diff --git a/pinos/modules/spa/spa-alsa-sink.c b/pinos/modules/spa/spa-alsa-sink.c
index a383f3040..9354f01bb 100644
--- a/pinos/modules/spa/spa-alsa-sink.c
+++ b/pinos/modules/spa/spa-alsa-sink.c
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ on_sink_event (SpaHandle *handle, SpaEvent *event, void *user_data)
       g_debug ("pull ringbuffer %p", buf);
 
       size = buf->size;
-      data = buf->datas[0].data;
+      data = buf->datas[0].ptr;
 
       pinos_ringbuffer_get_read_areas (priv->ringbuffer, areas);
 
diff --git a/pinos/modules/spa/spa-v4l2-source.c b/pinos/modules/spa/spa-v4l2-source.c
index f04546d12..6ac6f1549 100644
--- a/pinos/modules/spa/spa-v4l2-source.c
+++ b/pinos/modules/spa/spa-v4l2-source.c
@@ -200,9 +200,9 @@ on_source_event (SpaHandle *handle, SpaEvent *event, void *user_data)
       pinos_buffer_builder_add_header (&builder, &hdr);
 
       if (b->datas[0].type == SPA_DATA_TYPE_FD) {
-        fd = *((int *)b->datas[0].data);
+        fd = *((int *)b->datas[0].ptr);
       } else {
-        fd = tmpfile_create (source, b->datas[0].data, b->size);
+        fd = tmpfile_create (source, b->datas[0].ptr, b->size);
       }
       p.fd_index = pinos_buffer_builder_add_fd (&builder, fd);
       p.id = pinos_fd_manager_get_id (priv->fdmanager);
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ create_pipeline (PinosSpaV4l2Source *this)
     g_debug ("got get_props error %d", res);
 
   value.type = SPA_PROP_TYPE_STRING;
-  value.value = "/dev/video1";
+  value.value = "/dev/video0";
   value.size = strlen (value.value)+1;
   props->set_prop (props, spa_props_index_for_name (props, "device"), &value);
 
diff --git a/spa/include/spa/buffer.h b/spa/include/spa/buffer.h
index 1540be550..8eff18f50 100644
--- a/spa/include/spa/buffer.h
+++ b/spa/include/spa/buffer.h
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ typedef struct {
 } SpaMetaHeader;
 
 typedef struct {
-  const char *type;
+  const char *ptr_type;
   void       *ptr;
 } SpaMetaPointer;
 
@@ -101,27 +101,34 @@ typedef struct {
 /**
  * SpaDataType:
  * @SPA_DATA_TYPE_INVALID: invalid data type, is ignored
- * @SPA_DATA_TYPE_MEMPTR: data and size point to memory
- * @SPA_DATA_TYPE_FD: data points to an int file descriptor
+ * @SPA_DATA_TYPE_MEMPTR: data and size point to memory accassible by the
+ *                        CPU.
+ * @SPA_DATA_TYPE_FD: data points to an int file descriptor that can be
+ *                    mmapped.
+ * @SPA_DATA_TYPE_POINTER: data points to some other datastructure, the
+ *        type can be found in ptr_type
  */
 typedef enum {
   SPA_DATA_TYPE_INVALID               = 0,
   SPA_DATA_TYPE_MEMPTR,
   SPA_DATA_TYPE_FD,
+  SPA_DATA_TYPE_POINTER,
 } SpaDataType;
 
 /**
  * SpaData:
  * @id: user id
  * @type: the type of data
- * @data: pointer to data or fd
+ * @ptr_type: more info abouut the type of @ptr
+ * @ptr: pointer to data or fd
  * @offset: offset of data
  * @size: size of data
- * @stride: stride of data
+ * @stride: stride of data if applicable
  */
 typedef struct {
   SpaDataType  type;
-  void        *data;
+  const char  *ptr_type;
+  void        *ptr;
   unsigned int offset;
   size_t       size;
   size_t       stride;
diff --git a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-utils.c b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-utils.c
index 3be5dfb03..b427060e2 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-utils.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/alsa/alsa-utils.c
@@ -232,7 +232,8 @@ pull_input (SpaALSASink *this, void *data, snd_pcm_uframes_t frames)
   buffer->meta[0].size = sizeof (buffer->header);
 
