Service aplay.service fails upon boot

[besi]

Script Command

/usr/bin/aplay -D default -t raw -r 44100 -c 2 -f S16_LE /dev/zero

Operating System

Linux stereopida 6.12.47+rpt-rpi-v6 #1 Raspbian 1:6.12.47-1+rpt1~bookworm (2025-09-16) armv6l GNU/Linux

Hardware

Raspberrypi Zero

Behavior

I did run the speaker bonnet installation script as stated on the product page and I chose to install the anti-pop startup script.

However, upon boot I check the service and it tells me that it failed to start:

sudo systemctl  status aplay
× aplay.service - Invoke aplay from /dev/zero at system start.
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/aplay.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2026-01-19 12:58:21 CET; 2min 34s ago
   Duration: 1.119s
    Process: 240 ExecStart=/usr/bin/aplay -D default -t raw -r 44100 -c 2 -f S16_LE /dev/zero (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
   Main PID: 240 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
        CPU: 37ms

Description

No response

Additional information

journalctl shows the following

Jan 19 12:58:20 stereopida aplay[240]: ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:999:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave
Jan 19 12:58:21 stereopida aplay[240]: aplay: main:831: audio open error: No such file or directory
Jan 19 12:58:21 stereopida systemd[1]: aplay.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Jan 19 12:58:21 stereopida systemd[1]: aplay.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

[besi]

The following addition to /etc/systemd/system/aplay.service restart the service if it failed which fixed the problem for me:

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/aplay -D default -t raw -r 44100 -c 2 -f S16_LE /dev/zero
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5s