Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
More info please! What mobo are you using, sound card if applicable, connection type?
try going to a command prompt and run alsamixer I have found after installation some things get turned off. Use the arrow keys to go thru the different items and use the 'm' key to toggle them off and on. Then hit escape to exit. Hope this helps.