RetroFlag with CM4 no audio

rasp_renegade

After all the struggles to get this working, I have yet to get any audio. The case is okay, confirmed since at first as I installed RecallBox and heard it. Quickly wiped it because I didnt like that OS at all. Waited to get a USB-C adapter so I could try the following steps, but still no luck.

/usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf
change the following two lines from:
defaults.ctl.card 0
defaults.pcm.card 0
to
defaults.ctl.card 1
defaults.pcm.card 1

/boot/config.txt

changed
from dtparam=audio=off
to dtparam=audio=on

Now I am not entirely sure what the sound settings in EmulationStation are supposed to be since I swapped them around so much

Specs:
RetroPie 4.8 (RPI 4/400) through Raspberry Pi Imager v1.72
CM4 #CM4108032

G30FF

@rasp_renegade Did you install the safe shutdown script from RetroFlag? The script comes with an alsa configuration file that it installs, along with the updated config.txt files.

On my GPi Case 2, I use the following sound settings in ES and I get sound:

Audio Card: Default
Audio Device: Speaker
OMX Player Audio Device: ALSA

I do not get sound on my splash screen video on handheld, but everything else works.

As an aside, you should consider adding this to your install: https://www.reddit.com/r/retroflag_gpi/comments/c176wg/sound_fix_for_gpi_mono_sound_link_inside/ The onboard sound card in the case is for stereo sound, but only the right channel is wired up, so games with stereo sound will sound wrong without this script.

rasp_renegade

@G30FF said in RetroFlag with CM4 no audio:

@rasp_renegade Did you install the safe shutdown script from RetroFlag? The script comes with an alsa configuration file that it installs, along with the updated config.txt files.

On my GPi Case 2, I use the following sound settings in ES and I get sound:

Audio Card: Default
Audio Device: Speaker
OMX Player Audio Device: ALSA

I do not get sound on my splash screen video on handheld, but everything else works.

As an aside, you should consider adding this to your install: https://www.reddit.com/r/retroflag_gpi/comments/c176wg/sound_fix_for_gpi_mono_sound_link_inside/ The onboard sound card in the case is for stereo sound, but only the right channel is wired up, so games with stereo sound will sound wrong without this script.

I went back through the patch and the shutdown script process. Here is how I did it according to the readme file in the GPiCase2-Script-main folder

-Ran RPIBOOOT
-Copied GPi_Case2_patch_retropie folder to /boot/
-Launched in Windows /boot/GPi_Case2_patch_retropie/install.bat
-From the terminal ran the safe shutdown script
wget -O - "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RetroFlag/GPiCase2-Script/main/retropie_install_gpi2.sh" | sudo bash

-Verified in ES
Audio Card: Default
Audio Device: Speaker
OMX Player Audio Device: ALSA

Still no sound. Can I have your config.txt?

G30FF

@rasp_renegade I forgot there was one more thing I had to do. The RetroPie image's default audio settings do not work with the GPi case and need to be reset.

In the Retroflag config.txt, you'll find a setting dtparam=audio=off. Comment that out and reboot. The config.txt reports that there is no onboard audio, and without this enabled we will not be able to reset the audio settings.
Go into the RetroPie's Config menu in ES and select Audio.
Select the "Reset to default" option
Exit the audio settings menu
Edit config.txt and uncomment the dtparam line.
Reboot

That should hopefully do the trick for you.

rasp_renegade

@G30FF said in RetroFlag with CM4 no audio:

@rasp_renegade I forgot there was one more thing I had to do. The RetroPie image's default audio settings do not work with the GPi case and need to be reset.

In the Retroflag config.txt, you'll find a setting dtparam=audio=off. Comment that out and reboot. The config.txt reports that there is no onboard audio, and without this enabled we will not be able to reset the audio settings.

Go into the RetroPie's Config menu in ES and select Audio.

Select the "Reset to default" option

Exit the audio settings menu

Edit config.txt and uncomment the dtparam line.

Reboot

That should hopefully do the trick for you.

I deleted dtparam=audio=off from config.txt (confirmed)
Rebooted and get the following output when selecting Audio in the RetroPie menu inside ES

I get the same results with or without that audio setting in config.txt.
Is this something I could have done?

G30FF

@rasp_renegade Try reverting the changes you made to alsa.conf. Your message specifically says it cannot find card 1.

rasp_renegade

@G30FF

I reverted the lines in alsa.conf but get the same. The output of errors in the shell have stopped though

G30FF

@rasp_renegade Have you tried through the dock? The only other ALSA setting change I've made is this: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/29888/no-sound-in-ports/2?_=1658496742604

rasp_renegade

@G30FF

I created a new file in /home/pi called "alsoftrc". The system will not allow me to name it ".alsoftrc". I have the error still if I got the name right.

