KDE will not release audio to VBox

[WarBride]

KDE is not releasing the audio system for use to VirtualBox.

System (Host) OS : Slamd64 12.2 (64-bit Slackware 12.2)
Guest OS : WinXP (32-bit)
VirtualBox : 2.1.4
Kernel : 2.6.28.8
KDE : 3.5.10
Fluxbox : 1.1.1

From what I can tell, this is not a VirtualBox problem - it seems to be connected to how KDE uses the audio system. I get this error when I start the VM when using KDE.

“Some audio devices (PCM_out) could not be opened. Guest applications generating audio output or depending on audio input may hang. Make sure your host audio device is working properly. Check the logfile for error messages of the audio subsystem..”
“Error ID: HostAudioNotResponding”
“Severity: Warning”

However, when I use Fluxbox as my windowmanager, sound works perfectly within the VM (VM settings: OSS w/ AC97.

Sound does work in my host OS when using KDE. I have tried all combinations of ALSA, OSS, Pulse, AC97, SB16.

Here is the relevant part of the Vbox log when logged in as ‘root’:

Code: Select all

[…]
00:00:00.441 [/Devices/ichac97/0/LUN#0/Config/] (level 5)
00:00:00.441   AudioDriver <string>  = "oss" (cch=4)
00:00:00.441   StreamName  <string>  = "vm-winxp-00" (cch=12)
[…]
00:00:00.758 Audio: Trying driver 'oss'.
00:00:00.758 Audio: set_record_source ars=0 als=0 (not implemented)
00:00:00.758 OSS: Successfully opened /dev/dsp for ADC
00:00:00.758 OSS: Failed to open /dev/dsp for DAC (Device or resource busy)
00:00:00.758 OSS: Failed to open /dev/dsp for DAC (Device or resource busy)
00:00:00.758 AC97: WARNING: Unable to open PCM OUT!
00:00:00.758 Console: VM runtime error: fatal=false, errorID=HostAudioNotResponding message="Some audio devices (PCM_out) could not be opened. Guest applications generating audio output or depending on audio input may hang. Make sure your host audio device is working properly. Check the logfile for error messages of the audio subsystem"
[…]

Here is the relevant part of the Vbox log when logged in as a basic ‘user’:

Code: Select all

[…]
00:00:00.473 [/Devices/ichac97/0/LUN#0/Config/] (level 5)
00:00:00.473   AudioDriver <string>  = "oss" (cch=4)
00:00:00.473   StreamName  <string>  = "vm-winxp-00" (cch=12)
[…]
00:00:01.192 Audio: Trying driver 'oss'.
00:00:01.192 Audio: set_record_source ars=0 als=0 (not implemented)
00:00:01.193 OSS: Failed to open /dev/dsp for ADC (Device or resource busy)
00:00:01.193 OSS: Failed to open /dev/dsp for ADC (Device or resource busy)
00:00:01.193 OSS: Failed to open /dev/dsp for DAC (Device or resource busy)
00:00:01.193 OSS: Failed to open /dev/dsp for DAC (Device or resource busy)
00:00:01.193 OSS: Failed to open /dev/dsp for ADC (Device or resource busy)
00:00:01.193 OSS: Failed to open /dev/dsp for ADC (Device or resource busy)
00:00:01.193 AC97: WARNING: Unable to open PCM IN!
00:00:01.193 AC97: WARNING: Unable to open PCM MC!
00:00:01.193 AC97: WARNING: Unable to open PCM OUT!
00:00:01.193 Audio: Using NULL audio driver
00:00:01.193 Audio: set_record_source ars=0 als=0 (not implemented)
00:00:01.193 Console: VM runtime error: fatal=false, errorID=HostAudioNotResponding message="No audio devices could be opened. Selecting the NULL audio backend with the consequence that no sound is audible"
[…]

Has anyone else had this problem? Any help would be appreciated. - Thanks.

[Sasquatch]

KDE can be a bitch when it comes to audio. When I tried KDE on Ubuntu 7.04, I got the same error. Instead of using ALSA or similar, it hooks itself directly to the hardware. Please go to the KDE forum or your distro instead to fix this. I'm pretty sure that any other application, like Amarok, will give the same error. Well, maybe not Amarok, but try it with Audacious or FireFox with flash.

[dcsmith30]

I am having the same issue with slamd64 12.2, the audio simply will not work.

00:00:20.837 Audio: Trying driver 'alsa'.
00:00:20.837 Audio: set_record_source ars=0 als=0 (not implemented)
00:00:20.850 ALSA: Failed to apply audio parameters
00:00:20.858 ALSA: Failed to apply audio parameters
00:00:20.866 ALSA: Failed to apply audio parameters
00:00:20.874 ALSA: Failed to apply audio parameters
00:00:20.882 ALSA: Failed to apply audio parameters
00:00:20.890 ALSA: Failed to apply audio parameters
00:00:20.890 AC97: WARNING: Unable to open PCM IN!
00:00:20.890 AC97: WARNING: Unable to open PCM MC!
00:00:20.890 AC97: WARNING: Unable to open PCM OUT!
00:00:20.890 Audio: Using NULL audio driver

Did you happen to find a fix for this issue, interestingly enough vbox works fine with slackware 12.2.