has anyone have an issue with sound? i keep having to restart to get audio out of hdmi 0, or i just restart audio services. is there a fix am I the only one?
From your description, the audio output through HDMI 0 occasionally stops working, but it comes back after either rebooting the system or restarting the audio services. Since restarting the audio services alone restores the sound, this may be related to the HDMI audio device or audio services not being initialized correctly by Raspberry Pi OS, rather than a hardware issue with the Pironman 5 Max itself.
To help us investigate further, could you please provide the following information?
Which version of Raspberry Pi OS are you currently using?
The output of:
uname -a
Does the issue happen after every cold boot, or only occasionally?
When the audio stops working, what exact command are you using to restart the audio services and restore the sound?
The next time the issue occurs, before rebooting or restarting the audio services, please provide the output of:
wpctl status
pactl list short sinks
systemctl --user status pipewire wireplumber
This will help us check whether the HDMI audio device is still detected when the problem occurs and whether PipeWire/WirePlumber is running correctly.
Also, please let us know if you notice any relationship with the power-on sequence—for example, whether the monitor/TV is turned on before or after the Raspberry Pi boots.
Once we have this information, we can investigate the issue further.
was hoping for an on off switch but ok! ive been talking to google gemini helped me write a code as well asking but no luck i will get you this info soon enough.. basically telling to look for hdmi 0 as a default.
uname -a
Linux Server 6.18.50+rpt-rpi-2712 #1 SMP PREEMPT Debian 1:6.18.50-1+rpt1 (2026-09-11) aarch64 GNU/Linux
just about every other boot , tv/ monitor usually on.
Thanks for the additional information.
Since the issue occurs on roughly every other boot even when the TV/monitor is already powered on, we’d like to check the audio device state during a failed boot.
The next time the system boots with no HDMI audio, please do not restart the audio service or reboot yet. Run the following commands while the audio is still not working:
wpctl status
pactl list short sinks
systemctl --user status pipewire wireplumber
Please post the complete output here.
This will help us determine whether HDMI 0 is still detected but not being used correctly, or whether the HDMI audio device is failing to initialize during boot.
roger that. thanks for the commands lol Ras Pi is all new to me. about to read this book i purchased with my Pi ( start here ) but yet have yet to start lol
$ wpctl status
PipeWire ‘pipewire-0’ [1.4.2, chapo@Server, cookie:3178150568]
└─ Clients:
33. WirePlumber [1.4.2, chapo@Server, pid:1337]
34. pipewire [1.4.2, chapo@Server, pid:1338]
47. WirePlumber [export] [1.4.2, chapo@Server, pid:1337]
70. Chromium input [1.4.2, chapo@Server, pid:399487]
73. xdg-desktop-portal [1.4.2, chapo@Server, pid:1547]
74. xdg-desktop-portal-wlr [1.4.2, chapo@Server, pid:1608]
75. unknown [1.4.2, chapo@Server, pid:1496]
77. Chromium [1.4.2, chapo@Server, pid:399487]
83. wpctl [1.4.2, chapo@Server, pid:400923]
Audio
├─ Devices:
│ 48. Built-in Audio [alsa]
│ 49. Built-in Audio [alsa]
│
├─ Sinks:
│ * 71. Built-in Audio Digital Stereo (HDMI) [vol: 1.00]
│
├─ Sources:
│
├─ Filters:
│
└─ Streams:
78. Chromium
79. output_FL > MAI PCM i2s-hifi-0:playback_FL [active]
80. output_FR > MAI PCM i2s-hifi-0:playback_FR [active]
Video
├─ Devices:
│ 35. rpi-hevc-dec [v4l2]
│ 43. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 44. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 45. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 46. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 57. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 58. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 59. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 60. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 61. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 62. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 63. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 64. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 65. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 66. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 67. pispbe [v4l2]
│ 68. pispbe [v4l2]
│
├─ Sinks:
│
├─ Sources:
│
├─ Filters:
│
└─ Streams:
Settings
└─ Default Configured Devices:
0. Audio/Sink alsa_output.platform-107c701400.hdmi.hdmi-stereo
systemctl --user status pipewire wireplumber
● pipewire.service - PipeWire Multimedia Service
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/pipewire.service; enabled; preset: e>
Active: active (running) since Thu 2026-10-01 06:27:38 EDT; 12h ago
Invocation: f65c553d131f40528969a5076bd90b23
TriggeredBy: ● pipewire.socket
Main PID: 1333 (pipewire)
Tasks: 3 (limit: 19404)
CPU: 1.406s
CGroup: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/session.slice/pipewi>
└─1333 /usr/bin/pipewire
Oct 01 06:27:38 Server systemd[1310]: Started pipewire.service - PipeWire Multi>
Oct 01 06:27:38 Server pipewire[1333]: mod.rt: RTKit error: org.freedesktop.DBu>
Oct 01 06:27:38 Server pipewire[1333]: mod.rt: RTKit does not give us MaxRealti>
Oct 01 06:27:38 Server pipewire[1333]: mod.rt: RTKit error: org.freedesktop.DBu>
Oct 01 06:27:38 Server pipewire[1333]: mod.rt: RTKit does not give us MinNiceLe>
Oct 01 06:27:38 Server pipewire[1333]: mod.rt: RTKit error: org.freedesktop.DBu>
Oct 01 06:27:38 Server pipewire[1333]: mod.rt: RTKit does not give us RTTimeUSe>
● wireplumber.service - Multimedia Service Session Manager
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/wireplumber.service; enabled; preset>
Active: active (running) since Thu 2026-10-01 06:27:38 EDT; 12h ago
Invocation: f385e33596a44ba7bfde9c4de497ad3f
Thank you for providing the logs and for your patience with the testing.
From the logs, the system does detect the HDMI audio output, and the audio services are running. However, we still cannot determine the exact cause of the intermittent loss of sound.
To check whether the issue is related to your current system configuration or to the Pironman 5 software, we suggest using a spare SD card to install a fresh Raspberry Pi OS. Please do not install the Pironman 5 software yet, and do not add any of the audio scripts or configurations you tried before — just test the HDMI audio directly. Using a spare card will preserve your existing system and data.
For this round, please keep the case’s USB-HDMI adapter board in place, and keep the same TV, the same HDMI cable, the same port, and the same boot order unchanged. Since the issue is intermittent, please test across multiple boots rather than just once, and make sure the Raspberry Pi is properly cooled during testing.
If the audio works correctly, then install the Pironman 5 software and repeat the same test, and let us know the results before and after installing it. If the problem still occurs on the clean system, we will then bypass the adapter board and connect directly to the Raspberry Pi’s HDMI port for comparison.
Please also send us the output of the following command on the new system:
uname -a
This will help us narrow down where the problem comes from step by step, and avoid changing multiple conditions at once, which would make it hard to judge. Thank you for your cooperation!
systemctl --user restart pipewire pipewire-pulse wireplumber comand i used .. no thank you your help is worth its weight in gold. thanks
You’re very welcome! Thanks for confirming the command. Please let us know how the test goes.