Interesting suggestion, really, but rather sibylline °J°
I'm not at all newbie with Linux, but have no idea how to manipulate the kernel.
So, either you wrote not enough or too much at the same time ;)
Translation: man, sure I'm interested, but have no idea how to realize that stuff!

That code, with PcLinuxOS LXDE, gives this answer:
"3.2.18-pclos2.bfs", meaning?
Kind regards,
Paul

There's a few howto's for kernel building, but here's the silver spoon of what I did for 3.11.2 with caveats on debian Jessie/Sid. Disclaimer, it's not the first time I've rolled a kernel on this machine, so all deps were previously met in terms of not installed by default packages needed to compile a linux kernel.

Based mostly on:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Ke...AltBuildMethod

-----

$ cd /home/user/linux/source/
$ wget -c https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/ker...-3.11.2.tar.xz
$ tar -xJvf linux-3.11.2.tar.xz
$ cd linux-3.11.2
$ make mrproper
$ ls /boot/config*
$ cp /boot/config-3.10-3-amd64 .config
$ make oldconfig
$ cp .config ../config-3.11.2-oldconfig
$ make localmodconfig
$ cp .config ../config-3.11.2-local
$ make menuconfig
$ make -j3 deb-pkg

3 hours-ish later....

$ cd ../
$ su
# dpkg -i --force-all ./linux-*.*deb
# shutdown -r now

-----

Results:
A kernel version 3.11.2 that boots for debian

But... 3.5G in the source tree after compile with localmodconfig
...... 10G+ without localmodconfig
...... (pre-build the tree is < 0.6G and the download is 75M in size)

But... localmodconfig does "used by local system" modules only (in theory)
...... So... with the localmodconfig version of the .config
...... no modules for common filesystems (iso9660, dos, aka DVDs and USB sticks)
...... And... no modules for iptables (aka firewall)
...... And... no module for my wireless mouse
...... Although I sort of expected this with the localmodconfig route
...... And that's why I made a copy of the oldconfig version to copy and paste / reference

Other caveats...

- When the deb-pkg make route creates the .deb files, it takes an additional ten-ish minutes to "finish up" the linux-image file, even though the write time does not update until it does. I stopped it a time or two after five-ish minutes because I thought something went wrong.

- If the laptop can't handle a kernel build, you can build the .deb files on a different machine. With caveats, like it might chose a better CPU by default that won't work well on the laptop. And you'll need to edit the .config (make menuconfig) to make things right.

- make oldconfig will prompt you for items that are new or vastly different from the config you copied. Most times just pushing enter for all choices is all one needs to do.

- make localmodconfig takes away too many modules one likely uses often, so be prepared to adjust the .config to get a kernel that does what you need to do.

I'll change my .config and rebuild eventually. Next time I sleep for more than 3 hours. But I have a working distro supplied kernel at the moment. YMMV... HTH...

With Ubuntu 10.04 I get this:
paul@armada:~$ uname -r
2.6.32-24-generic

Sure worth to be considered, but I'm not sure to be ready for that and will need some time to achieve something useful.
Kind regards,
Paul

Hi

From your reply 13 we have
I would like you to ignore the requests to use pulseaudio.
I would like you to remove pulseaudio and just use ALSA
---the main reason is you have an older computer----more suited to a tinycore linux distro that bloatware like Debian
-----but you are likely to be confused with all the suggestions you get
-----so feel free to ignore me as well ....

Once removed modify your /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf and append this line---use root powers to edit, assumes a Debian system
based on this google hit
http://alsa.opensrc.org/Es18xx
which had dma2=0

what I am not sure of is these strings "mpu_port=X"

but time will tell

good luck

Many thanks. Certainly worth considering, and I did as you suggest:
removing pulseaudio and using Alsa.
.
At the momement the Armada runs the PCLinuxOS disk, and /etc/modprobe.d doesn't contain an alsa-base.conf file. So, first created one with the submentioned lines,
but after restarting the system: only hiss.
Then, in the same modprobe.d folder, I noticed a file named "snd-options" and added just in case the same suggested options line, and still no sound (after reboot of course). This is the original content of that file:

I don't understand the lines containing "usb" in relation with the sound. Could this be the problem?

