Fusion 4.1 and Mac OS 10.6 sound and resolution issues

[Steve247]

Hello,

Happiness seems to be coming in small steps. 4.1 allows for 10.6 client to be installed, but how to we set the reolution to greater than 1024 x 768? And I don't get any sound in or out either. I've looked at all the settings both on the Fusion side and the 10.6 side.

thanks for any help,

Steve

[SvenGus]

For the first problem, you probably need to install the VMware Tools, reboot and then resize your VM window.

For the second problem, you must add a sound device in the VM settings and then install (inside the 10.6 VM) the last package from this webpage:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vmsvga2/files/Audio

... which works, even if sound isn't perfect (anyway, it isn't perfect even in Lion guests, which have sound built-in).

P.S.: Now, in Fusion 4, you also need to change a line in the virtual machine's configuration file (inside the VM bundle, it's the file with the .vmx extension); open it in TextEdit, and change

sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio"

to

sound.virtualDev = "es1371"

(otherwise, the VMsvga2 driver won't work).

Another approach could be to leave the Intel HD Audio interface untouched and install VoodooHDA (instead of VMsvga2) into the VM:

http://code.google.com/p/voodoohda

(but personally I haven't tried that, yet).

Edit: No, after trying, VoodooHDA doesn't work; so, VMsvga2 (and editing the .vmx file) seems to be the only option for having sound in Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 VMs.

[Steve247]

Thank you, The resolution issue is now solved, but I'm still having trouble getting the sound output to work. I installed EnsoniqAudioPCI_v1.0.3_Common_Installer.pkg under both Lion and in the 10.6 VM machine, but I do not see the sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio" line in the vmx file. Maybe a more idiot proof explanation would help.

thanks,

Steve

[WoodyZ]

Steve247 wrote: 4.1 allows for 10.6 client to be installed

It might allow it but it's not supported and is still illegal to do so until Apple changes it's SLA's!

[SvenGus]

In Lion (host or guest), you don't need the VMsvga2 audio package, as the drivers are built-in (and a Lion guest uses Intel HD Audio by default).

(Anyway, should you want to install it also in a Lion guest, you must use the Lion package, not the "common" one for (Snow) Leopard, available on the same webpage; so you should uninstall it from Lion, if you installed the "common" package: and especially if you installed it by mistake on the host system.)

For Snow Leopard, strange that the sound virtual device line is missing: so, did you add the sound device, first of all (from within the virtual machine settings window)? It's the "Add Device..." button, on the top right of the window.

In the Snow Leopard VM's .vmx file, there should be a section like this one:

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio"

sound.fileName = "-1"

sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

... which after editing should then become:

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.virtualDev = "es1371"

sound.fileName = "-1"

sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

... while in Lion you should leave everything as it is (no need for additional sound drivers).

[treee]

That seems to be a misinterpretation of the license. Apple only says that you are allowed to run it on Apple branded hardware which in fact you are doing with VMware Fusion. It says nothing about virtualisation at all. In the Macworld article some representative from Apple has now confirmed this way of viewing the license.

Message was edited by: treee

[MichaelCarnes]

Sven, your hint was quite helpful but either VMWare or I am missing something.  The "hdaudio" device doesn't appear to work in a Snow Leopard VM.  I've got a Win7 VM with the same sound settings you've suggested and that works fine (I use the digital audio out on my Mac).  But when they're in the VMX file for Snow Leopard, I still don't see the device in the Snow Leopard VM.  I see the Sound settings, but no device is found.  I'm delighted that Snow Leopard is working this much, but it appears there's a little more to do.

[treee]

You misinterpreted that. He means that you have to change "hdaudio" to "es1371". You also have to install something in the vm. After you've done those two things you'll have audio in the Snow Leopard vm.

[MichaelCarnes]

>Thanks, but I did follow that link to Sourceforge and the thing you had to install appeared to be a Soundblaster driver.  Don't have a Soundblaster.  In >addition, the hdaudio reference DOES work for Win7, so I'm still assuming that Fusion is missing something here.

Beg your pardon.  I may have followed the wrong link to find the Soundblaster driver.  I'll give the other link a shot and report back.

[SvenGus]

No, rather it's an Ensoniq (AC97) audio driver, so it is the right one for (Snow) Leopard systems (as VMware's emulated Intel HDA doesn't seem to work on those systems, but only in Lion) + the VMsvga2 package; the link is this one:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vmsvga2/files/Audio/EnsoniqAudioPCI_v1.0.3_Common_Installer.pkg/down...

... and the installed kext indeed enables sound in (Snow) Leopard VMs, provided that you edited the .vmx as detailed before.

[MichaelCarnes]

Thanks for the additional kick in the seat.  That got it.  It's starting to feel like Snow Leopard in there!

[dbgreenwood]

>For Snow Leopard, strange that the sound virtual device line is missing: so, did you add the sound device, first of all (from within the virtual machine >settings window)? It's the "Add Device..." button, on the top right of the window.

