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Volumio on Raspberry Pi 4B and Zero 2W - my battles with Volumio.

slawekscorp  41 5019 Cool? (+16)
📢 Listen (AI):
Waveshare touchscreen with Volumio interface playing internet radio

I picked up a Volumio a couple of years ago. I wrote a bit about it in my topic on guitar amplifiers. For the project I purchased a Rasberry Pi4 B, a Hifiberry DAC2 Pro and an "official" 7-inch touchscreen display. The system that was installed was Volumio 2.917 and I hooked up an encoder and IR receiver. I was going to do the enclosure but the topic was constantly put off until I finally let it go. The Volumio was used successfully for those four years. In time Volumio 3 appeared, but in its initial development phase it lacked the plug-ins I wanted and I let the update go. The topic of Volumio was revived quite recently. I asked my colleague Radek to design an advanced power supply that could switch the Raspberry Pi on and off without fear of damaging the data on the SD card due to improper system shutdown. More on that later.
On the occasion that I returned to the Volumio theme I decided to make myself one such player for work. Here I felt bad about packing 4B so I purchased a Pi Zero 2W. As a result of various turbulence I have two Pi4B's and two Pi Zero2W's.
For the 4B I purchased a 3.5inch Waweshare LCD touch panel (B) which communicated with the RPi 4B via SPI. It turned out to be a maximum failure. I passed it on to a colleague who managed it but as far as I know did not run it with Volumio. I went the other way and bought a Waveshare 16340, 4 inch, HDMI, SPI is only used for touch in it. It took a while to get it up and running but I managed. Let me just add that I know Linux poorly, but somehow managed.
For the Pi Zero2W I purchased OLED 1106 and 1109 displays, one of the 1106s I accidentally crashed so it flew into the rubbish.
A few words about the DACs. Given the lack of sound on the headphone output of the Hifiberry DAC2 Pro I decided not to buy a dac from that brand. For the small Pi zero2W I bought a Waveshare DAC based on the PCM 5122 from majfrends matching the size of the PI Zero2W, for the large PI 4B I bought two DACs. The first is an IQaudio DAC PLUS and the second is an IQaudio DAC Pro based on the 5242 DACs. All three cards/dACs work without any problems with Volumio, each exposing sound to the headphone jack without any software combinations. In addition, as a test, I connected a small DAC based on the 5102, which you can buy on their portals for 6PLN and on ours for 15PLN. It worked without any problem, I set it up in Volumio as a Hifiberry DAC PLUS.
I should add that I am not constructing any audiophile equipment here, just utility equipment.
Now a bit about the Volumio versions. On RPi4B ver1.3 I had version 2.917 installed, the new PI4B I have is ver1.5 and does not allow Volumio 2.917 to be installed.
So I started installing newer versions and it turns out that the most stable in my case for both versions of Pi4B is 3.832. Earlier versions, except 2.917 were throwing an error installing the touchpad plugin.
For Pi Zero2W, the best version turned out to be Voumio 3.251. Ver. 3.832 did run on the small PI, but the GPIO Buttons and GPIO Control plugins did not work properly. Some strange states were appearing on the GPIO. Changing to the 3.251 brought an immediate solution. I will be using GPIO control on both the 4B and 2W and this simply has to work if only because the two GPIO signals will work with the power supply.
Now a bit about the power supply, I'll quote myself from the tube topic:
"Radek sent drawings of the board. They are already ordered. The atmega board is nearing completion as far as I know. I have ordered all the components for the power supply. Assembly is a matter of 2-3 weeks.
Why is the power supply so complicated? The whole thing is that I wanted a few more features, Radek added a few more from himself, and it got complicated.
The principle is simple: pressing the on/off button is to turn on the power to the RPi, during startup is to turn on the backlighting of the buttons and volume knob and to make things more difficult, I proposed to control the LEDs with PWM waveform from 0 to 100%. Pressing the on/off button again will switch off the RPi but this is to be done according to a certain procedure. First, the power supply controller issues a 1sec signal to the GPIO of the RPi responsible for turning off the Volumio, On the next GPIO the Volumio activity signal is issued and its state changes when the system is shut down. The power supply observes this state and when it changes it adds a few more seconds and then shuts down the RPI power supply. Why does it work this way? Because the Raspberry is still calculating something for 5-6 seconds and switching it off at this point could cause a problem with the program. Of course the PWM control works in the opposite direction, i.e. from 100 to 0% and the leds are supposed to fade nicely.
For proper operation you need GPIO control and this can be achieved by installing two Volumio plugins : GPIO Control and GPIO Buttons.
The stabiliser function is performed by the LM1084-5V or ADJ version. It has enough reserve current to pull the RPi 4B.
Radek suggested to use RGB programmable diodes to get proper colour, on my request he made brightness control :D . In the larger Volumio project you can use RGB diodes , in smaller projects on monochrome oleds you can use PWM output.
As far as I know Radek has designed to switch on the RPi using a powerswitch with current measurement and the overload state is to be signalled by a change of backlight colour.
We will see how this works in practice."
All the players will be encapsulated, each with a power on/off button, encoder, IR receiver, LCD or OLED display and some extras. Once all the mechanical components are in place, I will start designing the front panels (front: engraving laminate - brushed aluminium) There will be some 3D printing and that kind of story. The subject is in development.