Kind regards,
Paul

Hi

there should not be duplicate entries of options snd-usb-audio index=-2

but firstly when you do not have a modprobe config forcing a certain kernel model to grab a certain index number,
then the first detected device is given index=0

so YOUR usb entry forces it away from index=0 allowing a slow to load internal onboard, or pci or isa device to grab index=0
---which is what you want unless sound is so bad you want the usb device always used.
##############next gets ugly so me try to explain and you decide to do it or not

A boot up the system with no sound kernel module loaded
B use root powers to modprobe your sound module but with a certain string
C test it and if fails
D use root powers to remove the module and then retry
E use root powers to modprobe but with a different string (hence the ugly bit)

2) Does your distro allow blacklist bootcodes?
if so edit your grub bootloader or lilo or whatever so that we start up with no sound modules loaded

eg grub kernel(linux) line append blacklist=snd-es18xx
if that does not work create a /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base-blacklist.conf (if it does not exist with root powers) contents
Now once rebooted, modprobe the smallest string possible which may be

I didn't notice and have now deleted that duplicate.

Yes.
Did all that, but this time not even a hiss. So I restored the previous settings,
and the best result I get is a general hiss. When playing a mp3 file, and pushing the sound level as high as possible, the speakers emit a huge hiss with a very faint sound playing as from very far away: big hiss, little and very bad sound, but already a bit sound... Which means something is still escaping us.

Just in case, these are the data Windows XP gives concerning the sound card:

ES 1869 on intel 82371AB/EB PCI to ISA bridge
ACPI\ESS1869\4&2658D0A0&0
I/O range 0330-0331
IRQ 10
DMA 01
DMA 05

Many thanks for trying to help,
Paul

ok well one difference is the IRQ so in linux post the contents of this pls---non-root user is fine
2) ON reboot, go back into your bios please, this card may need IRQ or not, I am not sure
but pls look at what IRQ is has current

if it says 10 we can change ours but as ISA is old I had to google and
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Serial-HOWTO-8.html

it looks like IRQ 5 is standard in linux for the sound card---section 8.8

BTW pnpdump program (part of isapnptools----not found on debian sid but "hardinfo" looks like the replacement and can do isa and PnP

In reply 34, I turned off pnp in the command set, so make sure its back on pls to use it so reply 34, interim command becomes
port=0x220 mpu_port=0x330---removed, isapnp turned on

then run hardinfo and hopefully it will report mpu_port=0x330
(so mostly matching)

good luck

That answers a few of the technical details about your card. Some of which might apply to the linux parameters.

you previously mentioned these details from /proc/asound/cards

root@armada:/home/paul# cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [ES1869 ]: ES1869 - ESS AudioDrive ES1869
ESS AudioDrive ES1869 at 0x220, irq 5, dma1 1, dma2 5

you previously mentioned these details from Windows XP

ES 1869 on intel 82371AB/EB PCI to ISA bridge
ACPI\ESS1869\4&2658D0A0&0
I/O range 0330-0331
IRQ 10
DMA 01
DMA 05

NOTICE the I/O range differs, a potential source of failure. And the IRQ differs, perhaps not in linux, but something to question. As it applies to one of the overrides mentioned in previous fixes.

# modinfo snd-es18xx
(to see what parameters can be passed to the module (driver))

# modprobe -r snd-es18xx
# modprobe snd-es18xx port=0x0220 mpu_port=0x0330 irq=10 dma1=1 dma2=5

$ speaker-test -c 2
^C

I don't really know if it's irq 5 or irq 10, perhaps adjustable in the bios / cmos. But those are some options we have some control over. And we might find further details about your system in lspci -vv

$ lspci -vv

http://alsa.opensrc.org/Es18xx

Several different configs to give a try until something works can be found there. Perhaps just pass irq=10 and let the others default to whatever it defaults. Or whatever irq shows up in lspci. The ISA tech of old was pretty hard wired. And outside of physically looking at the hardware (jumpers?) the configuration can only be guessed.

I noticed the different results in Linux and Windows, and suspected a possible problem there.

