mplayer does not work

[Alvin Smith <email@alvinsmith.com>]

I am running Sid.  

Recently mplayer and saytime stopped working when KDE is running.  I use GDM, 
so after I log out saytime begins to spew forth a jumble of words and 
numbers.  While KDE is running, if you open a console window and type in 
"mplayer foo.ogg", nothing happens.  The same with saytime.  You have to 
Ctrl-C to escape.  But it all works under Gnome, or when KDE is not running.

KDE version 3.3.2
Kernel 2.6.8-1-686

KDE system sounds work.
XMMS does not work.
Kaffeine works.

How do I troubleshoot?

Thanks.



-- 
Alvin Smith