PCB design with ATmega328P microcontroller and power control for Raspberry Pi
PCB layout design for a Raspberry Pi power supply with ATmega328P microcontroller
PCB design with ATmega328P microcontroller and power supply circuit
PCB for a power supply with ATmega328P and LM1084, designed for Raspberry Pi
PCB board with labeled components for Raspberry Pi power supply
PCB rendering with labeled solder points and ATmega328P microcontroller placement
PCB render with labeled component positions for Raspberry Pi power supply
Electronic modules connected with jumper wires to a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W
Raspberry Pi 4B with 4 Waveshare touchscreen and running Volumio system.
Compact Waveshare PCM5122 DAC on Raspberry Pi Zero2W with external OLED display showing music data.
Raspberry Pi 4B with Volumio system, touchscreen display and IQaudio DAC
DAC Pro board attached to Raspberry Pi 4 with visible RCA and jack outputs
OLED display showing time and IP address, connected to Raspberry Pi

About Author
slawekscorp wrote 296 posts with rating 104 . Live in city Warszawa. Been with us since 2009 year.

Comments

hetm4n 02 Oct 2025 23:07

Interesting idea with this power supply. I have picoreplayer installed, volumio unfortunately in my case lost out to a paid subscription to support spotfi etc. I guerrilla power mine off the grid, 2 more... [Read more]

slawekscorp 03 Oct 2025 08:15

I was getting tired of waiting for Volumio to shut down and manually switching off the power. It had to be solved somehow in the end. The power supply boards are ready, they should be in the country... [Read more]

Andrzej Ch. 03 Oct 2025 11:12

Have you tried MOODE Audio Player? I have a made player on this system and it works exemplarily, periodic problems after most updates are quickly fixed. I use an RPI 4 with 2GB RAM, a 7 inch touchscreen... [Read more]

slawekscorp 03 Oct 2025 13:46

I was thinking about MOODE, I might give it a try. I'll sort out the power supply and chassis and then sit on MOODE. [Read more]

tytka 03 Oct 2025 18:56

To be honest, I've been getting together for a few years now to put together a player on RPi and Volumio. I've reworked various options in the meantime, but it's finally final. And, in fact, it's nearing... [Read more]

slawekscorp 03 Oct 2025 19:11

I went for a single power supply.The LM1084 powers the standby circuit and via the powerswitch will feed power to the RPI. The mentioned LM 1084 has a maximum current of 5A. The Rpi with dac and display... [Read more]

tytka 03 Oct 2025 19:21

I am very familiar with the LM1084 circuit. Originally I also thought about powering the whole RPi from a linear power supply. However, in the end I chose the option with an inverter for the RPI and a... [Read more]

