Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates (June 2020)

momentarydogma

@mitu This is driving me absolutely batty... I set up the latest version of Retropie (4.6) downloaded directly from the website this morning to install on my 3B+. Upon first boot, I am able to do everything normally, but I have no sound and no matter what option I select from the menu, I get a message saying "failed to find mixer elements". I am using an HDMI monitor with no built-in speakers, so I have a small USB amplifier with a 3.5mm audio jack plugged into the Pi. I have tried everything on this thread and nothing seems to work... adding text to my cmdline.txt file added a few new options to my audio settings (previously it was just HDMI and headphones), but no matter what I select, I still get no sound and the "failed to find mixer elements" message. What am I doing wrong here?

mitu

@momentarydogma Did you set your Audio output from the RetroPie menu ?

VictimRLSH

@mitu said in Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates:

@tendiesaregood The Pi zero W doesn't have an analog jack, just the miniHDMI port, so your sound should be configured with HDMI.

This brings up an interesting question. If I wanted to use a Pi Zero for a portable music player, what is the best way to get good sound from it other than an HDMI connection? Is there a way to output decent sound to GPIO pins that an audio amp chip can use?

mitu

@VictimRLSH said in Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates:

Is there a way to output decent sound to GPIO pins that an audio amp chip can use?

Either via GPIO - there's a plethora of Audio DACs that work like that - or with an external audio card connected via USB.

momentarydogma

@mitu Yes, I have tried every option... at first I had "HDMI", "Headphone", "Sound Mixer" and "Default" none of which worked. When I added the above text to the cmdline.txt file, it expanded to add "Auto" and changed the "Headphone" option to something like "Headphone - 3.5mm". When I select "Sound Mixer" (or whatever it is), it allows me to hit F6 to select my soundcard. Previously, I only had 2-3 options, but now I have six, none of which make any difference.

momentarydogma

I would also add this-- the amp I'm using is only connected to the Pi via 3.5mm audio. It plugs into power on its own, and it works perfectly when I connect it to other devices via the 3.5mm jack. I'm not trying to output to a USB soundcard or anything-- I just want the audio output to go through the headphone jack on the Pi. I have also tried connecting the Pi to other powered speakers and I have the same issue. What is preventing the Pi from sending an audio signal through the headphone jack? Or is that even the problem?

mitu

@momentarydogma Don't modify the cmdline.txt, it shouldn't be needed and you should remove the lines you added.
If you selected the Analog/Headphone audio option in the Audio settings, then in EmulationStation the settings should be Card: Default and Device: Headphone.

momentarydogma

Okay, I removed the lines I added to the cmdline.txt file and selected the Headphone audio option in the Audio settings, then selected "Default" and "Headphone" in the EmulationStation settings. This actually got rid of the "failed to find mixer elements" message temporarily, but it unfortunately did not end up providing any sound... I tried restarting ES to see if that would help, but then the "mixer elements" message just automatically came back. On a whim, I tried selecting HDMI from the Audio settings and the ES settings (even though I'm using the 3.5mm output), but that just resulted in THREE iterations of the "mixer elements error". There is another setting in the ES audio settings titled "OMX Player Audio Device"-- do you have any idea what I should set that to?

mitu

@momentarydogma said in Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates:

This actually got rid of the "failed to find mixer elements" message temporarily, but it unfortunately did not end up providing any sound...

Check the volume - software and hardware.

There is another setting in the ES audio settings titled "OMX Player Audio Device"-- do you have any idea what I should set that to?

Re-read my first post, at the top of the topic.

momentarydogma

@mitu okay, here are the lines from my es_settings.cfg file:

Those seem to match up with your original post-- should I change them to something else? Also, the software volume is currently set to 90%, but sometimes it randomly goes back to 0% upon reboot.

mitu

@momentarydogma The settings are correct.

momentarydogma

@mitu Well, if that's correct, where do I go from here? I have verified that those settings are as they are supposed to be, but I still get the mixer settings error. The only other thing I could point out is that the OMX options also include "ALSA:HW:0,0" and "ALSA:HW:0,1". Does that mean anything? Keep in mind, this is a fully fresh install of Retropie 4.6-- I encountered this problem directly out of the box.

mitu

@momentarydogma said in Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates:

Keep in mind, this is a fully fresh install of Retropie 4.6-- I encountered this problem directly out of the box.

If you haven't updated anything on your image, then the instructions here don't apply, though I outlined the correct settings - before updating - in the first post. You can check if you have the updated kernel/firmware as described in the 1st post.

I have verified that those settings are as they are supposed to be, but I still get the mixer settings error.

Verify that you have the updated kernel/firmware, otherwise the settings you posted above don't apply.

momentarydogma

@mitu The very first thing I did was update the kernel and firmware. I did this before I realized that there was an issue with the audio. The first thing I was attempting to do was to install Attract Mode, and the very first step in the guide for that is to update the kernel and firmware. The first time I saw the "mixer elements" error was when I went into the package management console immediately after I had done those updates. I can also verify that I put in a different SD card with a 4.2 build from a prior setup (different 3B+) and the audio works with no issues. Thanks for all of your help!

mitu

@momentarydogma said in Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates:

The very first thing I did was update the kernel and firmware

This is not what 'out-of-the-box' means.
I advise you to reflash the image, update your system and packages and then re-do the settings for Audio as outlined in the first post. You don't to edit any files, just use RetroPie-Setup and the EmulationStation's settings from its menu.

momentarydogma

That's precisely what I did to begin with... I flashed the image, updated the system and packages, then I came upon this post once I realized that the audio wasn't working properly. I initially used the Retropie setup and configured the ES settings exactly how you described at the beginning of this post, to no avail. The only reason I edited any files was because you recommended doing so in order to revert to the previous audio configuration. But I'll try it again and see if that works. Thanks again!

Idelacio

Since updating my install sound has been working without changing options fine with one exception:
OMX player won't play sound.

No option corrects this and if I try and run a preview of a splash screen video it crashes the system. Video does play on startup though.

When going into the terminal I get the following errors depending on my settings:
Failed to find mixer elements (as above)
amixer: Unable to find simple control 'PCM' ,0 (get this twice)

This is using an updated official image on a Pi4 (4GB
5.4.51-v7+
RP - 4.6.6
ES - 2.9.3

I'm guessing this is part of the same problem though honestly not a massive issue, it's mainly presentation that's affected. If it is not sure there's anything that could be suggested for this other than wait for the general problem to be fixed?

Welp moot anyway because it won't boot into the OS now: rainbow screen of fail! You gotta love it when the raspi-config screws up... still useful to know when I load up the backup image as I believe that's pre update.

Idelacio

This post is deleted!

Idelacio

So after reloading the image and updating it (versions listed above) I now get new errors!

ALSA lib control .c:1375:(snd_ctl_open_noupdate) Invalid CTL hdmi
VolumeControl::init() - Failed to attach to default card!

I have sound across OMX, BG music and games but volume control does not work in the ES menu and the options in teh ES menu for Audio card/device etc are pre update style despite having updated everything.

Idelacio

Okay so started from SCRATCH, joys, and updated the system IMMEDIATELY (after applying wireless settings) and then applied audio settings. Did toss up the errors before setup but now it's working fine for all sound playing functions.