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RaspPiB+ & Amp+ on fresh Raspbian = no sound?

wee

January 02, 2015 15:45

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Hi guys..

I just received a new Raspberry Pi B+ and a Amp+.. So setup Squeezeplug 7.5 (this is based on Raspbian), ran rpi update, configured modules blacklist and loads, seems all fine. The device gets recognized and is there, mplayer seems to be able to play to it - but somehow nothing comes out of my speakers ;-(

So, let's see.. aplay -l shows:

root@squeezeplug:~# aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 0: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA]
  Subdevices: 8/8
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7
card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 1: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: sndrpihifiberry [snd_rpi_hifiberry_amp], device 0: HifiBerry AMP HiFi tas5713-hifi-0 []
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

OK; so old-style alsa address is 1.0.. did that in /etc/asound.conf:

pcm.!default  {
 type hw card 1
}
ctl.!default {
 type hw card 1
}

first i tried using squeezelite (a squeezebox player), running with the argument -o sysdefault:CARD=sndrpihifiberry. squeezelite runs, no error output, all seems fine - but no output..

then i tried with mplayer:
mplayer -ao alsa:device=hw=1.0 file.mp3

--> and yes, i looked into alsamixer, it's on volume 80%, i also tried to set it with "alsamixer sset..".. no lock ;-(

i think driver-wise, all should be fine. mplayer complains about "resource busy" when trying to play something while squeezelite is running.. that's a good sign..

so - why no sound? i try to drive a set of old Technics speakers, 6 ohm, up to 100w. i also tried to put on a small harman kardon speaker (4ohm), doesn't work either..
i checked twice that + and - (speaker cables) are correct, the speakers and cables are known to work.. hmm.. i'm unsure what to try next.. any ideas?

as power source, i use a usb logitech plug i've had laying around, 15V 1A output.. could that be a problem?

thanks for any hints! ;-)
greets
wee

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9 comments

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team January 02, 2015 17:43

  Hi Wee,
  
  this could still be a software configuration issue.
  I recommend first to remove the driver of the onboard sound. Many programs do have issues with 2 sound cards enabled.
  Second try to play sound from command line, sox works well for this:
  
  play -n synth sine 1000
  
  What volume is set to 80%? Note that the amp has 2 mixer controls: Master and Channels. Both need to be set correctly.
  
  The 15V power is ok, however 1A could result in unstable operations. I would recommend at least 2 better 3A.
  
  Best regards
  Daniel
• 0
  
  wee January 02, 2015 21:23

  i now disabled the onboard sound, having this with aplay -l
  

  
  root@squeezeplug:~# aplay -l
  **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
  card 0: sndrpihifiberry [snd_rpi_hifiberry_amp], device 0: HifiBerry AMP HiFi tas5713-hifi-0 []
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  

  
  
  
  ok, asound.conf is also pointing to card 0 now..
  i installed sox, played something:
  
  

  
  root@squeezeplug:~# play -n synth sine 1000
  play WARN alsa: can't encode 0-bit Unknown or not applicable
  
    Encoding: n/a           
    Channels: 1 @ 32-bit   
  Samplerate: 48000Hz      
  Replaygain: off         
    Duration: unknown      
  
  In:0.00% 00:00:28.33 [00:00:00.00] Out:1.35M [      |      ] Hd:0.0 Clip:0
  

  
  
  but again, sadly no sound so far ;-(
  
  and yes, i ensured both mixers at 80% volume:
  

  
  root@squeezeplug:~# amixer 
  Simple mixer control 'Master',0
    Capabilities: volume volume-joined penum
    Playback channels: Mono
    Capture channels: Mono
    Limits: 0 - 248
    Mono: 198 [80%]
  Simple mixer control 'Channels',0
    Capabilities: volume penum
    Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
    Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
    Limits: 0 - 248
    Front Left: 198 [80%]
    Front Right: 198 [80%]
  

  
  
  
  btw, not much from dmesg:
  

  
  root@squeezeplug:~# dmesg | grep hifi
  [   16.624147] snd-hifiberry-amp snd-hifiberry-amp.0:  tas5713-hifi <-> bcm2708-i2s.0 mapping ok
  

  
  
  
  i'll try different connector cables tomorrow (don't know why but i'm desperate *g) and see if i can find a power source with more ampere's..
  
  any more ideas on the software side?
  
  thanks
• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team January 02, 2015 21:31

  Hi Wee,
  
  this looks good so far. I will create a test image for the Amp in the next day to make sure it is not some kind of configuration issue.
  
  Best regards
  Daniel
• 0
  
  wee January 03, 2015 16:06

  Hi Daniel
  
  So well.. i tried different speakers with different cables, just tried around little bit.. no luck so far ;-(
  
  Which leads me to a maybe very silly question - bear with me, I'm not at all new to *nix systems, but I'm fairly new to all embedded stuff like this or the Pi ;-(
  
  Is there anything supposed to be connected to the 12V+/- connectors or the additional power input? I assumed that the 15V should be sufficient.. am I right, that those serve as additional power in case input is ~5V? Or am I missing something really basic?
  
  Thanks
  Wee
• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team January 03, 2015 16:36

  Hi Wee,
  
  did you connect 5V to the Raspberry Pi? I hope not as this is not allowed. The Raspberry Pi will be powered by the Amp only. The 15V should be enough.
  
  Best regards
  Daniel
• 0
  
  wee January 03, 2015 17:23

  The raspberry pi will be powered *by* the amp?
  
  Hmm, i just took a V15 1A usb thing, connected a microusb cable, pushed that into the raspberry pi microusb port - put the amp+ on top and connected the speakers.. i thought the pi will power the amp..?
  
  as it sounds, that's way wrong?! ;-)
• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team January 03, 2015 17:42

  Hi Wee,
  
  I wonder how your Raspberry Pi survived this. If your power supply really outputs 15V, the Raspberry Pi should be defective now. Therefore I guess you are using an 5V external power supply, not 15V. You need a single 12-18V external power supply that will be connected to the Amp.
  This is shown here:
  http://www.hifiberry.com/guides/connecting-power-supply-and-speakers-to-the-hifiberry-amp/
  
  Best regards
  Daniel
• 0
  
  wee January 03, 2015 17:47

  Omg.. yes, shame on me.. i didn't see it's written "5. 15V", the lighting is not properly here ;-/.. ok, at least the raspberry is still ok this way..
  
  sorry, didn't see this guide.. sorry for wasting ur time, i will look out for proper power sources and try again..
  
  sorry again!
  wee
• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team January 03, 2015 17:48

  No problem. At least the electronic components survived :-)
  
  Best regards
  Daniel