Sound not working on Ubuntu 9.10 (VMware Fusion 3.0.0 on an iMac)

[eleetselad]

I'm running VMware Fusion 3.0.0 on an iMac. I have created an Ubuntu 9.10 (released version) Virtual Appliance. All seems fine except there is no SOUND.

Any suggestions for a fix? Thanks!

[ivocal]

Removing pulse does not "work fine" -- Sure, audio output starts to work, but there are issues:

• The audio does not survive a suspend/resume cycle

• audio controls under System -> Preferences -> Sound are no longer available, so you cannot choose which attached audio device will be the default.

VMWare needs to fix their SH*T and get active on this thread. Their silence on this problem is inexcusable.

[WoodyZ]

ivocal wrote: VMWare needs to fix their SH*T and get active on this thread. Their silence on this problem is inexcusable.

Ubuntu 9.10 is not (yet) a supported OS. So you really have no right to complain.

[img47]

OK, it's been 4 weeks since Ubuntu 9.10 release, and Ubuntu was in beta months before that. Competition already supports it (including Compiz).

In how many weeks we will get the right to complain?

[WoodyZ]

OK, it's been 4 weeks since Ubuntu 9.10 release, and Ubuntu was in beta months before that. Competition already supports it (including Compiz). In how many weeks we will get the right to complain?

As long as you are using an unsupported OS you never have any rights to complain regardless of time and regardless of what the competition is doing. If you don't like it then use the competitors product!

VMware Fusion 3 has some issues with supported OSes so if you have a problem running a supported OS then by all means complain however if is not supported then what don't you understand about it's not supported?!

[img47]

I think it should be clear - are you expressing this opinion as a Fusion user (like me) or are you somehow related to VMware/Fusion?

[WoodyZ]

I think it should be clear - are you expressing this opinion as a Fusion user (like me) or are you somehow related to VMware/Fusion?

I actually now use Parallels as my primary virtualization product on the Mac however I do use other VMware products on Windows and Linux Hosts and now only use Fusion to support my Clients that use Fusion. I'm also a strong proponent when it comes to pointing out something that isn't right with a supported OS or product feature that has issues under a supported OS or is being used in a supported manner however no one has any rights to complain about something that is not working under an unsupported OS, product or manner in any situation where unsupported is a factor and VMware clearly and plainly states what Guest OSes it supports under what VMware products and other system requirements so once again were back at the fact that Ubuntu 9.10 is not (yet) a supported Guest OS and until VMware chooses to officially support it then no one has any rights to complain about it. Did you, or anyone else for that matter, pay any money for a VMware product that states it supports Ubuntu 9.10? NO! So stop complaining about it. If you want to point it out politely and kindly request it be supported as soon as possible that certainly is acceptable however anything other then that is out of line since you or anyone else has not paid any money for a VMware product that states it supports Ubuntu 9.10!

[img47]

Interesting difference:

1. this is how WMware defines supported operating systems (example):

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3, 4.7, 3.9, 2.1-stock 2.4.9-e3 (Advanced Server, Enterprise Server, Workstation)

Red Hat Linux 9.0—stock 2.4.20-8, upgrade 2.4.20-20.9

Red Hat Linux 7.0—stock 2.2.16-22, upgrade 2.2.17-14

Solaris 10 on x86 (Update 7)

Ubuntu Linux 9.04, 8.10, 8.04.3, 7.10, 6.10, 5.10

Mandriva Linux 2009.1, 2008, 2007, 2006

2. and this is from Parallels:

Linux:

CentOS

SUSE

OpenSUSE

Red Hat

Red Hat Enterprise

Debian

Fedora Core

Mandriva

Ubuntu

Xandros

Frankly saying I much more prefer "Ubuntu", than "Ubuntu Linux 9.04, 8.10, 8.04.3, 7.10, 6.10, 5.10".

I may have made a mistake to upgrade to Fusion 3.... Anybody has any experience with VMware money back guarantee?

[mykmelez]

Frankly saying I much more prefer "Ubuntu", than "Ubuntu Linux 9.04, 8.10, 8.04.3, 7.10, 6.10, 5.10".

IMHO, the latter is preferable, because it's clear what it means: that VMware supports those specific versions of the Ubuntu OS.

