Volumio install on Raspberry 3b+ fails

Help and Support
1

I had a working Volumio install on Raspberry 3b+ couple of years back. I have had Kodi installed until reacently I wanted to come back to Volumio.

The device has been tested to work as has the Hifiberry DAC connected to the Pi. For some reason my attempts to install the Volumio OS on the Raspberry 3 have repeatedly failed. I’ve changed sd cards, used different software to flash the image etc. Each install with a ready image have failed. The device doesn’t even boot. I have no green led flashing on the sbc at any point.

Other systems install fine and work as expected. I even tried to use the install script from Github but it has some dependencies like qemu that don’t work on Raspberry Pi 3 to my knowledge so I wasn’t expecting it to work as it didn’t at least without the qemu packages.

Has there been any changes to supported hardware that I can not find anywhere? Should the OS still work on Raspberry Pi 3b+?

2

Hey @Lauri_Lehto,

Although it seems to be basic - here’s a step-by-step guide to installing Volumio on your Raspberry Pi 3B+:

1. Download Volumio

2. Extract the Image

  • The downloaded file is a ZIP archive. You need to extract it before flashing.
    • Windows: Right-click → Extract All
    • Mac: Double-click to unzip
    • Linux: Run in terminal:
      unzip volumio-*.zip
    • This will extract a .img file.

3. Flash the Image

You must flash the .img file (not the .zip). Use one of these methods:

Option 1: Raspberry Pi Imager (Recommended)

  1. Open Raspberry Pi Imager (Download Here).
  2. Click “Choose OS” → Scroll down and select “Use Custom”.
  3. Select the downloaded .img file.
  4. Click “Choose Storage” and select your SD card.
  5. Click “Write” (Do not make customizations. Customizations will break VolumioOS).

Option 2: Balena Etcher

  1. Download and install Balena Etcher (Download Here).
  2. Open Balena Etcher.
  3. Click “Flash from file” and select the .img file.
  4. Select your SD card.
  5. Click “Flash” and wait for the process to complete.

Option 3: Using dd on Linux/macOS

  1. Find the SD card device:
    lsblk
    (Look for something like /dev/sdX or /dev/mmcblkX).
  2. Flash the image using dd (Replace /dev/sdX with the correct SD card path):
    sudo dd if=volumio-*.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress
  3. Sync and eject:
    sync

4. Insert the SD Card and Boot

  • Do not format the SD card after flashing!
  • Insert the SD card into your Raspberry Pi 3B+ and power it on.
  • Wait for Volumio to boot (green LED should blink).

Kind Regards,

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