Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates (June 2020)

mitu

@XEntombmentX I can't think of anything else - I would have said to check if the volume is muted, but if it works in games, then it shouldn't be necessary.

XEntombmentX

@mitu Huh, I changed my theme and back again and it's working fine now. That's strange, but hey, I'm just glad it works :D

kactius

HI everyone:
Pi Model :(2B, pi3, pi3b+)
Power Supply used: official
RetroPie Version Used : retropie-buster-4.6-rpi2_rpi3 update retropie setup script to 4.6.8 last commit 5days ago 0ce9f214
Emulationstation by source V2.9.3RP
Kernel: 5.4.68-v7+
Built From: RetroPie website, and update by me hand retropie setup, packages and system.
Raspi-config 20200902
I have a strange change that I can't understand how to change it or understand what it can affect
By the moment.... I just have no sound when I change resolution from 1920 to a lower resolution and/or when change audio menu options in emulationstation
Attention to : kernel version and Subdevices: 3/4
Working in hdmi :
Audio Card: Default
Audio Device: HDMI
OMX Audio Device: ALSA
Change to headphone lost all sound.

Symptoms include:
Error messages showing when a game is launched (lvl0: VolumeControl::init() - Failed to find mixer elements).
Sound missing in EmulationStation and/or games.
System Volume slider stuck at 0% in EmulationStation's Sound settings.
Other Symptoms:
In ocassions is imposible to restart system...

5.4.68-v7+
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: b1 [bcm2835 HDMI 1], device 0: bcm2835 HDMI 1 [bcm2835 HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 3/4
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
card 1: Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones], device 0: bcm2835 Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones]
  Subdevices: 4/4
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3

By the moment only find a solution downgrade kernel from 5.4.68-v7+ to 5.4.51-v7+
sudo apt update
sudo apt install --reinstall libraspberrypi0 libraspberrypi-{bin,dev,doc} raspberrypi-bootloader raspberrypi-kernel

mitu

@kactius How is your issue related to the topic at hand, which is about EmulationStation ? Open a new topic and add the info from https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first.

kactius

@mitu sorry, ok maybe it's more of a system error produced by me or something else than something else. And that I don't understand or can't find the correct way to fix it.
Update my first post in this threat... % solved

bcnr33hideaki

@kactius said in Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates:

@mitu sorry, ok maybe it's more of a system error produced by me or something else than something else. And that I don't understand or can't find the correct way to fix it.
Update my first post in this threat... % solved

@kactius any luck fixing your issue? I got the exactly same issue as you.
My uname and iplay is exactly the same.
Thanks.

kactius

@bcnr33hideaki
Hi in the lastest post I writed: By the moment only find a solution downgrade kernel from 5.4.68-v7+ to 5.4.51-v7+
sudo apt update
sudo apt install --reinstall libraspberrypi0 libraspberrypi-{bin,dev,doc} raspberrypi-bootloader raspberrypi-kernel

Or you can try:
[This post](link url)

lazza79

Hi,

I still have problems with HDMI audio on my RPI 4 (4GB Ram). I can't hear menu clicks and in-game audio. I downloaded a pre-made iso that has an audio intro (that I can hear fine) then Emulationstation and Retropie are loaded and I can't hear anything.
I have Emulationstation 2.9.3RP and I updated Retropie and everything else to the latest version as the 21st of October 2020.
I set the "sound settings" as Default - HDMI - ALSA but the volume is stuck at 0%.

Could someone help me?

Best regards,
Lazza79

other data:
uname -r && aplay -l
5.4.51-v7l+
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: b1 [bcm2835 HDMI 1], device 0: bcm2835 HDMI 1 [bcm2835 HDMI 1]
Subdevices: 4/4
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
card 1: Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones], device 0: bcm2835 Headphones [bcm2835 Headphones]
Subdevices: 4/4
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
card 2: Controller [Wireless Controller], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

mitu

@lazza79 said in Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates:

I still have problems with HDMI audio on my RPI 4 (4GB Ram). I can't hear menu clicks and in-game audio. I downloaded a pre-made iso that has an audio intro (that I can hear fine) then Emulationstation and Retropie are loaded and I can't hear anything.

We don't support 3rd party images, use the image from retropie.org.uk/download.

lazza79

@mitu thank you for your quick reply, pardon my ignorance (I am still a linux noob) but once I update retropie and everything else in the system to the latest version present in the server, how a third party ISO differ from the official one?
Thanks!
Lazza79

mitu

@lazza79 said in Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates:

... once I update retropie and everything else in the system to the latest version present in the server, how a third party ISO differ from the official one?

It's configured differently ? Has ROMs ? Has additional installed applications ? We can't be sure how it was configured.

lazza79

@mitu I see, I will try to contact the creator. Thank you!

flash2

I updated to 4.7.1 , After update no sound, is it not solved yet? Or won’t this be solved and will always have to be setup manually?

JNunes

Here is the steps I took to fix the issue (tested on Pi 1 and Pi 3) Hope this helps. Please provide feedback.

