Cant get the DFPLayer Mini to work

Other Hardware Audio
1

I had posted earlier about a more complex project where I wouldn't get the MP3 Player to work. I thought I had the problem resolved for a short minute but it stopped working so I decided to strip the problem down and just use the Arduino nano clone and the MP3 player to see if I could isolate the problem and get that to work. I found this post and followed all the troubleshooting recommendations including the ones about the SD card formatting.

Still no luck. All I get is a quick click from the speaker when I connect the power and then nothing.

Here is the wiring diagram and a photo of the project. I tried switching the power source to the 5V input as you can see but nothing changed.

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Screenshot 2025-06-22 at 10.57.36 AM
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Here is the sketch

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
#include <DFRobotDFPlayerMini.h>

SoftwareSerial mySerial(12, 11); // TX, RX
DFRobotDFPlayerMini myDFPlayer;

void setup()
{
  mySerial.begin(9600);
  Serial.begin(9600);

  if (!myDFPlayer.begin(mySerial)) {
    Serial.println("Unable to begin:");
    Serial.println("1. Please recheck the connection!");
    Serial.println("2. Insert the SD card properly!");
    while (true);
  }

  Serial.println("DFPlayer Mini online.");

  myDFPlayer.volume(25);  // Volume: 0–30
  myDFPlayer.play(1);     // Play 0001.mp3
}

void loop()
{
  // Nothing else needed
}

When I power up I get this message in the serial monitor and a quick click from the speaker

10:50:47.911 -> Unable to begin:
10:50:47.911 -> 1. Please recheck the connection!
10:50:47.946 -> 2. Insert the SD card properly!

I removed and reinserted the SD card but no change. I tried another copy of the Adruino nano clone that I had and another copy of the DFPlayer mini. Still no progress.

I am starting to think the clone may be the issue but I dont know what else to do.

2

Are you sure that's 1K?

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Code says one thing...

...pictures appears to show something else.

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1 Like
3

Eagle eyes fr :skull:

4

You have --

but the order is

(rxpin, txpin);

not negotiable.

5

No its 330 ohm. I didnt have a 1k ohm around but from what I was reading that should be OK. Is that wrong?

6

When I was trouble shooting one of the things ai came across said the pins are sometimes switched and suggested flipping them. It didnt work either way.

7

As van_der_decken pointed out - you are plugged into pins 11 and 10. Maybe look into that aspect of things, too. It's all about details.

8

Your resistor is too small, and you're using different pins than the sketch specifies. It's no wonder nothing works.

9

I can’t be certain from your photo but are you sure that yellow wire is correctly inserted in DFR Player pin 3?

10

Have you tried triggering the player to play by connecting ADKEY1 pin to ground?

11

Where did you read that incorrect advice? If you still have no 1k do you have another couple of 330 ohm? If so use all three in series.

12

Thanks for all the suggestions. Ill check this out later today.

13

Those "solar" collector power banks do strange things. Some will not not supply power if the load is not sufficient (for example, needs to sense a "phone" sized device being recharged). Try a mains-powerd supply.

14

No I haven't. Im obviously new to this,. How do you do that? In other words what additional connections should there be? thanks

Addendum: I figured out how to do that and yes the audio played once I did it.

15

I agree. I tried several power blocks and this one was the only one that actually stays on. I also tried powering through the USB port from my computer. Both methods kept the Nano powered but neither produced any sound

16

I have since put three 330 Ohm resistors in series which should address that issue but nothing changed

17

I have since put three 330 Ohm resistors in series which should address that issue but nothing changed

18

Have you tried "I/O Mode?" No mcu required.

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19

I have tried all the suggestions here and recheck the wiring. The Rx and Tx were wired incorrectly in the picture because I had been moving things around and trying different sketches so the photo didnt match the sketch but it does now. Nothing changed. I got the player to play by connecting ADKEY1 pin to ground as suggested so that means the DFPlayer is not the issue. I put three 330 ohm resistors in series to correct that issue and still no audio. I think the only thing left to try would be to buy a different nano and try that.

Im new to this but I created an earlier project with an uno (but no MP3 player) and everything worked great. This is my first project with a nano and an MP3 player. Maybe the clone is the problem? Not sure what else to try so I ordered a different nano and will update if this helps

20

Yes thanks. I just got around to doing that a minute ago based on one of the suggestions above and that did ply the audio. Since all the connections are correct and the DFPlayer works in that set up you showed I am assuming the nano is the problem. Not sure what else it could be