LinuxQuestions.org - sound and networking problems in FC3 that wasn't there in mdk10.1

hello peoples... i'm a fairly noob linux user.. i switched to linux almost 6 months ago but have been switching from distribution to distribution and haven't been able to do much.

started off on Linspire.. didn't wanna pay the monthly subscription fee... 'nuff said.

switched to Mandrake 10, then eventually 10.1. I was able to solve all my sound (by buying a new sound card.. haha) and networking problems all by myself... The problem with mdk was that i could hardly get any programs to work. Usually all i could use was the pre-installed programs... and they were usually outdated and i couldn't get the updated version to work (or maybe i did and didn't notice?)

a book at border's recommended Fedora for it's easy to use software update programs. I downloaded Core 3 and everything appeared to work perfectly! During the install, i made sure i installed all the samba files so that i would be able to network this computer with my other one, which runs on Windows XP SP2. Also during the first-boot test sequences, the sound test worked perfectly and it gave no indication that there would be any problems with the sound. Of course, i wouldn't be here if it were so.

First, the sound problem. (in an attempt to isolate a would-be problem, i'll try to describe everything i did from the boot sequences to when i first noticed i had no sound). After the first-boot sequences, the giant red exclaimation mark stole my attention, and i was amazed by the nice, easy up2date software. Before i did anything else, i tried to make sure all the updates are installed. The problem was... there was some 50? 70 some programs to update, and for whatever reason, it was downloading particularily slow (12kb/s on DSL). I tried the GAIM software (didn't notice any sound, but it was 2 or 3 in the morning and there wasn't much activity so not sure if there was or wasn't sound at this point) and tested fc's software running capabilities and installed and ran LogJam (a X windows livejournal client). Going back to up2date, I left it on overnight to finish downloading, and when i woke up, i pressed the forward button to install. The problem was, the program appeared to freeze up on me. I left to eat breakfast, and when i returned, the program still appeared blank and frozen. Don't remember if i shut down/restart or force quit, but i stopped the install process somehow and restarted up2date. To my surprise, there were some updates that installed. Nevertheless, i restarted the install and this time it went pretty smoothly. THEN i tried GAIM for real, and that's when i first noticed the sound wasn't working. But that's not half the problem. During my numerous attempts at trying to fix it myself, i found the GStreamer Preferences. Previously, when i tested the default sink (whose output is currently and usually set to ALSA), it would randomly either show the Testing dialog and the bar would go back and forth, or say "Failed to construct test pipeline for ALSA...". Nowadays, it always says "Failed to construct..." blah blah blah unless i switch it to ESD. But here's the kicker. When i test the Default Source (whose input is always set to ALSA), although it also says "Failed to construct test pipeline...", the sound magically works in all programs, including the system sounds, all of the sudden as long as the GStreamer Prefrences window stays open (sound goes away again when it is closed). The only problem with the sound is that it's kinda of low quality. Like the test sound under Sound Prefrences (which, by the way, sucessfully detects my sound card with the right module installed for it.. but doesn't play any sound unless i did the GStreamer workaround). I recognize it as the sound in the first-boot tests, but when i play it now.. it's really low quality compared to how it sounded when it first played

Oh, and if you need to know, the Vendor is C-Media, Model Electronics Inc CM8738, and Module snd-cmipci. To my recollection, it is the exact vendor, model and module which i used under MDK, when it worked just fine.

As for the networking... it just, doesn't work. Hahaha. I was able to get it to work when i was using Mdk, but Fedora Core 3 does not come pre-installed with SMB4k, which was how i kept it networked. I downloaded and installed SMB4k, but now the problem is that neither computer is detected in either "Network Browser."(GNOME's and Network Neighborhood) However, I am able to access the files on the Windows XP SP2 computer using konqueror. Still, with the computers not able to detect each other on a network, i can't network my lone printer, which is most important to me at this point.

So, any ideas?

oh, and sorry for the long post. I like to be thorough. Hahaha. I hope i didn't scare any potential helpers away with the lengthy entry, but better it all at once than going back and forth, am i right?

Well, thanks in advanced for you help.