No sound in Linux-based virtual machines under Qemu (Linux Mint 16 host)

Question

Note : I requested to close this question as it turned out to be a Linux/Qemu specific issue.

I am trying Android x86 4.4-r2 in a Qemu virtual machine on a Linux Mint 16 laptop. The installation was successful. My biggest issue so far is sound. I have tried SB16, ES1370, AC97 virtual sound card models from Qemu but I get no sound from my virtual machine. Here's what I have in Android 4.4-r2:

# alsa_actl init
Found hardware: "SB16" "CTL1745" "CTL1745" "" ""
Hardware is initialized using a generic method  #exit code is 22

I have also tried the EEEPC version (4.0), with ES1370, as suggested. Same thing: no sound.

With the SB16 driver though, alsa_aplay /system/media/audio/ringtones/Sceptrum.ogg seems to play something but I hear nothing.

I have a Windows virtual machine from which I can hear system sounds. So it definitely rules out a problem with Qemu on my part^(**).

I also looked up suggestions from question #11037254 but none of them worked.

Can anyone shed some light?

^(**) Well, in fact, not totally ruled out! I have just noticed that so far none of my GNU/Linux virtual machines do output sound. Only my Windows virtual machine does and I have no idea why it is so.

EDIT : Detected hardware, from a Linux virtual machine.

~# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440FX - 82441FX PMC [Natoma] (rev 02)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371SB PIIX3 ISA [Natoma/Triton II]
00:01.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371SB PIIX3 IDE [Natoma/Triton II]
00:01.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82371SB PIIX3 USB [Natoma/Triton II] (rev 01)
00:01.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Cirrus Logic GD 5446
00:03.0 RAM memory: Red Hat, Inc Virtio memory balloon
00:04.0 SCSI storage controller: Red Hat, Inc Virtio block device
00:05.0 Ethernet controller: Red Hat, Inc Virtio network device
00:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: Ensoniq ES1370 [AudioPCI]
00:07.0 Ethernet controller: Red Hat, Inc Virtio network device

EDIT : Here are mixer and loaded module extra information.

Loaded (sound) modules :

~# lsmod | grep snd
snd_sb16 8701 0 - Live 0x00000000
snd_sb16_csp 7275 1 snd_sb16, Live 0x00000000
snd_sb16_dsp 6623 1 snd_sb16, Live 0x00000000
snd_pcm 67937 2 snd_sb16,snd_sb16_dsp, Live 0x00000000
snd_mpu401_uart 4517 1 snd_sb16, Live 0x00000000
snd_rawmidi 16434 1 snd_mpu401_uart, Live 0x00000000
snd_opl3_lib 7187 1 snd_sb16, Live 0x00000000
snd_seq_device 4877 2 snd_rawmidi,snd_opl3_lib, Live 0x00000000
snd_hwdep 4409 2 snd_sb16_csp,snd_opl3_lib, Live 0x00000000
snd_timer 14529 2 snd_pcm,snd_opl3_lib, Live 0x00000000
snd_sb_common 10548 3 snd_sb16,snd_sb16_csp,snd_sb16_dsp, Live 0x00000000
snd 47842 11 snd_sb16,snd_sb16_csp,snd_sb16_dsp,snd_pcm,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_opl3_lib,snd_seq_device,snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_sb_common, Live 0x00000000
soundcore 4971 1 snd, Live 0x00000000

Mixer settings:

~# alsa_amixer
Simple mixer control 'Master',0
  Capabilities: pvolume penum
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 31 [100%]
  Front Right: Playback 31 [100%]
Simple mixer control 'Bass',0
  Capabilities: volume penum
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 15
  Front Left: 2 [13%]
  Front Right: 2 [13%]
Simple mixer control 'Treble',0
  Capabilities: volume penum
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 15
  Front Left: 2 [13%]
  Front Right: 2 [13%]
Simple mixer control 'PCM',0
  Capabilities: pvolume penum
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono:
  Front Left: Playback 31 [100%]
  Front Right: Playback 31 [100%]
Simple mixer control 'Synth',0
  Capabilities: pvolume cswitch penum
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Front Left: Playback 0 [0%] Capture [off]
  Front Right: Playback 0 [0%] Capture [off]
Simple mixer control 'Line',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch cswitch penum
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Front Left: Playback 4 [13%] [off] Capture [off]
  Front Right: Playback 4 [13%] [off] Capture [off]
Simple mixer control 'CD',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pswitch cswitch penum
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Front Left: Playback 4 [13%] [off] Capture [off]
  Front Right: Playback 4 [13%] [off] Capture [off]
Simple mixer control 'Mic',0
  Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined pswitch pswitch-joined cswitch penum
  Playback channels: Mono
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Playback 0 - 31
  Mono: Playback 4 [13%] [off]
  Front Left: Capture [off]
  Front Right: Capture [off]
Simple mixer control 'Mic Auto Gain',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined penum
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [off]
Simple mixer control 'Beep',0
  Capabilities: volume volume-joined penum
  Playback channels: Mono
  Capture channels: Mono
  Limits: 0 - 3
  Mono: 0 [0%]
Simple mixer control 'Playback',0
  Capabilities: volume penum
  Playback channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: 0 - 3
  Front Left: 3 [100%]
  Front Right: 3 [100%]
Simple mixer control 'Capture',0
  Capabilities: cvolume penum
  Capture channels: Front Left - Front Right
  Limits: Capture 0 - 3
  Front Left: Capture 3 [100%]
  Front Right: Capture 3 [100%]
Simple mixer control '3D Enhancement',0
  Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined penum
  Playback channels: Mono
  Mono: Playback [on]

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it turned out my issue is not android-related but is broader. It looks like a GNU/Linux-only problem. Posting to unix.stackexchange.com . — , Jun 15 '15 at 11:03

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 12 '15 at 21:46

0

In Archlinux the same problem occurs often. There are several sound engines: gstreamer, vlc and others. The most common is gstreamer but I must to change to vlc if i want to have sound.

edited Jun 12 '15 at 21:46

answered Jun 12 '15 at 18:06

FOP

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I understand. However the issue I'm facing is on a lower level: ALSA. I'm using `alsa_aplay` for my tests and IIIRC it's not bound to *gstreamer*. – Jun 12 '15 at 21:02
You have checked that the alsa -mixer channels are not muted ? – FOP Jun 14 '15 at 03:13
I updated my question with mixer levels and loaded modules, just in case. Do you see anything weird there? – Jun 15 '15 at 09:54
The Sound card es1370 seems to be the only one that works in android and virtual machines. a few web pages said "Emulated sound card needs to be es1370." If you can, try to show me the output of lsusb it's for see what sound card the system detect – FOP Jun 16 '15 at 12:39
Well, I tried that sound card too before I posted, no sound. In fact all the supported virtual sound hardware is indeed detected and the corresponding module loaded. Just that there's no sound output, even though all controls are un-muted. – Jun 16 '15 at 13:49

No sound in Linux-based virtual machines under Qemu (Linux Mint 16 host)

1 Answers1