Please try the following package:
http://www.halibut.com/~tcobbs/ldraw/pri...2.i386.deb
Please note that the above is a build done on Ubutnu 11.10 of the current LDView development source code. This means that it has new unreleased features, as well as a number of unreleased bug fixes, but it hasn't been tested as much as a normal release, so it could also have new bugs. However, since the released one isn't working for you at all, it should hopefully at least be better than that.
http://www.halibut.com/~tcobbs/ldraw/pri...2.i386.deb
Please note that the above is a build done on Ubutnu 11.10 of the current LDView development source code. This means that it has new unreleased features, as well as a number of unreleased bug fixes, but it hasn't been tested as much as a normal release, so it could also have new bugs. However, since the released one isn't working for you at all, it should hopefully at least be better than that.