Comment 9 for bug 1487168

Revision history for this message
Gene Soo (genesoo77072) wrote : Re: [Bug 1487168] Re: [Emulated AD1980 AC97 inside Virualbox 5.0, playback] volume slider problem

Testing Results for Kubuntu-KDE 15.10 Distribution.
Original Problem report was issued from Edubuntu 15.10 Daily.
I tried switching the Virtualbox Audio Hardware Driver from Pulse Audio to
ALSA Audio consistent with results for the Edubuntu distribution.
Monitoring alsamixer for Channel levels, using the Volume Slider on KDE
does not Control the Master Audio out channels.

I performed similar changes to my Lubuntu and Xubuntu Guests and received
the same results as Kubuntu-KDE.
To Restate, the only Distribution that I have a workaround to restore
proper Volume Slider Control is Edubuntu.
Altering Virtual Box Hardware Audio Drive from Pulse Audio to ALSA Audio
has no effect on correcting Volume Slider's lack of controlling Master Out
Channel(s) for Kubuntu-KDE, Lubuntu, & Xubuntu..

On Fri, Aug 21, 2015 at 1:20 AM, Gene Soo <email address hidden> wrote:

> Additional Comments regarding last change from Pulse Audio Driver to ALSA
> Audio Driver.
> Although this change did resolve the Volume Slider controlling both PCM
> and Master output channels,
> Extended playback using this driver causes instability in the playback
> speed.
> At first, the playback speed is normal but after a while, the playback
> speed jumps up much faster. Somewhere on the order of 10 times normal.
> Reboot of machine is not necessary to restore normal playback however I
> would need to do additional longer testing to see whether Browser Reload of
> webpage is enough to restore playback speed. I am inclined not to pursue
> this testing unless I hear back that I must run on this ALSA Driver. I am
> afraid that pursuing permanent run on this ALSA Driver would cause a
> Multigroup Support issue involving your team as well as VirtualBox Support.
>
> On Fri, Aug 21, 2015 at 12:58 AM, Gene Soo <email address hidden> wrote:
>
>> I don't know how to proceed with the following recommendation:
>> "you can select the emulated hda and stac9221 hda codec"
>>
>> When I get into the Audio Settings for this guest, I have two Pull Downs
>> I can control.
>>
>> First is Host Audio Driver: Pulse Audio(Default), Null Audio Driver, OSS
>> Audio Driver, ALSA Audio Driver.
>>
>> Second is Audio Controller: ICH AC97(Default), Intel HD Audio,
>> Soundblaster 16.
>>
>> I did some experimenting and was able to get the Slider to work correctly.
>>
>> The change that I made was switching the Host Audio Driver from Pulse
>> Audio to ALSA Audio Driver.
>>
>>
>> I went back and reviewed the Audio settings for each of the Guest Distros
>> involved in this testing. All defaulted to Pulse Audio & ICH AC97. I don't
>> know if this is an issue with Virtual Box selecting the wrong driver to
>> default to or if design changes in Audio Support for Pulse Audio is now in
>> error. I can only compare between Unity Desktop, Ubuntu Gnome, and Ubuntu
>> Studio does support this default fine so I would guess that VirtualBox
>> support would argue this is an Host Audio issue.
>>
>> On Fri, Aug 21, 2015 at 12:23 AM, Raymond <email address hidden>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> https://www.virtualbox.org/browser/vbox/trunk/src/VBox/Devices/Audio/DevIchAc97.cpp
>>>
>>> any reason to use the emulated ac97 and ad1980 codec ?
>>>
>>> you can select the emulated hda and stac9221 hda codec
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
>>> report.
>>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1487168
>>>
>>> Title:
>>> [Emulated AD1980 AC97 inside Virualbox 5.0, playback] volume slider
>>> problem
>>>
>>> Status in alsa-driver package in Ubuntu:
>>> Incomplete
>>>
>>> Bug description:
>>> Volume Slider is only controlling PCM channel and is not controlling
>>> Master. In effect, Master is restricting the audio level to the
>>> default of approximately 45 Percent. In order to raise the Master
>>> Volume Level, alsamixer is capable of changing Master. Without
>>> manually raising Master to Max Volume, Volume Slider can only control
>>> volume from 0-45% which is the default level of Master.
>>>
>>> Description: Ubuntu Wily Werewolf (development branch)
>>> Release: 15.10
>>>
>>> ProblemType: Bug
>>> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 15.10
>>> Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu5
>>> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.1.0-3.3-generic 4.1.3
>>> Uname: Linux 4.1.0-3-generic x86_64
>>> ApportVersion: 2.18-0ubuntu7
>>> Architecture: amd64
>>> AudioDevicesInUse:
>>> USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
>>> /dev/snd/controlC0: gene 1330 F.... pulseaudio
>>> gene 1922 F.... alsamixer
>>> CurrentDesktop: Unity
>>> Date: Thu Aug 20 13:00:57 2015
>>> InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-08-19 (1 days ago)
>>> InstallationMedia: Edubuntu 15.10 "Wily Werewolf" - Alpha amd64
>>> (20150819)
>>> PackageArchitecture: all
>>> SourcePackage: alsa-driver
>>> Symptom: audio
>>> Symptom_Card: Built-in Audio - Intel 82801AA-ICH
>>> Symptom_Type: Volume slider, or mixer problems
>>> Title: [ICH - Intel 82801AA-ICH, playback] volume slider problem
>>> UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
>>> dmi.bios.date: 12/01/2006
>>> dmi.bios.vendor: innotek GmbH
>>> dmi.bios.version: VirtualBox
>>> dmi.board.name: VirtualBox
>>> dmi.board.vendor: Oracle Corporation
>>> dmi.board.version: 1.2
>>> dmi.chassis.type: 1
>>> dmi.chassis.vendor: Oracle Corporation
>>> dmi.modalias:
>>> dmi:bvninnotekGmbH:bvrVirtualBox:bd12/01/2006:svninnotekGmbH:pnVirtualBox:pvr1.2:rvnOracleCorporation:rnVirtualBox:rvr1.2:cvnOracleCorporation:ct1:cvr:
>>> dmi.product.name: VirtualBox
>>> dmi.product.version: 1.2
>>> dmi.sys.vendor: innotek GmbH
>>>
>>> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>>>
>>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-driver/+bug/1487168/+subscriptions
>>>
>>
>>
>