voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

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dbieber
 
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voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by dbieber »

Hi folks, I recently started using an Adafruit Voice Bonnet on a Raspberry Pi 400, but am running into two audio-related issues. Maybe they're connected.

Issue #1: High pitch noise when recording
I attached the Adafruit Voice Bonnet to the GPIO pins of the Pi 400 using a 2x20, and followed the instructions here (https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-voice-bonnet) to set up the bonnet. When I record audio, it has a high pitched noise added to it.
Here's an example clip: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/j4irxucgg7lehx ... 662484.wav

Issue #2: Playback is quiet and muffled.
I plugged a pair of headphones (ATH-T22, not that it should matter) into the voice bonnet's headphone jack and installed espeak. When I play audio (either with espeak or through any other mechanism), the audio comes in extremely quiet and muffled (and maybe low frequencies only... hard to say). There's also an annoying moderate-volume click when it starts to play any sound.

Any ideas for how to diagnose or resolve?
The issues persist whether I power the Pi via battery (10000 mAh battery pack) or outlet.

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by mikeysklar »

Thank you for providing the audio sample.

Did you buy the voice bonnet from us in the last 30-days?

Have you adjusted the volume with Alsamixer F6 and volume to 60%? Any difference?

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dbieber
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by dbieber »

Yes, I bought it two weeks ago -- it arrived here at the start of this week.
And yes, I have adjusted the volume, but that doesn't help with either issue.

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by mikeysklar »

Let's try another unit or if you prefer we can do a refund. Please send an e-mail to [email protected] with your preference, order number and a link to this forum thread as confirmation of troubleshooting.

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dbieber
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by dbieber »

OK, thanks, I sent the email.

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dbieber
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by dbieber »

I received the replacement voice bonnet. Thank you again.

After swapping out the old voice bonnet for the new, now neither bonnet is detected by the Raspberry Pi. This suggests the issue (and maybe also the original issues; I don't know) could be on the Pi side of things. I have booted from a fresh copy of the Pi operating system in case it was a software issue, but still neither voice bonnet registers with the Pi.

Specifically, I am following this guide https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-voi ... inka-setup. Everything is smooth until "Audio Setup"; when I run `sudo i2cdetect -y 1`, the result is:

Code: Select all

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo i2cdetect -y 1
     0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f
00:          -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
20: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
40: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
50: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
60: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
The desired output is that one of those "--"s would instead indicate the hardware seeing the audio card (e.g. by changing to "1a"). I get the same output regardless of whether the voice bonnet is attached or not.

Typically this output appears immediately when I run the command, but in the last few minutes, the "--"s now appear about 1 every second, eventually completing the whole grid over the span of over a minute.

My working theory is that the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins could be damaged. There's no visible damage though. Let me know if you have any suggestions for how to troubleshoot or resolve.

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by mikeysklar »

There is an on/off switch located on the Audio Bonnet in the center. Make sure that is on.

Have you done any custom soldering on the Pi4 or Bonnet? Neither should require it, but just want to verify everything is stock.

Can you confirm that i2c is enabled in the /boot/config.txt or using raspi-config? Our script should enable it, but again just to make sure.

You could use a multimeter to confirm you are seeing 5v, 3v3 and GND pin voltages.

Which version of the Pi OS did you install (lite, desktop, 32 or 64 bit, release date)?

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dbieber
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by dbieber »

> There is an on/off switch located on the Audio Bonnet in the center. Make sure that is on.

Yes, I can confirm it is switched on (and has been the whole time.)

> Have you done any custom soldering on the Pi4 or Bonnet?

No, no custom soldering on either.

> Can you confirm that i2c is enabled in the /boot/config.txt or using raspi-config?

Yes, I see: `dtparam=i2c_arm=on` in /boot/config.txt

> You could use a multimeter to confirm you are seeing 5v, 3v3 and GND pin voltages.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try this.

> Which version of the Pi OS did you install (lite, desktop, 32 or 64 bit, release date)?