thereminator 03 Oct 2025 19:29

At my place the Volumio is actually just waiting for a case. System version 2 somethingtam (can't remember because I installed it a few months ago) on RPi2+ with HiFiBerry DAC and Waveshare 4.3" touchscreen... [Read more]

slawekscorp 03 Oct 2025 19:51

In my case, the enclosure will be made of a closed alu profile with a cross-section of 100x200mm and a length of 200-250mm. The front will be printed from transparent pet-g and covered with an engraving... [Read more]

tytka 03 Oct 2025 19:52

After the system shutdown command, Volumio shuts down quite quickly; it seems to shut down in a few seconds at most. So all you need is a simple circuit that shuts down the power supply after such a time... [Read more]

slawekscorp 03 Oct 2025 19:55

On the GPIO strip the 3.3V and 5V voltages do not disappear when the system is shut down, unfortunately. I also wanted to take advantage of this but failed. [Read more]

tytka 03 Oct 2025 20:25

No voltage can be lost on the GPIO. After all, you can power the RPi through this connector (I do so). That's why you need to check for the presence of voltage at the USB A connector. And on my front,... [Read more]

slawekscorp 03 Oct 2025 20:32

I will connect the power supply to the 5V GPIO. The status of the system, as I wrote earlier will be checked by the Atmega on the GPIO pin. In fact, the Atmega will shut down the Volumio system by doing... [Read more]

tytka 03 Oct 2025 20:38

And do you think it's different with me? I additionally (just to be sure) check for the presence of +5V on the USB A connectors, so as not to cut power too early. https://obrazki.elektroda.pl/4... [Read more]

slawekscorp 03 Oct 2025 20:45

I wish I had known earlier that you had made such a control.... In our power supply it is added a few seconds after the system is turned off until the power is switched off. There are also other 'fiddly'... [Read more]

thereminator 03 Oct 2025 20:49

I get it, but I don't like in modern devices all these unnecessary features like sensing , sleep , hibernation , etc. so I'd like to avoid unnecessary complications and fitting more than I need,... [Read more]

tytka 03 Oct 2025 20:54

In my case, the Attiny sends the shutdown command, waits for the USB connectors to lose voltage, additionally waits a few more seconds and only shuts down the power to the Raspberry. This is, in my opinion,... [Read more]

slawekscorp 03 Oct 2025 20:59

In my case, Volumio puts out a high state on the GPIO pin from the moment Volumio itself starts up until it shuts down, Atmega observes the state on this GPIO and adds a few seconds until the power is... [Read more]

tytka 03 Oct 2025 21:04

I figured it was simpler to check 5V on USB than to add extra functions. There's a 4.3" screen on the one I've shown. But I have a 7" too, maybe there will be another version with it. [Read more]

FAQ

TL;DR: Building a safe, one-button Volumio player on Raspberry Pi is doable: “LM1084 has a maximum current of 5A,” and measured draws hit 950 mA at start with 750–850 mA running. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21708992]

Why it matters: This FAQ shows how to pick versions, DACs, displays, and power-off methods that won’t corrupt your SD card—ideal for makers running Volumio on Pi 4B or Zero 2W.

Quick Facts

What Volumio version runs most reliably on Raspberry Pi 4B and Zero 2W?

Users found Volumio 3.832 most stable on Raspberry Pi 4B (v1.3 and v1.5), while GPIO-related plugins behaved best on Zero 2W with Volumio 3.251. Earlier 3.x builds threw touch or plugin install errors, and 2.917 wouldn’t install on a newer 4B v1.5. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21707819]

Which DAC HATs actually worked, including headphone output?

Confirmed working: IQaudio DAC Plus, IQaudio DAC Pro (PCM5242), Waveshare PCM5122 for Zero 2W, and even a budget PCM5102 board configured as HiFiBerry DAC Plus. Author noted HiFiBerry DAC2 Pro lacked headphone output in their setup, so they avoided it for this build. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21707819]

How much power should I budget for a Pi-based Volumio player?

Measured figures: Pi Zero 2W draws about 500 mA at startup and around 300 mA during playback. A Pi 4B with DAC and display peaked near 950 mA at boot, then settled around 750–850 mA. A linear LM1084 regulator handled the load comfortably. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21708409]

Is it safe to hard power-off Volumio without a shutdown controller?