[root@localhost paul]# modinfo snd-es18xx
filename: /lib/modules/3.2.18-pclos2.bfs/kernel/sound/isa/snd-es18xx.ko.gz
license: GPL
description: ESS ES18xx AudioDrive
author: Christian Fischbach <fishbach@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de>, Abramo Bagnara <abramo@alsa-project.org>
alias: acpi*:ESS0009:*
alias: pnp:dESS0009*
alias: acpi*:ESS1879:*
alias: pnp:dESS1879*
alias: acpi*:ESS0004:*
alias: pnp:dESS0004*
alias: acpi*:ESS1878:*
alias: pnp:dESS1878*
alias: acpi*:ESS0006:*
alias: pnp:dESS0006*
alias: acpi*:ESS1869:*
alias: pnp:dESS1869*
alias: acpi*:ESS8610:*
alias: pnp:dESS8610*
alias: acpi*:ESS8611:*
alias: pnp:dESS8611*
alias: acpi*:ESS8600:*
alias: pnp:dESS8600*
alias: acpi*:ESS8601:*
alias: pnp:dESS8601*
alias: acpi*:ESS0000:*
alias: pnp:dESS0000*
alias: acpi*:ESS1868:*
alias: pnp:dESS1868*
alias: acpi*:ESS1879:*
alias: pnp:dESS1879*
alias: acpi*:ESS1869:*
alias: pnp:dESS1869*
depends: snd-pcm,snd,snd-opl3-lib,snd-mpu401-uart
intree: Y
vermagic: 3.2.18-pclos2.bfs SMP preempt mod_unload 686
parm: index:Index value for ES18xx soundcard. (array of int)
parm: id:ID string for ES18xx soundcard. (array of charp)
parm: enable:Enable ES18xx soundcard. (array of bool)
parm: isapnp:PnP detection for specified soundcard. (array of bool)
parm: port:Port # for ES18xx driver. (array of long)
parm: mpu_port:MPU-401 port # for ES18xx driver. (array of long)
parm: fm_port:FM port # for ES18xx driver. (array of long)
parm: irq:IRQ # for ES18xx driver. (array of int)
parm: dma1:DMA 1 # for ES18xx driver. (array of int)
parm: dma2:DMA 2 # for ES18xx driver. (array of int)


[root@localhost paul]# modprobe -r snd-es18xx
FATAL: Module snd_es18xx is in use.
[root@localhost paul]# modprobe snd-es18xx port=0x0220 mpu_port=0x0330 irq=10 dma1=1 dma2=5
[root@localhost paul]#

[paul@localhost ~]$ speaker-test -c 2
bash: speaker-test: command not found

I then just opened a mp3 file with VLC player: hiss with a very little music in spite of having put the Alsamixer cursors on nearly maximum.

[paul@localhost ~]$ lspci -vv
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Armada 1750 Laptop System Chipset
Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort+ >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 64
Region 0: Memory at 50000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap- 66MHz+ UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 64
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00001000-00001fff
Memory behind bridge: 40000000-410fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 14000000-140fffff
Secondary status: 66MHz+ FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort+ <SERR- <PERR-
BridgeCtl: Parity- SERR- NoISA- VGA+ MAbort- >Reset- FastB2B+
PriDiscTmr- SecDiscTmr- DiscTmrStat- DiscTmrSERREn-
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle+ MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 0

00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01) (prog-if 80 [Master])
Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 64
Region 0: [virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
Region 1: [virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
Region 2: [virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8]
Region 3: [virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [size=1]
Region 4: I/O ports at 2020 [size=16]
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
Kernel modules: ata_piix, piix

00:07.2 USB controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 64
Interrupt: pin D routed to IRQ 11
Region 4: I/O ports at 2000 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster- SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap- 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Interrupt: pin ? routed to IRQ 9
Kernel modules: i2c-piix4

00:11.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1225 (rev 01)
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 168, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
Region 0: Memory at 7fffe000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=05, sec-latency=176
Memory window 0: 24000000-27fff000 (prefetchable)
Memory window 1: 20000000-23fff000
I/O window 0: 00003000-000030ff
I/O window 1: 00002c00-00002cff
BridgeCtl: Parity- SERR- ISA- VGA- MAbort- >Reset- 16bInt- PostWrite+
<access denied to the rest>
Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
Kernel modules: yenta_socket

