I've running a fully patched, very stock ubuntu 10.10 x86-64 desktop. Numerous other games work well without problem (Warzone 2100, Wesnoth, Revenge of the Titans, Osmos, etc).

I installed the 32-bit version since there's a well known (listed in the FAQ) problem with the x86-64 version (some hardcoded file name is wrong or missing).

When it hangs I get something like:

foo:~/CortexCommand$ ./CortexCommand
[Error] OpenAL Error: Invalid Value.

Then the game freezes, but if I control-alt-f1 to get a console I can kill -1 it and get control of my desktop again. Is there a -nosound/-noaudio command line option or equivalent? I like the sound/audio but in the short term I'd play without audio if I could. I tried setting sound and music to zero, but I still get sound effects.

I've tried the survival scenario a dozen times or so and have yet to get the timer to run out before a hang. It doesn't seem to matter which location I pick.

Anyone have a work around? Is there any additional debugging info I can provide?

Oh in case it's related to the hardware. I have a Intel Xeon X3450 (running at stock clock) and a radeon 5770 with the Ubuntu provided binary driver running on a 1600x1200 display.

In any case I'm open to suggestions.