Sound broken in v6.0.6 to v6.0.10. Last working version 6.0.0 (#18342)

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Linux hosts.
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dinosaur
Posts: 13
Joined: 9. Apr 2015, 20:53

Sound broken in v6.0.6 to v6.0.10. Last working version 6.0.0 (#18342)

Post by dinosaur »


ModEdit; related ticket: #18342: Sound totally broken for Windows XP guest under Linux host
I already posted a ticket for it, but it apparently got totally ignored by VirtualBox developers... What's the use to open tickets then ?... A waste of time ?

Sound is broken for *all* my Linux hosts (4 different computers !) in all VirtualBox versions from v6.0.2 to 6.0.6.

Please, acknowledge and fix this regression !!!!
Last edited by dinosaur on 4. Aug 2019, 21:14, edited 2 times in total.
socratis
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Re: Sound broken in v6.0.6. Last working version 6.0.0 (#18342)

Post by socratis »

dinosaur wrote:I already posted a ticket for it, but it apparently got totally ignored by VirtualBox developers... What's the use to open tickets then ?... A waste of time ?
Relax, take it easy... You're not a customer, you're a freeloader. And the first action is not to open a ticket, it's to come in the forums and compare with other users if what you're seeing is a real issue, or if you're a lone case, and there's something wrong with your setup and/or your guest. The forums are for the triage; the bugtracker should be reserved for verifiable, reproducible bugs.
dinosaur wrote:Sound is broken for *all* my Linux hosts (4 different computers !) in all VirtualBox versions from v6.0.2 to 6.0.6.
In the ticket you mention WinXP as your guest. Is that all your hosts with WinXP guests? Any other VMs?
dinosaur wrote:Please, acknowledge and fix this regression !!!!
Please post the related info before we can have a decent discussion!

We need to see a complete VBox.log, from a complete VM run, where the problem occurs:
  • Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe problem / Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
  • With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
  • Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response. See the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form.
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dinosaur
Posts: 13
Joined: 9. Apr 2015, 20:53

Re: Sound broken in v6.0.6. Last working version 6.0.0 (#18342)

Post by dinosaur »

socratis wrote:
dinosaur wrote:I already posted a ticket for it, but it apparently got totally ignored by VirtualBox developers... What's the use to open tickets then ?... A waste of time ?
Relax, take it easy... You're not a customer, you're a freeloader.
I'm also an OpenSource developer, and would be put to shame if I was ignoring bug reports from the users of my software (developed for free)...

Probably an ethical question, I guess...
And the first action is not to open a ticket, it's to come in the forums and compare with other users if what you're seeing is a real issue, or if you're a lone case, and there's something wrong with your setup and/or your guest. The forums are for the triage; the bugtracker should be reserved for verifiable, reproducible bugs.
I have been programming for the past 40 years. I think I am perfectly able to detect whether an issue is a bug or a configuration issue. Thank you.
In the ticket you mention WinXP as your guest. Is that all your hosts with WinXP guests? Any other VMs?
Yes, all VMs. Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 10, Linux (many of them).

I mentioned XP in the ticket (that I opened over 3 months ago), because that's always the most problematic VM that I always test first after installing a new VBox version. But I since tested the other VMs with the same results.
Please post the related info before we can have a decent discussion!
We need to see a complete VBox.log, from a complete VM run, where the problem occurs:
  • Start the VM from cold-boot (not from a paused or saved state) / Observe problem / Shutdown the VM (force close it if you have to).
  • With the VM completely shut down (not paused or saved), right-click on the VM in the VirtualBox Manager and select "Show Log".
  • Save only the first "VBox.log", ZIP it and attach it to your response. See the "Upload attachment" tab below the reply form.
The said log has alerady been provided in my ticket: just download it...
dinosaur
Posts: 13
Joined: 9. Apr 2015, 20:53

Sound broken in v6.0.8.

Post by dinosaur »

VirtualBox v6.0.8 is still affected by this issue with ALSA as the audio driver backend for Linux hosts.