   buffer->data[0].type = SPA_DATA_TYPE_MEMPTR;
-  buffer->data[0].data = data;
+  buffer->data[0].ptr = data;
+  buffer->data[0].ptr_type = "sysmem";
   buffer->data[0].size = frames * sizeof (uint16_t) * 2;
 
   this->event_cb (&this->handle, &event,this->user_data);
diff --git a/spa/plugins/audiomixer/audiomixer.c b/spa/plugins/audiomixer/audiomixer.c
index d4a9b583d..36945a531 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/audiomixer/audiomixer.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/audiomixer/audiomixer.c
@@ -548,7 +548,8 @@ pull_port (SpaAudioMixer *this, uint32_t port_id, SpaOutputInfo *info, size_t pu
   buffer->meta[0].size = sizeof (buffer->header);
 
   buffer->data[0].type = SPA_DATA_TYPE_MEMPTR;
-  buffer->data[0].data = buffer->samples;
+  buffer->data[0].ptr = buffer->samples;
+  buffer->data[0].ptr_type = "sysmem";
   buffer->data[0].size = pull_size;
 
   this->event_cb (&this->handle, &event, this->user_data);
@@ -565,11 +566,11 @@ add_port_data (SpaAudioMixer *this, SpaBuffer *out, SpaAudioMixerPort *port)
 
   while (true) {
     if (op == NULL) {
-      op = out->datas[oi].data;
+      op = out->datas[oi].ptr;
       os = out->datas[oi].size;
     }
     if (ip == NULL) {
-      ip = port->buffer->datas[port->buffer_index].data;
+      ip = port->buffer->datas[port->buffer_index].ptr;
       is = port->buffer->datas[port->buffer_index].size;
       ip += port->buffer_offset;
       is -= port->buffer_offset;
diff --git a/spa/plugins/audiotestsrc/audiotestsrc.c b/spa/plugins/audiotestsrc/audiotestsrc.c
index 357835fbc..cb1155933 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/audiotestsrc/audiotestsrc.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/audiotestsrc/audiotestsrc.c
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ spa_audiotestsrc_node_port_pull_output (SpaHandle     *handle,
       continue;
     }
 
-    ptr = info[i].buffer->datas[0].data;
+    ptr = info[i].buffer->datas[0].ptr;
     size = info[i].buffer->datas[0].size;
 
     for (j = 0; j < size; j++)
diff --git a/spa/plugins/v4l2/v4l2-utils.c b/spa/plugins/v4l2/v4l2-utils.c
index 11a8469c5..3f14191bd 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/v4l2/v4l2-utils.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/v4l2/v4l2-utils.c
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ spa_v4l2_import_buffers (SpaV4l2Source *this, SpaBuffer **buffers, uint32_t n_bu
     b->v4l2_buffer.type = V4L2_BUF_TYPE_VIDEO_CAPTURE;
     b->v4l2_buffer.memory = state->memtype;
     b->v4l2_buffer.index = i;
-    b->v4l2_buffer.m.userptr = (unsigned long) b->buffer.datas[0].data;
+    b->v4l2_buffer.m.userptr = (unsigned long) b->buffer.datas[0].ptr;
     b->v4l2_buffer.length = b->buffer.datas[0].size;
 
     v4l2_buffer_free (b);
@@ -542,22 +542,24 @@ mmap_init (SpaV4l2Source *this)
 
