Ah, some background info first. I'm new to linux, only been running it for about a week. I compiled my own 2.6.3 kernel because i couldnt get alsa to work in 2.4.22.

I have an nForce chipset. Everything is going fine EXCEPT each time i start up linux i have to modprobe all the alsa drivers and even then i dont know if they're working right. Right now only one program can get sound at a time, example: if im playing an mp3 in xmms and im using gaim, gaim will have no sounds but as soon as the mp3 stops all the gaim sounds play catch up and im flooded with noise. Also if i put my mouse over the volume icon it says "No Sound Device" yet i do have sound.

And the mouse problem really isnt even a problem, atm i just cant use my mouse wheel... its a logitech optical, ive seen a couple problems with this mouse but never found a solution.

Here's the lsmod for my sound drivers:

Module Size Used by
snd_seq_oss 33856 0
snd_seq_midi_event 7552 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 53392 4 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_pcm_oss 53476 0
snd_intel8x0 25604 0
snd_ac97_codec 60932 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm 93988 2 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0
snd_timer 24772 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc 12036 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
snd_mpu401_uart 7488 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_rawmidi 24352 1 snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device 8136 3 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi
snd_mixer_oss 19712 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd 51172 12 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq,snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd _mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_mixer_oss
soundcore 9376 1 snd

The mouse wheel is an easy one. Look at your /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file. There should be a section for your mouse. I bet the line for "Protocol" says something other than IMPS2.

try this:

Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

I think you'll find your wheel works (other protocol may be needed, but that should do it)

my XF86Config already says:

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
EndSection

and mouse-wheel doesnt work... any other ideas? and anyone have any ideas about the alsa drivers? now i know nothing about how linux does drivers, but im guessing the system doesnt know what driver is associated with my soundcard and maybe thats why it says "No Audio Device" and only 1 program at a time can access my soundcard.

Seems that your sound drivers are using oss, but you are trying to use alsa. I don't know if oss can play from simulataneous sources. I don't know where to go from here quite yet. Anyone had this?

wow dont i feel stupid... alsa was working all along. The reason AIM wouldnt play sounds while something else was using sound was because sound method was set to automatic, and automatic was using Arts. After i switched it to ESD all is well. Well ill throw a question in for the hell of it, what do "Arts" and "ESD" mean and whats the difference between them?

Oh and mousewheel still doesnt work, any ideas?