PicoChess v3.2 on Raspi 4 without Sound

[Oliver]

I'm quite new to PicoChess and have just installed the v3.2 image on my Raspberry Pi 4. The webinterface works fine with announcements when I open it on my remote maschine. However I wanted to change the voice style and only get announcements for the opponent moves. So I hooked up a speaker to the 3.5mm port. But picoChess does not output sound on the 3.5mm connection.

If I use "play" on the commandline with one of the voice files it works without problems.

Does anyone know where I should start figuring out what is going on?

Thanks a lot!

Oliver

[RandyR]

Hi Oliver,

The Desktop image is configured for an HDMI monitor with sound. Since PicoChess runs as root (and typically root doesn't access PulseAudio which is installed in the RPiOS), sound is configured for ALSA by the /etc/asound.conf file. The default contents are:

defaults.pcm.card 0
defaults.ctl.card 0

To switch to the 3.5 mm A/V jack, you can change it (using 'sudo nano /etc/asound.conf') to:

defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.ctl.card 1

Then reboot.

The command 'sudo aplay -l' will show the various audio sinks available, useful for other sound configurations/cards.

The sound you hear in the browser is the browser's speech synthesis which is not supported on all browsers or on all operating systems. The code is contained in the app.js javascript file of the web server so it would require modification to play only the computer moves. There is no picochess.ini option for this

Randy

[Oliver]

Hi Randy,

thanks a lot for your fast help! It was really that easy :)

I changed the default output, rebooted, and it is working like it should.

My plan is to connect my DGT 3000 as a Display/Controller and use a small external speaker to get the move announcements via the 3.5mm jack. Haven't yet thought about using an HDMI monitor with speakers.

Now I have to go and enjoy one round of chess and try the different talkers.

Thanks again,

Oliver