Yes, audio can be heard when plugged into the dock.

G30FF

@rasp_renegade You'll need to use vi on the terminal to create the file, because starting a file with a . means it's a hidden file.

Can you reset audio settings while it's plugged into the dock?

rasp_renegade

@G30FF

Not sure what happened but I went to try that from the dock, but the pi would not boot "config.txt does not exist". So I ran the patch to get it back, but now I cannot run the safe shutdown script to get back to the dock.

See attacked. This keeps scrolling on the screen so I cannot even type or use up arrow to get to the command. How do I make that stop?

G30FF

@rasp_renegade I have no idea what you've done here. You might have changed the permissions on the files, or otherwise broken the configuration. Check that the files in /boot are owned by the same user as the rest of the files. Worst case scenario you will need to reinstall RetroPie.

rasp_renegade

@G30FF

Those errors went away. I was able to set Audio to default from ES, but now I cannot connect to install the shutdown script. "404 not found" when running the command. I am able to ping 8.8.8.8 so I have internet
"wget -O - "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RetroFlag/GPiCase2-Script/main/retropie_install_gpi2.sh" | sudo bash"

Fix one thing and another breaks. =/ I will try later since they may have issues on the website. The page loads in a browser on Windows.

rasp_renegade

@G30FF

Is the safe shutdown script responsible for making the display on the retroflag work? Here is the process I think I followed previously, but no luck this time.

Install the patch from https://github.com/RetroFlag/GPiCase2-Script/raw/main/GPi_Case2_patch.zip
Press F4 when docked and run the command for the script, wget -O - "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/RetroFlag/GPiCase2-Script/main/retropie_install_gpi2.sh" | sudo bash

The script installed without errors.

EctoOne

As far as I know, the config.txt file from the patch zip makes the screen work. And the safeshutdown script checks if the dock is used or not and then replaces the original config with either the lcd or hdmi variant.

And for me the installation of the shutdown script fixed the audio problem.

Here is what I did (using a different Pi):

Flashed the image
Manually copied the three config files to the new boot partition (/boot)
Started Retropie for the first time and configured WiFi and enabled SSH.
After an reboot, I used ssh to connect and ran the safeshutdown install command.

Then sound was working for me. I added my own way later to switch between Speaker (Mono) and Headphones (Stereo) later, which was already mentioned somewhere in here. I don't know why you're having so much trouble.

rasp_renegade

@EctoOne said in RetroFlag with CM4 no audio:

I don't know why you're having so much trouble.

If you were to read my many posts here from over the years you will find that technology hates me. LOL AND Ive been in IT for about 20 years!!!

Thanks, I will review my process and see what I missed. Frustrating when I got the display to work twice before and now nothing.

EctoOne

@rasp_renegade I believe it also matters if you use the dock from the beginning or not. Sadly I personally don't have the dock myself. I only had the chance to get a bundle of the Case and a CM4 a few weeks ago. But since the shutdown script does swap out the different config files, it is kinda necessary to do the initial installation without the dock. But I'm not sure about that and obviously can't test it.

rasp_renegade

@EctoOne

I must have had the wrong patch somehow. I downloaded again and copied to the boot folder and ran from Windows and got the LCD to work again.

I booted up connected to the dock.
Went to Retropie-Audio from EmulationStation, and selected Reset to default.
Rebooted un-docked.
Returned to Retropie-Audio from EmulationStation and I still get "On-board audio disabled or not present".

I have another retroflag here that I need to return. I verified it also has the same issue. How am I supposed the configure the audio?

EctoOne

@rasp_renegade Hmm, I've only messed around with the sound options before I installed the shutdown script because it had no audio before that.

My current settings are:

Audio Card = Default
Audio Device = Speaker
Navigation and Video Sounds = Off
OMX Device = Both

rasp_renegade

@EctoOne

OMG! I reimaged and the same exact thing. Did just the basics as you suggested and in ES under RetroPie-Audio there was the message, "On board audio disabled or not present"

BUT, I played with the settings in ES and selecting Headphones, and the sound works.!!! With or without plugging in the headphones. ???? I nearly crapped my pants when I first hear audio play. LOL

I think I tried that option before I wiped it, but I guess I will never know. Thank you so much @G30FF and @EctoOne for your support.