00:11.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1225 (rev 01)
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 168, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes
Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
Region 0: Memory at 7ffff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Bus: primary=00, secondary=06, subordinate=09, sec-latency=176
Memory window 0: 1c000000-1ffff000 (prefetchable)
Memory window 1: 18000000-1bfff000
I/O window 0: 00002800-000028ff
I/O window 1: 00002400-000024ff
BridgeCtl: Parity- SERR- ISA- VGA- MAbort- >Reset+ 16bInt+ PostWrite+
<access denied to the rest>
Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
Kernel modules: yenta_socket

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI 3D Rage LT Pro AGP-133 (rev dc) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation 3D Rage LT Pro (Compaq Armada 1750)
Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping+ SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 66 (2000ns min), Cache Line Size: 32 bytes
Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
Region 0: Memory at 40000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
Region 1: I/O ports at 1000 [size=256]
Region 2: Memory at 41000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at 14000000 [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel modules: atyfb

02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5212/AR5213 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
Subsystem: Global Sun Technology Inc Device 7103
Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Latency: 168 (2500ns min, 7000ns max), Cache Line Size: 32 bytes
Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11
Region 0: Memory at 20000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ath5k
Kernel modules: ath5k


That's what I'm going to try, irq=10 I mean.

Many thanks,
Paul

Shadow_7
good to get help but me thinks its an ISA card so lspci is not helpful

colinetsegers
You did realize that your next command was not effective?

so what were you doing to get this failure, were you playing a sound file?
Do you have a dial up modem?

Leaping ahead, me thinks you are better off using a bootloader blacklist or a config file blacklist to ensure
sound module is not loaded.

If we can't remove it directly we may need you to remove it, long hand by removing those modules that depend on it
eg
so can you post the full contents of your lsmod command again pls

ok sorry for separate post but use your file manager to look under /proc

peek into files such as dma (before and after loading the module)
ioports

and if you have it....isa*

and in the mean time how about we try a distro that actively supports OSS sound (also alsa)

tinycore 5x is not yet fully populated repo, its base TCB is good but not all the extra software

If interested the 4.7.7 base and packages are OK

so blunt instructions in 2 ways

1) use debian with TC kernel and core with TC APPS to grab OSS
2) tinycore iso or coreplus iso and then use ONDEMAND download and load ondemand OSS.


@@@@@ method 2 some iso
Use tinycore iso 12 megs if ethernet
http://tinycorelinux.net/4.x/x86/archive/4.7.7/

same link, use coreplus 65 megs if you need wifi (wireless/firmware etc)

Pretending you boot up the iso click on APPS and browse may ask to choose fastest mirror
---as the downloads are small I suggest you ignore it

search for oss and in bottom left hand corner choose pulldown from its default to "ondemand"
when donwloads are finished for oss and its dependencies
RH click the desktop brings up the menu choose ondemand and choose oss

you may need to read the info file in the apps as I don't use oss.
there is a wiki as well
http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/wiki:s...etup_using_oss

the image contains an image of VLC which you can download as ondemand as well
Note you need to adjust the settings of vlc to use oss as default is normally alsa

-----if it all works you could consider installing TC so here is a rough method of using debian with TC

@@@@ method 1 dual boot debian with TC

I assume you have grub2 bootloader for debian

edit with root powers /etc/grub.d/40_custom so it reads (formula needs to change as below)
#!/bin/sh
exec tail -n +3 $0
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.

menuentry "TC" {
set root=(hdx,y)
linux /pathway/vmlinuz tce=sdxy
initrd /pathway/core.gz
}

Now download the kernel vmlinuz from here
http://tinycorelinux.net/4.x/x86/arc...ibution_files/
and its core.gz (I assume 32 bit)

Now the pathway.

If you have a separate partition for grub you can use that but I prefer you don't
I use a data partition and I have grub legacy in PBR but you don't need it there
grub2 can boot your TC kernel so let me give an example

internal hard drive
sda1 separate boot folder
sda2 /
sda3 spare data partition
(its fstab entry may be ugly but lets call it /mnt/sda3)
so the example formula would be an append of

menuentry "TC" {
set root=(hd0,3)
linux /mnt/sda3/vmlinuz tce=sda3
initrd /mnt/sda3/core.gz
}

next get grub2 to accept it
reboot and see if you can get in----then follow the ondemand requests for oss and vlc

good luck

ideally if that worked you may like to join the TC forum
I have not researched if oss truly supports your card but I hope it will.

