My Headless Raspberry Pi 3B+ Setup

Last Updated: 28-Apr-19

Initial Setup

Aim to let it run properly and can SSH into it.
  1. Download and Install Ubuntu MATE for Raspberry Pi (With the recommended aarch32 (ARMv7) version)
  2. Plug-in the microSDHC card
  3. Connect monitor (HDMI output), keyboard (USB), mouse (USB)
  4. Connect power & switch it on
  5. Enable SSH with raspi-config

Audio

If you are unable to get any audio output from both the 3.5mm audio connector and the HDMI, the volume may not have been turned on properly. Can try these steps.
$ sudo amixer scontrols  # Know what to tune next...
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0  # So need to tune 'PCM'
$ sudo amixer sset 'PCM' 100%
$ sudo alsactl store

Unfortunately, the 3.5mm audio connector next to the HDMI port produces an annoying static 'hiss' when configured to output sound. It seems that many users encounter this problem. I do not have luck yet to resolve the problem. Thinking of getting a cheap USB sound card to resolve the problem.

Check these if you want to know more:

USB Sound Card

You can use an external USB sound card if you are really not satisfied with the onboard audio. That's what I have done.

An effective step to set the card to be the default is by simply disabling the onboard one.
$ sudo /boot/config.txt
...
dtparam=audio=off  # Do not load snd_bcm2835 for the onboard audio
...
$ sudo reboot

Also need to set the volume properly.
$ sudo amixer scontrols
amixer: Mixer attach default error: No such file or directory
$ sudo amixer -c 1 scontrols
Simple mixer control 'Speaker',0
Simple mixer control 'Mic',0
Simple mixer control 'Auto Gain Control',0
$ sudo amixer -c 1 sset 'Speaker' 100%
$ sudo alsactl store

MPD works properly after all these. You may need to do more changes to make other programs to work properly. These steps may include:
  • Modify ~/.asoundrc
  • Modify /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf
  • Uninstall PulseAudio and Jack
References:

What I Use It For

  • LAMP Server
    • Serves a web making use of PHP and MySQL
  • System Monitoring with MRTG
  • Weather System with weewx
  • Music Server with MPD
    • Becomes an audio player or jukebox
    • Plays music to a speaker connected to it
  • Print Server with CUPS
    • Allows phones and tablets to print to a Fuji Xerox DocuPrint M205 f printer, without the need of having a driver that directly supports the printer
    • The Linux driver provides better printing support
  • Network Folder for Saving Files from Scanner
    • Provides a Samba Scan-To-Network Folder
  • Share the Internet connection on Wi-Fi to Ethernet
  • BOINC Client
    • Set to use at most 50% of the CPUs, or the temperature may rise above 80 °C.

No comments:

Post a Comment