General discussion • MAX98357A I2S audio not working on Raspberry Pi 5 with Debian Trixie (works on Bookworm)

Hi Everyone,

Hardware:
- Raspberry Pi 5 8GB
- MAX98357A I2S amplifier
- Wiring: VIN→5V, GND→GND, DIN→GPIO21, BCLK→GPIO18, LRC→GPIO19, SD_MODE→5V

Problem:
MAX98357A works perfectly on Bookworm but produces no audio on Trixie with identical hardware and configuration.

Bookworm (WORKING):
- Kernel: 6.12.20+rpt-rpi-2712
- Config: dtparam=i2s=on + dtoverlay=max98357a
- Result: Audio works perfectly

Trixie (NOT WORKING):
- Kernel: [check with: uname -r]
- Config: dtparam=i2s=on + dtoverlay=max98357a,no-sdmode
- Device detected: aplay -l shows card 1: MAX98357A
- Module loaded: lsmod shows snd_soc_max98357a
- GPIO4 (SD_MODE) changes state during playback
- Result: No audio output

Testing on Trixie shows all software appears correct but no sound is produced. This appears to be a Trixie regression.

Can anyone confirm this issue or suggest a workaround?

Thanks

Statistics: Posted by bobster316 — Mon Dec 29, 2025 7:17 pm

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