Raspberry Pi Audio

June 2, 2012 - 1 min read

ARM
Audio
Linux
Raspberry Pi

Currently, the audio drivers for the Raspberry Pi are still in beta, and as such come disabled in the standard release (debian6-19-04-2012.zip). Here’s a quick way to get it up and running for both the HDMI as well as the analog output. Open up a terminal and install the alsa (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) utility package:

sudo apt-get install alsa-utils

Now load the sound driver using modprobe:

sudo modprobe snd_bcm2835

By default output will be automatic (HDMI if supported, else analog). You can force it to use a specific interface with:

sudo amixer cset numid=3

Substituting for the desired mode: 0=auto, 1=headphones, 2=hdmi. For example, to force the Raspberry Pi to use the analog output:

sudo amixer cset numid=3 1