I gotta couple of questions. First, what does input/output error mean? I've got a usb flashdrive that can mount and unmount fine, but everytime i mount it, i get input/output error.

Second! my volume is quiet and puny. I need loud and beefy. I have a soundblaster audigy and cambridge soundworks dtt3500 digital speakers. I have to turn the volume on XMMS and KMIX all the way up and the volume on my speakers almost all the way up to get decent volume. It's kinda annoying, and i was curious if there was something i could do. I havent done any searches on this so please dont bestow chastisement galore.

"input/output error" means pretty much exactly what it says -- the OS had an error when it tried to read (input) or write (output) something.

Error messages aren't always true -- it's very common for a programmer to make an assumption about why a particular condition might be true, write their error message accordingly, and then, when something else entirely triggers the condition they were checking for, it puts out an error message that is not even remotely connected to reality.

If you can read and write to the flashdrive and your data is staying intact through several connect/disconnect cycles, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I started to tell you about mixers on the sound thing, but then I re-read your post and saw you already knew that. Only other suggestion I can make is to double-check which plug you're plugged into on the soundcard.

Hope this helps,

CHL