diff --git a/src/Backends/Audio/SoftwareMixer/Solaris.cpp b/src/Backends/Audio/SoftwareMixer/Solaris.cpp
index 32df74e9..cfc7487a 100644
--- a/src/Backends/Audio/SoftwareMixer/Solaris.cpp
+++ b/src/Backends/Audio/SoftwareMixer/Solaris.cpp
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@
 // See LICENCE.txt for details.
 
 #include "Backend.h"
+#include "../../Misc.h"
 
-#include <cstdint>
+#include <csignal>
+#include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
@@ -15,8 +17,10 @@
 #include <sys/audioio.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
 
-int sndfp;
-void (*parent_callback)(long *stream, size_t frames_total);
+static pthread_t mainThread;
+static int sndfp;
+static void (*parent_callback)(long *stream, size_t frames_total);
+static bool audioDone = false;
 
 static void* soundcheckthread(void*) {
     unsigned long for_as_long_as_it_seems_we_should = 0;
@@ -38,17 +42,35 @@ static void* soundcheckthread(void*) {
 
         long mix[0x400 * 2];
         memset(mix, 0, 0x400 * 2);
+
+        // park the main thread since the game probably expects it to not be
+        // doing anything else while we're requesting audio frames.
+        audioDone = false;
+        pthread_kill(mainThread, SIGUSR1);
+
         parent_callback(mix, 0x400 * 2);
 
+        // unpark the main thread now that we're not using game state anymore
+        audioDone = true;
+
         write(sndfp, mix, 0x400 * 2);
 
         for_as_long_as_it_seems_we_should = (0x400 / 48000) * 1000000;
     }
 }
 
+static void threadPark(int signo) {
+    while(audioDone == false);
+}
+
 unsigned long SoftwareMixerBackend_Init(void (*callback)(long *stream, size_t frames_total)) {
     sndfp = open("/dev/audio", 0, O_WRONLY);
 
+    if(sndfp == -1) {
+        Backend_PrintError("Failed to open audio device.\n");
+        return 0;
+    }
+
     audio_prinfo_t audioInfo;
     ioctl(sndfp, AUDIO_GETINFO, &audioInfo);
     audioInfo.sample_rate = 48000;
@@ -58,6 +80,13 @@ unsigned long SoftwareMixerBackend_Init(void (*callback)(long *stream, size_t fr
     audioInfo.port = AUDIO_SPEAKER;
     ioctl(sndfp, AUDIO_SETINFO, &audioInfo);
 
+    if(signal(SIGUSR1, threadPark) == SIG_ERR) {
+        Backend_PrintError("Failed to register thread park signal handler for audio system.\n");
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    mainThread = pthread_self();
+
     pthread_t thread;
     pthread_attr_t thread_attr;
     pthread_attr_init(&thread_attr);