Parallels' declaration that it supports "Ubuntu", on the other hand, is unclear. Does it claim to support all released versions of Ubuntu, from the oldest to the most recent? Or only certain versions? More to the point, does it support the specific version of Ubuntu you want to run on it? Given that a Google search for "parallels ubuntu 9.10" finds a number of forum posts from people having trouble installing Parallels tools on Ubuntu 9.10, I don't think the answer to that question is the one you seem to think it is.

FWIW, I too would love to see Fusion support for Ubuntu 9.10, and more generally, I'd like to see VMware roll out compatibility updates for new versions of Ubuntu more quickly, since testing versions of Ubuntu releases are available months in advance of their release, and there's no reason VMware couldn't update their tools well in advance of a release.

I also disagree that we shouldn't complain about this issue. Complaining about issues is one of the primary reasons for this forum! How else would VMware learn about the issues their customers are facing and which they might want to address?

However, I do think that it's important to be respectful when complaining and not assume incompetence or malevolence.

[nbe]

I fully agree with mykmelez on this one. Most companies that say they support some OS only support specific versions but they fail to mention which ones. That causes a lot of trouble because people think they can run a certain version while in fact they can't because it is not (yet) supported. VMware like some other companies states very clearly what they support so as a user you know what version will work for sure and what version will be a gamble.

VMware has made parts of their VMware Tools open source. Maybe it's a better idea to have it as a separate product or open source it completely. Maybe that by using this it will speed up the development of VMware Tools which might bring support for new OS's (especially Linux distro's) more quickly than it does now. I don't know if the open source VMware Tools version has better support for 9.10, you might want to try it. If you look for VMware Tools on Ubuntu 9.04 on this forum you'll come across a thread with a script. Some users have reported success with that script in 9.04 and 9.10. Also worth a try.

In case of the sound in Ubuntu 9.10 there are some other issues to consider. Pulseaudio is a very new audio system and as a result has lots of bugs causing all sorts of audio problems on all sorts of systems. This is also not the first time there are sound problems with Linux systems, it's not an uncommon problem. In fact it resulted in a sound troubleshooting guide on ubuntuforums.org. For 9.10 there are some specific audio problems and they have a thread for that too: Please read: Audio gotchas in Ubuntu 9.10. This teaches 2 things: first do some research before you start blaming a piece of software like VMware Fusion and second there are some problems with sound in Ubuntu 9.10. Pulseaudio has been discussed many times on many forums and a lot of people are complaining about it not working properly. It wouldn't surprise me if it's just another pulseaudio glitch instead of a VMware Tools/Fusion glitch. In other words, the pulseaudio and Ubuntu guys need to fix their sh*t first so we know for sure it's not a bug in their system but somewhere in Fusion. Right now you have more luck in a casino...

[img47]

After reading Ars Technica review of Parallels Desktop 5 I have changed my mind in this respect and agree with you (both mykmelez and nbe). I think VMware corporate background is the reason they strictly define what is supported, and it must be properly tested and working 100%.

I would also prefer more speedy updates, but I understand, that Fusion is related to the whole family of products (server products, Workstation, Player etc.) and it all needs to be tested and working.

As for sound not working in Ubuntu 9.10 it is very possible, that 9.10 has issues on it's own.

Anyway, I have decided to stick with VMware Fusion and wait for proper 9.10 support. I hope one day they will add OpenGL support for Linux.

[Max_E_Verde]

You do not need to remove PulseAudio. It is a comonent of PulseAudio that is not working.

See this post: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1326888

[Dryvlyne]

You do not need to remove PulseAudio. It is a comonent of PulseAudio that is not working.

See this post:

Nice find, Max. I can confirm that disabling the GlitchFreeAudio component of Pulseaudio resolved the problem for me. For the uninitiated, here's what you need to do...

Edit the file located at /etc/pulse/default.pa

Change this line...

load-module module-udev-detect

to this...

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

The instructions I followed said to then kill and relaunch Pulseaudio after making the change to the file. I received a message that nothing had changed so this next command may not be necessary, but here it is just in case...

killall pulseaudio && pulseaudio

I followed some links in the thread you referenced and apparently this component is at odds with a bug in the Alsa sound driver used by Ubuntu. Here's a thread that discusses the same problem in Fedora 11. For those interested, here's a Fedora Wiki entry by the author of the GlitchFreeAudio component. Note the Contigency Plan section which describes how to disable the component should it cause problems.

[quarters]

I was able to get it working after making a change RealTek Audio Manager.

Change 'Tie up same type of input jacks, i.e. line-in or microphone, as an input device.' to 'Separate all input jacks as independent input devices.'

View screenshot.