I have a desktop, suffering the same problem, and an HP nx6110 notebook, which has no problem. I've tested both using with the Kubuntu 6.10 final live-cd.
Here are the relevant data: Desktop having the error: 00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8/235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 50) Notebook without the error: 00:1e.2 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03) -- Sound server fatal error: cpu overload, aborting https://launchpad.net/bugs/66982 -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs