> >   - I can't hear the output of the CD player (kscd).  Its control
> >     panel pops up, it clearly reads the CD and shows the tracks, and
> >     playing or switching tracks cause the CD drive to show activity.
> >     I can even get the track titles from the public database.  No
> >     sound to my headphones, though.  I *can* hear the "sound test"
> >     when I click on the "kcontrol / Sound / Sound Server / Test Sound"
> >     button (after starting artsd), and I can hear a .wav file played
> >     with "artsplay" (well, sometimes; other times, artsd dumps core).
> 
> I also get this. No idea how to fix it.

Give this a try:

    mixerctl -w outputs.master.mute=off
    mixerctl -w inputs.cd.mute=off

I put them in my /etc/rc.local.

-- 
"Source code in files. How quaint." - Kent Beck
"Maybe this world is another planet's Hell." - Aldous Huxley