No in-game sound after the Dec 2020 Raspberry Pi OS updates

stsp

As another data point, this Pi OS update also breaks sound on RPI Zero W in combination with the Retroflag GPi Case. Note that this setup requires sound to be routed over GPIO 18/19 via device tree modifications (see http://download.retroflag.com). Video is also going out over GPIO and fortunately this part still works.

It looks like there is no audio device present at all in the running system. E.g. raspi-config's sound settings menu errors out saying there is no sound device. I have done some digging but couldn't find a solution yet.

This was still working fine on the RetroPie v4.7.1 image.

There is this error reported in dmesg, which might be related:

[   15.780886] pinctrl-bcm2835 20200000.gpio: pin gpio18 already requested by 20200000.gpio; cannot claim for 2020c000.pwm
[   15.780916] pinctrl-bcm2835 20200000.gpio: pin-18 (2020c000.pwm) status -22
[   15.780958] bcm2835-pwm 2020c000.pwm: Error applying setting, reverse things back
[   15.781013] bcm2835-pwm: probe of 2020c000.pwm failed with error -22

Ekstreme

@stsp Did you managed to get anywhere with this? I'm having the same issues after the update

nhand42

@ekstreme Add this to the first line in /boot/cmdline.txt

snd_bcm2835.enable_hdmi=1 snd_bcm2835.enable_headphones=1 snd_bcm2835.enable_compat_alsa=1

This will mimic the old audio which changed in May 2020. The new audio is more sensible but incompatible with the Retroflag GPI device-tree overlays.

And if you've upgraded you probably need to reinstall http://download.retroflag.com/Products/GPi_Case/GPi_Case_patch.zip to use their custom overlays.

Ekstreme

@nhand42 said in No in-game sound after the Dec 2020 Raspberry Pi OS updates:

snd_bcm2835.enable_hdmi=1 snd_bcm2835.enable_headphones=1 snd_bcm2835.enable_compat_alsa=1

Thank you so much! I have audio at boot up and in emulationstation now but still not in any games. It's certainly progress

nhand42

@ekstreme Depends on the emulator but for example with libretro cores run this

sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_Setup.sh

Then navigate Configuration -> configedit -> Advanced Configuration -> Configure libretro options -> all/retroarch/retroarch.cfg -> audiodriver. Make sure it's set to alsathread. There are per-core configs like arcade/retroarch.cfg where you can also set audiodriver to alsathread.

Ekstreme

@nhand42 My last issue was actually the known bug in gambatte-libretro.

It has been fixed so I recompiled from source and now I'm up and running! Thanks for all your help

arciemaps

Having a similar issue after updating my Raspbian. Tried all suggestions here without any luck. Am running

RetroPie 4.7.7
Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) Release 10

Settings:
SYSTEM VOLUME 100%
AUDIO CARD: HW
AUDIO DEVICE: HDMI
OMX PLAYER AUDIO DEVICE: HDMI

The main menu and videos I play have sound, but all games are silent (i.e. no sound). I went to Options > System Tools > Audio Settings > HDMI 1

However, using raspi-config from Emu Station, > System Options > Audio , I can't see an HDMI option. I only see USB Audio and Headphones. I checked the /boot/config.txt and hdmi_drive=2 is set. Any tips on how to resolve this? tnx

mitu

@arciemaps What games in particular don't have sound ? Did you modify any of the RetroArch's audio settings ?

arciemaps

@mitu hello, at first, I also added this to /boot/cmdline.txt

snd_bcm2835.enable_hdmi=1 snd_bcm2835.enable_headphones=1 snd_bcm2835.enable_compat_alsa=1

But i removed it after. I followed the steps as discussed in an older/similar thread but didn't get any luck. Note that I always reboot everytime I made changes.

Games tested:
Gun Smoke (arcade)
Street Fighter (arcade)

I don't remember changing anything on the RetroArch. What I usually do is, after I have reimaged the SD card, I load it and then test it. Then shutdown, boot it up, and then update the Raspi (i.e. sudo apt-get update, etc). It is always after getting the latest Raspbian update that I will lost all audio (this is my 3rd try, as I always reimage my SD after I changed is so many times). I wanted to use my old image, but with the latest OS/Retro patches/version. If there is something I need to change, I'd appreciate if you can point me there, I can always get a fresh image going for troubleshooting.

mitu

@arciemaps The old topic you mentioned is still relevant. You don't need to modify any file and I wouldn't recommend it. Update and follow the advice there - including the settings you need to apply after update.
RetroArch uses by whatever audio output is set as default, so if EmulationStation works with the default audio card, so should RetroArch.

arciemaps

@mitu ok, i will do just that. i will have my old image restored, update the OS and retropie, then follow the instructions in the previous thread.