Trying to fix audio, gets a black screen

SnakeMcBeefbeef

Dear forum!

Today I heard a static noise when a game was on, (only audible when the game was on, not in the ES menu) then I heard it in every game, just the slightest.

I tried adding audio_pwm_mode=2 to the config but after that I get a black ES menu after booting. I can start games and when I exit, the menu is back fully visible.

The only thing I did was adding the text. Why do I get this issue? Please help!

Thanks!

quicksilver

@SnakeMcBeefbeef are you running audio through the 3.5mm jack? Which game was producing the hiss noise? Can you also post the contents of your config.txt? Sounds like you may have accidentally changed something else.

SnakeMcBeefbeef

@quicksilver
Thanks for the reply!
Yes I’m running sound through the 3.5 jack. I’ve only tried a couple of system... but both mame and neogeo has a slight background noise which is audible in their ”menus”.

I’ve haven’t changed anything else of which I know of, only that last line in the config...!

SnakeMcBeefbeef

The other thing is... I get perfect sound when I successfully get a game on :(

Something in that piece of code makes ES go blank on booting... is it a memory thing?

quicksilver

@SnakeMcBeefbeef post your config anyway. Just so I can be sure. Perhaps you accidentally changed your memory split.

SnakeMcBeefbeef

@quicksilver Theese are the lines which are uncommented:
Disable_overscan=1

dtparam=audio=on
gpu_mem_256=128
gpu_mem_512=256
gpu_mem_1024=256

gpu_mem=320
audio_pwm_mode=2

quicksilver

@SnakeMcBeefbeef can you answer the questions here, probably would help to know your exact setup:
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

And can you copy/paste the exact contents of your config.txt?

SnakeMcBeefbeef

@quicksilver Thanks! It's a pi B+ with retropie 4.2.3.

 GNU nano 2.2.6            File: /boot/config.txt                              
 
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1
 
# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
#hdmi_group=1
#hdmi_mode=1
 
# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2
 
# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4
 
# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2
 
#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800
 
# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on
 
# Uncomment this to enable the lirc-rpi module
#dtoverlay=lirc-rpi
 
# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README
 
# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on
gpu_mem_256=128
gpu_mem_512=256
gpu_mem_1024=256
#overscan_scale=1
gpu_mem=320
audio_pwm_mode=2

SnakeMcBeefbeef

I have updated everything... didn’t work :(
Does the audio=2 code affect the video in someway?

quicksilver

@SnakeMcBeefbeef Have you tried restoring your config.txt back to default? Remove gpu_mem=320 and audio_pwm_mode=2 (<---I found out this is enabled by default nowdays so is unnecessary). Also what you posted above is not a complete config.txt. Is that all that is there or did you only post part of it?

SnakeMcBeefbeef

@quicksilver Thanks for the reply!
The hiss and static is present i ES too... sorry to say.
I think it is all. I copied everything after I typed sudo nano and so on. Is there another way?

The annoying thing is, when I leave the audio=2 in, the audio is perfect... I’m thinking of getting a hdmi splitter instead

quicksilver

@SnakeMcBeefbeef remove audio_pwm_mode=2 and replace with: disable_audio_dither=1
Below is my default config.txt, as you can see the top half of yours is missing.

# For more options and information see
# http://rpf.io/configtxtreadme
# Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
#disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
#hdmi_group=1
#hdmi_mode=1

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

# Uncomment this to enable the lirc-rpi module
#dtoverlay=lirc-rpi

# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on
gpu_mem_256=128
gpu_mem_512=256
gpu_mem_1024=256
#overscan_scale=1

SnakeMcBeefbeef

@quicksilver Thanks!
I have had the dither text in my config before... it makes the audio better but not perfect.

Do you think the missing bit matters?

quicksilver

@SnakeMcBeefbeef If you are having weird issues with ES giving you a black screen then who knows? My recommendation would be revert everything back to when you had it working that way you can figure out what setting got changed that messed everything up.

Edit: Also what is the volume set to in ES?

SnakeMcBeefbeef

@quicksilver Thanks again!
That’s the weird thing... the only thing I’ve changed, is that line at the end.

It’s set att 100

quicksilver

@SnakeMcBeefbeef Back up your config.txt then copy/paste mine in and see if it makes any difference. What theme are you using?

SnakeMcBeefbeef

@quicksilver I pasted it wrong I see now. My config looks like yours when I'm comparing.

I'm using CRT.

quicksilver

@SnakeMcBeefbeef try restoring your config.txt back to default then go to the terminal and run:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

You are on an older version of retropie, makes me wonder if you need to update the underlying packages on your system to their latest version to take advantage of the audio_pwm_mode=2 being enabled by default.

At this point someone more knowledgeable about such things may need to take over as my knowledge on the subject has run its course :)

SnakeMcBeefbeef

@quicksilver Thank you very much for all your efforts. Sorry to say, I have updated everything already, with no luck...

BuZz

@quicksilver Due to the version they are on, they are probably on Raspbian Jessie, which means there won't be anything in the way of firmware updates etc.

@SnakeMcBeefbeef You should back up your configs/roms and start with a fresh image.