Help with K3b please

[WJ Seidl]

I finally started ripping (extracting audio tracks from) CDs with 
K3b.(version 1.0) that came with Kubuntu Feisty.
I'm having a few issues, though; any help would be appreciated.

1) The device is a CD read-write/DVD read unit, NEC DV-5700A showing as 
/dev/cdrom
When I open the ripping dialog, I get a popup window that says
"Device NEC-DV-570A is already in use by other applications
(kio_audiocd, kio_ audio_cd)
It is highly recommended to quit those before continuing. Otherwise, K3b 
might not be able to fully access the device.
Hint: Sometimes shutting down an application does not happen instantly. 
In that case, you might have to use the 'Check Again'
button"
and underneath are  three buttons "Check again", "quit the other 
applications", and "continue".  I click "continue" and it starts ripping.

Does that warning appear when (because) the OSD bar is on the desktop? 
Is there a way to repair whatever is causing the warning?
Nothing else is running except Konqueror and Firefox. The warning 
appears each time I try to rip a new set of files from a CD (once per CD).

2) Is there a way to encode files in FLAC instead of Ogg-Vorbis format? 
  Right now, it is ripping and storing files in Ogg-Vorbis.
In the plugin configuration window, I notice that there is no FLAC 
encoder listed, just these:
K3b External Audio Encoder
K3b Ogg Vorbis Encoder
K3b SoX Audio Encoder

Should I add a plugin?  Can someone please point me in the right 
direction?  Compression will be an issue, as I plan to stick the 
individual track files from over 500 audio CDs into this system, and 
space may become er, limited <g>.

3) In K3b Settings window, I see the device (see #1) as a "readonly" 
device.  It is not listed under Writer devices, and I don't have the
experience (yet) to understand why.  When I try to change the "writes 
CD-R"and "writes CD-RW" listings from no to yes by clicking on it, I get 
a popup error
labelled "System Configuration Problems" that states:"No CD/DVD writer found
K3b did not find an optical writing device in your system. Thus, you 
will not be able to burn CDs or DVDs.  However, you can still use other 
K3b features like audio track extraction or audio transcoding or ISO9660 
image creation."
I could burn CDs with this unit under Windows, so I know it works as a 
CD burner.  It is NOT a DVD burner, and that's ok for now.
The system is not seeing _any_ writing devices.

4) This is minor, but is there a way to change the default location for 
where ripped tracks are saved?  Right now, the default points to
/home/wayne, but i have created an additional folder /home/wayne/music 
into which I would like them all to go.  I have to edit this in each 
time I start ripping a CD.  Like I said, minor, but there should be a 
way to convert the default, or am I just being lazy?

Any help would be appreciated.
Best,
WJ Seidl