# Audio Amp SHIM (3W Mono Amp) has anyone got this working on a Pi Zero W? **URL:** \ **Category:** Raspberry Pi\ **Created:** [May 9, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745 "2025-05-09T18:10:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bilbo16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@bilbo16](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/bilbo16)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/1 "2025-05-09T18:10:08Z")
hello - newbie here… I have an old Pi Zero W & yesterday purchased a 'Audio Amp SHIM (3W Mono Amp) + a 4ohm 3w speaker. My intention was to learn a little by putting this lot together and getting it to play a single wav/mp3 file (say an engine running for 10 secs) I have spent hours researching and testing a few packages (even the ones recommended by Pimoroni) 😀 …but can I get a ‘peep’ out of the speaker - no I cant. Tried 32 bit with desktop and headless. command line ‘sudo speaker-test’…all kinds of stuff Is there a simple ‘dummy’ process anywhere out there ? ---
**Author:** ![alphanumeric](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/alphanumeric/32/2729_2.png) [@alphanumeric](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/alphanumeric)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 7:18am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/2 "2025-05-10T07:18:00Z")
It might be a connection issue? The “shim” connections can be a bit finicky some times. If you have a spare female GPIO header kicking around, try plugging that in on top of the shim, just for testing. If it then works you’ll know one or more of the pins isn’t making a good connection. Did you get any error messages, during install, or in the console? ---
**Author:** ![bilbo16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@bilbo16](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/bilbo16)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 11:39am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/3 "2025-05-10T11:39:47Z")
Thanks, had seen that mentioned a couple of times, will give it a try when I have the strength 😁 err msg : speaker-test 1.2.8 Playback device is default Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16\_LE, 1 channels Using 16 octaves of pink noise Playback open error: -524,Unknown error 524 ---
**Author:** ![bilbo16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@bilbo16](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/bilbo16)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 11:41am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/4 "2025-05-10T11:41:54Z")
ps Also tried putting a female 40pin header on top of the shim to ‘clamp’ it down - same message 👍 ---
**Author:** ![bilbo16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@bilbo16](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/bilbo16)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/5 "2025-05-10T12:54:05Z")
Also, tried a clean (lite) install of 32bit Raspberry OS - followed the advice for Mopidy install (tried both install.sh & ‘manual’ method) then getting various conflicts re python version unable to install the ‘Iris’ add-on… So, without sounding defeatist I am going to seek an alternative way of outputting a sound for a model boat - I just thought I would try to make use of a couple of ‘Pi’ bits I had lying around, but this is way too complex and time consuming for me to do, for what is essentially a basic task 😊😊 ---
**Author:** ![alphanumeric](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/alphanumeric/32/2729_2.png) [@alphanumeric](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/alphanumeric)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/6 "2025-05-10T18:12:07Z")
On the Pi side of things I have used the Pirate Audio Speaker, and the Phat Beat. I haven’t touched either one in ages, as far as installs go. They get used, I just haven’t had to start over from scratch in a while. The Pi OS on those Pi’s is a few versions back from the current release. This may do the trick. It can drive a speaker, plus you could add some lights if you wanted. And no having to install or mess with an OS in the background. Battery friendly too. [Tiny FX W - Wireless LED Effects Controller](https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/tiny-fx-w?variant=53485434831227) I have the (non wireless) kit. I have plans to add it to a model car, I just have to find my round 2it. ;) ---
**Author:** ![alphanumeric](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/alphanumeric/32/2729_2.png) [@alphanumeric](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/alphanumeric)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/7 "2025-05-10T18:14:20Z")
Forgot to post this link to older versions of Raspbian. They can come in handy sometimes, especially if installers were written for older versions. [Index of /raspbian/images](https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbian/images/) ---
**Author:** ![bilbo16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@bilbo16](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/bilbo16)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 6:45pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/8 "2025-05-10T18:45:17Z")
Thanks for all your input alphanumeric, I will give an old OS a go and NOT automatically do a sudo update/install 😁 ---
