XP Guest No sound, but only after launching software

[Rackover]

Hello. After I installed Windows XP and the guest additions, everything works properly. The sound card is properly recognized and can play music or sounds.

I tried to install a game named Microprose Falcon 4.0, known to have multiple bugs, and when I launched it I had no sound. I said "ok, probably a bug" but even after quitting the game, there is no longer sound on the XP Guest. The sound card is working and isn't showing a /!\ on the device manager, the volume control panel can be accessed and modified. Reboot didn't fix it. Restarting the audio service or the audio card neither. Reinstalling it or the guest additions neither. The only way I found to fix it was to format and reinstall XP.

So you could say, "that's a bug from the game", and you could be right : but I tested it on a real XP machine and even if the game still has no sound, the system still have and can play sounds after exiting the game.

The sound parameters in Virtualbox are
- Activate sound [X]
- Audio driver [Windows DirectSound]
- Audio controller [ICH AC97]

Can you help me ? Or maybe is it the wrong forum ? (I can no longer ask help to Microsoft, because XP support ended. Plus it seems to me that Virtualbox may have something to do with the problem, as it does not occur on a real hardware)

[mpack]

Do other sounds within the guest work? Youtube videos? MP3s in media player?

[Rackover]

Nothing works. It 'seems' to work, as there is no errors, but no sound come from the guest (tested with clicking the volume button in the taskbar, with winamp and with another game). The audio works perfectly with another guest (Zorin 11).

[mpack]

Well, if audio works with other guests then that points the finger at the guest.

We know that audio works in an XP guest using AC'97 chipset, as that is the standard setting and we'd notice if it didn't work.

Is the audio muted in the guest perhaps (check the audio mixer panel).

Where did the XP image come from: is it genuine? Does the guest Device Manager show that the audio chipset is present and working?

[Rackover]

I've tried different things, using snapshots, and I've got some news!
The sound problem occur when I launch the game ONLY if my Xbox 360 controller is plugged into the guest. After that, all audio definitely stops working and i'm forced to format blah blah blah. But if I launch the game WITHOUT the controller, the audio (from the game and/or the system) just runs fine. Somehow, the Xbox 360 controller (I installed the proper drivers on guest) seems to interfere with the audio system, but only after I've launched the game. Prior to that, everything's okay.

The XP image can be trusted, and audio isn't muted. The sound card is showed working properly.

http://i.imgur.com/rEXO1KI.jpg