Hi, ... Actually, it is not the sound that is weired, but the way how I have to activate my sound. When I log in with KDM I have the normal system sounds. However, if I want to start another sound application, like the ALSA player or XMMS, I don't get any sound output. Starting the ALSA player turns my mouse pointer in the hour glass for several seconds, like when the application is started, and then nothing happens. Starting XMMS works fine, but when I want to play a song, I get the error message, that the sound driver is not accessible. The weired thing now is, that if I start the KDE control center, go to the sound configuration and press the 'apply' button, without actually changing anything, suddenly the ALSA player pops up and starts playing, and the XMMS plays now as well. Can anybody give me a hint what is going on with my computer? It looks to me something is hogging the sound driver, but why does it get released after 'applying' the control center configuration? BTW, I have a Micro-Star motherboard with on board 82801DB AC'97 Audio Controller. Thanks for the help. Guenter