Libreelec on Raspberry Pi 4 no sound

  • I've accessed Settings > System > Audio >

    Under Audio Output Devices, it has PI:HDMI, PI:Analogue, PI:HDMI and Analogue, and Pulse (default, bluetooth audio (pulseaudio)

    I've tried them all but no luck. I've tested other devices with kodi to ensure my hardware is working and they work fine.

    I've tried checking the audio settings via SSH, not 100% sure what I'm doing mind you. Tried the following:

    Code
    LibreELEC:~ # pacmd list-sinks
    No PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
    LibreELEC:~ # pulseaudio
    W: [pulseaudio] main.c: This program is not intended to be run as root (unless --system is specified).
    E: [pulseaudio] stdin-util.c: Unable to read or parse data from client.
    E: [pulseaudio] module.c: Failed to load module "module-gsettings" (argument: ""): initialization failed.
    W: [pulseaudio] server-lookup.c: Unable to contact D-Bus: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NotSupported: Using X11 for dbus-daemon autolaunch was disabled at compile time, set your DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS instead
    W: [pulseaudio] main.c: Unable to contact D-Bus: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NotSupported: Using X11 for dbus-daemon autolaunch was disabled at compile time, set your DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS instead

    Is there anything else I ought to try?

  • Try from SSH console (hopefully the file exists on LE version you are using - if not, search for some .wav):

    systemctl stop kodi

    aplay /var/media/root/usr/share/scratch/Media/Sounds/Instruments/SpookyString.wav

    systemctl start kodi

  • Try from SSH console (hopefully the file exists on LE version you are using - if not, search for some .wav):

    systemctl stop kodi

    aplay /var/media/root/usr/share/scratch/Media/Sounds/Instruments/SpookyString.wav

    systemctl start kodi

    Any ideas?

  • It looks you screwed up the LE installation with some bad plugin / Add-on installed.

    Try to install the LE from scratch without any suspicious plugins / Add-ons and the Audio should work properly.

  • Which HDMI port on the RPi4 are you using?

    I've tried both

    It looks you screwed up the LE installation with some bad plugin / Add-on installed.

    Try to install the LE from scratch without any suspicious plugins / Add-ons and the Audio should work properly.

    Thanks, I'll give that a go now. Don't recall adding anything other than the defaults mind you but worth a shot.

  • It looks you screwed up the LE installation with some bad plugin / Add-on installed.

    Try to install the LE from scratch without any suspicious plugins / Add-ons and the Audio should work properly.

    OK, tried re-imaging the OS onto the SD card, started it up again, stepped through the setup wizard but there was no option for plugins. So I've SCP a mkv file over to test it, the video plays fine but still no sound.

    I noticed that when starting up for the first time I had an alert saying connecting to Pulse, but didn't see any error from it. However, this happens before I've even had a chance to enter the WIFI password so if it's trying to access something from the internet, it won't manage. Is this of concern? Is there a way to check for dependent drivers etc post setup?

  • I can't test on LE 9.2.6 anymore as I am running LE 10 Nightly for a long time but I did not have any Audio issues on official LE 9.2.6 build for RPi 4B in past. And the error messages from aplay are strange. The piano2.wav plays without issue on my LE 10 and this is what you should see (and hear the melody of course):

    # aplay piano2.wav

    Playing WAVE 'piano2.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Stereo

    So it looks to me that your LE installation is still corrupted - it might be due to improper / unofficial installation image used or an issue with your SD card etc... Use only official builds from here: Raspberry Pi 4 – LibreELEC or a latest LE 10 Nightly build from here: LibreELEC-RPi4.arm-10.0-nightly-20210604-f6b7711.img.gz

    You may also try to install LE to USB key instead of SD card to eliminate possible incompatibility (it may also depend on the bootloader version you are running - see here for details: RE: Boot from SSD instructions )

  • I can't test on LE 9.2.6 anymore as I am running LE 10 Nightly for a long time but I did not have any Audio issues on official LE 9.2.6 build for RPi 4B in past. And the error messages from aplay are strange. The piano2.wav plays without issue on my LE 10 and this is what you should see (and hear the melody of course):

    # aplay piano2.wav

    Playing WAVE 'piano2.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 48000 Hz, Stereo

    So it looks to me that your LE installation is still corrupted - it might be due to improper / unofficial installation image used or an issue with your SD card etc... Use only official builds from here: Raspberry Pi 4 – LibreELEC or a latest LE 10 Nightly build from here: LibreELEC-RPi4.arm-10.0-nightly-20210604-f6b7711.img.gz

    You may also try to install LE to USB key instead of SD card to eliminate possible incompatibility (it may also depend on the bootloader version you are running - see here for details: RE: Boot from SSD instructions )

    Thanks. I've downloaded the image and installed via the imager as a custom OS. Sound is workin now.