xRDP Sound Redirection Error on Ubuntu 20.04 with VirtualBox

Abstract: This article explains how to resolve an xRDP sound redirection error when installing xRDP on Ubuntu 20.04 using VirtualBox.

Created: 2024-12-08 by UserComp.com Editors

XRDP Sound Redirection Error in Ubuntu 20.04 VirtualBox Virtual Machine

When installing an Ubuntu 20.04 operating system on a Hyper-V virtual machine and trying to run the command ./xrdp-installer-1.5.2.sh to enable sound redirection, you might encounter an error that states "Skipping unpack". This article aims to provide a detailed explanation of the issue and offer solutions for fixing it.

Understanding XRDP and Sound Redirection

XRDP is an open-source implementation of Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) that allows users to remotely connect to a Linux system from a Windows or Mac computer. Sound redirection is a feature that enables users to redirect audio from their remote session to their local machine.

Problem: XRDP Sound Redirection Error

When attempting to enable sound redirection in an Ubuntu 20.04 virtual machine using Hyper-V, you might encounter the following error:


Skipping unpack of xrdp-pulseaudio-1.5.2.tar.xz due to error during build: fakechroot build of xrdp-pulseaudio-1.5.2 failed

This error is related to the fact that the sound redirection script is based on an older version of XRDP that doesn't work well with newer versions of Ubuntu. In addition, the use of fakechroot during the build process can cause issues with the installation of dependencies, resulting in the error described above.

Solutions

There are two possible solutions to this issue:

Manual Installation of XRDP and Sound Redirection: This solution involves manually installing XRDP and sound redirection by following the steps below:

Update your Ubuntu system using the command sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade.
Install XRDP and PulseAudio by running the command sudo apt install xrdp pulseaudio.
Create a new user account for XRDP using the command sudo adduser xrdpuser.
Switch to the new user account by running the command su - xrdpuser.
Create a .xrdp file in the new user's home directory by running the command nano .xrdp and adding the following lines:


session=startwmx
startup-script=/home/xrdpuser/startup.sh

Create a startup script for XRDP by running the command nano startup.sh and adding the following lines:


#!/bin/bash
pulseaudio --start

Make the startup script executable by running the command chmod +x startup.sh.
Restart XRDP by running the command sudo service xrdp restart.
Connect to your XRDP session from your local machine using the Remote Desktop Protocol.

Use an Alternative Remote Desktop Protocol: If the manual installation process fails, you can try using an alternative remote desktop protocol that supports sound redirection. Some popular options include VNC and NX.

References

By following the solutions outlined in this article, you should be able to fix the XRDP sound redirection error in Ubuntu 20.04 and enjoy a seamless remote desktop experience with sound support.

Tags: xRDP Ubuntu VirtualBox Sound Redirection

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