Documentation to Fix Audio Issues with Raspberry Pi and RetroPi (AUDIO JACK)

Revision 1.0

A recent change in Raspbian Buster's kernel/firmware is causing Audio/Sound issues for RPI users - users that installed the 4.6 image or installed RetroPie manually on-top of Raspbian Buster.
Symptoms include:
• Error messages showing when a game is launched (lvl0: VolumeControl::init() - Failed to find mixer elements).
• Sound missing in EmulationStation and/or games.
• System Volume slider stuck at 0% in EmulationStation's Sound settings.
The following document outlines the steps used to correct audio issues on a fresh build of Retro Pi.

Step 1

Configure EmulationStation to the following setting:
Hardware – Default
Audio – Headphones
Mixer to – Alsa
Exit and restart Emulation station
At the menu F4 to exit the GUI

Step 2

See which devices are available to use as a speaker. This is a sample listing.

Use the following command:

aplay –l <- lower case L

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 0: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA]

card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 1: bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI [bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI]

card 1: Microphone [USB Microphone], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]

Based on the above output we have three devices:
• The onboard 3.5mm plug listed as BCM2835 ALSA: Card 0, Device 0 (“hw:0,0”)

• The onboard HDMI connection listed as bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI: Card 0, Device 1 (“hw:0,1”)

• The USB microphone listed as USB Audio: : Card 1, Device 0 (“hw:1,0”)

In this example we want to use the 3.5mm audio jack, so we’ll use Card 0, Device 0 as the way to locate our speaker device.

Validate your device setting. This is key for all the next steps – the following documentation is based on my configuration which is card 1 and device 0.

Step 3

Use the following command:

sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt

Enter the following entrie:
snd_bcm2835.enable_compat_alsa=1

Step 4

Edit EmulationStation settings

Use the following command:

Sudo nano /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/es_settings.cfg
<string name="AudioCard" value="default" />
<string name="AudioDevice" value="Headphone" /> --- NOTE Headphone <- The H is capital
<string name="CollectionSystemsAuto" value="" />
<string name="CollectionSystemsCustom" value="" />
<string name="GamelistViewStyle" value="automatic" />
<string name="OMXAudioDev" value="alsa" />

Step 5

Need to run Raspi-Config and set audio to Headphones
From the command prompt type:

Sudo raspi-config

From the menu select:

System Options
Audio
Headphones
Finish to exit to command prompt

Step 6

Use the following command:

sudo nano /boot/config.txt
The following two entries are useful if you want to use the 3.5mm audio output jack instead of via the HDMI cable.
hdmi_ignore_edid_audio=1
audio_pwm_mode=2
Line 1: Force the audio to use the stereo audio jack output.
Line 2: Improves the sound quality and reduces annoying hissing.
Confirm that the following entry exists and it’s set to this configuration
dtparam=audio=on

Step 7 a:
Add the audio output from the command line.
To do this, you will need to create a new file called .asoundrc in your home directory /home/pi/.asound (No extension)
ALSA looks for this file to determine which audio device it should use by default.
If the file does not exist, ALSA uses “card 0” – which is HDMI – as the output device.
If you want to set the headphone jack as the default output, create the .asoundrc file with the following contents:
Use the following command:
sudo nano /home/pi/.asound
Add these parameters
defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.ctl.card 1
This tells ALSA that “card 1” – the headphone jack – is the default device. To switch back to the HDMI output, either change the ‘1’s in the file to ‘0’s, or just delete the file.

Step 7 b:
Use the following command:
sudo nano /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf
Edit the file to match your card it may be defaulted to 0
defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.ctl.card 1

Step 8
Reboot

Step 9
Validate and Configure EmulationStation from the GUI interface (Audio) – confirm that audio is not set to zero
Within emulationstation – confirm that Headphones is selected.

Step 10
PLAY YOUR GAME

mitu

@jnunes said in Audio issues after latest Raspbian updates:

Please provide feedback.

There's no need to edit any files - the steps outlined in the topic starter will take care of any configuration file. Your instructions seem to switch back to the previous audio driver configuration, in which case there the issue would not present, so there there's no need for any re-configuration.
I don't recommend changing the /boot/cmdline.txt file to switch to the previous audio driver configuration - the new audio settings enable audio on both the audio jack and HDMI port(s) independently, which was not possible before these changes.

JNunes

@mitu

Thank you for your feedback.

huey

For those who are experiencing similar issues after the Dec 2020 Raspberry Pi OS update (where ALSA support is dropped in favor of PulseAudio), the following setup works for me in Sound Settings:

AUDIO CARD: HW
AUDIO DEVICE HDMI
OMX PLAYER AUDIO DEVICE: HDMI

luckyluca

This post is deleted!

luckyluca

Having the same error, however sound works both in emulators and in the interface.
It's just that very same error text appearing everywhere every time, in-between game loads and upon exit.
This is on a pi400 with Retropie sound settings set to hdmi1, but it happens with Auto and default too.

I followed the guide on post #1 (thank you for posting it Mitu), but the line text error remains. Is this normal?

I've also tried setting sound settings as
AUDIO CARD: HW
AUDIO DEVICE HDMI
OMX PLAYER AUDIO DEVICE: HDMI
but the error remains.

mitu

@luckyluca what version of RetroPie are you using ? Did you install the desktop on your system ? Please post some details about your setup, as detailed in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first, and the output of the aplay -L command.