VMWare Workstation 14 Windows 10 host Ubuntu 16.04 guest sound card disconnects at start.

[ArKay999]

As the title says. I  have a new Windows 10 64-bit 1803 installation on it's own SSD with it's own data disk. On the same machine I have Windows 7 Pro 64 bit SP1 on it's own SSD and it's own data disk. I have them set up as a dual boot configuration. I have VMWare Workstation 14 installed and Ubuntu 16.04 only on the Win 10 boot. The sound card is a Realtek ALC1150 on the motherboard (Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H)  4790K quad processor and 32 gig memory.The sound works flawlessly on Windows 10 and 7. I have a VM Ubuntu 16.04 guest on Windows 10 and when I start it, depending on how I have the sound card configured, after the login screen I will either get no info or a popup saying that the sound card had an enumeration that was out of range, or there was an error on sound card 0. Both of those cases state that the sound will be disconnected. I have no sound after this. The DVD player comes up and the meters show sound, but nothing out of the speakers. I have tried the troubleshooting remedies found online regarding Ubuntu sound issues but no luck. If I go into the VMWare toolbar and select VM, I will see the menu choices and the bottom one is Sound Card and it's not checked. If I select that and hit Connect, or go into Settings and check Connect, as soon as the menu disappears, I  have sound. IT stays on until I shut off the VM. I can do this to get sound, but it's kind of annoying to have to go through this exercise every time I start up Ubuntu. I develop in Ubuntu and am in and out often.

I don't believe it's a Windows issue, because everything works there. I don't believe it's an Ubuntu issue, because as soon as the sound card is selected after start it works. There seems to be some kind of disconnected between VMWare and Ubuntu regarding the sound card. Again, I've done the remedies in Ubuntu...checked for mutes in alsamixer, check pavuaudio, set from Stereo Duplex to Stereo Mix in Ubuntu. I also have Stereo Mix selected and enabled in the Windows sound setup.

I saw where someone had made a [Desktop Entry] script to reconnect the sound card in Ubuntu but that seems redundant and excessive.

Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[a_p_]

Welcome to the Community,

VMware posted a KB article about this issue, and how to resolve it (https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2086551).

However, this didn't work for me, so I did some troubleshooting, and ended up with a setting/command that fixed the issue for me (Ubuntu 18.04)

pactl list cards

This comand shows current settings, and possible profiles

pactl set-card-profile 0 output:analog-stereo

This command sets the active profile.

Note: Even opening the "Input" tab the GUI's sound settings will reset this setting, and you'll have to run the above mentioned command again.

André

[ArKay999]

Thanks for the info Andre. Unfortunately, the article you referenced didn't help and was one of the first things I tried. I also tried the pactl commands. They worked, i.e. the terminal acknowledged the command with the output, i.e. the profiles listing and associated info, and set-card-profile did not help. The only way I can get the sound to work is to invoke the connection through the VM menu connect option after login completes.

VMWare shows the card is connected before I power on the VM, and after it boots and I log in, it shows no connection...i.e. the check boxes in VM->Removable Devices->Sound Card->Settings are both unchecked.

Lastly, I observe the behavior of the sound disconnecting when the sound panel is opened. I can then get the audio back by going back through the VM menu and re-enable it through the menu.

[a_p_]

In my case it was a similar behavior, but the pactl set-card-profile ... command worked for me, and the sound remained enabled after a reboot.

What also works for me, is to have a microphone connected to the PC. As long as it is connected, the sound device doesn't get disconnected when I start the VM.

André

[ArKay999]

Thanks for the additional input. I don't have a microphone with a 3.5mm plug so I plugged in an old pair of headphones into the mic jack. It didn't work. I'll have to get a small cheap mic for that purpose and test it.

I though about a couple of items that may be relevant.

Both versions of Windows 7 & 10 are the Professional 64 bit versions. Ubuntu is 16.04 64 bit. I noticed you are using 18.04. Perhaps there is a version difference? I have to stay with 16.04 as that is the extent of the compatibility of the development tools I'm using.

[a_p_]

Ubuntu is 16.04 64 bit. I noticed you are using 18.04.

I mentioned the version I'm currently using, to make sure you are aware of it in case that makes a difference.

Anyway, I think the point is to select a profile, which doesn't require an input device.

André

[ArKay999]

Sorry for the wait in getting back on this. I obtained a microphone and it didn't fix the problem. I have selected a profile that has no input, one with a mono input, one with a stereo input, etc. None of them work. There must be something in my hardware that is causing the error and subsequent disconnect.

If I find a solution or workaround, I'll report back. In the meantime, thank you very much for your efforts and suggestions.