Public Beta Test: Audio Without Compromise - Refining the Future of Volumio on Bookworm

Volumio Development Volumio Beta Testing
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Hey @michel8166,

Thanks for the detailed report and the log. The symptom matches a straight device-arbitration issue: MPD and Squeezelite are trying to open the same ALSA device at the same time. In your log MPD fails with:

  • Failed to open ALSA device “volumio”: Device or resource busy
  • problems opening audio device while playing https://stream.radioparadise.com/flacm
    And the process list shows Squeezelite running when this happens:
  • /opt/squeezelite/squeezelite -o squeezelite -C 1
    This is why pressing Stop first and then Play works: it releases the handle and MPD can grab it.

What to change

  1. Make Squeezelite let go more reliably
  • In the Squeezelite MC settings, set Close output when idle to 1 or 2 seconds and enable options to close output on Stop and on Pause if available. Your instance already runs with -C 1, but the explicit close-on-stop option prevents brief races when switching sources fast. Then switch away by powering off the Squeezelite player in LMS or pressing Stop before starting Radio Paradise.
  1. Avoid the shared alias
  • Your /etc/asound.conf points the default and the name volumio to the I2S DAC. Squeezelite is opening the same target via its -o squeezelite setting, which maps to the same ALSA path in this config. Change Squeezelite MC Output device to hw:sndrpihifiberry,front:CARD=sndrpihifiberry,DEV=0 or sysdefault:sndrpihifiberry so it does not use the volumio alias. This reduces chances of both stacks chasing the same named device at the same instant.
  1. One engine at a time
  • If you mainly use Radio Paradise through Volumio, set Squeezelite MC to not autostart at boot, or temporarily disable the plugin when you are not using LMS. That guarantees MPD owns the DAC and removes the race entirely.
  1. Ignore the mixer warning
  • The HifiBerry DAC has no PCM mixer control, so the MPD log line “no such mixer control: PCM” is expected and harmless. It is unrelated to the busy error.

If the busy popup still appears after trying the above, please:

  • Reproduce once more and share a fresh log link.
  • Also copy the current Squeezelite MC settings, especially Output device and any close-on-stop options.

This is not a core Volumio bug but a plugin arbitration issue: the plugins are not coordinating ALSA device hand-off. The Pi5 hardware, I²S FIFO DAC, and kernel are fine; it is purely an ownership conflict between MPD and squeezelite.

So the right place to follow this up is in the plugin compatibility thread rather than the core system beta one:
Plugin Compatibility for Volumio on Bookworm

Kind Regards,