Failed to find mixer elements error after latest system update/upgrade. Kernel bumped to 4.19.118

alruf

@kikeminchas I wonder if something changed in a recent update as my arcade now freezes when I navigate the console menus and I reach Atari. The GUI freezes up and I am forced to reboot via SSH. The only changes I've made recently is to disable onboard audio in config.txt to fix an issue introduced by a recent update that caused the order of my audio cards to keep swapping (HDMI Audio, Headphone audio and usb card audio - latter two kept swapping places). I also overclocked the RPI4 to 1750. I am suspecting either the overclock or some update.

Clyde

@alruf said in Failed to find mixer elements error after latest system update/upgrade. Kernel bumped to 4.19.118:

I also overclocked the RPI4 to 1750. I am suspecting either the overclock or some update.

Just FYI, my Pi 4 wasn't overclocked when it froze reproducibly with Navigation Sounds = on until I applied the workarounds.

kikeminchas

OK, I managed to stop the freezes. First of all, I did another update, kernel and several other packages were updated (including ES) so this is for sure the first thing to do. I started all over again with the config changes. The main difference compared to what I had previously it's that I disabled the compatibility line in cmdline.txt. I then selected headphone as output both in ES and Retropie Audio Tools, rebooted and finally audio working both in ES and games and no freezes.

GreenGriffon

I can confirm similar findings. Today I burned a brand new RetroPie image (the Pi3 one), ran a full update, then loaded a handful of roms with video snaps.
Once the screensaver and/or previews kicked in, I started receiving the "Failed to find mixer elements" error, and the game videos had no sound in ES.
All I had to do was change the audio device to HDMI in ES, reboot, and then the sound was restored.
Clearly something is wrong with the default audio settings (is it PCM?).

Clyde

@GreenGriffon said in Failed to find mixer elements error after latest system update/upgrade. Kernel bumped to 4.19.118:

Clearly something is wrong with the default audio settings (is it PCM?).

See here for a detailed summary of the currently know details and workarounds for this issue by @mitu.

vpelss

These steps worked for me. Pi 4.

snd-bcm2835.enable_compat_alsa=1 in /boot/cmdline.txt
ran emultionstation-setup script and selected Headphones
in emulation station I set:
Audio Card : default
Audio Device : master
Omx Player: Local

No I get sound through my external speakers + I have the mixer working in emulationstation

2Play

For those having same with latest OS Dec updates and Pulse Audio:

go to ES Sound Settings and change from DEFAULT to SYSDEFAULT with PCM

Now sound will be ok and sound bar will work again

Colosso25

@vpelss said in Failed to find mixer elements error after latest system update/upgrade. Kernel bumped to 4.19.118:

These steps worked for me. Pi 4.

snd-bcm2835.enable_compat_alsa=1 in /boot/cmdline.txt

ran emultionstation-setup script and selected Headphones

in emulation station I set:
Audio Card : default
Audio Device : master
Omx Player: Local

No I get sound through my external speakers + I have the mixer working in emulationstation

I registered just to give a heads up to this solution.

I too was affected by the "failed to find mixer elements" nag error before running a rom.
There are a LOT of forum post about this issue, all with different solution with mixed results.

This solution worked for me too on my Pi 3B+
Installed RetroPie on top op Raspian
I want the audio from the headphone jack, not HDMI

snd-bcm2835.enable_compat_alsa=1 in /boot/cmdline.txt
selected Headphones in RetroPie Setup
selected ALSA in Raspi-Config

in emulation station I set:

Audio Card : default
Audio Device : master
Omx Player: ALSA

Clyde

@colosso25 Did you encounter any random "stops" for 1-2 seconds of the system? Because that's what me and some others experienced using the headphone jack. The only solution that we found was to use HDMI sound.

mitu

@clyde This issue seems relevant - https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/4610. Try using audio_pwm_mode=1 in config.txt and see how it works.

Colosso25

@clyde said in Failed to find mixer elements error after latest system update/upgrade. Kernel bumped to 4.19.118:

@colosso25 Did you encounter any random "stops" for 1-2 seconds of the system? Because that's what me and some others experienced using the headphone jack. The only solution that we found was to use HDMI sound.

No, not that I know of. I haven't been testing stuff out at that time. I was looking for a solution to this problem.