Since then Willie posted a patch in my original ticket, and after I could find time, and updated necessary tools (iasl, gsoap), I finally managed to get around building VirtualBox from sources for my distro (PCLinuxOS): I can confirm that Willie's simple patch (just a change in the audio buffering default duration, from 250ms to 100ms) fixes the audio bug and restores proper sound in all my VMs.

Could we hope have this patch applied for future VirtualBox versions ?
Shill Shocked
Posts: 2
Joined: 29. Jun 2019, 04:40

Re: Sound broken in v6.0.6. Last working version 6.0.0 (#18342)

Post by Shill Shocked »

I've also had this issue. I gave up on trying to patch it and, sadly, now am using Vmware because of constantly regressing ALSA and network issues.
dinosaur
Posts: 13
Joined: 9. Apr 2015, 20:53

Re: Sound broken in v6.0.6 to v6.0.10. Last working version 6.0.0 (#18342)

Post by dinosaur »

This bug is still present in VirtualBox v6.0.10...

Applying Willie's trivial patch to the sources and recompiling them gives me functional sound again.

How much time will it take for you guys to integrate a one liner patch and restore ALSA compatibility ?... :-(
socratis
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Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Sound broken in v6.0.6 to v6.0.10. Last working version 6.0.0 (#18342)

Post by socratis »

dinosaur wrote:How much time will it take for you guys to integrate a one liner patch and restore ALSA compatibility ?
Us guys? Who's "us"? Because this is a user forum, nothing more, nothing less. We can't integrate anything really. Plus, do you know if the patch breaks other functionality with which you're not familiar with?

In any event, I believe that you've got a workaround already in the ticket that you opened, which I'm going to repeat here for the people that won't visit the ticket:
  • 
    VBoxManage setextradata global VBoxInternal2/Audio/ALSAAudio/BufferSizeMs "100"
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
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dinosaur
Posts: 13
Joined: 9. Apr 2015, 20:53

Re: Sound broken in v6.0.6 to v6.0.10. Last working version 6.0.0 (#18342)

Post by dinosaur »

socratis wrote:
dinosaur wrote:How much time will it take for you guys to integrate a one liner patch and restore ALSA compatibility ?
Us guys? Who's "us"?
The Pope, of course... :roll:

The developers can do that, and since this is the support forum on the official VirtualBox site, I would assume they do read it in search for bugs that won't have been reported in the bug tracker (which only advanced users would use to report the bugs they found)... That's at least how I do proceed for the software I maintain.

Mind you, as a developer myself, I first reported that bug on the bug tracker, as a proper ticket (with all necessary info and logs), just to be met with a deafening silence. That's why I posted the bug report as well on this forum, in order to make things move, at last... It apparently (partly) succeeded since the cause was found and a work-around provided. :P The next step is to get the developers to fix that regression bug.
Plus, do you know if the patch breaks other functionality with which you're not familiar with?
The default buffer length value used to be 100ms before v6.0.2, and the sound broke when that value got increased to 250ms in v6.0.2. If it worked before, it won't break anything to revert it to the old default. And since that change introduced a regression (breaking sound for ALSA back-end users), it shall be reverted (that's a basic principle in software maintenance).
In any event, I believe that you've got a workaround already in the ticket that you opened,
A workaround, yes, not a fix... And many users that are not aware about that workaround will be left in the blue with a non-functional VirtualBox. I also posted suggestions in the bug tracker issue about documentation and/or new UI element to adjust that parameter.
socratis
Site Moderator
Posts: 27330
Joined: 22. Oct 2010, 11:03
Primary OS: Mac OS X other
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win(*>98), Linux*, OSX>10.5
Location: Greece

Re: Sound broken in v6.0.6 to v6.0.10. Last working version 6.0.0 (#18342)

Post by socratis »

You honestly don't get it... In order for the developers to change that value on purpose, they were obviously trying to fix something else. Which they might have, but... they broke your specific scenario. So, now they have to work and find a solution that satisfies all cases, and there are a lot of scenarios out there, not just yours.
Do NOT send me Personal Messages (PMs) for troubleshooting, they are simply deleted.
Do NOT reply with the "QUOTE" button, please use the "POST REPLY", at the bottom of the form.
If you obfuscate any information requested, I will obfuscate my response. These are virtual UUIDs, not real ones.
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