[Alpha] usb sound cards support for raspbmc

[fixnode]

Hey,

Can someone post instructions on how to get a usb sound card working with Raspbmc RC5?

I'm assuming that the instructions here will not work for RC5

[casper]

Instructions still work for RC5. You are only required to install an old xbmc build, as that is the only build that has the required AudioEngine. At least that it was I understand of it all.

[fixnode]

(11-14-2012 08:10 PM)casper Wrote:  Instructions still work for RC5. You are only required to install an old xbmc build, as that is the only build that has the required AudioEngine. At least that it was I understand of it all.

actually I got the newest xbmc build to work with usb sound card. However I needed to install mplayer and configure xbmc external player to work with mplayer. XBMC is VERY laggy and I cannot do anything when a song is playing, I can re-gain control over xbmc after I disconnect my usb sound card. Any suggestions on different players that might work and have better CPU usage?

[s7mx1]

This post is outdated now. Please check the first post for updated info.

http://forum.stmlabs.com/showthread.php?tid=1052

======================================

Here is the long overdued update. I have only tested audio addon which works great. It should work with audio files/addon and gui sounds. On my test with 22.05KHz sample rate audio usb speakers the CPU load is around 50% with TuneIn radio playing LBC.

I am expecting a lot audio sync problems during video playback and I will address it a bit later.

Passthrough within xbmc is still not great so bear this in mind.

Upgrade procedure:

Code:

cd /home/pi
mkdir -p /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121
wget http://db.tt/wddpEuou -O /tmp/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-hardfp-20121121.tar.gz
tar xzf /tmp/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-hardfp-20121121.tar.gz -C /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121
rm /home/pi/.xbmc-current
ln -s /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121/xbmc-bcm /home/pi/.xbmc-current
sudo cp -a /opt/xbmc-bcm/xbmc-bin/lib/xbmc/system/*.so /home/pi/.xbmc-current/xbmc-bin/lib/xbmc/system/
sudo ldconfig

On a fresh system
you will also need to install pulseaudio by following

Code:

sudo apt-get install libltdl7
sudo rm -rf /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/libpulse*
sudo rm -rf /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/pulseaudio
wget http://db.tt/JchKQSC1 -O /tmp/pulseaudio-2.0-hardfp.tgz
cd /
sudo tar xzf /tmp/pulseaudio-2.0-hardfp.tgz
sudo initctl start pulseaudio

Then restart pi. If you are seeing relax loop this means your raspbmc is bit old. This should work with the upcoming raspbmc (raspbmc test update).

You can ignore step 3 in the first post as you can enable/disable audio engine easily via the raspbmc addon settings (under system settings).

Just to clarify that if audio engine is disabled then xbmc should behave exactly the same as the one of the xbmc nightly. Please also make sure HDMI is selected when audio engine is disabled if you want audio to go from hdmi.

If you run into problems please let me know.

[beyondx]

wow! great work! i´ll definitely check that out. I know that you stated mostly audio will work but as i´m one of those bugs who´s longing for full usb audio support i´m optimistic. don´t worry i´m realistic as well. its no easy task. i just asked myself why it´s that difficult as i´m playing with a second pi (raspbian) and enjoy things such as radio stream and airplay with usb audio. xbmc is quite different. i already gave up in the past to deal with xbmc and usb audio as people said its impossible by design. guys like you prove that effort may be a good thing. thanks!

i know..this post aint helpful. i´ll report later how things work or dont.

(11-22-2012 01:23 AM)s7mx1 Wrote:  Here is the long overdued update. I have only tested audio addon which works great. It should work with audio files/addon and gui sounds. On my test with 22.05KHz sample rate audio usb speakers the CPU load is around 50% with TuneIn radio playing LBC.

I am expecting a lot audio sync problems during video playback and I will address it a bit later.

Passthrough within xbmc is still not great so bear this in mind.

Upgrade procedure:

Code:

cd /home/pi
mkdir -p /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121
wget http://db.tt/wddpEuou -O /tmp/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-hardfp-20121121.tar.gz
tar xzf /tmp/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-hardfp-20121121.tar.gz -C /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121
rm /home/pi/.xbmc-current
ln -s /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121/xbmc-bcm /home/pi/.xbmc-current

Then restart pi. If you are seeing relax loop this means your raspbmc is bit old. This should work with the upcoming raspbmc (raspbmc test update).

You can ignore step 3 in the first post as you can enable/disable audio engine easily via the raspbmc addon settings (under system settings).

Just to clarify that if audio engine is disabled then xbmc should behave exactly the same as the one of the xbmc nightly. Please also make sure HDMI is selected when audio engine is disabled if you want audio to go from hdmi.

[s7mx1]

The best radio setup I found is to use my patched xbmc + usb sound card/speakers + tunein radio addon + recently xbmc remote app like Yatse. You don't need a monitor for that or at least it can be turned off. Everything can be controlled from the remote app.

