Route all Pi audio to bluetooth speaker

RE: Route all Pi audio to bluetooth speaker

clem57 — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 19:59:11 GMT

In Linux, a dot before the name implies normal ls command will not show the file. It is like the hidden attribute in Windows.

Glad you found it works now,

Clem

RE: Route all Pi audio to bluetooth speaker

colporteur — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 18:47:44 GMT

The link provided insight into turning of the onboard audio card. The information in the link was stale dated but the configuration changes looked familiar.

The following change:

disable audio support /boot/config.txt 
# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835) 
#dtparam=audio=on <--- inserted the octothorpe and perform a reboot.

Before making this change you will notice a /proc/asound directory. After the change and reboot the directory is not created (i.e. no sound card).

I then configured the bluetooth device (i.e. speaker) using bluetoothctl

I was then going to make the following entry

/home/pi/.asoundrc <---yes there is a period in front of the filename.

pcm.!default {

type plug

slave.pcm {

type bluealsa

device "C2:E4:94:97:66:A8"

profile "a2dp"

}

ctl.!default {

type bluealsa

}

but discovered on a reboot after configuring bluetooth the contents were automatically created. The contents for this file I discovered in a post https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=231281 on the raspberrypi forum.

I did notice if this file had a syntax errors (i.e. device "bluealsa:HCI=hci0,DEV=C2:E4:94:97:66:A8") applications errored out and the file contained some hardware entries. Not sure how this developed.

With this configuration in place I have all audio from the browser (i.e. youtube video) doesn't go out the HDMI but the rather the bluetooth speaker. Exactly what I was looking for. I suspect not having audio hardware on bootup removed any confusion to what the ALSA was required to do. Since no other audio support exists other than bluetooth it configured without a hitch.

I appreciate the links to resources. It definitely provided the impetus to uncover the solution. A fresh pair of eyes made the difference.

Sean

RE: Route all Pi audio to bluetooth speaker

clem57 — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 01:40:39 GMT

I think your answer is to send the sound to pulse instead of ALSA. Then the destination is much simpler. Look at https://opensource.com/article/17/1/linux-plays-sound . For a Windows perceptive this article maybe better https://www.learndigitalaudio.com/how-linux-audio-works-vs-windows-audio-2017

Hope this helps you.

Clem

RE: Route all Pi audio to bluetooth speaker

clem57 — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 22:06:01 GMT

I do not have the answer, but I can point you in a direction that will help. In this link, you will find how to realign the default sound. It may be adapted to your situation.

Clem