Well, Ask A Ninja jsut switched to Quicktime, so I couldn't test the fix using it... :(

new ubuntu 6.06 user here.
I was psyched to hear about this fix as I was having same problems.
I just tried the code:
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/libesd.so.0 /usr/lib/libesd.so.1
sudo mkdir -p /tmp/.esd/
sudo touch /tmp/.esd/socket
...yet, still having same problems. No sound on YouTube or other flash sites. Also, I've noticed weird things like trying to view 9.yahoo.com It says I don't have latest player. Have you noticed similar probs?

Yeah. I'm irritated about 9.yahoo.com and....can't remember some other site now...that is using Flash 8. The latest Flash player that is available for Linux is Flash 7. So, I've definitely noticed this problem.

I have noticed that at some point, probably after rebooting, my /tmp/.esd/socket disappeared, so I had to recreate it. If you're still having problems after creating /tmp/.esd/socket and linking to the shared libraries and a fresh reboot, you may want to try some of the other suggestions on the launchpad page I referenced.

seems to have worked for me, thanks!!!

Hello

I had sound problems on Ubuntu after installing Amarok...

Nothing worked on audioside exept Mplayer for some reason and totem.
VLC video out of sound, GsNES9x out of sound, flah on websites out of sounds,

Tried even below, but didn't work.

Problem in Amarok was that it could not use Xine engine.

Anyway I stopped esd process and then setted up xine on Amarok and now all programs have sound even after reboot (and yes esd is now also running)...

So I quess esd don't like alsa stuff etc. =)

Yes, you solved my intermittent audio problem.

there is another way to solve this problem proposed at
http://www.macewan.org/2006/06/01/howto-firefox-flash-video-sound-on-ubuntu-linux-dapper/
which is basicaly

sudo aptitude install alsa-oss

sudo gedit /etc/firefox/firefoxrc
Change the file where it corresponds so that it reads
FIREFOX_DSP="aoss"

Actually you can just download alsa-oss from the Synapricpackage manager
or just using apt-get instead of aptitude.

Thanks a whole lot - I don't know how many times this page has saved me, like just now. Even after running Automatix, every once in a while I manage to muck things up by experimenting with various packages. Your instructions have saved me every time. Thanks again.

Tiantian,

I may tinker with alsa one day. Maybe when I get the second hard drive that I've been contemplating. I fear what alsa may muck up.

Ron,

Glad to hear it! Happy sounding to you!

THANK YOU!

It works also for me using Fedora Core 5.

Thanks a lot.

late to the party but i just updated ubuntu server edition (6.10?) and poof! my sound left the building. i tried the alsa-oss fix to no avail but killing the esd (killall esd) first and then running the commands you provided (don't have a clue what they mean or do!) plus a reboot and so far, all is back to normal.

I am having problems with my flash player, the video from a site would work, by there is no sound.. if anyone knows the solution please help, thank you

Thank you Jeremy Jones.
Thank you Daniel Carrera.
I've been trying to find a fix for this for months and now I have sound with my flash video.
(FC5/Gnome)

@Tiantian,

Wanted to thank you for suggesting folks take a look at what worked for me.

where do you paste that code

It didn't work for me. Now I get this error in my terminal when I try to play a flash movie:

ALSA lib pcm_dmix.c:874:(snd_pcm_dmix_open) unable to open slave

How can I remove the symbollic link?

Kristian