Running Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook version. When I try to get into my sound preferences I get the message "Waiting for sound system to respond" and then nothing happens. So I can't adjust volume except by using the slider on the media player, YouTube, or whatever it is I'm running. Perhaps this is also the reason why my mic input is dead.

I'm not tech-savvy enough to know whether I need to make some small adjustment or whether some hardware has gone on the blink.

Any help appreciated.