32 bit Desktop, release date 2021-05-07.

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dbieber
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by dbieber »

Following https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/q ... 15-seconds I ran `cat /var/log/syslog`, and like the question-asker there, I see loads of lines like these:

Code: Select all

Oct  3 17:25:37 raspberrypi kernel: [77815.393293] i2c-bcm2835 fe804000.i2c: i2c transfer timed out
Oct  3 17:25:38 raspberrypi kernel: [77816.433288] i2c-bcm2835 fe804000.i2c: i2c transfer timed out
Oct  3 17:25:39 raspberrypi kernel: [77817.473295] i2c-bcm2835 fe804000.i2c: i2c transfer timed out
Oct  3 17:25:40 raspberrypi kernel: [77818.513321] i2c-bcm2835 fe804000.i2c: i2c transfer timed out
Oct  3 17:25:41 raspberrypi kernel: [77819.553319] i2c-bcm2835 fe804000.i2c: i2c transfer timed out
Oct  3 17:25:42 raspberrypi kernel: [77820.593351] i2c-bcm2835 fe804000.i2c: i2c transfer timed out
Oct  3 17:25:43 raspberrypi kernel: [77821.633408] i2c-bcm2835 fe804000.i2c: i2c transfer timed out

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by mikeysklar »

Interesting error message on the i2c timeout side.

Let's come back to that after looking at looking at a few other things.

Since this is an i2s device are you able to get any audio when using the aplay / python examples / speaker test?

Which kernel are you running? Have you installed the updates?

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dbieber
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by dbieber »

No, I don't get any audio through the voice bonnet any more. (I can get audio through bluetooth speakers.)

The kernel version is 5.10.63-v7l+.

Code: Select all

pi@raspberrypi:~/seeed-voicecard $ uname -r
5.10.63-v7l+
If instead you meant the raspberrypi-kernel package, it's version is 1:1.20210928-1~buster.
I've run `sudo apt update; sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get -y upgrade` -- are those the updates you mean, or something else?

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by mikeysklar »

Thanks for the version info and trying audio. You are up to date on the Pi OS side.

I wanted to confirm you were on the 5.10+ kernel since our instructions have a slightly different checkout procedure.

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-voi ... -3071738-2

Since you are not seeing the i2c on either voice bonnet now, but one was working before we should look at how you are connecting the device. If you are on a Pi400 that means there is probably a ribbon cable invovled. Can you show me the orientation of the board and it's connector?

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dbieber
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by dbieber »

I'm using a 2x20 connector.

Here you can see how it is attached to the Pi.
voice bonnet front side
voice bonnet front side
IMG_2600.jpg (421.85 KiB) Viewed 416 times
voice bonnet reverse side.
voice bonnet reverse side.
IMG_2599.jpg (399.3 KiB) Viewed 416 times
I have a second 2x20 that the other voice bonnet is on, and I've tried them both in the Pi, mounted with the same orientation.

This is the orientation that was formerly working (albeit with the two issues described in the original post). E.g. here is a photo from when it was largely working:
voice bonnet from when i2c was working
voice bonnet from when i2c was working
IMG_2566.jpg (683.21 KiB) Viewed 416 times

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mikeysklar
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by mikeysklar »

Thanks for the clear photos.

It looks like you have added your own header to make the connection. Did you do any soldering? It looks like there is none looking at the Voice Bonnet top side in one of your photos. Which model (part#) of header did you use?

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dbieber
 
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Re: voice bonnet audio issues on Raspberry Pi 400

Post by dbieber »

No, I didn't do any soldering.

The header used in the two current photos is "GPIO Stacking Header for Pi A+/B+/Pi 2/Pi 3 (Extra-long 2x20 Pins)" (https://www.adafruit.com/product/2223)

The header on the other voice bonnet is "2x20 Socket Riser Header for Raspberry Pi HATs and Bonnets[ID:4079]" (https://www.adafruit.com/product/4079).

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