This is for those experiencing a similar issue on the Rock Pi 4B (possibly RK3399 in general) who don't have a fix yet.

 

On Armbian Focal current for the Rock Pi 4B the sound from both HDMI and the audio jack stopped working and became undetectable to the system (Both Pulse-audio and ALSA couldn't detect anything except hdmi-sound and even then HDMI sound did not work). I fixed the issue by rolling back to the latest "current" kernel version in armbian-config (5.10.63-rockchip64). Now the system sound has gone back to normal.

Yes, Rocki-pi 4C, same symptoms here with 5.15.25-rockchip64, no sound, all quiet, nothing coming through hdmi, and no fix  

just wondering if there's an easy remedy, except "downgrading" the installed kernel... 

 

vesa@rockpi-4c:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: hdmisound [hdmi-sound], device 0: ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0 [ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
vesa@rockpi-4c:~$ uname -r
5.15.25-rockchip64
 

Right, most probably I was not downgrading enough as nothing changes, all quiet. There should be some other means to solve this, but this greatly exceeds my skills, therefore ending here. 

 

vesa@rockpi-4c:~$ uname -r
5.15.24-rockchip64
vesa@rockpi-4c:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: hdmisound [hdmi-sound], device 0: ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0 [ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Maybe this is not a kernel issue at all, someone upgraded kernel version today and thank you for that, but it's still pretty quiet here. Well, earplugs work but not hdmi sound. Maybe this is rather an alsa-pavu-problem where card & device numbers are messed and do not match well. Anyhows, the sun is shining and these are the last moments for ice fishing hereabout, so leaving this to wiser ones...

 

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Analog [Analog], device 0: ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0 [ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: hdmisound [hdmi-sound], device 0: ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0 [ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
vesa@rockpi-4c:~$ uname -r
5.16.16-rockchip64

It is a bit misleading that this thread is marked as "solved", since downgrading the kernel is only a bad workaround, re-introducing the Dirty Pipe Linux vulnerability. This issue affects all RK3399 SBCs btw. @Tensi0n I suggest to remove the solution flag and string from title so that Armbian maintainers are made aware that there is (still) a bug in this kernel 😉.

Now I believe that it's a bug in the kernel. Namely, I tried to make dozens of different settings in .asoundrc & etc/asound.conf and nothing changed, hdmi remained silent. Then I downgraded, or rather tried to, to  5.10.63 and now the board is neither booting at all nor sending any signals to my hdmi display,  so nothing on the screen. What makes this even more difficult is that Rock Pi C, to my opinion, has mechanically a pretty weak (mini?) hdmi connector, and to get anything on screen was rather laborious, a lot of trial-error. To get an idea whether it was a bad contact in the hdmi-pcb, cable, or a software problem, a total nightmare and a lot of hours spent.  Anyhow, it was in working condition for some months, and even succeeded in booting from its nvme-disk, but these recent upside-downgrades made my Rock piC totally unusable. So maybe its better to leave kernel upgrades for a while if your board happens to work...

 

Btw writing this with my Rock Pi 4B which still has the old kernel 5.10.63, and its hdmi sound works! 

 

vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ uname -r
5.10.63-rockchip64
vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: rockchiprk3399 [rockchip,rk3399], device 0: ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0 [ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: hdmisound [hdmi-sound], device 0: ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0 [ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

I wonder if this could be related (from `dmesg`):

Quote

[    7.970507] es8316 1-0011: Failed to get IRQ 0: -22
[    7.984103] rockchip-pinctrl pinctrl: pin gpio4-0 already requested by 1-0011; cannot claim for ff880000.i2s
[    7.984127] rockchip-pinctrl pinctrl: pin-128 (ff880000.i2s) status -22
[    7.984136] rockchip-pinctrl pinctrl: could not request pin 128 (gpio4-0) from group i2s0-2ch-bus  on device rockchip-pinctrl
[    7.984146] rockchip-i2s ff880000.i2s: Error applying setting, reverse things back

This is from the new kernel - do you get it on the old one too?

Edited March 21, 20224 yr by fier

Moved to P2P help.

Unsupported board.

19 hours ago, fier said:

I wonder if this could be related (from `dmesg`):

This is from the new kernel - do you get it on the old one too?

