VMware Communities: Message List - Lost sound in VM running windows XP

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

wdesign — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:34:01 GMT

I just wanted to report that I too lost my sound for no apparent reason -- one minute it was working, the next it wasn't. The Mac system sounds were working fine, and so was media played through Firefox, etc, on the Mac... but Firefox and IE and all other things on my XP guest were silent. I checked the Virtual Machine sound card in the VM toolbar at the top, by disconnecting it and reconnecting it, still no change. Shutting everything down didn't help. In the end I tried scsherwood's solution of resetting... and it worked! Everything is perfect now. Thanks for the solution, scsherwood!

Re: Lost sound (TO EXTERNAL SPEAKERS) in VM running windows XP

keithdps — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:25:09 GMT

Just to let VMWare know... I've just encountered the same problem... all of a sudden I can ONLY get sound from XP thru the built-in speaker... not thru the LINE-OUT speakers connected to the Mac Pro.

I have sound just fine on the mac side with SOUND OUTPUT directed to LINE OUT

The only way I can get sound thru the external speakers on XP is to set the Mac Sound output to DIGITAL OUT - which then gives no sound output on the Mac side.

This makes no sense for several reasons... not the least of which is that the speakers connected to the Line out port are NOT digital... not USB...

I haven't tried resetting PRAM yet... I'll try that.. but wanted to leave this comment while I was logged on and had found this thread.

I'm running VMWARE FUSION 1.1.3 (942459)
I just uninstalled and reinstalled and reinstalled VMWare Tools... no difference.
It happens on XP under different programs (startup, IE 6, Adobe Captivate)

I checked the vmware.log and it shows:

Nov 19 10:08:11.828: vmx| DICT sound.present = TRUE
Nov 19 10:08:11.828: vmx| DICT sound.fileName = -1
Nov 19 10:08:11.828: vmx| DICT sound.autodetect = TRUE
Nov 19 10:08:11.828: vmx| DICT sound.pciSlotNumber = 33
Nov 19 10:08:11.828: vmx| DICT sound.startConnected = TRUE

Any help would be appreciated (upgrading to VMWare Fusion 2.0.1 to see if that fixes the problem is a little more than I want to tackle right now, especially as it seems like lots of people are having various issues with 2.0.1 anyway)

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

Steve Levy — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:57:35 GMT

I have the same problem with my XP setup. It was working fine. Now I can get the Sound to work with my CISCO VOIP connection! Tried everything.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

WoodyZ — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:45:26 GMT

scsherwood wrote: Based on the comments in this forum, I think I'll stay at 1.1.1.

I totally agree with that as I've found Fusion 1.1.1 to be more stable and less problematic then the other builds. The only reason I would use 1.1.2 or higher at the present time is if those versions specifically addressed an issue that was not working in 1.1.1 that I just absolutely had to have. That's not to say that every version doesn't have issues as we well know every version has some issues for at least some Users however it does seem that 1.1.1 is the sweet spot so far.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

scsherwood — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:23:12 GMT

In all honesty, I would return to version 1.1.1. I see no reason to go to
an advanced version. This one seems perfectly stable and offers everything
I need.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

dastogie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:17:28 GMT

I'm running the Beta 2.0b1 and having this problem as well. I've tried the Command/Control/P/R suggestion, the device reinstall, and the VMX text edit. Any other thoughts?

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

scsherwood — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:02:03 GMT

I am running version 1.1.1, so I don't know if the upgrade would cause me to
lose sound. Based on the comments in this forum, I think I'll stay at
1.1.1.

What is the motivation to move to 1.1.3?

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

ScotteZ — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:16:59 GMT

I was using VMWare Fusion 1.1.1 on my Mac Pro to run Windows XP and audio was working just fine through the Mac's external audio. When I upgraded to 1.1.2, all the audio went through the speaker in the Mac Pro. I reverted back to 1.1.1

I tried upgrading to 1.1.3 this evening and encountered the exact same problem. I've checked the vmx file and it contains the lines as above. I've checked the device manager in Windows XP and there are no marked problems with the audio device. I've tried the PROM reset as described above, but same issue.

Any ideas on how to get audio working, or do I just go back to 1.1.1 again?

Scotte

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

WoodyZ — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:20:55 GMT

Alexandru wrote: Sorry to ask this question, but I have a Logitech keyboard, not Mac. Which key is the Option key in a non Mac keyboard?

Try the Left Alt Key.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

Alexandru — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:26:15 GMT

Hi,

Sorry to ask this question, but I have a Logitech keyboard, not Mac.
Which key is the Option key in a non Mac keyboard?

