Hello,
Thanks for helping. I've used a ubuntu setup before and it installed everything perfectly (with the exception of my video card) Now I erased that drive and installed a fresh install of slackware 12.1
i'm currently using the kernel 2.6.24.5-smp and below i'll paste the lspci for you.:

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8377 [KT400/KT600 AGP] Host Bridge (rev 80)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI Bridge
00:0c.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 62)
00:0c.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 62)
00:0c.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 65)
00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 80)
00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 82)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8235 ISA Bridge
00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 50)
00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 74)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV36 [GeForce FX 5700LE] (rev a1)

it just doesn't play. it comes with an error at boot. any ideas why Ubuntu is working but not slack? thanks. I'm also subscribed for immediate response, even though i work lot.
p.s. also ive installed (or calling myself doing so) Alsa.

What is the error???? That would help us diagnose.

Did you run "alsaconf" and "alsamixer" as root from the console?

it says it cannot initialize sound and goes on ahead to using the null.

That's what KDE says.

Do as I said in my previous post and report back. If you get an error when you run "alsaconf", tell us what it is.

it says searching then says no supported pnp or pci card found, i asked to probe legacy ISA sound cards and it said no legacy drivers available.i hit okay and it brings me back to my command line\

edit:: in the blink of an eye before the blue screen shows up for alsaconf the words "modinfo:could not open /lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/core/snd.ko "no such file or directory

As root, try "modprobe snd-via82xx" without the " "

Post your results.

WARNING: Could not open '/lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/core/snd.ko': No such file or directory
WARNING: Could not open '/lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/core/seq/snd-seq-device.ko': No such file or directory
WARNING: Could not open '/lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/core/snd-rawmidi.ko': No such file or directory
WARNING: Could not open '/lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/drivers/mpu401/snd-mpu401-uart.ko': No such file or directory
WARNING: Could not open '/lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/core/snd-page-alloc.ko': No such file or directory
WARNING: Could not open '/lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/core/snd-timer.ko': No such file or directory
WARNING: Could not open '/lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/core/snd-pcm.ko': No such file or directory
WARNING: Could not open '/lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/ac97_bus.ko': No such file or directory
WARNING: Could not open '/lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/pci/ac97/snd-ac97-codec.ko': No such file or directory
FATAL: Could not open '/lib/modules/2.6.24.5-smp/kernel/sound/pci/snd-via82xx.ko': No such file or directory

You need to install the kernel modules, they are on CD 1.

http://packages.slackware.it/package...4.5_smp-i686-2

appreicate it, it should be done in 30 seconds. sort of a moronic question i know...but can i just hit ./install on that too if i shell into it? or a certain way i go about it?

loaded it into kpackage...did i do this right? :
<p/kernel-modules-smp-2.6.24.5_smp-i686-2.tgz ;echo RESULT=$?
Installing package kernel-modules-smp-2.6.24.5_smp-i686-2...
PACKAGE DESCRIPTION:
kernel-modules-smp: kernel-modules (SMP Linux kernel modules)
kernel-modules-smp:
kernel-modules-smp: A kernel module is a piece of object code that can be dynamically
kernel-modules-smp: loaded into the Linux kernel to provide new kernel functions. Most of
kernel-modules-smp: these modules provide support for devices such as CD-ROM drives, tape
kernel-modules-smp: drives, and ethernet cards. You can choose which modules to load by
kernel-modules-smp: editing /etc/rc.d/rc.modules.
kernel-modules-smp:
Executing install script for kernel-modules-smp-2.6.24.5_smp-i686-2...

RESULT=0

I install all package via the CLI:

"installpkg kernel-modules-smp-2.6.24.5_smp-i686-2.tgz"

Just my preference.

Run "modprobe snd-via82xx" again, you should be good to go.

not hearing anything, using amarok by the way. when i do a alsaconfg also it says it finds via82xx and legacy which is odd considering there is only one sound card in this machine and thats the realtek.

If you have a soundcard, it will always give you an option for legacy.

Select via82xx, then run "alsamixer" to adjust your volume levels. To exit alsamixer, hit the "esc" key, then run "alsactl store", this will save you volume settings system wide.

Alas ^_^ Mozart's 4th symphony plays =) Appreciate the help. I will pass this knowledge onto whomever I see in need of assistance. Thank you.

Congrats..........

DOCUMENT THIS FOR FUTURE USE...........

I could have posted all the steps in one post but felt is would be better to walk you through step by step.

I have been using Slackware since version 8 and I still have notes on how to do things since then floating around.