Several users report daily hard power cuts with Volumio and no SD failures, noting reduced writes in the OS. This is anecdotal, not a guarantee. Quote: "I’ve never yet had a problem with volumio rising." Consider your risk tolerance. [Elektroda, VSS, post #21713643]

What failure can happen if I cut power too early?

An early power cut—before the green LED fully extinguished—left a Volumio SD card unreadable by the Pi and Rufus. Treat shutdown timing seriously, especially with larger SD cards and background activity. “Perhaps it is a coincidence,” but prevention is better. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21709107]

What’s the simplest reliable power button method for Volumio?

One approach uses a microcontroller (e.g., ATmega) to send a GPIO shutdown, watch a Volumio activity GPIO, wait a few seconds, then cut 5V via power switch. LEDs dim by PWM during transitions. This preserves SD integrity while keeping one-button UX. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21707819]

Can I do a no-firmware, CMOS-only on/off controller?

Yes. A low-cost design used four AND gates, a 4013 D flip-flop, one OR gate, and a TLC555. It toggles power, issues a timed shutdown pulse, waits, then disconnects the Pi via a P‑MOSFET. Works at 3.3 V with TLC555. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21715378]

Should I sense GPIO or USB 5V to decide when to cut power?

GPIO +3.3 V and +5 V rails stay present after OS shutdown. Instead, one builder senses the +5 V on USB‑A to confirm the Pi truly powered down, then adds a short delay before cutting main 5 V. This reduces premature cutoffs. [Elektroda, tytka, post #21709115]

Which display interfaces worked best with Volumio on Pi?

SPI touch LCDs were troublesome; a 3.5" SPI touch panel was a non‑starter. A 4" Waveshare 16340 over HDMI (SPI only for touch) worked after some setup. DSI displays also worked well for others, including 4.3" and 7" units. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21707819]

Does a DSI touchscreen work with older Pis and Volumio?

Yes. One setup used a Waveshare 4.3" DSI touchscreen on a Raspberry Pi 2+ with Volumio 2.x successfully. The user favored manual shutdown then mains cut using a hardware switch for simplicity. [Elektroda, thereminator, post #21709012]

Is Moode a better choice than Volumio for this build?

Mixed experiences. The OP couldn’t get SPI touch working and disliked Moode’s radio station search. Another user preferred Moode’s refinement on Pi 4 with a 7" Waveshare and added stations manually via SMB. Choose by your priorities. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21712326]

How do I wire a one-button safe shutdown with GPIO Control plugins?

Typical flow: send a 1 s GPIO shutdown signal, watch a Volumio activity GPIO until low, wait several seconds, then cut 5 V. Install Volumio GPIO Buttons and GPIO Control plugins so the OS listens and reports status. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21707819]

What enclosure and front-panel ideas worked well?

One design uses a sealed aluminum profile (100×200 mm, 200–250 mm long), a PET‑G printed inner front covered by brushed aluminum engraving laminate. It looks clean and remains serviceable for displays and controls. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21709033]

Where should I store my music: SD, SSD, or HDD?

Options: write to the Volumio SD over Wi‑Fi from your PC, add a front‑panel SD reader via USB, or mount an external HDD accessible through a rear USB when the unit is off. All were used successfully. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21709158]

Quick how-to: build the simple CMOS shutdown switch?

  1. Use 4013 to latch button presses; gate logic shapes on/off states.
  2. Generate a 1 s shutdown pulse with TLC555; feed Volumio GPIO.
  3. When delay expires, drive a P‑MOSFET to disconnect 5 V to the Pi. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21715378]

Does an LM1084 linear regulator suit Pi 4B audio builds?

Yes. Builders powered standby and switched 5 V to the Pi through a power switch. With peaks to ~950 mA and typical 750–850 mA, the LM1084’s 5 A headroom is ample. Heatsinking and case mounting are advised. [Elektroda, slawekscorp, post #21708992]
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