Is there any possibility that crashing-crunching audio noise that now obscures all audio output could be anything but a hardware problem? The desired sound can still be heard at the expected volume, but the noise is equally loud (like an old AM radio near a thunderstorm). My sound needs are minimal (play an audio CD occasionally, play a video or flash clip, rarely play a movie from DVD). So I don't have a sound-card... just the generic on-motherboard AC97. I hadn't even had the speakers switched on for several weeks before I upgraded from SuSE 9.2 to 9.3 (install, not update), so I don't know for certain that it's not software. (Unlikely, I know, but...) It's not the speakers ( tried headphones). I checked all cable connections for snug fit... well, really there's just the one internal cable from the CD drive to MB. Nothing is unduly hot and nothing smells bad in the vicinity of the motherboard. The noise is intermittent and rises and falls with volume-slider settings. Looks like I need to spend a few bucks on a soundcard? Any other diagnosing I should do first? All software is straight off the DVD and kept up with YOU... but a software glitch couldn't make noise that way, could it? Kevin The information contained in this electronic mail transmission may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected from disclosure. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer without copying or disclosing it.