kde convert: problems

[gabriel]

hello all
i've recently adopted kde and linux as my main operating environment in hopes 
of escaping the micros~1 world only to find a whole host of new problems in 
this one...  so i'm hoping someone can help me out here:

(1) most annoying.
the sound system seems to be broken in some way.  i've compiled my kernel to 
use SBLive! EMU10K1 since i have a soundblaster live! value card, but when i 
run any of the following: xmms, kaboodle, or general gui sounds, the speakers 
sound as if they've been blown.  a not brutal, but obvious crackling is 
evident whenever the output volume is even mid-range.

(2) also annoying
the audio level seems capped rather low.  even with the physical volume 
control on my speakers set to max and xmms set to max, the volume level still 
pales in comparison to windows' ability to "pump"

(3) equally annoying
random crashing.  i open kmail and move one folder to another and BOOM.  the 
program shuts down and gives me an unhelpful popup telling me the thing has 
crashed.  kmail is also lacking in some simpler areas like the fact that it 
doesn't automatically reply with the identity used in the original message, i 
can't play a different sound for new mail for each identity, and there's no 
colour coding.  what are some names of alternatives? and am i going to have 
to go through the same full day of email conversion?  my conversion from oe5 
was less than painless since the kmailcvt2 repeatedly blew up.  i ended up 
using a command-line version that converted .dbx to .mbx which i then just 
copied into ~/Mail and manually sorted (SO not fun).
  the links i used are here if anyone is suffering the same plight:

  http://www.idg.net/crd_joe_9-132662.html
  http://sourceforge.net/projects/ol2mbox/

(4) tv capture
what app do i use for this sort of thing?  i'm wanting to record upwards of 
2hours of video at reasonable quality (about 4gb/hour) for 
editing/compression later.  any names/suggestions?  i'm using ati's 
all-in-wonder radeon 32mb.

(5) mplayer won't start
i compiled and installed it... but it won't run.  i couldn't find the icon 
under the k menu so i just alt-f2'd it and typed "mplayer" ...nothing.

(6) probably not a kde thing
openoffice is refusing to compile...  i don't know exactly what's wrong with 
it, but just won't play nice.  is there an alternative available?  will 
koffice read/write ms word .doc format AND openoffice .sxw format?  i don't 
really need any of the other options, just the word processor.

lastly, here's my basic configuration for those who might be willing to help:

amd athalon tbird 800mhz
512mb ram
soundblaster live! value sound card
ati all-in-wonder radeon 32mb sdr.

gentoo linux v1.4
gcc 3.2


thanks for humouring me :)
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