Hi, thanks for the code adaptation for controlling MFPlayer from Photon. I got this working (for volume +/- only, activation of only sound in SD card is made hardwiring from a digital pin to ADKEY1 through a 51K resistor in order to get loop play on/off as I need). Regarding capacitor in series between SPK1(+) and one terminal of the speaker, would it need to be so big? (I have a 2200uF now). Is that connection OK? I have a speaker 8Ohm, 0.5W installed, more than volume 15 sound badly either way. Thanks.
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My DFPlayer Mini starts making this noise a few seconds into playing a sound file. Any ideas why? I’m using a resistors, but otherwise I’m connecting exactly the same way as in the picture in the first post. I have about six other DfPlayer Minis connected to other Photons and/or Cores and they don’t make this noise. Anything else to try before starting to connect different DFPlayer Minis and different Photons to my setup to try to troubleshoot? Bit strange. Thank you!
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Hi Daneboomer,
Looking at the vid its not a ‘mains hum’ issue, and likely to be some sort of data rate failure. It looks like you are driving the DFplayer off an Arduino mega clone.
To be honest I’d try the subsittution method first. Swap out the DFplayer mini 1st keeping the original SD card. Then the SD card, and then a photon/core.
I’d take the elements from a known good setup.
Don’t forget to check for false positive’s by using the suspected faulty element in the know good setup, and ensure the fault transfers over.
Liam
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Why are you powering the player off an Arduino?
Do you have common ground between the Arduino and the Photon?
Does any component on the module get extraordinarily warm?
Sorry for being unclear - while that is exactly the noise the DFPlayer Mini makes, it’s not my video (hence why there’s an Arduino in the video!). I nearly uploaded a video of my setup but then realised the exact same issue was already online.
I’ll try swapping out some parts and report back.
Thanks
Hmmm - strange - I’m still trying to isolate the problem. Whenever I use that particular Photon and that particular DFPlayer Mini in combination, the DFPlayer Mini seems able to somehow cause the Photon to semi freeze. It still responds to pings, but doesn’t respond to anything else. If you try and flash new or different firmware, it eventually times out. The only thing that revives it is Particle Doctor - but as soon as you connect it to the DFPlayer Mini again it freezes. At the moment I’ve got it running some very basic code which doesn’t involve a DFPlayer Mini and that’s fine and stable.
Any way I could test the pins on my DFPLayer Mini for continuity (or another test?) to see if it’s fried?
I would connect the suspect DFPlayer Mini to another Photon…but I don’t want to do that if the DFPlayer Mini is compromised and dangerous to Photons!
Hi Daneboomer,
Well the DFplayer is not with out some quality issues, a bit of ‘Google Fu’ shows others having issues:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C_znVEeQYE](http://You tube DFplayer issue)
I’m not suggesting this is the same issue you are experiancing, but the point is, they are cheep as chips and some are better made than others
So to summorise you have only tried one photon. It gets corrupted, but is recoverable. I think you have tried another DFplayer, which works.
With the DFplayer there are two ways to control it, using manual logic level on some of the pins, or by using serial commands. Which way are you using it. I would suggest trying to use the manual logic control. That would let you know if it is soley related to the DFplayer audio chip…
Liam
Thought i would add my experince with this module.
I was having issues getting it to work, until I popped out the SD card, and inserted again. For some strange reason it would work when grounding the input pins, but not via Serial until I ejected and inserted the drive again.
Also, only library i could get to work was the “DFPlayer” one.
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I’ve sadly unwittingly bought a batch of “fake” Dfplayer Mini - with the red LED and supposedly less sophisticated ICs or firmware. Does anyone know if there is a library to control this version? Using the DFRobotDFPlayerMini library (author Angelo, @version V1.0, date 2016-12-07) causes a freeze.
Without any of these “alternative” boards and/or the datasheet to the actual chip used it’s hard to tell.
It would be a matter of tracking down the exact spot in the library that causes the freeze and track back from there what’s supported and what not.
can anyone please guide me how to do this thing using sd card reader module which is based on SPI protocole which rather in this case was through Rx and Tx?
Not sure what you mean.
The MP3 module mentioned in this thread has an SPI card slot but the SD card is only available to the onboard MP3 chip and not to the host controler.
Via TX/RX interface you tell the on-board chip which files on the SD card to play.
