unsigned long flags;
        int ret = 0;
 
-       spin_lock_irqsave(&nuc900_audio->lock, flags);
-
        ret = snd_pcm_lib_malloc_pages(substream, params_buffer_bytes(params));
        if (ret < 0)
                return ret;
 
+       spin_lock_irqsave(&nuc900_audio->lock, flags);
+
        nuc900_audio->substream = substream;
        nuc900_audio->dma_addr[substream->stream] = runtime->dma_addr;
        nuc900_audio->buffersize[substream->stream] =
        struct snd_pcm_runtime *runtime = substream->runtime;
        struct nuc900_audio *nuc900_audio = runtime->private_data;
        unsigned long flags, val;
+       int ret = 0;
 
        spin_lock_irqsave(&nuc900_audio->lock, flags);
 
                AUDIO_WRITE(nuc900_audio->mmio + ACTL_RESET, val);
                break;
        default:
-               return -EINVAL;
+               ret = -EINVAL;
        }
        spin_unlock_irqrestore(&nuc900_audio->lock, flags);
-       return 0;
+       return ret;
 }
 
 static int nuc900_dma_trigger(struct snd_pcm_substream *substream, int cmd)