       b->dmafd = expbuf.fd;
       b->datas[0].type = SPA_DATA_TYPE_FD;
-      b->datas[0].data = &b->dmafd;
+      b->datas[0].ptr = &b->dmafd;
+      b->datas[0].ptr_type = "dmabuf";
       b->datas[0].offset = 0;
       b->datas[0].size = buf.length;
       b->datas[0].stride = state->fmt.fmt.pix.bytesperline;
     } else {
       b->datas[0].type = SPA_DATA_TYPE_MEMPTR;
-      b->datas[0].data = mmap (NULL,
-                               buf.length,
-                               PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
-                               MAP_SHARED,
-                               state->fd,
-                               buf.m.offset);
+      b->datas[0].ptr_type = "sysmem";
+      b->datas[0].ptr = mmap (NULL,
+                              buf.length,
+                              PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
+                              MAP_SHARED,
+                              state->fd,
+                              buf.m.offset);
       b->datas[0].offset = 0;
       b->datas[0].size = buf.length;
       b->datas[0].stride = state->fmt.fmt.pix.bytesperline;
-      if (b->datas[0].data == MAP_FAILED) {
+      if (b->datas[0].ptr == MAP_FAILED) {
         perror ("mmap");
         continue;
       }
@@ -662,7 +664,7 @@ spa_v4l2_stop (SpaV4l2Source *this)
     if (state->export_buf) {
       close (b->dmafd);
     } else {
-      munmap (b->datas[0].data, b->datas[0].size);
+      munmap (b->datas[0].ptr, b->datas[0].size);
     }
   }
   state->have_buffers = false;
diff --git a/spa/plugins/volume/volume.c b/spa/plugins/volume/volume.c
index 8e41cac2b..ebee9f80b 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/volume/volume.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/volume/volume.c
@@ -520,8 +520,8 @@ spa_volume_node_port_pull_output (SpaHandle      *handle,
       di++;
       continue;
     }
-    src = (uint16_t*) ((uint8_t*)sd->data + soff);
-    dst = (uint16_t*) ((uint8_t*)dd->data + doff);
+    src = (uint16_t*) ((uint8_t*)sd->ptr + soff);
+    dst = (uint16_t*) ((uint8_t*)dd->ptr + doff);
 
     n_bytes = MIN (sd->size - soff, dd->size - doff);
     n_samples = n_bytes / sizeof (uint16_t);
diff --git a/spa/tests/test-v4l2.c b/spa/tests/test-v4l2.c
index 3a1a54090..d3d970a8e 100644
--- a/spa/tests/test-v4l2.c
+++ b/spa/tests/test-v4l2.c
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ on_source_event (SpaHandle *handle, SpaEvent *event, void *user_data)
       b = info[0].buffer;
 
       if (b->metas[1].type == SPA_META_TYPE_POINTER &&
-          strcmp (((SpaMetaPointer*)b->metas[1].data)->type, "SDL_Texture") == 0) {
+          strcmp (((SpaMetaPointer*)b->metas[1].data)->ptr_type, "SDL_Texture") == 0) {
         SDL_Texture *texture;
         texture = ((SpaMetaPointer*)b->metas[1].data)->ptr;
 
@@ -140,7 +140,8 @@ on_source_event (SpaHandle *handle, SpaEvent *event, void *user_data)
           fprintf (stderr, "Couldn't lock texture: %s\n", SDL_GetError());
           return;
         }
-        b->datas[0].data = sdata;
+        b->datas[0].ptr = sdata;
+        b->datas[0].ptr_type = "sysmem";
         b->datas[0].size = sstride * 240;
         b->datas[0].stride = sstride;
       } else {
@@ -148,7 +149,7 @@ on_source_event (SpaHandle *handle, SpaEvent *event, void *user_data)
           fprintf (stderr, "Couldn't lock texture: %s\n", SDL_GetError());
           return;
         }
-        sdata = b->datas[0].data;
+        sdata = b->datas[0].ptr;
         sstride = b->datas[0].stride;
 
         for (i = 0; i < 240; i++) {
@@ -257,7 +258,8 @@ alloc_buffers (AppData *data)
     b->metas[1].size = sizeof (b->ptr);
 
     b->datas[0].type = SPA_DATA_TYPE_MEMPTR;
-    b->datas[0].data = mem;
+    b->datas[0].ptr = mem;
+    b->datas[0].ptr_type = "sysmem";
     b->datas[0].offset = 0;
     b->datas[0].size = stride * 240;
     b->datas[0].stride = stride;