Just trying to hook up another ‘cheap’ MP3 player - this is a MP3-TF-16P which pinout wise is similar to the DFMiniPlayer. It worked with the DFMiniPlayer library I had but I was getting a “clap” at the end of a track playing and a lot of “crackle” and “buzz” over the sound.
For the benefit of anyone on the Particle Community I thought I would share the tips to make this board work acceptably.
- Get your soldering iron out and remove the 0R resistor next to pin 1 of the Audio Amp (8002) on the other side of the PCB from the SD card connector. This is unnecessary and apparently just copied from the chip maker’s reference test schematic without understanding what this does!
- Bridge with solder the two pads next to pin 8 of the Audio Amp. This links the audio amp cutout to the busy pin.
- Put a 1K resistor in series with the TX pin on the Particle device and the RX pin on the MP3 player.
It is not Hi-Fi quality but the clicks and noise are mostly suppressed.
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Has anyone experienced a particular file on an SD card on the DFPlayer Mini become ‘corrupt’ ? About a year ago this same file stopped playing and just makes a brief reset/crackle/pop noise instead of playing normally. All other files play beautifully. Last time this happened I just retransferred the file and normal service was resumed. I’m surprised and confused it’s happened again!
Hi Particle-lovers!
More than 4 years ago, I started this thread on the DFMiniPlayer and I’m very happy so many of you appreciated this great little gem…
In my home, I originally used several of these DFMiniPlayer modules to play music in different rooms as I enter, triggered by a movement sensor (PIR). Recently, I replaced the by tiny bluetooth modules, which are even more versatile.
But recently, I used one of my stock DFMiniPlayers to make a simple but nice door chime with different bell sounds…
I want to contribute with this simple idea: The DFMiniPlayer can be simply used as a stand-alone doorbell.
Below is my illustration which should be self explanatory:
(BTW: This is part of a full Access control system based on a Photon in my home where I can open all doors and check if they are actually closed. If anybody is interested, I can send details in a new thread.)
There is no need to buy that Access control module: Simply use your current doorbell push button.
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Hey! Great to read so much information on the DF Player on this forum.
I bought it to build a jukebox. One idea I am working on is to make one dial that you can turn to ‘flip’ through all the songs on the card.
But… since almost all songs start with half a second of silence, I would really love to be able to ‘jump’ forward a few seconds when selecting a song.
Kind of what you could do with old CD players, holding down the ‘next’ button, it would then jump seconds forward to the point where you would want to listen.
I don’t see this implemented in the library and also don’t see a command for it in the manual… but maybe, maybe?
Does anybody know whether it is possible to skip forwards and backwards in a song using the DF Player?
Kind regards from Holland,
Arjan
Hey!
Sorry to revive this very old message but i have the exact same problem!
Playback sometimes crashes either on the start or after some seconds of playing. I thought it was current drain issue at first, as if my USB port was not enough but even pluged on 2.1Amps wall outlet i have the issue.
It’s really as if the DFPlayer reboots. The volume is reset to default after that crash.
Xenon board is OK, i’m controlling it via bluetooth and connexion isn’t lost.
Im’ powering theDFPlayer with the VUSB pin of the Xenon board.
Have you solved that issue since then ?
It drives me crazy !
Also @FiDel you mentionned this :
I found out that the speaker terminals are not “decoupled”: DC current is flowing through the speaker! This sounds poor and is dangerous…
Put an electrolytic capacitor in line with your speaker(s): Bigger = better… (220 - 2.200 uF/10V)
Attention to the correct polarity! (SPK1 = +)
Do you think this could be related to that ? May i ask more details about this ? Can I put it on any pin of the speaker ?
Also, i have an issue with the init command, but i made a specific topic for this if you have time to read it 
Thanks a lot for that helpful topic !
I can’t really remember how I resolved this one but I THINK it was due to a loose ground connection and/or faulty USB plug where it connects to the Photon/Core.
I’m working on a proto board for now and the problem occurs even if i touch nothing but happens almost everytime y touch the wires so i thought it could be linked. But the fact it happens when i touch nothing made me not optimistic about that.
Now that i read your answer, i may try to solder out everything and see if the problem still happens i guess ^^
Thank you
okay everything is soldered and it indeed seems much better.
I guess the DFPlayer is extremely sensitive to micro-cuts !
Fingers crossed it continues like this 
