Audio randomly working and not working

ConfusedGorgon

Hello, I have a raspberry pi 3 model B running Retropie 4.2, the latest version. I can always hear the clicking noises on the menu when scrolling through games, but about 90% of the time when I launch a game here's no audio.

And the other 10% there's no audio in the games menu but there is audio in the game.
Sometimes audio starts 1-2 minutes after starting a game. I'm using HDMI for the audio and set it to use hdmi. I searched for a solution, and tried

hdmi_drive=2
That did not fix it so I added:
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_force_edid_audio=1

The audio is still randomly working and not working. I checked my tvs menu for any audio settings that might be messing it up but was unable to find any. I'm playing it on a 1080p Insignia tv. I will be trying it on a friends tv tomorrow, but was hoping someone would have a solution? Thanks!

(Edit) the system volume will only save on pcm as the audio device. On stereo and master it goes to 0% after being set to 100%

And I tried another hdmi cable with no results.

pjft

@confusedgorgon I wouldn't rule out it being an actual TV problem. My TV HDMI audio is also unreliable, I need sometimes to switch channels and come back when audio is playing. See if that works.

I know it's not ideal, but search on Google for your TV model and hdmi audio problems. See if it shows something.

In the meantime maybe someone has a different suggestion, but I wouldn't rule it out.

ConfusedGorgon

@pjft Switching inputs fixed it, thanks! It's annoying, but oh well, just my tv I guess.

pjft

@confusedgorgon yeah, I empathize... It's unfortunately a more common affliction than ideal. Glad it's sorted.