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[Solved] sound input in Virtualbox
Posted: 25. Jul 2020, 01:04
by abecidofugy
Good evening, sir,
I noticed in the Windows 10 settings, in 'Privacy' that Virtualbox seems to use my microphone in my host. As a guest, I have a neon KDE. However, to my knowledge, I don't have any software that would be launched for recording or chatting purposes.
What can I do to restrict Virtualbox and not continually solicit everything that comes into my microphone?
Thank you for your suggestions or clarifications.
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//EDIT : title has edited
Re: Is Virtualbox spy me?
Posted: 25. Jul 2020, 03:10
by scottgus1
Check your guest's Audio settings. Is Audio Input enabled?
Re: Is Virtualbox spy me?
Posted: 25. Jul 2020, 12:15
by abecidofugy
Audio input is not activated.
Re: Is Virtualbox spy me?
Posted: 25. Jul 2020, 13:14
by multiOS
VirtualBox User Manual Section 3.8:
Code: Select all
Audio Settings
The Audio section in a virtual machine’s Settings window determines whether the VM will detect a connected sound card, and if the audio output should be played on the host system.
To enable audio for a guest, select the Enable Audio check box. The following settings are available:
• Host Audio Driver: The audio driver that Oracle VM VirtualBox uses on the host. On a Linux host, depending on your host configuration, you can select between the OSS, ALSA, or the PulseAudio subsystem. On newer Linux distributions, the PulseAudio subsystem is preferred.
Only OSS is supported on Oracle Solaris hosts. The Oracle Solaris Audio audio backend is no longer supported on Oracle Solaris hosts.
• Audio Controller: You can choose between the emulation of an Intel AC’97 controller, an Intel HD Audio controller, or a SoundBlaster 16 card.
• Enable Audio Output: Enables audio output only for the VM.
• Enable Audio Input: Enables audio input only for the VM.
VirtualBox needs access to the Host's sound system so that users can either enable or disable sound input and output for each virtual machine at will. You could, of course, deny that access in the Host Operating System, but that would then completely disable the Sound capability for any Guest Virtual Machines you install. I don't think a declared capability that most people want to be available can be considered "spying", especially when it can be easily controlled by the user.
Re: Is Virtualbox spy me?
Posted: 25. Jul 2020, 13:58
by abecidofugy
Ok, thank you for the respons.
Have a nice day. I edit my first message.
Re: [Solved] sound input in Virtualbox
Posted: 6. Aug 2020, 00:08
by arQon
No, this is a bug. VBox is grabbing the microphone when a VM is started, even if Audio In is disabled.
what @multiOS seems to be suggesting is that if ANY VM at all is going to even potentially use Input, VBox just grabs it at startup so it can route it later. If so, this is incorrect, since toggling an active VM to enable and then re-disable Audio In for that one VM (if it's the only one running) DOES correctly release the microphone.
Re: [Solved] sound input in Virtualbox
Posted: 18. Sep 2020, 11:38
by Cayden
arQon wrote:No, this is a bug. VBox is grabbing the microphone when a VM is started, even if Audio In is disabled.
what @multiOS seems to be suggesting is that if ANY VM at all is going to even potentially use Input, VBox just grabs it at startup so it can route it later. If so, this is incorrect, since toggling an active VM to enable and then re-disable Audio In for that one VM (if it's the only one running) DOES correctly release the microphone.
Your suggestion just managed to fix my pet peeve! I was getting annoyed that VirtualBox was constantly using the microphone, even when it shouldn't/didn't.
And yes, it seems to be a bug. If I can actually get VirtualBox to stop using microphones just by retoggling the Audio Input option, then by design it shouldn't have used it in the first place when no VMs had Audio Input.