Thanks,

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

scsherwood — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:18:11 GMT

Unplug the Mac let it sit idle for 1 minute. Then, startup the Mac holding
down the Option, Command, P, and R keys all at the same time. Hold them
down until the second startup chime occurs. This resets a PROM in the
machine.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

Alexandru — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:10:41 GMT

Hi Sherwood,

Could you post the command you executed?
Is this to be run on the Mac side? And if so, why a new version of VMWare will affect somehow the OSX?

Thanks,

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

scsherwood — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:05:46 GMT

Turns out my problem was on the Mac side. I had to reset the machine with a command, option, P, R reset. Then, everything returned to normal.

Thanks for everyone's response on this issue.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

Alexandru — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:59:43 GMT

Hi,

I am a VMWare Fusion customer also.
This is the second time loosing sound because upgrading to a new release.
I had the same issue on 1.1.2 version. I simply uninstaled it and revert it to 1.1.1

I think in all honesty that something is not going well with the VMware QA team.
How can be possible that you are repeating the same mistake?
I am very dissapointed about this happening again.

I am thinking seriously to get the other Mac product for virtualization available on the market.
I have Win2003 Server Standard Edition on Mac Leopard 10.5.3
At least if you guys have not tested it under these new releases of Mac OS just tell us not to upgrade!

All the best,
Alex

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

bbhavsar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:06:43 GMT

Did you ever get a notification from Fusion UI stating "Sound will be disconnected" ?

Try this:
Close Fusion completely.
Then select the Sound Output device from System Preferences.
Start Fusion -> VM and let us know if the problem persists.

If this doesn't solve the problem, upload vmware.log and .vmx file for further analysis.

Thanks,
Bankim.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

scsherwood — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:23:46 GMT

Thanks for the response.

Just checked the Device Manager, and all sound devices are listed as working correctly.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

Draconis — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:18:51 GMT

Have you tried to look around the Device Manager in your Windows XP install? It might actually tell you if it sees audio devices but are improperly functioning.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

scsherwood — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:04:42 GMT

Thanks again. I found the .vmx files and checked them. They are set up right:

sound.present = "TRUE"
sound.fileName = "-1"
sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

So, I'm still at a loss as to what's causing the sound not to work.

I can't contact VMware support under the 30 day complimentary support, because when I login to place a support request, they show me as owning 4 VMware packages, none of which are FUSION. If I select one and write up the support request for FUSION, they reject it since I didn't select FUSION.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

WoodyZ — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:05:43 GMT

By default normal file based Virtual Machines are created in the "~/Documents/Virtual Machines" folder.

~ Is your Home Folder

They are placed in a Folder (Bundle Package) with an extension of ".vmwarevm" which by default the extension is not visible in Finder.

Example: "~/Documents/Virtual Machines/Windows XP.vmwarevm" would in Finder just look like an icon named "Windows XP"

You can view the Package Contents of the "Windows XP.vmwarevm" folder by Ctrl-Click (or Right-Click the "Windows XP" icon and select Show Package Contents.

You would Ctrl-Click (or Right-Click) on the "Windows XP.vmx" file and select Open With > Other... then in Choose Application choose TextEdit.

Note: This should be done with the VM shutdown and closed and not suspended.

Also have a look at: A Beginner's Guide to VMware Fusion

Message was edited by: WoodyZ

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

scsherwood — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:39:49 GMT

Thanks for your response to my question.

I tried your suggestion, but unfortunately that didn't fix the problem. BTW, I have two virtual machines, both of which have Windows XP Pro guest OS. In fact, one is a copy of the first one with the only difference being that I have IE6 installed in the second VM. Both of these virtual machines lost sound. I checked on the VMWARE support site, and they tell me to go to ~/documents/virtual machines/<Windows XP VM> and edit the .vmx file. I couldn't find this directory. Nor are there any .vmx files anywhere.

Have you got any other ideas?

Thanks again for your help.

Re: Lost sound in VM running windows XP

WoodyZ — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:20:58 GMT

With the Virtual Machine properly shutdown, not suspended, from within the OS try removing and adding back the Sound device under Removable Devices on the target Virtual Machine's Settings sheet using the [+][-] buttons in the lower left corner of the Setting sheet. The close Fusion and relaunch it and run the target Virtual Machine.

Lost sound in VM running windows XP

scsherwood — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:02:59 GMT

I had everything setup just fine. Windows XP pro was running in a VMware VM and sound was coming through my mac speakers. I have a Mac Pro with 10GB of RAM, 2 Quad Core processors, and 600GB of disk. I'm running OS X 10.5.3.
When I loaded the virtual machine today, the sound stopped working on the PC virtual machine. I have no idea what happened. I don't recall downloading or updating any software that would have affected this.

Any ideas