Like David, my experience with sound on Debian is far too thin to be of much use. However, David makes a good point and it should be followed up on. You need to discover whether the kernel you have was compiled to support alsa. Find the configuration file (probably in /boot) that matches your kernel and do: grep -i alsa [filename] It would seem this is the threshold question. David Bruzos writes: > Hi Glenn: > Like I told you before, I have never used Debian, so I really can not > give you step by step instructions on what to do about this problem. It > could be that the kernel you are using does not have alsa support. The > 2.4 kernels did not have alsa by default. 2.6 kernels have alsa support > by default. Maybe, if you try to use OSS instead of ALSA, it will work. > However, you lack the basic understanding about Linux and the way it > works and that is part of your problem. The stuff you know about > drivers from Windows will not help much here. It will probably create > more problems, because it will cause you to do things that are not > necesary. Maybe, you should consider reading some stuff about Linux in > general, before you start taking drastic decisions, like compiling the > kernel, etc. > What I am saying is that the alsa system is not just something you > install at the user level. Your kernel must also support the alsa sound > system for all of the user applications to work properly. There is no > such thing as, Debian holding your soundcard and alsa not beeing able > to use it. There could be conflicts between OSS and ALSA kernel > modules, but that can be resolved. Maybe, you should try to get a 2.6 > kernel, or try another distro. Debian is very flexible, but it can be > more confusing to the new user. The price of flexibility is more room > for confusion. Maybe, you should try Fedora Core 3 and later try Debian > again when you know a little more. > I am not saying that compiling the kernel would not fix your problem. I > am just saying that there are much easier and manageable solutions out > there. Compiling the kernel requires a good understanding of your > hardware and of the operating system in general. It is not just the > usual, ./configure/make/make install. You have to configure hundreds of > options and know the proper setting for each one. > > There is plenty of info in the Internet about kernel compilation, so if > you want to do it just to see how it is done, look there. I had to > compile my kernel when I first started using Linux, because there were > some serious compatibility problems between the Fedora 2 kernel and my > hardware. It was not easy though. I probably configured and tried to > compile the kernel 50 times before I have a truely working setup. On > the flip side of that, once you do it and you understand what is > happening, you will be able to resolve most kernel related problems with > relative ease. Now a days, I compile the kernel for each of my systems > just for fun and to pick more optimized settings then the defaults. > > Sorry about your problem. I hope you will keep trying. > > David Bruzos
