Sound problems under KDE
 

I've recently decided to switch from Mandrake 10.0 to Slackware although I've also used a wide variety of distributions in the past so I wouldn't consider myself a newbie. Anyway my problem is with Arts in KDE, it works fine playing the sound events in KDE but when I open a media player such as JuK, Kaboodle or Noatun and I try to play something I get a message saying that "Soundserver" crashed, the backtrace is included:

(no debugging symbols found)...Using host libthread_db library "/lib/libthread_db.so.1".
(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...[Thread debugging using libthread_db enabled]
[New Thread 16384 (LWP 8899)]
(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...(no debugging symbols found)...0x40557497 in waitpid () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
#0 0x40557497 in waitpid () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
#1 0x08065b1d in virtual thunk to Arts::SampleStorageEntry_skel::~SampleStorageEntry_skel() ()
#2 0x00002607 in ?? ()
#3 0x00000000 in ?? ()
#4 0x00000000 in ?? ()
#5 0x404211ba in Arts::ObjectManager::create () from /opt/kde/lib/libmcop.so.1
#6 0x40555be5 in __pthread_sighandler () from /lib/libpthread.so.0
#7 <signal handler called>
#8 0x400a0a48 in Arts::PlayObject_base::_create ()
from /opt/kde/lib/libkmedia2_idl.so.1
#9 0x08054882 in ?? ()
#10 0xbfffcd90 in ?? ()
#11 0xbfffcde0 in ?? ()
#12 0xbfffce80 in ?? ()
#13 0x00000019 in ?? ()
#14 0x4068e868 in ?? ()
#15 0x40014d80 in ?? () from /lib/ld-linux.so.2
#16 0x0809be50 in ?? ()
#17 0x00ffce10 in ?? ()
#18 0xbfffcdd0 in ?? ()
#19 0x4000659f in _dl_lookup_symbol_internal () from /lib/ld-linux.so.2
#20 0x400ace94 in Arts::PlayObjectFactoryV2_skel::_interfaceNameSkel ()
from /opt/kde/lib/libkmedia2_idl.so.1
#21 0x40417eb6 in Arts::Object_skel::_dispatch ()
from /opt/kde/lib/libmcop.so.1
#22 0x4040e438 in Arts::Dispatcher::handle () from /opt/kde/lib/libmcop.so.1
#23 0x403e2da1 in Arts::Connection::receive () from /opt/kde/lib/libmcop.so.1
#24 0x4041ebac in Arts::SocketConnection::notifyIO ()
from /opt/kde/lib/libmcop.so.1
#25 0x40412bbb in Arts::StdIOManager::processOneEvent ()
from /opt/kde/lib/libmcop.so.1
#26 0x40412fe1 in Arts::StdIOManager::run () from /opt/kde/lib/libmcop.so.1
#27 0x404103e7 in Arts::Dispatcher::run () from /opt/kde/lib/libmcop.so.1
#28 0x08062b10 in Arts::SoundServer_skel::~SoundServer_skel ()
#29 0x406a4936 in __libc_start_main () from /lib/libc.so.6
#30 0x08053db1 in ?? ()

I'm guessing that since I used slapt-get to upgrade some of my software and kdebase and kdelibs were two of those packages that might have some connection with it but since I'm not sure and don't know how to fix it I'm hoping someone here can help.

I just found out that the sound works fine when I'm playing an AVI video file but when I try to play mp3's or oggs I run into the mentioned problem.

This is (was) a known problem. It due to optimisations done for kdemultimedia for 3.2.3 in Slack 10. Recompiling with different settings fixes it. There was a thread here some time in July about this with the recompiled kdemultimedia... package. Unfortunately cant find it quickly.

Truthfully, I just suggest to upgrade to 3.3 or 3.3.1 the packages for Slack10 are at download.kde.org in /contrib/slackware folder.

Both, 3.3 and 3.3.1 have the problem fixed.

P.S. If 3.3 is still available, get that. 3.3.1 looks sleeker but a bit buggier. (i.e. knotes issue)

Thanks, I was unable to find KDE 3.3 on the mirrors I tried but I have found 3.3.1. Do I need to remove my current KDE installation prior to upgrading and will I lose any of my configuration or have to edit any configuration files after upgrading?

your config files are in your /home/username directory..... (./kde) so you don' t have to worry about that.... they are safe :D

and yes... it is best to remove ALL old packages (uninstall) before you install new packages.... it can be done via pkgtool.. just a few clicks and you are done :)


there is also option to upgrade existing packages without uninstalling .... but I have used it once or twice.... and command line is written on one piece of paper... I can' t find right now... sorry :(