I also tried flac playback and cpu usage is less than 50% with NFS share as long as you stay on the xbmc home screen so I guess that's a big improvement over the last one and hopefully this one works better for other people.

(11-23-2012 03:33 PM)beyondx Wrote:  wow! great work! i´ll definitely check that out. I know that you stated mostly audio will work but as i´m one of those bugs who´s longing for full usb audio support i´m optimistic. don´t worry i´m realistic as well. its no easy task. i just asked myself why it´s that difficult as i´m playing with a second pi (raspbian) and enjoy things such as radio stream and airplay with usb audio. xbmc is quite different. i already gave up in the past to deal with xbmc and usb audio as people said its impossible by design. guys like you prove that effort may be a good thing. thanks!

i know..this post aint helpful. i´ll report later how things work or dont.

[fixnode]

(11-22-2012 01:23 AM)s7mx1 Wrote:  Here is the long overdued update. I have only tested audio addon which works great. It should work with audio files/addon and gui sounds. On my test with 22.05KHz sample rate audio usb speakers the CPU load is around 50% with TuneIn radio playing LBC.

I am expecting a lot audio sync problems during video playback and I will address it a bit later.

Passthrough within xbmc is still not great so bear this in mind.

Upgrade procedure:

Code:

cd /home/pi
mkdir -p /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121
wget http://db.tt/wddpEuou -O /tmp/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-hardfp-20121121.tar.gz
tar xzf /tmp/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-hardfp-20121121.tar.gz -C /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121
rm /home/pi/.xbmc-current
ln -s /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121/xbmc-bcm /home/pi/.xbmc-current

Then restart pi. If you are seeing relax loop this means your raspbmc is bit old. This should work with the upcoming raspbmc (raspbmc test update).

You can ignore step 3 in the first post as you can enable/disable audio engine easily via the raspbmc addon settings (under system settings).

Just to clarify that if audio engine is disabled then xbmc should behave exactly the same as the one of the xbmc nightly. Please also make sure HDMI is selected when audio engine is disabled if you want audio to go from hdmi.

if I follow these instructions on a new raspbmc installation will it automatically get USB audio working?

[s7mx1]

On a fresh system you need to first follow step 1 of the first post to get pulseaudio installed.

(11-23-2012 10:04 PM)fixnode Wrote:  

(11-22-2012 01:23 AM)s7mx1 Wrote:  Here is the long overdued update. I have only tested audio addon which works great. It should work with audio files/addon and gui sounds. On my test with 22.05KHz sample rate audio usb speakers the CPU load is around 50% with TuneIn radio playing LBC.

I am expecting a lot audio sync problems during video playback and I will address it a bit later.

Passthrough within xbmc is still not great so bear this in mind.

Upgrade procedure:

Code:

cd /home/pi
mkdir -p /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121
wget http://db.tt/wddpEuou -O /tmp/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-hardfp-20121121.tar.gz
tar xzf /tmp/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-hardfp-20121121.tar.gz -C /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121
rm /home/pi/.xbmc-current
ln -s /home/pi/.upgrade/xbmc-rbp-pulseaudio-20121121/xbmc-bcm /home/pi/.xbmc-current

Then restart pi. If you are seeing relax loop this means your raspbmc is bit old. This should work with the upcoming raspbmc (raspbmc test update).

You can ignore step 3 in the first post as you can enable/disable audio engine easily via the raspbmc addon settings (under system settings).

Just to clarify that if audio engine is disabled then xbmc should behave exactly the same as the one of the xbmc nightly. Please also make sure HDMI is selected when audio engine is disabled if you want audio to go from hdmi.

if I follow these instructions on a new raspbmc installation will it automatically get USB audio working?

[GermanBrummi]

Hi There, I have sucessfully installe xbmc on my raspi,
after that I copy pasted your routine on the first post and the update routine in the last post into putty. The Pi did install it, but my xbmc does not boot anymore,

Im in the loop you were mentioning

I do can enter the cmd, by pressing esc, though.

What should I do to solve the problem ?

greetings, Brummi

Edit :

Raspbmc Testing Branch, with Hard Floating Point
Release Candidate 5, Built: 20121121

is my current version

[s7mx1]

(11-24-2012 12:02 PM)GermanBrummi Wrote:  Hi There, I have sucessfully installe xbmc on my raspi,
after that I copy pasted your routine on the first post and the update routine in the last post into putty. The Pi did install it, but my xbmc does not boot anymore,

Im in the loop you were mentioning

I do can enter the cmd, by pressing esc, though.

What should I do to solve the problem ?

greetings, Brummi

Edit :

Raspbmc Testing Branch, with Hard Floating Point
Release Candidate 5, Built: 20121121

is my current version

Can you post your /var/log/syslog?