Hi

If you are getting ALSA errors then I would guess that you are using the Volumio 3 mpd_oled plugin, in which case the initial place to ask for support is probably

https://community.volumio.org/t/plugin-mpd-oled-installation-configuration-plugin/44823

The error relates to making a copy of the audio for the spectrum display, which is why you don't see a similar issue when using pydpiper.

Adrian.

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If you’re using the plungin, I’d suggest removing it and installing mpd_oled as standalone. I don’t think ALSA is robust enough.

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Thanks both, removing the plugin has certainly helped, is it normal for the mpd_oled process to consume 90% of the CPU on a RPI 4 ?

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It is not normal to consume so much CPU. On a Pi Zero while playing a radio stream with mpd_oled running total CPU usage is around 90%. How many spectrum bars are specified and how many frames per second?

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16 bars and 20 frames, I set the i2c baudrate as recommended, I am playing fairly high resolution flac files , does it have an impact ?

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The mpd_oled settings you are using are fine. Is the high CPU usage when music is playing, or all the time? Could you restart the Pi, and if mpd_oled is still using a lot of CPU then post the output of

top -b -n 1

Adrian.

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What happens if you play low quality web radio? 🤔

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This is idle usage

While playing

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I just checked, its happening irrespective of stream quality

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Those look like the same screenshot, but I don't think it is important. Is this after a reboot? mpd_oled shouldn't be using that much CPU when it is idle, so I recommend reviewing the I2C settings. Use /dev/i2c-1 and check the baud rate has the right number of digits.

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oops sorry about that , i2c-1 is being used by the DAC HAT, while I could add it as a slave, I avoided the whole thing, and used /dev/i2c-4 instead like this
bash-5.0# cat /boot/userconfig.txt

Add your custom config.txt options to this file, which will be preserved during updates

dtoverlay=i2c-gpio,bus=4,i2c_gpio_sda=16,i2c_gpio_scl=25
dtparam=i2c_arm_baudrate=800000

MPD Oled Parameters
ExecStart=/usr/bin/mpd_oled -o 6 -b 16 -g 1 -f 20 -B 4 -a 3c

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I believe that the i2c-gpio driver is implementing the I2C protocol in software, and hence running on the CPU. If you use /dev/i2c-1 then the protocol is implemented in hardware and you will have a lower CPU usage.

Adrian.

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Thanks! I rewired to i2c-1 and everything is working well now, CPU usage is back down to 10%, you guys are awesome! thank you so much for the help much appreciated!

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