Pi 3B, RuneAudio V0.3Beta and Pimoroni pHAT DAC Setup

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Pi 3B, RuneAudio V0.3Beta and Pimoroni pHAT DAC Setup

Postby colins » 21 Jun 2018, 22:13

These steps detail what was necessary to get the pHAT DAC I2S output working on the subject setup. This related to RuneAudio build: beta-20160313. This is a modification of the instructions found at https://learn.pimoroni.com/tutorial/phat/raspberry-pi-phat-dac-install. The files that need to be edited are different from those listed but the steps are about the same. The step numbers below correspond to those in the Manual Set Up section of the linked page.

  1. All The Modules: There was no raspi-blacklist.conf in /etc/modprobe.d but there was a reference to snd-soc-pcm512x in snd-soc-pcm512x.conf.old but as this appears to be a backup file I made no changes to any files in this folder.
  2. Be Gone, Default Sound: There is no such file as /etc/modules, but a string very like snd_bcm2835 was found in /etc/modules-load.d/raspberrypi.conf. So I added a # to the front of the line snd-bcm2835 (note the dash not the underscore). I assume this deactivated the on-board sound output but I did not check.
  3. Sound Config: I created the file /etc/asound.conf and put in it the following code. I assume this was needed but did not check that it all still worked if it was not there.
    Code: Select all
    pcm.!default  {
     type hw card 0
    }
    ctl.!default {
     type hw card 0
    }

  4. Device Tree: There was a file called /boot/config.txt and it contained a commented-out line containing hifiberry-dac so I uncommented it thus:
    Code: Select all
    # Uncomment one of these lines to enable an audio interface
    dtoverlay=hifiberry-dac
    #dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplus
    #dtoverlay=hifiberry-digi
    #dtoverlay=hifiberry-amp
    There was no line containing dtparam=audio=on so I made no further changes.
After a reboot the MPD Configuration in the UI showed the Audio Output Interface was set to HiFiBerry DAC (I2S) with no other choices available.
Oh and by the way the unit worked perfectly! The sound quality is many times better than that out of the Pi audio. No static noise in the background, just clean clear audio! :D

A Word of Warning About the RuneUI Enhancements Addon. I really liked this minimal interface but unfortunately the start, stop, forward and backward controls no longer worked after this change. No idea why. :( Pity!

Disclaimer: As always your mileage may vary. I have not investigated if these steps will work on a Pi Zero and invite you to try them and report here. I cannot guarantee I will answer questions about the content of this post, but you're welcome to ask.
colins
 
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Joined: 21 Jun 2018, 21:01

Re: Pi 3B, RuneAudio V0.3Beta and Pimoroni pHAT DAC Setup

Postby janui » 22 Jun 2018, 12:02

Hi collins,

Thanks for sharing this.

If you use Franks latest 0.4 image (download from here: runeaudio-0-4-beta-for-raspberry-pi2-3-t4434.html#p19960) some things are different.
    Step 1: No change, don't do anything.
    Step 2: Can be changed in the Settings UI (needs a reboot).
    Setp 3: Should not be needed (would be nice if you could verify this on your version).
    Step 4: Can be selected in the Settings UI (needs a reboot).
For the Zero using this image: raspberry-pi-zero-support-in-0-4-t3711-70.html#p20577
    Setp 1: The same, do nothing.
    Step 2: Comment out the line ‘dtparam=audio=on’ in config.txt. But do this only after getting your DAC audio output working. Several things (including Access Point for the Zero W) will fail if no valid audio output is available.
    Step 3: Should not be needed.
    Step 4: The same, uncomment the ‘dtoverlay=hifiberry-dac’ line in config.txt.
For the Zero all changes can be done on you PC by editing the config.txt file on the SD-card, no need to access Rune from the Linux command line (via SSH).

janui
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janui
 
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Re: Pi 3B, RuneAudio V0.3Beta and Pimoroni pHAT DAC Setup

Postby colins » 22 Jun 2018, 15:18

Thanks Janui,
Useful information for the V0.4 release. I wonder if it still has the same controls problem with the RuneUI Enhancements Addon?
colins
 
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