I am brand new to linux and I am starting on ubuntu, I have no idea what to do and I need help getting the sound to work on Ubuntu, any help would be appreciated!

Try www.ubuntuguide.org It helped me!!
Sorry i dont know how to make links:-)

kellenh, you have to provide some more details if its not too much for you. What soundcard have you got? What happens when you try to play sound? ... Is your card detected?

Post the output of "lspci" & "lsmod" commands.

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03)
0000:00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
0000:00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
0000:00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
0000:00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
0000:00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: D-Link System Inc RTL8139 Ethernet (rev 10)
0000:00:0c.0 Multimedia audio controller: Rockwell International Riptide PCI Audio Controller
0000:00:0c.1 Communication controller: Rockwell International Riptide HCF 56k PCI Modem
0000:00:0c.2 Input device controller: Rockwell International Riptide PCI Game Controller
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc 3D Rage Pro AGP 1X/2X (rev 5c)

Module Size Used by
proc_intf 4100 0
freq_table 4100 0
cpufreq_userspace 4572 0
cpufreq_ondemand 6172 0
cpufreq_powersave 1920 0
video 16260 0
sony_acpi 6280 0
pcc_acpi 11264 0
button 6800 0
battery 10244 0
container 4608 0
ac 4996 0
ipv6 229504 9
ide_floppy 16896 0
af_packet 20744 2
8139too 24320 0
mii 4736 1 8139too
i2c_piix4 8592 0
i2c_core 21264 1 i2c_piix4
uhci_hcd 30224 0
usbcore 107384 2 uhci_hcd
shpchp 86116 0
pci_hotplug 30512 1 shpchp
intel_agp 20636 1
agpgart 31784 1 intel_agp
floppy 54864 0
pcspkr 3816 0
rtc 12216 0
md 43856 0
dm_mod 53116 1
capability 5000 0
commoncap 7808 1 capability
tsdev 7488 0
evdev 9088 0
psmouse 19336 0
mousedev 11160 1
parport_pc 34372 1
lp 10792 0
parport 33480 2 parport_pc,lp
ide_cd 38532 0
cdrom 36508 1 ide_cd
ext3 120968 1
jbd 54168 1 ext3
ide_generic 1664 0
piix 9988 1
ide_disk 18176 3
ide_core 118988 5 ide_floppy,ide_cd,ide_generic,piix,ide_disk
unix 26164 650
thermal 13576 0
processor 22708 1 thermal
fan 4612 0
fbcon 34048 0
font 8448 1 fbcon
bitblit 5120 1 fbcon
vesafb 6948 0
cfbcopyarea 3968 1 vesafb
cfbimgblt 3072 1 vesafb
cfbfillrect 3584 1 vesafb


There were no decoders found to handle the stream in file "file:///home/kellen/Desktop/O_DIVINE_REDEEMEER.mp3", you might need to install the corresponding plugins


There's the information and this last thing is what it says when I try to play an MP3... I don't know what to do.

Looks like sound/sound card is not the issue.
You can play other type of file formats like, ogg, au right?
Its just that your software player does not have an mp3 decoder plugin installed. Which software player are u using? XMMX, BMP, MPLAYER??!!
You can install an mp3 decoder plugin for your software player and everything will be OK.

kellenh

Your lspci output shows that you have a Riptide combo card with HCF controllerless mode + Audio Controller + Game Controller made by Rockwell International now known as Conexant. These are frequently used in HP Pavilion PCs.
Conexant provide Linux drivers via an independant small company called Linuxant but alas these lin-modem drivers are $0 for quarter speed trial version or $15 for full speed version. You could try installing just the sound driver which I suspect is $0. For the HCF modem to function, it requires both riptide and HCF drivers installed.

Visit http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/
After you agree to their terms you would download a generic driver cnxtinstall.run here -
http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hcf/...nxtinstall.run
They also provide the driver package in several rpm formats which doesn't help you.

Hope this helps
britbrian