Volumio and HiFiBerry Dac2 Pro - No sound

Help and Support Help
#1

Volumio Information

Volumio Version: 2.917
Hardware: Official 7" Pi Touchscreen, IR Sensor, Stepdown converter (to power IR sensor off 5v output of DAC)
DAC: HiFiBerry Dac2 Pro

The DAC does not output sound with Volumio. I have done the following:

  • Start with a fresh install of Volumio (see version at top)
  • Installed Plug-ins
    • Touchscreen
    • IR Remote Control
      • Set to GPIO 17 (which is not used by HiFiBerry DAC)
  • Enable SSH
  • Add custom LIRC files to data/Internal for the PDP Gaming Remote and Apple Remote 1294 Alternative
  • Confirm IR Sensor works
  • No DAC output at all (but light is on indicating its working)

Since the current Volumio uses the 4.19 Kernel, I followed the [HiFiBerry Configuration guide] (https://www.hifiberry.com/docs/software/configuring-linux-3-18-x/) and from config.txt:

  • Removed the dtparam=audio=on line
  • Added force_eeprom_read=0
  • Confirmed that it already has dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplus

I then added a /etc/asound.conf file using the specified text, and tested with the aplay and got the correct output.

I asked HiFiBerry to look at the output of the dmesg command, and they confirmed that it indicated the DAC was working.

They suggested I disconnect the IR Sensor and uninstall the plug-in, which I did.

That still did not solve the problem.

They suggested installing the HiFiBerry OS and confirming that configuration worked with the DAC and Pi.

I was able to do that and confirmed the DAC and Pi functioned, so its either an incompatibility problem with Volumio, or a software setting.

I took screenshots of my Volumio settings prior to reflashing with the HiFiBerry OS, and those are below.

Any help appreciated

#2

So I tried this again, only using what I absolutely needed and it worked for about 5 minutes then stopped.

  • Start with a fresh install of Volumio (see version at top)
  • Set IS2 to On and selected HiFiBerry DAC PLUS
    Installed Plug-ins
    • Spotify
    • Spotify Connect
    • Touchscreen

At this point it was working. I played some music then paused it. When I tried to restart it, no joy

Next I:

  • Enable SSH
  • followed the HiFiBerry Configuration guide and from config.txt:
    • Confirmed that it already has dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplus
    • Removed the dtparam=audio=on line
    • Added force_eeprom_read=0
    • Restarted
    • Added a /etc/asound.conf file using the specified text, and tested with the aplay and got the correct output.

Anyone have any thoughts? I’m getting close to just chucking this OS entirely and looking for something else (HiFiBerry OS doesn’t look as good as this at all, but functions out of the box) as while I really like it, if its going to keep being clunky like this I wont be able to keep maintaining it,

#3

Problem is this dac never got tested with volumio and we don’t get any info from hifiberry on how to support their hardware.
Plese ask them to get in touch with us and we will see how to make them work reliably.

#4

Anyway, the hifiberry doc provided a good hint to possibly solve the problem.
Stay tuned next week we might try something on volumio3 to make it work.

Thanks for your patience

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#5

Yeah, I got it all working but it was quirky. See all my steps below:

  • For giggles tested the existing configuration
    • Was able to play volumio radio BBC 1, but nothing from spotify
  • Using the Dac Plus setting wasnt working, so looked at some other OS’s
  • stumbled across this guy who had similar problems with a different OS (balena) which was solved by setting the DAC Model to the HiFiBerry DAC2 HD.
  • set mine to that and RCA’s working.

Software settings at that time:

/boot/config.txt

force_eeprom_read=0
initramfs volumio.initrd
gpu_mem=32
max_usb_current=1
audio_pwm_mode=2
dtparam=i2c_arm=on
disable_splash=1
hdmi_force_hotplug=1

include userconfig.txt

#### Volumio i2s setting below: do not alter ####
dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplushd

Attempt for IR sensor

  • Installed IR Remote Controller plug-in
  • Restarted
  • No audio at all
  • Checked asound.conf and found it was empty
  • Added back in coding:
    pcm.!default {
  type hw card 0
}
ctl.!default {
  type hw card 0
}
  • Restarted
  • Error
    • Error: Failed to open “alsa” [alsa]: failed to open ALSA device “hw:2.0”: No such file or directory
  • Checked file, still code in the asound.conf file
  • Tried again to play spotify
  • Error
    • Error: Failed to open “alsa” [alsa]: failed to open ALSA device “hw:2.0”: No such file or directory
  • Deleted asound.conf
  • restarted
  • Unable to get into Settings/Audio Playback within the
    • app on iphone
    • device itself
    • Chrome browser
  • Can get to other settings such as network
  • Uninstalled IR Remote Controller plug-in
  • Set dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplus (i.e. removed the hd from the end)
  • Restarted
  • Able to get into Playback Settings
  • still not playing
  • Switched back to DAC Model back to HiFiBerry DAC Plus
  • same ALSA error
  • Toggled IS2 from On to Off, then back On
  • Attempted to play Spotify
  • Worked
  • Reinstalled IR Remote Controller plug-in
  • No audio
  • Restarted
  • Still nothing
  • Toggled IS2 again
  • Was able to get things working
  • Moved my working LIRC files to /data/internal
  • My A1294 Alternative and PDP Xbox Remote were working kinda…
#6

FWIW, before posting this thread, I also tried a fresh install of the 3.129-2021-10-29 beta wondering if that would fix it since it uses the newer Linux Kernel, but had the same problems (and the ir remote controller plug-in was not available, and I didn’t know if I would be able to get the IR sensor working without it).

Also, sorry for the grumpiness, this has just taken up way more of my time than I’d imagined and I was concerned that it was a legit hardware incompatibility problem, while it appears to be more software based at this point.

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