Running an MS-DOS virtual machine within VMware Workstation 9.01 requires the "virtual sound card" to be set to SB16. However, when it is configured as SB16, it wants /dev/dsp. This device does not exist. All sound works fine in Ubuntu, and other virtual machines in Workstation 9 have fully functional sound.
Ubuntu 12.04, kernel is 3.2.0-37, platform is x64-SMP, oss-compat is already installed. Launching vmware with padsp did not work either. When launching the virtual machine, it still reports that /dev/dsp cannot be found. Already tried setting the virtual sound card to Auto Detect and Alsa-Compatible Sound Card (these are the only two choices). Result is the same.
From what I have been able to find so far, no one else is reporting this particular problem. Suggestions for missing /dev/dsp have always involved pointing to a different device or installing oss-compat and/or alsa-oss. Neither of these fixes the problem.