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I'm trying to use the WM8960 Audio Board (not the HAT) on a Raspberry Pi Zero W. I followed the instructions for the HAT to install the driver (WM8960 Audio HAT User Manual). It seems to be installed correctly:

pi@box:~ $ sudo dkms status
wm8960-soundcard, 1.0, 4.14.79+, armv6l: installed
wm8960-soundcard, 1.0, 4.14.79-v7+, armv6l: installed

I used the pinout table in the same manual to connect the pins from the Pi Zero to the Audio Board. My current pin connection:

Audio Board --> Pi

VCC --> PIN 1 (+3V3 OUT)
GND --> PIN 6 (GND)
SDA --> PIN 3 (I2C1 SDA / GPIO2)
SCL --> PIN 5 (I2C1 SCL / GPIO3)
CLK --> PIN 12 (PWM0 / GPIO18)
WS --> PIN 35 (PWM1 / GPIO19)
TXSDA --> PIN 40 (GPCLK1 / GPIO21)
RXSDA --> PIN 38 (? / GPIO20)
TXMCLK --> not connected
RXMCLK --> not connected

Unfortunetly the board is not available in the sound card list:

pi@box:~ $ aplay -l
**** Liste der Hardware-Geräte (PLAYBACK) ****
Karte 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], Gerät 0: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA]
  Sub-Geräte: 7/7
  Sub-Gerät #0: subdevice #0
  Sub-Gerät #1: subdevice #1
  Sub-Gerät #2: subdevice #2
  Sub-Gerät #3: subdevice #3
  Sub-Gerät #4: subdevice #4
  Sub-Gerät #5: subdevice #5
  Sub-Gerät #6: subdevice #6
Karte 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], Gerät 1: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI]
  Sub-Geräte: 1/1
  Sub-Gerät #0: subdevice #0

I also can't see a connected I2C channel:

pi@box:~ $ i2cdetect -y 1
     0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f
00:          -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
20: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
40: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
50: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
60: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Is there a step by step instruction to use the WM8960 Audio Board on a Raspberry Pi Zero W? Did I connected something wrong or does anyone has some ideas how to use the board correctly? Thanks in advance for your answers.

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  • try connecting only Vcc, GND, SDA and SCL .... it appears that the other pins are for I2S .... you did not label the pin names clearly ... for instance, what is WS?
    – jsotola
    Feb 3, 2019 at 2:43
  • @jsotola - i2s is required for audio, i2c for control ... and WS is LRCLK
    – Jaromanda X
    Feb 3, 2019 at 7:06
  • According to the specs for WM8960, TXMCLK needs to be connected for playback, and RXMCLK needs to be connected for recording - and you have neither connected - though, that wouldn't effect i2c
    – Jaromanda X
    Feb 3, 2019 at 7:10
  • I only need playback, so I need to connect TXMCLK. But which pin should I use?
    – nkl-kst
    Feb 8, 2019 at 18:58
  • I think the raspberry can only supply a low current on the 3.3V rail. try to connect an external power supply with at least 330mA capability. you can also find the schematics here: waveshare.com/w/upload/b/b6/WM8960_Audio_Board_Schematic..pdf waveshare.com/w/upload/f/fa/WM8960_Audio_HAT_Schematic.pdf There you can find the voltage regulator DS9193.
    – Sebastian
    Jan 31, 2020 at 21:02

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

update: the Board schematic seems to be wrong. This ist the pinning that works on my setup:

Pin                             WM8960      Raspberry
------------------------------------------------------
VCC (+3V3 OUT)                  1 + 2          4 + Voltage regulator to 3.3 V           
GND                             3 + 4          6 (GND)
SDA (I2C1 SDA)                    5            3 (GPIO 2)
SCL (I2C1 SCL)                    7            5 (GPIO 3)
CLK (I2S)                        10           12 (GPIO 18)            
LRCLK (I2S)                      11           35 (GPIO 19)         
I2S  DAC                         13           40 (GPIO 21)
I2S  ADC                         14           38 (GPIO 20)

I'm getting this output

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
**card 0: wm8960soundcard [wm8960-soundcard], device 0: bcm2835-i2s-wm8960-hifi **wm8960-hifi-0 [bcm2835-i2s-wm8960-hifi wm8960-hifi-0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0****
card 1: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 0: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA]
  Subdevices: 7/7
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
card 1: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 1: bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI [bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 2: bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI1 [bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

And alsamixer also shows the WM8960-soundcard

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