No sound from Pisound

printer_1 · October 17, 2019, 12:56am

I’m getting nothing from Pisound. All software with metering shows audio being generated. Have run every test I can … all diagnostics say Pisound “should” be working. But I must be missing something or testing things out of order.

All help appreciated!

Giedrius · October 17, 2019, 6:49am

Hi, try running speaker-test -c2 -r48000 -Dhw:pisound and check whether there’s any output produced - it should play white noise, one stereo channel at a time. Also let us know if you get any error running this command.

printer_1 · October 17, 2019, 10:31am

Hi Giedrius,

Thanks for your fast reply.

The cmd you recommended returns no sound with the following in the terminal:

speaker-test 1.1.3

Playback device is h:Pisound
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
ALSA lib pcm.c:2495: (snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM h:Pisound
Playback open error: -2, No such file or directory

I ran the cmd again and received the exact same result.

Very grateful if you could guide me to the next step

P.s. If I open the Desktop (smartx) and run your cmd in a terminal, still no sound but the message returned is

Playback device is hw:Pisound
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
Playback open error: -16, Device or resource busy

Giedrius · October 17, 2019, 1:08pm

Looks like it was a typo the first time, it should be hw:pisound

The 2nd time, it looks like it is currently exclusively in use by another process. Are you running Patchbox OS ? If so, it might be the jack backend service. Close all audio software, and then run:

sudo systemctl stop jack

and try the speaker-test command again.

printer_1 · October 17, 2019, 2:58pm

Yes, that was a typo (h instead of hw).

I am running Patchbox OS.

I ran

sudo systemctl stop jack

as you suggested and got audio. But it was coming from the TV that my Pi is attached to. So I guess coming from the HDMI cable?

What do you suggest as a next step?

p.s. … Also after

sudo systemctl stop jack

and then

startx

Audacity and PD will send sound out the HDMI cable to the TV.

printer_1 · October 17, 2019, 9:57pm

I’ve gotten …this…far:

With

speaker-test -c2 -r48000

I can get audio from HDMI or from the analog 3.55 jack on the pi. But nothing from Pisound.

I’ve switched from PatchPox back to Pisound (and followed every instruction I can find). And whereas in PD, I was able to get MIDI in in Patchbox, I’m unable to get it with Pisound.

All help much appreciated …

Thanks,

Mark

Giedrius · October 18, 2019, 6:45am

Hi, so after stopping the Jack service, what output do you get now when running:

speaker-test -c2 -r48000 -Dhw:pisound

Also what is the power supply you are using? If it provides insufficient power, the audio on Pisound may not work, we recommend power supplies with amperages >=2.5, like this one: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-universal-power-supply/

printer_1 · October 18, 2019, 10:46am

Am using the Raspberry Pi approved power supply (exact one you suggest)

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo systemctl stop jack
Failed to stop jack.service: Unit jack.service not loaded.
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ speaker-test -c2 -r48000 -Dhw:pisound

speaker-test 1.1.8

Playback device is hw:pisound
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
Using 16 octaves of pink noise
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 128 to 131072
Period size range from 64 to 65536
Using max buffer size 131072
Periods = 4
was set period_size = 32768
was set buffer_size = 131072
0 - Front Left
1 - Front Right
Time per period = 2.775008
0 - Front Left
1 - Front Right
Time per period = 5.494832
0 - Front Left
1 - Front Right
Time per period = 5.477313
0 - Front Left
1 - Front Right
Time per period = 5.469211
0 - Front Left
^Z
[1]+ Stopped speaker-test -c2 -r48000 -Dhw:pisound
pi@raspberrypi:~ $

what next? (thanks in advance … )

Giedrius · October 22, 2019, 4:41am

Investigation continued by chat on website and e-mail.

Giedrius · December 5, 2019, 9:15am

This got solved eventually by returing Pisound for repairs - there was a crucial resistor that went missing on the board, replacing it put the Pisound back in working order.

printer_1 · December 5, 2019, 9:51am

And thanks very much Giedrius. Your fix MUCH APPRECIATED!!

ompao · January 9, 2021, 3:06pm

Hi,

I am having a problem which seem very similar to this (no sound from Pisound).
@Giedrius: Could you perhaps upload a picture of what was the missing resistor in this case?
Or do you have any other suggestions to further debug?

I am using:

Raspberry Pi 3
Patchbox OS
5 V/2,4 A charger

Speaker test:

    patch@patchbox:~ $ speaker-test -c2 -r48000 -Dhw:pisound

    speaker-test 1.1.8

    Playback device is hw:pisound
    Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
    Using 16 octaves of pink noise
    Playback open error: -16,Device or resource busy

    patch@patchbox:~ $ sudo systemctl stop jack
    patch@patchbox:~ $ speaker-test -c2 -r48000 -Dhw:pisound

    speaker-test 1.1.8

    Playback device is hw:pisound
    Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
    Using 16 octaves of pink noise
    Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
    Buffer size range from 128 to 131072
    Period size range from 64 to 65536
    Using max buffer size 131072
    Periods = 4
    was set period_size = 32768
    was set buffer_size = 131072
     0 - Front Left
     1 - Front Right
    Time per period = 2.757038

At this point no sound is coming from either outputs.

    patch@patchbox:~ $ speaker-test -c2 -r48000

    speaker-test 1.1.8

    Playback device is default
    Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
    Using 16 octaves of pink noise
    Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
    Buffer size range from 96 to 1048576
    Period size range from 32 to 349526
    Using max buffer size 1048576
    Periods = 4
    was set period_size = 262144
    was set buffer_size = 1048576
     0 - Front Left

At this point sound is coming from the PBPi output

Giedrius · January 10, 2021, 9:30pm

Hi, did output of Pisound work before?

ompao · January 11, 2021, 12:24pm

Thank you for the response!
No, unfortunately I have yet to make it work.

Giedrius · January 11, 2021, 12:47pm

Then this is probably a different issue.

Could you try mounting Pisound directly on the Raspberry Pi, without the extenders, so we’re sure the contact is not the issue? Also make sure to have the potentiometers turned up clockwise, so they’re not silencing any audio.

Also, after running speaker-test, please check the output of dmesg - it should not have anything looking like audio errors at the very bottom of the output.

Occasionally, even though all the Pisounds are tested to work by us, some end up not working, most likely issue is an accidental electrostatic discharge at some critical point in the circuitry (without an enclosure, it’s impossible to fully protect from it). In that case the board would have to be replaced under warranty. If you still can’t get any sound from the unit, please contact us by e-mail.