Table Of Contents
Files to help with using YX5200 can be found here:
https://wiki.dfrobot.com/DFPlayer_Mini_SKU_DFR0299
https://github.com/DFRobot/DFRobotDFPlayerMini
Here is a description of my experiences using the YX5200 module (I had some challenges)
You definitely want to use the 1K resistor on the TX line or you can distinctly hear clicks during serial communication.
My experience (these comments apply to the modules I used)
- with a chip labelled MH-ETLIVE MH2024K-24SS) on ORANGE SIDEWINDER RBG:
- with a chip labelled JC AA20HFJ616-94 on SILVER SOLENOID SINGLETON RBG (note: lump on green wire is 1K Ohm resistor):
- Using .playMp3Folder() worked on the first few calls but I had trouble making it work when interrupting a playing sound. I tried a bunch of things (but not every combination) and finally gave it up and now use the most basic of functions .play().
- Also *.wav files start faster after a command to play. Apparently there is some overhead to start an *.mp3 file. It was a small delay but noticeable in the RBG project.
- Because the .play() function requires specific filenames and orders of file copies, I wrote copyem.py to help me get the files into the SD card in the correct order.
- While doing the above experiments I had the impression that turning ACK on (default at this time) made it more likely to have the trouble above. I turned ACK off in the .begin(mySoftwareSerial, false, true) call.
- Sometimes there was a delay in the BUSY pin registering after starting a sound. So far all the delays I have documented were <= 40 milliseconds. Since my code wants to do things (LED-related) faster than that, I put in code to force a fake BUSY for the first 250 milliseconds after starting a sound. Probably overkill.
- Some of my readings indicate that there are knock-off clones of the YX5200 module that may not implement all the functions properly. My guess would be that they have an out-of-date set of firmware. At least some of these clones used a red LED to indicate sound playing instead of the blue LED used on the genuine YX5200. My modules did have a blue LED, but this is not necessarily a guarantee that they were genuine, so it is possible the problems I had were due to using a knock-off clone.
- Both grounds on the YX5200 are marked as digital ground, but I found that if I connected them together the line output had a buzz (didn't hear it on speaker output). I got better results when I pretended that the GND between SPK1 and SPK2 was an analog ground. Seems to be mostly for "Line outputs"; the speaker output is mono sound.
- YX5200s work with integer 16 bit PCM at frequencies 22.050 KHz, 44.100 KHz, and 48.000 KHz
- YX5200 DOES NOT WORK with 96.000 KHz, will just skip the file
There have been a lot of reactions to clone modules and difficulties with serial communication and audio noise. Here is an excellent resource on this subject
https://www.thebackshed.com/forum/ViewTopic.php?TID=11977&P=1
This routine allows checking of *.wav files to see if they are the correct format for using with the YX5200.
Below is the help text from WAV_hdr_YX5200.py.
Below is an example use of WAV_hdr_YX5200.py.
This is a routine that makes it much easier to create SD cards that work with the .play() routine. Below is the help text from copyem.py.
Note: I run this routine in GIT bash on Windows 10, so I use the H: (or other letter) to access the drive but use the / separator for directories.
It is OK to copy to the SD card using names like 001_this_is_a_test.wav, but if the names get longer than 8.3 then the directory gets more complicated and it might affect the speed of starting a sound eventually, so I just copied the number such as 001.wav.
So the sequence is:
- Put your ####*.wav files in a directory. For this example I will use the directory ./myAudioFiles
-
- NOTE: I use # to indicate a decimal digit from 0 through 9
- Also make a ####*.wav file that is just a second or two of silence and place that in ./myAudioFiles
- Optionally make a Attributions.html file for attributions and place that in ./myAudioFiles
- Connect an SD-card that is 32 gigabytes or less and FAT-32 format the SD-card. In this example it will be on H:
-
- NOTE: it MUST be freshly FAT-32 formatted; do not try to re-use SD card without formatting. There are many ways to do this; I use https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/
At this point, ./myAudioFiles has the following (short list of *.wav to make it readable)
- 0001_first.wav
- 0003_third.wav
- 0005_silence.wav
- Attributions.html
Run the program as follows
- python copyem.py -d ./myAudioFiles -s H: -f 0005_silence.wav > mycopy.sh
It will output the following (note: a blank line before attribution is omitted here)
- cp ./myAudioFiles/0001_first.wav H:/001.wav
- cp ./myAudioFiles/0005_silence.wav H:/002.wav
- cp ./myAudioFiles/0003_third.wav H:/003.wav
- cp ./myAudioFiles/0005_silence.wav H:/004.wav
- cp ./myAudioFiles/0005_silence.wav H:/005.wav
- mkdir H:/ATTRIBUTIONS
- cp ./myAudioFiles/Attributions.html H:/ATTRIBUTIONS
Alternatively, "python copyem.py -d ./myAudioFiles -s H: -f 0005_silence.wav --windows > mycopy.bat" will output the following
- copy .\myAudioFiles\0001_first.wav H:\001.wav
- copy .\myAudioFiles\0005_silence.wav H:\002.wav
- copy .\myAudioFiles\0003_third.wav H:\003.wav
- copy .\myAudioFiles\0005_silence.wav H:\004.wav
- copy .\myAudioFiles\0005_silence.wav H:\005.wav
- mkdir H:\ATTRIBUTIONS
- copy .\myAudioFiles\Attributions.html H:\ATTRIBUTIONS
Then either source mycopy.sh or run mycopy.bat, eject the SD card, and insert it into the YX5200.
Check out https://https://github.com/PowerBroker2/DFPlayerMini_Fast for a re-write (much simplified) of the DFRobot routines. I continued using the DFRobot routines for this project since by the time I found the other I had a lot of experience with the DFRobot routines.
That area also includes the PDF file I copied into my https://github.com/Mark-MDO47/RubberBandGun/tree/master/RBG_arduino/YX5200_info directory; that is the best information on the chip that forms the basis of the YX5200 module that I have seen.
This README describes using the YX5200 on the Rubber Band Gun. My repository on the YX5200 itself is more tuned to general usage of YX5200