MIC+ V2 with PI4 on Brand new Buster install DOES NOT WORK [resolved]

[jwhowa]

Hello all,

I am trying to install a MIC+V2 on a PI4 which has a fresh install of Raspbian (32 bit) and no other hardware installed. It’s as plain as they come. And this installation does not work. Whether I install as a regular or via sudo, the alsa configuration is just not working. I am not an Alsa configuration or audio bus engineer, I just expect the software to work, my troubleshooting skills are limited on this device.

Here is the exact output of the installation, and you will see, it results in errors and not working.

linux:~ $ wget -O - mic.raspiaudio.com | bash
–2022-12-09 11:54:36-- http://mic.raspiaudio.com/
Resolving mic.raspiaudio.com (mic.raspiaudio.com)… 217.160.0.12, 2001:8d8:100f:f000::245
Connecting to mic.raspiaudio.com (mic.raspiaudio.com)|217.160.0.12|:80… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 302 Found
Location: http://raspiaudio.com/s/mic1 [following]
–2022-12-09 11:54:37-- http://raspiaudio.com/s/mic1
Resolving raspiaudio.com (raspiaudio.com)… 217.160.0.133, 2001:8d8:100f:f000::268
Connecting to raspiaudio.com (raspiaudio.com)|217.160.0.133|:80… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 302 Found
Location: https://raspiaudio.com/s/mic1 [following]
–2022-12-09 11:54:37-- https://raspiaudio.com/s/mic1
Connecting to raspiaudio.com (raspiaudio.com)|217.160.0.133|:443… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 200 OK
Length: 12757 (12K)
Saving to: ‘STDOUT’

•                         100%[=================================================>]  12.46K  --.-KB/s    in 0.007s
  

2022-12-09 11:54:38 (1.63 MB/s) - written to stdout [12757/12757]

script starts

This script will install everything needed to use
Raspiaudio MIC+

Do you wish to continue? [y/N] y

Checking hardware requirements…

Adding Device Tree Entry to /boot/config.txt
dtoverlay=googlevoicehat-soundcard

Commenting out Blacklist entry in
/etc/modprobe.d/raspi-blacklist.conf

Disabling default sound driver
Configuring sound output
Some changes made to your system require
your computer to reboot to take effect.

Would you like to reboot now? [y/N]

after reboot:

jwhowa@vader:~ $ wget -O - test.raspiaudio.com | bash
–2022-12-09 11:56:33-- http://test.raspiaudio.com/
Resolving test.raspiaudio.com (test.raspiaudio.com)… 217.160.0.133, 2001:8d8:100f:f000::268
Connecting to test.raspiaudio.com (test.raspiaudio.com)|217.160.0.133|:80… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 302 Found
Location: http://raspiaudio.com/s/test [following]
–2022-12-09 11:56:33-- http://raspiaudio.com/s/test
Resolving raspiaudio.com (raspiaudio.com)… 217.160.0.133, 2001:8d8:100f:f000::268
Reusing existing connection to test.raspiaudio.com:80.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 302 Found
Location: https://raspiaudio.com/s/test [following]
–2022-12-09 11:56:34-- https://raspiaudio.com/s/test
Connecting to raspiaudio.com (raspiaudio.com)|217.160.0.133|:443… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 200 OK
Length: 1340 (1.3K)
Saving to: ‘STDOUT’

•                         100%[=================================================>]   1.31K  --.-KB/s    in 0s
  

2022-12-09 11:56:34 (23.5 MB/s) - written to stdout [1340/1340]

script starts
bash: line 13: /sys/class/gpio/gpio25/direction: Permission denied
bash: line 15: /sys/class/gpio/gpio23/direction: Permission denied
bash: line 23: /sys/class/gpio/gpio25/value: Permission denied
-----> Test for Raspiaudio MIC+
amixer: Unable to find simple control ‘Micro’,0

Simple mixer control ‘Master’,0
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 65536
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 62915 [96%] [on]
Front Right: Playback 62915 [96%] [on]
------Please PUSH on the Yellow ONBOARD button to continue this test
bash: line 39: echo: write error: Operation not permitted

speaker-test 1.2.4

Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
WAV file(s)
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
Recording WAVE ‘/home/jwhowa/test.wav’ : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Mono
was set period_size = 262144
was set buffer_size = 1048576
0 - Front Left
1 - Front Right
Time per period = 3.101523
echo: write error: Operation not permitted
echo: write error: Operation not permitted
echo: write error: Operation not permitted
echo: write error: Operation not permitted
playing the recording
Playing WAVE ‘/home/jwhowa/test.wav’ : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Mono

Test is done to adjust speakers volume and microphone gain run: alsamixer

Your instructions do not say to do the above as root, but I have tried it both ways, and neither way works. It appears to be complaining about the Micro simple control? I see the device in sys, but the driver installation is a hot mess.

Please help, I can always return this to amazon, but it’s not about the money, I really NEED what this card can do!

Before the installation:

And after:

You can see, the driver is installed, the mixer config is not working.

PLEASE HELP!

Is this because I have a V2 of the Mic+ and you guys haven’t updated the driver installation?

[Raspiaudio]

Hi and welcome

Are you sure that the board is well inserted in the header?

[jwhowa]

Yes positively well inserted. I even tried on another piece of Pi hardware. Same thing.

[Raspiaudio]

i will try again on monday when i will be back in the office

[Raspiaudio]

Hi so just before the test step please select the audio device on the top right of you desktop :

Then is is working.