Hello, yes, most probably you've found the culprit; only one error message with the older kernel compared to that of yours:

 

 

vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ uname -r
5.10.63-rockchip64

vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ dmesg | grep rockchip-pin*
vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ dmesg | grep es83*
[   14.575882] es8316 1-0011: Failed to get IRQ 0: -22
vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ dmesg | grep rockchip-i2*
vesa@rockpi-4b:~$

 

Now it's the question of expertise I don't have

 

And that was from my Rock Pi 4B. It still works, its hdmi-sound is ok, boots well from its nvme, and so on. So maybe better to leave it as it is.

 

But then my Rocky Pi 4 C became a paperweight. Downgrading 5.15.25-rockchip64 to 5.15.24-rockchip64 practically changed nothing, but the bigger leap to 5.10.63 reduced it to rubbish. Yes, it might be doing something as the leds are blinking when switched on but nothing coming up to the screen- all black. Needs to dismantle the box as its sd-slot is hidden behind the flat cable, and maybe to find a uart-cable to play with, and an sd-card with a working os which might wake up his/her hdmi-bus, too many ifs and ands ... too time consuming for now.

 

 

Based on that above one can assume that eg. OPI 4 loses its hdmi sound similarly as Rock Pi, right?

 

 

1 hour ago, weecee said:

Based on that above one can assume that eg. OPI 4 loses its hdmi sound similarly as Rock Pi, right?

 

I mean after latest kernel upgrades, 5.15.xxx .

On 3/21/2022 at 3:54 PM, MichaIng said:

I suggest to remove the solution flag and string from title so that Armbian maintainers are made aware that there is (still) a bug in this kernel

 

Done.

 

Next time @MichaIng (or anyone, really) please 'flag' the post to bring it to (all) moderator attention.  I only happened to notice your request because I was skimming through the All Activity feed like I usually do.

Ah right, thanks for changing it an the hint!

It looks like it's fixed in 5.17:

user@rockpi:~$ aplay  -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Analog [Analog], device 0: ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0 [ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: hdmisound [hdmi-sound], device 0: ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0 [ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
user@rockpi:~$ uname -a
Linux rockpi 5.17.5-rockchip64 #trunk SMP PREEMPT Mon May 16 15:11:10 UTC 2022 aarch64 aarch64 aarch64 GNU/Linux

 

Apparently auto-updates did no good, still no sound after upgrading from 5.10.63-rockchip64 (this had sound working) to 5.15.52. No sound in headphones, HDMI...

Would be nice to know what those magic lines are in settings which made this

 

vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: hdmisound [hdmi-sound], device 0: ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0 [ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

 

vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ uname -a
Linux rockpi-4b 5.15.52-rockchip64 #22.05.4 SMP PREEMPT Mon Jul 4 09:40:29 CEST 2022 aarch64 GNU/Linux

Ok, this board is 4 B+, but maybe same symptoms exists as it was with my 4C. Luckily my 4C has the older 5.10.63-rockchip64, and its hdmi-sound works.

It seems that I've learned nothing about these non necessary updates-upgrades, but they have been made so attractive and simple so its difficult to resist pressing the button...

Not brave enough to upgrade to 5.17 as it in my case it may lead to a completely non-booting system, and to get it back takes hours of trial-error-downloading-hassle, by experience...

Ok, reverted back to the tested version 5.10.63 (Armbian Config - quite handy for a beginner like me). HDMI sound works nicely again. Ending my adventures on kernel upgrades here

 

vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ uname -r
5.10.63-rockchip64
vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: rockchiprk3399 [rockchip,rk3399], device 0: ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0 [ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: hdmisound [hdmi-sound], device 0: ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0 [ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Right, accidentally updated:

 

vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ uname -r
5.15.74-rockchip64
vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: hdmisound [hdmi-sound], device 0: ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0 [ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

 

And the silence is here again...

 

 

 

And some further updates lead to nowhere:

vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Analog [Analog], device 0: ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0 [ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: hdmisound [hdmi-sound], device 0: ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0 [ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ uname -r
5.19.16-rockchip64

 

To be noted that upgrading to 5.19.16 kept the loudspeakers silent, so what next...

 

 

Ok,

 

Let there be sound, and sound was there... :

 

vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ uname -r
5.10.63-rockchip64
vesa@rockpi-4b:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: rockchiprk3399 [rockchip,rk3399], device 0: ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0 [ff880000.i2s-ES8316 HiFi ES8316 HiFi-0]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: hdmisound [hdmi-sound], device 0: ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0 [ff8a0000.i2s-i2s-hifi i2s-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0