information about OpenWrt project organization, see the About OpenWrt pages.
OpenWrt logo featuring a blue and dark blue wireless signal icon next to the words “OpenWrt WIRELESS FREEDOM” in blue text on a white background.

OpenWRT.org

https://openwrt.org/

Leverage MIDI 2.0 in the Linux Kernel

Since version 6.5, the Linux Kernel includes MIDI 2.0 and UMP support via ALSA. Now, when MIDI 2.0 support is selected during creation of the OpenWRT firmware, applications running on OpenWRT will be able to:

  • Use MIDI 2.0 and UMP via ALSA Sound
  • Use the ALSA Sequencer with MIDI 1.0 byte stream or UMP packets
  • Connect USB-MIDI 2.0 devices and use them in their MIDI 2.0 applications
  • use all other MIDI 2.0 features of ALSA, like automatic translation from MIDI 1.0 to MIDI 2.0

How to Enable MIDI 2.0

See here how to enable MIDI 2.0 features during the OpenWRT build:

A computer screen showing a kernel configuration menu for sound support, with the option kmod-sound-midi2 highlighted. Various sound modules are listed with descriptions and selection statuses.
  • use the latest OpenWRT from github
  • in the menu config: go to Kernel Modules, Sound
  • there are three new modules:
    <*> MIDI 2.0 and UMP support
       <*> MIDI 2.0 and UMP support for the Sequencer
       <*> MIDI 2.0 and UMP support for USB-MIDI 2.0
  • Additionally, there is a new option to enable use of more than 8 devices with ALSA (for MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0).

More Information

More information about OpenWRT:
https://openwrt.org

More information about MIDI 2.0 in the Linux kernel (ALSA):
https://docs.kernel.org/6.12/sound/designs/midi-2.0.html

The relevant OpenWRT commit is here:
https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/commit/4daff067d7c2197f9fd7b21577ff7ddcb927063b