Hi there,
I am a new user of Balena Cloud and I installed Balena Sound on my raspberry pi 3b+ and even though the device is online and the Device appears in the Spotify device list I am unable to actually cast to Spotify and this is confusing.
I am hoping the community might have a solution here ?
Look forward to some help on this
Hi @samroy,
Welcome to the forums!
For streaming via Spotify, you must have a premium Spotify account [1] and provide your username and password to balenaSound. Take a look at the customization page for details on setting that up [2].
If you’ve already set that up, we’ll need more details around what’s failing for you:
What happens when you attempt to stream via Spotify?
Are you getting any errors when you try to stream?
[1] https://sound.balenalabs.io/docs/usage#plugin-system
[2] https://sound.balenalabs.io/docs/customization#plugins
Cheers!
Mark-
Hi Mark
I already have a Spotify Premium account and I am trying to stream using that.
There are no errors but nothing happens when I select the Spotify Balena option from the device list on my Spotify app in my device lists. I can stream successfully to my google home mini but in this case there is literally no actions/pop ups or anything else when I choose the device on my phone.
My device UUID is ca80d57d340d405c77b22fbcf622ccae incase that helps troubleshooting
Are you able to stream through a different input, such as Bluetooth? Or from a different source device, using Spotify or Bluetooth? Also try AirPlay if you have any Apple tech around you can use.
Having issues there too, the bluetooth connection connects and disconnects immediately. Do I have to provide the Spotify username and password in the variables somewhere ?
This device doesn’t even show up when I am trying to use spotify connect from my laptop all other devices seem to show up though. The device only shows up on my phone app
Ya, there are environment variables you have to set with your Spotify username and password. See the second link I pasted in my earlier post.
Have you already done the basics, like rebooting the devices? I also like to let them sit a few minutes after boot-up to be sure they have completed any updates or changes that may have gotten queued up. I’m hoping that clears up the apps being able to see the device.
Thank you
So cast works now no audio out from the 3.5mm jack though. A related question is it safe to keep Spotify password in clear text as environment variables ? Don’t know if you have any thoughts on fixing the audio out issue
Though it appears that way, the variables are never actually in clear text. The balenaCloud dashboard is secured via HTTPS, and the devices are not reachable, except through SSH or the balenaCloud dashboard, which tunnels to the device over a VPN. So, other than someone looking over your shoulder, that data should remain secured.
Audio out issues are common, and there are some diagnostic steps and settings that will affect audio output. Start here for troubleshooting [1], and also read through the audio device config info here [2] and here [3].
[1] https://sound.balenalabs.io/docs/support/#troubleshooting
[2] https://sound.balenalabs.io/docs/customization#general
[3] https://sound.balenalabs.io/docs/audio-interfaces
Let us know if those don’t solve your issue. Also, do a search through the forums on audio output problems, as that is a common topic for help.
One quick note is that if you have HDMI connected when the device boots up, the automatic sound output selection will (sometimes!) choose HDMI out instead of the 3.5mm jack. The links above explain how to manually select/force the output.
Cheers!
Mark-
Hey there,
I can see that Mark has again jumped in and helped. Thanks 
You are amazing!
@samroy do try the debugging steps Mark linked in the previous post with respect to no audio coming out of the 3.5mm output.
Let us know how it goes
Thanks
