hello again oldcpu, i finally made it back to tell you that running the rcalsasound command does work just fine to get the sound going. now if theres just a way to do that automatically, i would be even happier. if not, i can live with it though.

on the libdvdcss2, i looked at the stuff i could find online but it was totally greek to me. i am a total linux moron, i will quickly admit. thanks for your help so far though. at least i have sound.

cedenburn, sorry but i tried the steps you quoted, or maybe i am just missing something. sorry i dont mean to be an idiot, but i am just new at linux.

i think if i could get over the learning curve to be able to get everything going myself, i would be sold on the linux world.

anyway, thanks again guys,

-dan