gstreamer is the culprit?

[Craig Brooksby]

Hi all -- "Desktop Joe" here -- same old problems -- sorry.

Ubuntu Feisty worked great -- could rip to FLAC (Sound Juicer) and
play CDs -- I was happy.

Somewhere, something changed and while I could play previously-ripped
music, when I played a CD, or ripped from a CD, I got chattering,
squeaking, clicking noise.  I was reduced to ripping on CDex on XP,
and moving the FLAC files over.  Ugh.

The sound is as if it is detecting the wrong media type -- and trying
to play a CD using the MP3 codec or something.

I tried and tried to troubleshoot it, and gave up, thinking "Gutsy
will give me a fresh start."  It didn't.  (Yes, I did a totally fresh
install.  My /home is on a separate partition). (Yes, I used a brand
new user, so as not to inherit old config files -- still got the same
problem).

Now:  I'm thinking that it's somewhere in gstreamer config.  Sound
Juicer and Rhythmbox both use gstreamer.

I have begun testing gstreamer from the command-line, and have
confirmed that it is installed, and I can make it play a sine wave.
Not very far along yet.

Now I am looking for a gstreamer buddy who might be willing to "guide"
me through troubleshooting.  I will do the work, I could use a pilot
as in "have you tried X?"  If there is anyone who can guide me, please
pipe up.  Thanks!

I don't want to use alternate apps.  I want to find, and fix, this problem.

Craig