Why won't my Remote Desktop server forward sound?

December 28, 2007 8:52 AM

I recently reinstalled Windows XP Professional on a "headless" machine—that is, one that I access only via Remote Desktop. Each time I've previously set this machine up, Remote Desktop has properly forwarded sound to the client computer; this time, however, sound doesn't work with Remote Desktop sessions. The hardware's the same as it's always been, and I'm using the same drivers and software. What's wrong?

I've checked that the client software (one program on Linux, two on Mac OS) is configured to play sound from the server. I've reinstalled the drivers for the server's sound devices (a SoundMAX chip on the motherboard and a SoundBlaster card). I've followed a prescription found via Google. Nothing's worked, but I'm not doing anything different than what I've done in the past.

posted by cmyers to computers & internet (2 comments total)

Are your speakers turned on?
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:42 AM on December 28, 2007

jeffamaphone: Yes. I should probably note that when I connect to the server via Remote Desktop, the "Microsoft RDP Audio Driver" is active, but Windows Media Player (for example) complains that "there is a problem with your sound device. There may not be a sound device installed on your computer..."
posted by cmyers at 9:47 AM on December 28, 2007