The audio and sound icon have disappeared

[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Hello friends, 

I don't know why, but the sound and sound icon on my PicoChess V.4.2.3 have disappeared. 

I have a Pi 4 and a Pi 5. 

I'll wait for a future update to see if the sound and icon return. 

Waldomiro.

Em segunda-feira, 6 de abril de 2026, Ro Bert <robert...@gmail.com> escreveu:

Hello Santiago,

i already compiled it on my raspi 5.

here is the link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MWk9bWeLry-lnyzd8wgNoH8utRH4gfJ9/view?usp=sharing

Have fun

Robert

RandyR schrieb am Montag, 6. April 2026 um 18:58:42 UTC+2:

We could probably add it but it doesn't support levels so to limit the strength you would have to use nodes or depth (and threads). I don't currently have access to a Pi to compile an aarch64 version.

Randy

On Monday, April 6, 2026 at 9:24:08 AM UTC-7 santia...@gmail.com wrote:

Hi friends, there is a new, very powerful chess engine that I think it deserves to be in Picochess.  That engine seems to be even better than Stockfish last version. Please, may you add that to the images (or the picochess update system) or can write an instruction file to add by ourselves.  

I leave the engine link.

GitHub - codedeliveryservice/Reckless: Competitive chess engine written in Rust · GitHub

Best regards and thanks for your kind help.

Santiago

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PicoChess" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to picochess+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/ea500a5d-5c70-487f-bcb1-5006a59e97a3n%40googlegroups.com.

[Johan Sjöblom]

My guess is that you have updated the operating system and have now ended up with wayland instead of X11. And further guessing you could check that you have audio-backend = native in picochess.ini. On localhost the voice icons are not visible. Heres the longer explanation, courtesy my AI agent:

Please check these lines in your `picochess.ini` and tell me what they are set to:

audio-backend = ...
web-audio-backend-remote = ...
computer-voice = ...

What they mean:

- `audio-backend = native`
  Recommended for current Raspberry Pi OS desktop / Wayland / PipeWire setups.

- `audio-backend = sox`
  Older SoX-based local audio playback. This is mainly what we use for DGTPi/DGT3000-style installs.

- `web-audio-backend-remote = true`
  Picochess sends backend audio to a remote browser opened from another device on the network.
  If a remote client is connected, that remote browser gets the sound instead of the local speaker.

- `web-audio-backend-remote = false`
  No backend audio is sent to the remote browser. Sound stays local.

- `computer-voice`
  If this is missing or disabled, you may not hear spoken move announcements even if audio itself works.

Also:
If you open PicoChess on `localhost` on the Pi itself, the web sound/mute icon is hidden by design.

-- Johan

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to picochess+...@googlegroups.com.

[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Hello Johan, 

Thank you so much for your help! 

I'm a regular PicoChess user and I really admire the work you do!

I don't know how to program anything; the only thing I did was update PicoChess via the internet, and after that, both lost sound and the icon. 

See the attached photo; I searched extensively and couldn't find the parameters you requested.

Waldomiro

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/da3c9b2a-905f-4228-91c2-732b08d7b298n%40googlegroups.com.

[Johan Sjöblom]

OK, so now you could try to add this line to your picochess.ini file, you can put it anywhere, at the end or in the middle...

audio-backend = native

If you want, optional, you can add this explanation line above it, its just a comment to help remember the two values

## Select audio backend for voice playback: sox (default) or native

As you see from the optional comment above sox is the default value if you are missing the audio-backend setting.

ALTERNATIVE 2:

This config page I made so that it would be easier to change picochess.ini settings.

You can click "config" in the web menu, and that will show you all picochess.ini settings. At the very very bottom right there is a "add setting" which allows you to add this missing setting.

type "audio-backend" in the left box and "native" in the right.  Then click save. Restart picochess so that the new setting takes effect.

Next time when you open this config page you will see a dropdown named audio-backend and you can chose "sox" or "native" values.

ALTERNATIVE 3:

Reset your picochess.ini to the latest default values. But make a backup first:

> cd /opt/picochess

> cp picochess.ini picochess.backup

> cp picochess.ini.example-web-aarch64 picochess.ini

restart picochess

BUT THIS OPTION WILL FORGET ALL YOUR PERSONAL picochess.ini SETTINGS ... So I do not recommend this unless you want a clean start.

If your sound problem is in the picochess.ini file you have to do one of these options, the upgrades does not change your picochess.ini file as that are your personal settings. Maybe you have a very old picochess.ini file?

-- Johan

[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Hi Johan, 

I added the command `audio-backend = native` to the picochess.ini folder, saved it, and restarted, but unfortunately it didn't work. 

I decided to revert to version 4.2.1, which has sound, and wait for a new update to see if that solves the problem. 

Johan, could you one day add the Certabo Bluetooth codes to PicoChess? 

I have two PicoChess systems with 10.1-inch screens, one with a Pi4 that I can play with the Certabo via USB cable, and another with a Pi5 that I can't play with via USB cable. 

I believe it's due to the power supply; my monitors power the Raspberry Pi4 and the Pi5. 

I believe there isn't enough power reaching the Certabo when I use the Pi5. 

I have the Certabo Bluetooth Classic and the Certabo Bluetooth BLE, and I can't connect the PicoChess via Bluetooth. 

Waldomiro

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to picochess+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/6d754987-813c-4483-b67c-25618616424bn%40googlegroups.com.

[Johan Sjöblom]

Unfortunately I dont have time to look at the Certabo issue, but I agree that you can have power issues if you dont power the Pi with the native usb-c power. I seem to remember that this case was discussed earlier.

On the audio issue: There was indeed a change to the audio after 4.2.1. The settings you actually need are the following in picochess.ini:

Alternative 1:

audio-backend = sox
web-audio-backend-remote = false (only needed if you have it set to true, missing defaults to false)
Restart Picochess

Alternative 2:

install pipewire-alsa

audio-backend = native
web-audio-backend-remote = false (only needed if you have it set to true, missing defaults to false)
Restart Picochess

I remember we had some problems that I could not install pipewire-alsa automatically. So you should use alternative 1. The web-audio-backend-remote setting is the most likely problem. If that setting is true and you connect a remote web client such as your mobile phone, the backend sound will be sent to the phone. This feature is there so that you can use the phone as a speaker. With web-audio-backend-remote = false it will never try to send the audio to any remote web client, it will always play locally.

-- Johan

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/6d754987-813c-4483-b67c-25618616424bn%40googlegroups.com.

[waldomiro dias machado junior]

Hi Johan, 

I only just saw your post. 

I solved the sound problem on my two PicoChess Pi4 and Pi5 by formatting and burning two new memory cards with version 4.1.9 and then updating to version 4.2.3 via the internet, and the sound is now working!

I can't understand what happened, but most importantly, it's perfect now! 

Thanks again for your help! 

Waldomiro.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to picochess+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/6d754987-813c-4483-b67c-25618616424bn%40googlegroups.com.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PicoChess" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to picochess+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/f84d3a36-48c8-47bc-b705-e3f1baf80dd7n%40googlegroups.com.

[Johan Sjöblom]

Great to hear that it now works.

I think it was the setup on the formatted cards for 4.1.9 that was well made. Upgrading just upgraded then, and it worked!

-- Johan

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/6d754987-813c-4483-b67c-25618616424bn%40googlegroups.com.

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PicoChess" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to picochess+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/picochess/f84d3a36-48c8-47bc-b705-e3f1baf80dd7n%40googlegroups.com.