Cirrus Logic Audio Card working on the Raspberry Pi 2

Many thanks Ragnar - I got this working with my Pi2 using the new image.

One thing I have noticed: the red and green LEDs are illuminated on the audio card until the first recording is started. Once recording has started, the red LED goes out and stays out. Previously, with the earlier kernel version and a Pi B+I think the red LED went out once the Pi had booted.  Not that it really matters, but it's just something I noticed.

Many thanks once again for taking the time to do this.

Update:  I spoke too soon. Now when I boot, I get the red and green LEDs, and both stay lit, and recording is not possible.    Some troubleshooting required....

Hi Ragnar,

so far so good, I've tested it with an old Pi and an old card. aplay -l gives:

aplay -l

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****

card 0: sndrpiwsp [snd_rpi_wsp], device 0: WM5102 AiFi wm5102-aif1-0 []

  Subdevices: 1/1

  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

card 1: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 0: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA]

  Subdevices: 8/8

  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1

  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2

  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3

  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4

  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5

  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6

  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7

card 1: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 1: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI]

  Subdevices: 1/1

  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

It seems the card is loaded correctly, but I can't get any sound out of it. Alsamixer is showing a lot of output options, umuting some of the does not help! I like to use the headphone out!

Any suggestions?

Thanks a lot, Thomas

Sorry,

/home/pi/use_case_scripts./Playback_to_Headset.sh

Did the trick!

All running, great! Thanks a lot!

Thomas

One additional question:

If i like to activate a sound output, it is only necessary to run one of the use case scripts once, right! If I run all use case scripts once, are all output devices enabled then, or can only one output be activated at the same time?

Thanks, Thomas

If i like to activate a sound output, it is only necessary to run one of the use case scripts once, right?

Yes.

If I run all use case scripts once, are all output devices enabled then?

Yes.

Furthermore, on Raspbian, the state of the sound card(s) is saved at shutdown and restored at boot by the /etc/init.d/alsa-utils script.

--

Ragnar

Hi Ragnar,

perfect! Thanks a lot for your quick answer! So I have only to wait for my new Wolfson card to see if everything is working with the new card and the Pi 2. If yes, I'll support the Wolfson card in SqueezePlug soon!

Thanks, Thomas

P.S.: Do you have a hint for the right output level for headphone and lineout? I saw that the output level is very high, compared with other devices like HiFiBerry. And how to set the right values with a  shell command?

Yes, the levels are hot. The reference level for 0 dB on Line Out is 0 dBV (1V RMS), whereas most consumer gear is -10 dBV (0.316 V RMS).

This script is what I use most of the time to initialize the outputs. It's just the three standard "Playback_to..." scripts copy-and-pasted together.

#!/bin/bash

#Playback from RPi to Headset
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT1 Digital Switch' on
# Set path gain to -6dB for safety. ie max 0.5Vrms output level.
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT1 Digital Volume' 116 # 96=-16dB. Volume control in 0.5 dB steps, -64dB to +32dB. Valid values 0-191. 128=0dB.
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT1L Input 1' AIF1RX1
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT1L Input 1 Volume' 32 # Input gain in 1 dB steps. -32dB to +12dB. Valid values 0-48. 32=0dB.
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT1R Input 1' AIF1RX2
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT1R Input 1 Volume' 32


#Playback from RPi to LineOut
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT2 Digital Switch' on
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT2 Digital Volume' 128 # 108 = -10dB
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT2L Input 1' AIF1RX1
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT2L Input 1 Volume' 32
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT2R Input 1' AIF1RX2
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='HPOUT2R Input 1 Volume' 32

#SPDIF Playback: 

amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='SPDIF out Switch' on
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='Input Source' AIF
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='AIF2TX1 Input 1' AIF1RX1
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='AIF2TX1 Input 1 Volume' 32 # 22 = -10dB
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='AIF2TX2 Input 1' AIF1RX2
amixer -q -Dhw:sndrpiwsp cset name='AIF2TX2 Input 1 Volume' 32 # 22 = -10dB

It sets Line Out and S/PDIF Out to 0 dB, i.e no amplification nor attenuation. The rationale here is that those outputs are connected to devices which have their own volume controls. Also, my analog gear is professional stuff that can take even hotter signals.

Headset Out is set to -6 dB, to avoid ear-shattering surprises. The actual sound level I get varies a lot depending on which headphones I use. In modern ones it's still a bit too loud for my taste, but in my old 600-ohm favorites, it's just right.

So, my hint would be to take the above script and edit it to decrease levels with 10 dB on lines 6 and 15. Then, I think you'll have a good starting point.

As you can see, the magic command to set levels is amixer using its cset option.

--

Ragnar

One thing I have noticed: the red and green LEDs are illuminated on the audio card until the first recording is started. Once recording has started, the red LED goes out and stays out. Previously, with the earlier kernel version and a Pi B+I think the red LED went out once the Pi had booted. Not that it really matters, but it's just something I noticed.

As far as I know,  the red led indicates whether the S/PDIF chip is controlled over the SPI or the I2C bus. I think I have seen some some changes there...

--

Ragnar

Ragnar,

Many thanks to you for sharing this!!! I am getting sound using my Raspberry Pi 2 on the headset but I am only getting sound output to my loud speakers via right speaker out--I get no sound at all to left speaker out.  What may I have done wrong?

Thanks, again!