**Author:** ![boulevard75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@boulevard75](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/boulevard75)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 7:06am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/9 "2025-05-11T07:06:39Z")
I got the line out version and I’ve been down the same road as you. Or the same dead end street. Have a look at this discussion and maybe you’ll get some clues if you’ve got the courage. > [@Pirate Audio blank screen (also iris not installed?)](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/pirate-audio-blank-screen-also-iris-not-installed/27582/2): > > I think you should think about why you bought this device. It mainly is a collection of a few peripherals in a very neat package: an I2S headphone amplifier-chip a few buttons a small square ST7789 display It is not a ready to use gadget that only needs some software. In fact, the software that Pimoroni supplies should be seen as an example of what you can do with great hardware like this. This software was written many years ago, and the software itself and the install-program is not really… I’m trying to let it go. I’ve wasted too much time on this. Now we know why it’s called “Pirate” audio. Good luck to you. ---
**Author:** ![pboddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pboddie](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/pboddie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/10 "2025-05-13T21:06:23Z")
Since this is just the amplifier and doesn’t have to involve all the confusing stuff involving the screen, music player, streaming services, and all of that, I think you should be successful just configuring the audio to use the existing Linux driver. The [installation section](https://github.com/pimoroni/pirate-audio?tab=readme-ov-file#installation) of the Pirate Audio documentation mentions a few RPi-specific things that are meant to get the driver recognised. I’m not very familiar with the RPi’s config.txt file, but it seems that the idea is to get the computer to load a device tree overlay that then activates the proper driver. Looking at the mentioned overlay, however, I doubt that it would work: it is given as “hifiberry-dac”, but the only example of this overlay I can find is [this one](https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/blob/rpi-6.6.y/arch/arm/boot/dts/overlays/hifiberry-dac-overlay.dts). The codec specified in the file is some TI codec, whereas the Audio Amp SHIM and the Pirate Audio Speaker both use the MAX98357A codec. Now, I have built a Linux kernel for another kind of single-board computer, specifying the MAX98357A codec in its device tree, and this will load the driver and expose it via ALSA, letting me use alsamixer and other tools. Maybe there is an easier solution for the RPi that just involves a different overlay. Of course, the driver also needs to be available as a kernel module, which may or may not be the case under the RPi flavour of Linux. ---
**Author:** ![alphanumeric](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.pimoroni.com/alphanumeric/32/2729_2.png) [@alphanumeric](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/alphanumeric)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2025, 12:25am UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/11 "2025-05-14T00:25:50Z")
Those instructions in the install section for the Pirate Audio Speaker worked for me on a Pi Zero. As I mentioned earlier, it’s on an older version of Pi OS. I built an itty bitty beat box for my grand daughter to play with. I’m not using the LCD. [Build an Itty Bitty Beat Box](https://learn.pimoroni.com/article/build-an-itty-bitty-beat-box) With the current version of Pi OS, config.txt has moved. It’s now “boot/firmware/config.txt”. If you edit the file in the old location, it will have no effect. I do believe the overlay sets up i2s? [Pirate Audio Speaker at Raspberry Pi GPIO Pinout](https://pinout.xyz/pinout/pirate_audio_speaker) [PCM at Raspberry Pi GPIO Pinout](https://pinout.xyz/pinout/pcm) ---
**Author:** ![pboddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pboddie](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/pboddie)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2025, 2:13pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/12 "2025-05-14T14:13:23Z")
I was just confused about the codec mentioned in the overlay because it doesn’t seem to be the correct one. I have actually deployed the MAX98357A codec driver in Linux on another single-board computer, as well as driven the codec using a driver in a completely different software environment. But perhaps I have either referenced the wrong overlay and that the instructions achieve the correct result using a different overlay, or maybe the TI codec mentioned in the referenced overlay is compatible. Thinking about it, the MAX98357A doesn’t actually need much setup, and maybe the TI codec is the same, so they could be interchangeable in principle. The obstacle for many people is, of course, the complexity of troubleshooting the issue in the Linux environment. ---
**Author:** ![bilbo16](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@bilbo16](https://forums.pimoroni.com/u/bilbo16)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 2:00pm UTC](https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/audio-amp-shim-3w-mono-amp-has-anyone-got-this-working-on-a-pi-zero-w/27745/13 "2025-05-29T14:00:07Z")
£40 !!! I can order an already configured board from AliExpess for a tenner 🤣