virtualbox.org

You do not need to manually download the AC97 driver.
[EDIT: er, at least for x86. Please see below for x64...]

As long as your guest has internet access, do the following:
In Control Panel - System and security - Windows Update:
On the left side, manually select 'Check for Updates'.

Under 'Optional Updates', will be a 'Recommended' item,
'Microsoft Driver Update for Intel(r) 82801AA AC'97 Audio Controller'.

Select this from the list, and install it.

Audio is immediately enabled, without a guest restart .

(XP host, with DirectSound; guest is a new install, not activated.)

Jam on!

Have you checked this 64 Bit Win7? IMHO this works for 32 Bit and for 64 Bit you need the external driver.

Yes, my bad: This is effective for x86 only.

For x64, nobody saw fit to do a signed driver, so no update from WHQL/WU online.

As posted elsewhere, for x64, you will need:

http://www.realtek.com/downloads/downlo ... Down=false
... Click through the legal, then select "AC'97 Audio Codecs (Software)"
... and get
"Vista/Win7 (32/64 bits) Driver only (ZIP file)", which is at Version 6305 now.

Extract all files, then do NOT run any of the installer exe stuff.
In Device Manager, right-click on the yellow-marked audio controller, select 'Update Driver Software'.
Select 'Browse my computer for driver software'.
Select folder <extracted folder>\6305_Vista_Win7_PG537\6305_Vista_PG537\Vista64.
You will get the alarming warning about the unsigned driver; continue.
Next.....
And it completes, enabling audio immediately.

There might be an easier way to let Windows find the extracted driver directly from the
inoperative taskbar audio device; this is the old-school method.

Some have reported clicking and erratic audio; I do get some slight aberrations from Flash 10.1. Not bad, just like vinyl.
(VBox 3.2.4, Win7 HomePrem x64 guest, 768MB guest RAM, 1 core of PhenomIIx3 710)

Not as easy as Windows Update: agreed. But it's Friday: Jam on!

Hi,

I have manually installed the drivers downloaded from the link above. I do have sound, however it is VERY clicky and erratic; no "slight" aberration, it's a total aberration, you can't listen to music, it sounds like a very bad time stretching.

Indeed I had executed the "setup.exe" installer and that's how I got sound. Then I read this thread wher it says to not run any exe stuff but update the driver manually. I did so; the "vista64" folder has a lot of .inf files (with the same name prefix and ending with numbers): i chose the one without any number.

Nothing changed, still unusable audio.

Any idea??

I have Windows 7 64 bit as a guest and Ubuntu 10.04 (32bit) as host.

May it be a 64-bit-on-32-bit issue????

Thanks
m.

This is more than likely due to pulse audio on the host. Anyway you can download and keep open the pavucontrol on the host, or what fixed it for me was removing pulse audio which fixed most of my other sound problems as well.

Thank you very much. Seems incredible that patches are available since 2008 and the bugs hasn't been fixed yet in the current release...

Anyway, I'm afraid I don't know how to apply those patches and recompile the stuff that has to be recompiled.
What will I loose by removing pulse?

thanks
m.

matteosistisette wrote:Thank you very much. Seems incredible that patches are available since 2008 and the bugs hasn't been fixed yet in the current release...
Anyway, I'm afraid I don't know how to apply those patches and recompile the stuff that has to be recompiled.
What will I loose by removing pulse?
thanks
m.

I am not sure what you mean by patches but this appears to be a Ubuntu (more specifically pulse) problem. As I said you can download the pavucontrol program ( pulse volume control) and start it on the host. Then start the Windows guest and see if it fixes your problem. The control needs to stay running on the Ubuntu desktop though as closing it changes the timing and there is where the problem starts.

As for what will you loose if you remove Pulse Audio? I don't know. I guess it depends on what you are using the hosts audio for. You can always reinstall it if you find that you have lost something that you wanted. For me I did not see any adverse side effects but removing it.

Bottom line = Pulse audio just has problems. IMHO

Perryg wrote: I am not sure what you mean by patches

Ops I'm sorry. I read something in another thread (that i don't find now) and I was convinced I had read it here. It was about three Pulse bugs and corresponding fixing patches which would probably fix this problem too.

Still have to try the pavucontrol stuff.

Thanks
m.

Perryg wrote:

matteosistisette wrote: As for what will you loose if you remove Pulse Audio? I don't know. I guess it depends on what you are using the hosts audio for. You can always reinstall it if you find that you have lost something that you wanted.

Hi,
This is drifting a bit OT, however...
I have tried marking for uninstall pulseaudio in Synaptic, and it warned me that it was going to uninstall other packages as a consequence (i guess packages that depend on pulseaudio), and one of them was:
ubuntu-desktop

That sounds scary...

Don't worry, ubuntu-desktop is a meta package that only depends on all the packages the base install of Ubuntu desktop includes. Pulseaudio is one of those packages. Since it would otherwise become a broken package due to lacking dependency, it is removed.

Yes but it also says in the package description:

"It is also used to help ensure proper upgrades, so it is recommended that
it not be removed."

So is there a way I can remove pulseaudio without breaking the automatic upgrades?

The 'upgrade' it talks about is just for when a package name changes. AFAIK, the only time when package names are changes, is during a dist upgrade. Let's say Ubuntu-desktop would depend on the package 'virtualbox' and in the next release they change the name to 'virtualbox-ose'. That change will be the only effect you get, you won't get the new package name automatically. Now, Ubuntu repo maintainers are very smart about that, they make meta packages or dummy packages with the old name and make a dependency on it with the new name.

Trust me, as long as you use your current release, there will be no name change whatsoever in any package that Ubuntu-desktop depends on. And if it does, it will get a dummy package for the transition.

Great explanation, thank you. So I won't worry about package name changes.

But what about completely new packages that are introduced (not related to any previously existing package)? Isn't the ubuntu-desktop metapackage used to ensure their installation also?

Thanks
m.

These are questions best asked at the Ubuntu Forums.
The problem is not directly caused by VirtualBox AFAICT. Anyway I removed Pulse audio and have not had any problems and have had clear audio ever since. Of course your mileage may vary. If so then install it back.

Only if they decide to change the default installation, which is, AFAIK, only done on new releases. Think about changing from Pidgin to Empathy as default IM client. This doesn't happen mid-release, this happens before it goes final, during the alpha stage or even before that.

You only need to worry about it if you go through a couple (minimum 2) dist upgrades.
As final push: I don't even have *ubuntu-desktop installed (I run Xubuntu), nor much of it's dependant/recommended/suggested packages, yet still have a fully functioning system. I don't like the bloated junk you get with it. Install 1500 packages? I can do with half of that!