Ok, this is all going to sound really basic, but check the following. Is sound support enabled in your kernel compile--sound support but no sound devices. 2. I am wondering about your compile order; I can't find anything about it now, but somehow I had the impression you needed to compile the libs before the driver, but in that case you should have had an error when compiling the driver. Did you check your compiles at each step for errors? Not trying to be insulting, just trying not to miss anything. 3. Have you checked /var/log/messages for a record of what happened when the sound driver loaded? Also, have you checked the info on your screen before the login prompt? A problem with loading the module(s) should show up there. 4. Have you also checked your /lib/modules/(whatever version kernel you're using) to see if the necessary modules actually got installed there? 5. What messages do you get if you type "amixer" and/or "alsactl store"? 6. I'm not familiar with what card you're using, but if it's a plug-and-play and you used isapnp support, do you now have a isapnp.conf file and what does it tell you? These are all the ideas I can think of at the moment. Even if none of them help, maybe one of them will lead you to the problem. Cheryl