frustrated

[Janina Sajka]

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