Updating install guide.

Thx!

[jwhowa]

No, it does not work for me. You can see in the picture that I have chosen the right sound card but when I run the test I get write errors and no audio.

Do you have other suggestion?

[Raspiaudio]

Have you tried several times to run the test? As I have noticed that the Alsa device is sometime created only if you try to use it.

Other than this the only difference is that you are using VNC. Although it should ne be an issue. But maybe as you do not have an HDMI audio device plugged something is not going as expected in the script, thus the Alsa not able to play the first time and thus not created.

Try to plug any HDMI on it, then try again even from VNC.

[jwhowa]

I will try that, but this device has to run headless. Your documentation doesn’t say anything about me needing HDMI plugged in to get AUDIO on an external card. That doesn’t make sense, but I will try.

[jwhowa]

Exact same thing with HDMI plugged in. I mean it is obvious from the display there are write errors so the files in your install are not where they are expected on my system.

I am installing on a brand new PI4 with Buster 32bit downloaded fresh from the server, absolutely nothing else configured.

It is interesting to note that ALL your documentation says the button is yellow, but the button is BLUE on my device. Does that make any difference?

See output below:

jwhowa@vader:~ $ wget -O - test.raspiaudio.com | bash
–2022-12-12 16:18:59-- http://test.raspiaudio.com/
Resolving test.raspiaudio.com (test.raspiaudio.com)… 217.160.0.133, 2001:8d8:100f:f000::268
Connecting to test.raspiaudio.com (test.raspiaudio.com)|217.160.0.133|:80… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 302 Found
Location: http://raspiaudio.com/s/test [following]
–2022-12-12 16:19:00-- http://raspiaudio.com/s/test
Resolving raspiaudio.com (raspiaudio.com)… 217.160.0.133, 2001:8d8:100f:f000::268
Reusing existing connection to test.raspiaudio.com:80.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 302 Found
Location: https://raspiaudio.com/s/test [following]
–2022-12-12 16:19:00-- https://raspiaudio.com/s/test
Connecting to raspiaudio.com (raspiaudio.com)|217.160.0.133|:443… connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response… 200 OK
Length: 1340 (1.3K)
Saving to: ‘STDOUT’

•               100%[===================>]   1.31K  --.-KB/s    in 0s      
  

2022-12-12 16:19:01 (20.5 MB/s) - written to stdout [1340/1340]

script starts
bash: line 13: /sys/class/gpio/gpio25/direction: Permission denied
bash: line 15: /sys/class/gpio/gpio23/direction: Permission denied
bash: line 23: /sys/class/gpio/gpio25/value: Permission denied
-----> Test for Raspiaudio MIC+
amixer: Unable to find simple control ‘Micro’,0

Simple mixer control ‘Master’,0
Capabilities: pvolume pswitch pswitch-joined
Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
Limits: Playback 0 - 65536
Mono:
Front Left: Playback 62915 [96%] [on]
Front Right: Playback 62915 [96%] [on]
------Please PUSH on the Yellow ONBOARD button to continue this test
bash: line 39: echo: write error: Operation not permitted

speaker-test 1.2.4

Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
WAV file(s)
Recording WAVE ‘/home/jwhowa/test.wav’ : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Mono
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
1 - Front Right
Time per period = 3.112689
echo: write error: Operation not permitted
echo: write error: Operation not permitted
echo: write error: Operation not permitted
echo: write error: Operation not permitted
playing the recording
Playing WAVE ‘/home/jwhowa/test.wav’ : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Mono

Test is done to adjust speakers volume and microphone gain run: alsamixer

[jwhowa]

My MIC+ looks exactly like the one pictured on your Amazon link. Blue button.

[jwhowa]

When I use alsamixer command, it shows PulseAudio as my device. If I choose F6 and select the google card, it will not “stay” that way and will still not play siccessfully.

[Raspiaudio]

okok the MIC+ model is supposed to have a YELLOW button and only one jack.
The ULTRA+ model is blue button and 3 jacks.Thoses are using totally different codec and install procedure.
Can you confirm your model?

[jwhowa]

This is what Amazon shipped me. What I ordered showed a yellow button.

If this does the same thing as the Yellow button one, do I just need to install different driver then?

[jwhowa]

FYI, I followed the install for Ultra+ and it “sort of” works. In other words, I get only one side, and lots of static, and the volume control on alsa will not work.

So, my friend, two main problems… Amazon did not ship me what I bought, and what they DID ship me sounds terrible.

Any advice you have for me? Otherwise I will just return this to amazon and try a different card. It’s too bad, because yours does exactly what I want if the software just worked right.

Thanks for the past and any futurere response.

[Raspiaudio]

Dear Jim,

We are all friends here, and be sure that I’m here to help you.
If you purchased by mistake the wrong product (the Amazon interface could be confusing) Amazon gives you the opportunity to return it free of charge. But we can’t be blame if you have used the installation for another product.

Anyway, I kindly advise to you is to return the ULTRA+ thru Amazon selecting a reason like “purchased by mistake” and order a MIC+. As the MIC+ has a more powerful amplification 2x5W. The Ultra is more for people wanting to do some sound captation using external microphone or line-in.

[jwhowa]

I appreciate you taking the time to write and test. I did definitely buy a Mic+ from Amazon, they just shipped me the Ultra+ unfortunately. I will sort it out with them, and again thanks for your assistance. -Jim

[Raspiaudio]

you are welcome, let me know if you will need help with the new MIC+