I am using Ubuntu 8.10.

I am a casual computer user. Non technical.

What do I need to do to get sound working on Ubuntu.

In the top toolbar, next to the date, there is a speaker icon.
Right click on it,then click on "Open Volume Control".
Ensure that no speaker icons are muted (click on any red "no entry" signs to un-mute them) and that all sliders are up.
Click on Preferences to add extra items to display.

Or type "lspci" to terminal and copy here the output.

@RM33
Still stuck with sound problem???

Yep. Still have the problem.

So I right clicked on the speaker icon, I wanted to get to "Open Volume Control". Instead I got this error message:

"No volume control GStreamer plugins and/or device found."

Can you open a terminal and post the output of
These commands will tell us what sound card is detected (if any) and what modules have been loaded for it.

This link is the universal sound tutorial for Ubuntu and it is regularly updated:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=843012

Do not be put off by the size or apparent complexity of it. You probably only need to refer to one small part which is relevant to your situation.

When I was trying to set up a webcam in Ubuntu 8.10 I needed to install a lot of extra sound packages relating to Alsa and PulseAudio (PA).
I suspect that you may well need to do the same but do check out the early troubleshooting options first.

Scroll down the headings until you reach “Packages” and then using Synaptic Package Manager, download and install the recommended packages.

There is more info on PA here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4928900

As tommcd has mentioned, we will have a better idea of what is happening when you return the information from those outputs.

Can you open a terminal and post the output of
Code:

aplay -l
lspci | grep -i audio
lsmod | grep -i snd
cat /proc/asound/cards

These commands will tell us what sound card is detected (if any) and what modules have been loaded for it.

Here it is:

aplay:
device_list:215: no soundcards found...

lspci | grep -i audio
07:04.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB X-Fi

lsmod | grep -i snd Did not produce a result.

cat: /proc/asound/cards: No such file or directory

Some googling has found that support for this card in linux has been poor. The good news is that Creative has released the source code for the driver, so support for this card in linux should improve:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...xfi_gift&num=1
For getting the card to work, try going to system > preferences > sound, and change everything to alsa instead of pulse audio. Then click the "test" button and see if you can get sound.
To ensure the proper driver is running, open a terminal and type lsmod. Look for the driver snd_ca0106 . Since your output of "lsmod | grep -i snd" was blank, it probably is not running. So type:
to load the driver. Then run alsamixer in terminal. Make sure nothing is muted (hitting the "M" key will toggle mute on and off). Use the arrow keys to set volume levels. Hit Esc key twice to get out of alsamixer. Then see if you have sound. You may need to stop pulse audio from loading if these steps do not work.
For reference, see this:
http://www.ubuntuhcl.org/browse/prod...-audio?id=6834
You may have better luck if you install Ubuntu 9.04, since 9.04 will come with a newer kernel and alsa driver package. At least try downloading the Ubuntu 9.04 live CD and boot from that and see if you can get sound off the 9.04 live CD.