I just finished enabling sound in Fusion 4.1 and Mac OS 10.6. The above item is what I missed first time through. After I added the sound device the lines

sound.present = "TRUE"

sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio"

sound.fileName = "-1"

sound.autodetect = "TRUE"

appeared in the .vmx file.

Thanks, Sven, for the how to, much appreciated.

Cheers,

Darrell

[SvenGus]

Good that all went well...

BTW, all this should really be part of the official Fusion documentation on the web: it is a quite frequent issue.

It can also be very confusing for new users that Lion (Server) VMs have sound (even if the output quality really leaves much to be desired) built-in, while (Snow) Leopard (Server) VMs don't even have a sound device in the VM settings.

Definitely something to improve upon...

[celebi23]

I had a brand new VM of 10.6 (created with VMWare Fusion 4.1) and I followed all of the instructions: Installed VMWare Tools, added the sound device, installed the sound driver and edited the vmx file.  Yet, I still can't get sound to work.  Really not sure what the problem is.

[MichaelCarnes]

I did see a brief item on one of the tech news sites (sorry, don't remember which) in which VMWare said this Snow Lion VM thing was an accident and that it will be corrected.  Hope they haven't gotten cold feet.

[SvenGus]

I would maybe try again, in this order (after creating the VM):

1. Add the sound device.

2. Edit the .vmx file.

3. Install Mac OS X (Server) and the VMware Tools.

4. Download and install the VMsvga2 Common (not the Lion one) audio package from the above link.

5. Reboot the VM.

All this should indeed work...

[Steve247]

Hello,

I had originally posted this question, and never got sound to work. I have a Boot Camp Win Pro XP virtual machine, and a Win 7 Pro virtual machine. After I add the sound device, what .vmx file do I edit, the one that belongs to the XP, or Win 7 virtual machine, or some other one??

Thanks,

Steve

[SvenGus]

But all this was about Mac OS X 10.5/10.6 (Server: sadly, still, the only edition officially allowed to be virtualized), not Windows virtual machines; Windows VMs shouldn't need any .vmx editing: they should work out of the box, of course if the VMware Tools are properly installed and updated (so, you could try to uninstall and reinstall the Tools, if you have problems; and maybe also recreate the Boot Camp VM).

[pyrro]

Hello,

so, I have osx server 10.6.8 on fusion 4.1. The host is osx 10.7

Excuse me but i'm french and my english's not so well.

I tried to understand you're tutorial for the sound problem, but really I can't.

I'm a new user of VMWare, and I'm not so good with computer.

I take your mess back:

"

For the second problem, you must add a sound device in the VM settings and then install (inside the 10.6 VM) the last package from this webpage:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vmsvga2/files/Audio

... which works, even if sound isn't perfect (anyway, it isn't perfect even in Lion guests, which have sound built-in).

  you mean this one: EnsoniqAudioPCI_v1.0.3_Common_Installer.pkg

P.S.: Now, in Fusion 4, you also need to change a line in the virtual machine's configuration file (inside the VM bundle, it's the file with the .vmx extension); open it in TextEdit, and change

I can't find the file. Must I search in osx 10.6 on fusion or in the host osx 10.7.

In both of them I can't find it.

Where is it? In wich folder???

sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio"

to

sound.virtualDev = "es1371"

(otherwise, the VMsvga2 driver won't work).

and then, I must install this one on the host osx 10.7:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vmsvga2/files/Audio/EnsoniqAudioPCI_v1.0.3_Common_Installer.pkg/down...

That's it?

Sorry I'm lost.

Can you make a precise tutorial for beginner pleeeease.

Maybe I can translate it in french for all those who are lost (there are some)

And else, I installed the VMWare tools. But I still got problem with resolution.

and also with the keyboard...

Why isn't it simple? I'm a beginner with virtual machine...

Anyway, thank you for your time.

Pierre

[SvenGus]

To edit the .vmx file, go to

/Users/YourUserName/Documents/Virtual\ Machines.localized/YourVirtualMachine.vmwarevm

(or wherever you have your virtual machine, which of course has its real name; and the .vmarevm extension usually is hidden), then right-click (or control-click) on the virtual machine and select Show Package Contents, and finally open

YourVirtualMachine.vmx

with TextEdit (right/control-click, do an Open With and then choose TextEdit), and then replace hdaudio with es1371 (as explained before); of course, in French the commands above have a different name.

Once having edited and saved the .vmx file (and of course, first of all, after having added the sound device in the virtual machine settings), you can power on your virtual machine and then install the VMsvga2 audio drivers from inside the virtual machine; that is, download and launch this package installer from within the Mac OS X 10.6 Server guest (not within the 10.7 Lion host):

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vmsvga2/files/Audio/EnsoniqAudioPCI_v1.0.3_Common_Installer.pkg/down...

In a few words, you must install this package inside your Mac OS X 10.6 Server virtual machine, and then reboot.

C'est très facile, après tout...! :smileycool: