timeout: killing '/usr/sbin/alsactl restore

[Mark Fraser]

Over the past week or so when I turn the computer (Kubuntu 13.04 64 bit) on 
and log in, most of the desktop isn't functional - the menu will take ages to 
load up, shutting down doesn't work and I have no sound - usually, but not 
always simply rebooting works.

I have tracked the problem down to the following line in syslog:
udevd[443]: timeout: killing '/usr/sbin/alsactl restore 3' [1036]

Followed by these lines:
udevd[443]: last message repeated 61 times
udevd[443]: last message repeated 7 times

I did a bit of Googling and found that running:
sudo rm /var/lib/alsa/asound.state
Allows it to boot properly the next time, but I'd like a more permanent fix.