Yes I know this sounds like it is off topic, but this problem really is somehow specific to KDE please help! When I boot my machine (mostly default SUSE 9.1 install) the alsactl restores the state, and sond works fine. I know this, because I have a daemon that I've written that starts playing random MP3s from the computer. Eventually, the Xwindow system starts, and the KDE login pane comes up. There are still no problems. However, when I log in (under any user) about 1/2 way through the KDE loading process (splash screen is clicking through it's icons) somehting mangles the sound card settings, and the sound goes out. Even kde apps cannot produce sound. I have to bring up a window, and manually execute 'alsactl restore' to get the sound working again. Alternatively, I can execute one of the various graphical mixers and reset all the settings by hand, but this is obviously tedious and annoying. If I fail to restore the settings, and shutdown the computer, alsactl must save the state of the sound card on shutdown, and it gets totally mangled so that I must use a graphical mixer to get it back into a working state. Ok that's a description of the problem. Heres the question. What is running that would mangle the settings, and how can I prevent it from running, or change it's default settings to more useful settings to my setup? Or how can I add a script (to the kde startup process) that restores the sound card settings for me? Tech info: Suse 9.1 mostly default with most updates. Kde 3 Sound Blaster Live! card with a front panel "Live Drive" card. the specific setting that is getting messed up is related to the optional "Optical Out" being turned off. Thanks for any help David ___________________________________________________ . Account management: https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde. Archives: http://lists.kde.org/. More info: http://www.kde.org/faq.html.