no sound for splash videos - change omxplayer audio device to Alsa (Recalbox 6.0)

[teufelskrapfen]

Hi,

I use a USB Audio device attached to my Pi 3b+ and it works fine for Emulationstation and emulators. However, I'm not getting sound from the Splash intros.

I googled around on the issue and found that something similar was the case for retropie and they suggested to change omxplayer output to ALSA.

I found the file S02Splash in the recalbox folder structure and wanted to change:

omx_opt="--adev both --no-keys --layer=10000 --aspect-mode=fill"

To:

omx_opt="--adev alsa --no-keys --layer=10000 --aspect-mode=fill"

However, I'm not using the correct syntax as on reboot the videos will now be skipped instead.

I also tried "--adev alsa:hw:0,0" and "--adev alsa:hw:1,0" but its still not the right syntax...

Does anyone know how to set the correct value here?

Thanks and best
Gregor

[ian57]

@teufelskrapfen check your hardware with aplay -l and test use -o alsa:hw:1,0 to get sound on the second card first device

[teufelskrapfen]

@ian57 Thanks for your answer.

It seems "aplay" is not present on my build but I just got a little further with my testing:

I stopped emulationstation and started a video via an SSH connection:

omxplayer --adev alsa:hw:0,0 /recalbox/system/resources/splash/recalboxintro.mp4

Now the video plays fine on my Pi with sound … I also tried --adev alsa:hw:1,0 and then there was no sound … so hw:0,0 seems to be the correct device...

If I add --adev alsa:hw:0,0 to S02Splash, the pi will boot with no splash intros. To confirm that my config file is not broken I changed the option back to --adev both and rebooted, then the splash intros will show up again without sound.

[ian57]

@teufelskrapfen yes my bad, I forgot!!! we added some code to swith internal device and usb when present to put the USB audio as first device. So alsa:hw:0,0 is the right device when booted. Can you add --adev alsa:hw:1,0 to S02Splash and reboot
If no sound, I think the video is played too early alsa is not ready yet. You'll need to move S02Splash to S13Splash for example... but the video will be played later

[teufelskrapfen]

@ian57 Thanks I tried --adev alsa:hw:1,0 and got no sound, but the video was playing.

I moved S02Splash to S13Splash with --adve alsa:hw:0,0 and it kind of works:

The video plays now with sound after some some delay, but back in emulationstation the menu music would not work anymore.

I also tried S03Splash, S08Splash, … and so on but the outcome would not improve. Either the intro splash would not play or it would play but then there was no Emulationstation music.

[ian57]

@teufelskrapfen after ES is started, can you go the sound config menu and select another audio device, exit, return in the sound config menu and select you usb device again.

[teufelskrapfen]

@ian57 yes that works... as soon as I select a different audio device, the music plays again.

Also (without doing the above) when I start a game and return to Emulationstation, the music will play again as well.

[ian57]

@teufelskrapfen ok, I think the problem comes from the delayed playing... the video is not finished when /etc/init.d/S26recalboxsystem is runned aand configure the sound for ES. As omxplayer uses the sound output, I think that the function rb_volume_configure ; rb_audio_configure do not finish succesfully... I think a workaround is to put audio configuration later for example in S99Custom

[teufelskrapfen]

@ian57 Thanks I made backups of the files, then tried to copy / move the functions to S99Custom but didn't get it to work. Do you have a suggestion what parts of the script need to be copied/moved or what parts need to be present in S99Custom?

I restored my backups and also temporarily renamed S26recalboxsystem to S99recalboxsystem, but this also didnt work.

I was thinking of a workaround: maybe I can add a line to S13Splash that after the video has finished, the the output will be toggled to i.e. HDMI and immediately back to USB Audio.

[ian57]

create the file /recalbox/share/system/custom.sh and put the following in it. try to run it through SSH before, to see if it works :

#!/bin/bash
 
systemsetting="recalbox_settings"
config_script=/recalbox/scripts/recalbox-config.sh
 
rb_volume_configure() {
    settingsVolume="`$systemsetting -command load -key audio.volume`"
    if [ "$settingsVolume" != "" ];then
	recallog "setting audio volume to $settingsVolume"
        eval $config_script "volume" "$settingsVolume" 2>&1 | recallog
    fi
}
 
rb_audio_configure() {
    recallog "Restoring ALSA mixers configuration"
    alsactl -f /recalbox/share/system/configs/asound.state restore
    settingsAudio="`$systemsetting -command load -key audio.device`"
    if [[ "$settingsAudio" == "" ]];then
        settingsAudio="auto"
    fi
    recallog "setting audio to $settingsAudio"
    eval $config_script "audio" "$settingsAudio" 2>&1 | recallog
}
 
( rb_volume_configure ; rb_audio_configure ) &  # 1.0

[teufelskrapfen]

@ian57 Thanks and sorry for my late answer.

For the script to run I had to change

systemsetting="recalbox_settings"

to

systemsetting="python /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/configgen/settings/recalboxSettings.pyc"

I put S02Splash to S13Splash and added --adev alsa:hw:0,0

But I would only get sound from the splash intro but no music in Emulationstation.

[ian57]

@teufelskrapfen ok that's strange, did you test the S99custom alone to see if it is working. I made this thing in blind..; so perhaps I missed something.

[teufelskrapfen]

@ian57 sorry havent got around testing it again but will try with S99custom this evening.

So I would:

• rename to S13Splash and add "--adev alsa:hw:0,0"
• copy/paste your text into S99custom
• do I need remove anything from S26recalboxsystem ?

[teufelskrapfen]

OK so I copy-pasted the text below into S99custom, but its the same behavior as before (splash screen has sound, emulationstation no sound). Do you know the command to trigger the output-device change? I.e. from USB Audio to HDMI … would like to try something

#!/bin/bash

test -e "/recalbox/share/system/custom.sh" && /recalbox/share/system/custom.sh $1

systemsetting="python /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/configgen/settings/recalboxSettings.pyc"
config_script=/recalbox/scripts/recalbox-config.sh

rb_volume_configure() {
settingsVolume="$systemsetting -command load -key audio.volume"
if [ "$settingsVolume" != "" ];then
recallog "setting audio volume to $settingsVolume"
eval $config_script "volume" "$settingsVolume" 2>&1 | recallog
fi
}

rb_audio_configure() {
recallog "Restoring ALSA mixers configuration"
alsactl -f /recalbox/share/system/configs/asound.state restore
settingsAudio="$systemsetting -command load -key audio.device"
if [[ "$settingsAudio" == "" ]];then
settingsAudio="auto"
fi
recallog "setting audio to $settingsAudio"
eval $config_script "audio" "$settingsAudio" 2>&1 | recallog
}

( rb_volume_configure ; rb_audio_configure ) & # 1.0

[Midgardsnake]

@teufelskrapfen

Hi,

I had the same issue with my system and your post gave me an idea.
In the latsest version of recalbox (6.1), I did this:

• go to /etc/init.d
• enter command: mount -o remount,rw /
• open file splash03
• change line 88 as follows:

omx_opt="--adev both --no-keys --layer=10000 --aspect-mode=fill"
omx_opt="--adev local --no-keys --layer=10000 --aspect-mode=fill"

• save

Actually, "adev" must be followed by one these options: hdmi/local/both.

Hope it might help.