[Python-Dev] Still looking for volunteer to run Windows buildbot

[Tim Peters]

[Trent Mick]
> I have a patch in the works that defaults to "yes, this machine does
> have a soundcard" if cscript.exe cannot be found on the PATH.
>
> However, one wrinkle: test_winsound.py is made up of three test cases:
>     BeepTest
>     MessageBeepTest
>     PlaySoundTest
> only the last need be skipped if there is not soundcard.

I'd say instead that they should never be skipped:  the real
difference on your box is the expected _outcome_ in the third
category.

After umpteen years we've got a universe of one machine where
PlaySoundTest is known to fail, and now a little mound of VB code that
presumably returns something different on that machine than on other
machines.  In reality, that's more code to test.

We seem to be assuming here that "the VB code says no sound device"
means "PlaySoundTest will fail in a particular way", and have one box
on which that's known to be true.  So sure, skip the tests on that
box, and the immediate buildbot failure on that box will go away. 
Other possiblities include that the test will also be skipped on boxes
where it would actually work, because the VB code isn't actually a
definitive test for some reason.

Since we can't be sure from a universe of one exception, better to
test that assumption too, by reworking the tests to say "oh, but if
the VB code thinks we don't have a sound card, then this test should
raise RuntimeError instead".  There's still a testable outcome here.