Audio works but there's no sound.

I am a beginner and i can't hear any sound on my ubuntu system. what do i do?

"E: Type [unsupported package website] is not known on line 47 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list
"E: The list of sources could not be read.
"Go to the repository dialogue to correct the problem."

When I enter the repository dialogue, of course the (unreadable) list is incomplete, not showing the bogus update site which is causing the problem.

Using the ordinary file browser, when I navigate my way to "/etc/apt/sources.list" or to "/etc/apt/sources.list.save" or any of the backups, I cannot edit out and save the offending inappropriate package site. If I try to save the edited list, the error message is:

"The file '/etc/apt/sources.list' is read-only. Do you want to replace it with the one you are saving?"

When I click on the "replace" button, I see another error message, as follows:

"Could not save the file '/etc/apt/sources.list'. You do not have the permissions to save the file. Check that you typed the location correctly and try again."

I am not familiar with the evil black-magic command-line mode (although I've tried a little bit), so opening and successfully using the root terminal or konsole (as sudo or otherwise) is much too complicated for me at this time. When I try to change the permissions (as ordinary user or even directly as root) of that horrid, uncooperative file or its master folder, all I see is the annoying information that "You are not the owner, so you can't change these permissions." In fact, I am the owner and I'm tempted to use the blunt-force sledgehammer-technique of relieving my frustrations!

Originally, when I tried adding the inappropriate package-site (for the newly released BitTyrant variant of Azureus: "http://bittyrant.cs.washington.edu/#downloads"), I didn't remount the incorrectly modified source-list to see what might have happened at that point. I closed the terminal down, called up Synaptic again to see if I could download the offending package, and was astonished at the nasty error messages disallowing me from doing anything whatsoever.

If necessary, I could send screenshots to you; just send me your email contact info, and with a black cloud floating over me I'll do just that!

Have I totally wrecked my Ubuntu 6.06.1 installation, again?

What do I do? Shall I save a bunch of files (a huge amount), and reinstall Ubuntu totally fresh? Or is there some black-magic way to correct my idiotic error?

I love the Linux-kernelled operating systems, have experimented with a number of them in my amateurish way, have helped others install and use Linux stuff (sometimes over the telephone only), have attempted to make contact with the local Linux users' group (here in central British Columbia, Canada), and would like to learn more. It seems that only half of computing is in the machine itself; the other half is in the brain of the user, and I'm at my wit's end again.

Please help! I'll pass on the favour eventually, helping someone who needs it as much as I can.

Thank you very much.

--- Carl, the old beginner geek who doesn't know what he's doing...