Error while initiating sound server

Hi, I upgraded from KDE 3.0.0 to 3.0.3 in an effort to get rid of a problem with the aRTs sound server. It did not help. I get sound when using xmms. But RealPlayer fails to play. I try to cycle aRTs and the various options but at best it works only sometimes. It used to work OK with SuSe 7.2. At present I get the artsmessage "Error while initiating the sound driver can't start sound i/o the sound server will continue using the null sound device" If I set aRTS on and press the Test Sound button it actually works for a moment but then the message appears. At login I often see a repeated cannot find sound module message (before upgrading to SuSe 8.0 and after). Any suggestions please? -- John