VirtualBox Windows 7 Host, XP Guest cannot play audio

I had the same problem (host: Windows 7 64-bit, sound OK and guest: Windows XP SP3 32-bit, no sound).

What I observed:

In the configuration of the Virtualbox machine, I had:

• Windows DirectSound Controller: ICH AC97 (default parameter)

In the guest OS (Windows XP SP3 32-bit), the sound driver was:

• Intel AC’97 Audio Controller - SigmaTel Codec

That’s the problem! When you replace this driver to Intel 82801AA AC’97 Controller, the sound will work fine.

How can you change the driver?

Go to: Start ⇨ Control Panel ⇨ System ⇨ Hardware ⇨ Drivers, select the sound controller (SigmaTel), then Update driver ⇨ No web update, find the driver yourself ⇨ select Intel 82801AA AC’97 Controller

I am running VirtualBox (3.1.2 when posted) on a Windows 7 Host, and my Windows XP Guest plays audio just fine. Here are my settings, I hope they help you:

Audio

• Enable Audio: checked
• Host Audio Driver: Windows DirectSound
• Audio Controller: ICH AC97

To me it sounds like there is some sort of conflict with your host audio driver. Does this happen if you install a fresh new clean copy of Windows XP as a guest?

Any chance your could try to either upgrade your existing driver, or completely uninstall your audio device and reinstall it again?

One last thought, on the host, can you try changing the default audio device (Start -> Control Panel -> Sound) and try setting one of the other devices as the default? You may also want to go into the advanced settings for the device and reset the settings back to their defaults (most tabs have a button for that). Last, on the Advanced tab, there are some options for Exclusive mode. Ideally both should be checked, but try disabling them and see what happens.