Audio problems on RPI3B

quicksilver

See here https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/26521/latest-update-lvl0-volumecontrol-init-failed-to-find-mixer-elements/3?_=1591315347688

yaksha42

I added "HDMI" to AudioDevice in /configs/all/emulationstation/es_settings.cfg and rebooted but I am still having the same issue.

mitu

The correct settings for EmulationStation would be

Sound Settings > Audio Card > Default
Sound Settings > Audio Device > HDMI (via configuration file)
Sound Settings > OMX Player Audio Device > HDMI

But EmulationStation settings do not influence how emulator's picked the sound card, so that's another story.

Use the Audio menu in RetroPie and set the audio to HDMI, then re-try the audio by in emulators/games.

yaksha42

I made the changes in EmulationStation to match above. The "Invalid CTL hdmi" error went away but I am still getting the "Failed to attach to default card!" error message and the audio is still not working correctly.

mitu

@yaksha42 Did you entered hdmi in the configuration file ? Try to enter it as uppercase - HDMI.

yaksha42

I entered it all in caps when I did the initial change.

yaksha42

I just tried.

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade

And now I have no sound at all. I checked all the configs and everything still seems to be set correctly. It's a fairly new install of RetroPie so maybe it's a good idea to just re-image the SD card and start again?

mitu

Can you run

aplay -l

and post the output ?

yaksha42

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: b1 [bcm2835 HDMI 1], device 0: bcm2835 HDMI 1 [bcm2835 HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 4/4
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
card 1: Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones], device 0: bcm2835 Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones]
Subdevices: 4/4
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
Subdevice #3: subdevice #3

mitu

Ok, so this shows you're using the latest Raspbian updates, which changed the audio setup. If you've chosen HDMI in the Audio menu, then a configuration file should have been created in $HOME/.asoundrc, where HDMI should be set as default audio card. The contents of the file should look like this:

pcm.!default {
  type asym
  playback.pcm {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "output"
  }
  capture.pcm {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "input"
  }
}
pcm.output {
  type hw
  card 0
}
ctl.!default {
  type hw
  card 0
}

If you don't have this file, then update RetroPie-Setup to the latest version and re-configure the Audio menu from in the RetroPie system (not in EmulationStation). Try again and see if your games have sound.

yaksha42

I didn't have the file so I updated the RetroPie-Setup. I configued the Audio menu in RetroPie to be "HDMI 1". I am still getting no sound in any games.

mitu

Does speaker-test produce any sound ? Make sure the volume is up (use alsamixer to check/modify it). If that doesn't work, then I don't think is a software/configuration issue.

yaksha42

I couldn't get speaker-test to work, or aplay. alsamixer had volume.

I ended up just re-imaging the SD card with a fresh copy of RetroPie. This fixed my issue. All ROMs I've played have had appropriate audio.