Yes, I noticed; and no, no sound was playing, and this Armada doesn't even have a modem. Instead of a modem there's a good working Wireless network card.

Having nothing to loose I removed the blacklists, which had after rebooting curiously absolutely no impact, but have now put them back in place. Still mostly only hiss...

What's exactly the goal of this manipulation?
The system, this PCLinuxOS distro, seems to notice in some way a sound card,
and even seems to allot a driver, the result being sadly enough big hiss with very little sound from far away. The problem must be in the configuration.

[paul@localhost ~]$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
cls_flow 6569 0
cls_fw 3398 0
cls_u32 5688 0
sch_htb 12578 0
sch_hfsc 16415 0
sch_ingress 1444 0
sch_sfq 5670 0
xt_time 1663 0
xt_connlimit 2734 0
xt_realm 707 0
iptable_raw 1016 0
xt_comment 679 18
xt_recent 6650 0
xt_policy 2150 0
ipt_ULOG 4853 0
ipt_REJECT 1957 4
ipt_REDIRECT 907 0
ipt_NETMAP 901 0
ipt_MASQUERADE 1294 0
ipt_ECN 1532 0
ipt_ecn 1084 0
ipt_CLUSTERIP 4893 0
ipt_ah 857 0
nf_nat_tftp 674 0
nf_nat_sip 5656 0
nf_nat_pptp 1974 0
nf_nat_proto_gre 1013 1 nf_nat_pptp
nf_nat_irc 1050 0
nf_nat_h323 5291 0
nf_nat_ftp 1280 0
nf_nat_amanda 836 0
ts_kmp 1563 5
nf_conntrack_amanda 1713 1 nf_nat_amanda
nf_conntrack_sane 2788 0
nf_conntrack_tftp 2497 1 nf_nat_tftp
nf_conntrack_sip 16056 1 nf_nat_sip
nf_conntrack_proto_sctp 5959 0
nf_conntrack_pptp 3890 1 nf_nat_pptp
nf_conntrack_proto_gre 3265 1 nf_conntrack_pptp
nf_conntrack_netlink 15939 0
nf_conntrack_netbios_ns 793 0
nf_conntrack_broadcast 953 1 nf_conntrack_netbios_ns
nf_conntrack_irc 2607 1 nf_nat_irc
nf_conntrack_h323 36604 1 nf_nat_h323
nf_conntrack_ftp 4789 1 nf_nat_ftp
xt_TPROXY 4107 0
nf_tproxy_core 824 1 xt_TPROXY,[permanent]
ip6_tables 10445 1 xt_TPROXY
nf_defrag_ipv6 4877 1 xt_TPROXY
xt_tcpmss 1093 0
xt_pkttype 807 0
xt_physdev 1368 0
xt_owner 867 0
xt_NFQUEUE 1636 0
xt_NFLOG 834 0
nfnetlink_log 6545 1 xt_NFLOG
xt_multiport 1490 4
xt_mark 857 1
xt_mac 767 0
xt_limit 1415 0
xt_length 864 0
xt_iprange 1316 0
xt_helper 1063 0
xt_hashlimit 6185 0
xt_DSCP 1703 0
xt_dscp 1199 0
xt_dccp 1767 0
xt_conntrack 2677 8
xt_connmark 1521 0
xt_CLASSIFY 745 0
ipt_LOG 6518 3
xt_tcpudp 1939 11
xt_state 963 0
iptable_nat 3420 0
nf_nat 12465 12 ipt_REDIRECT,ipt_NETMAP,ipt_MASQUERADE,nf_nat_tftp,nf_nat_sip,nf_nat_pptp,nf_nat_proto_gre,nf_nat_ir c,nf_nat_h323,nf_nat_ftp,nf_nat_amanda,iptable_nat
nf_conntrack_ipv4 9661 11 iptable_nat,nf_nat
nf_defrag_ipv4 1015 2 xt_TPROXY,nf_conntrack_ipv4
nf_conntrack 49297 30 xt_connlimit,ipt_MASQUERADE,ipt_CLUSTERIP,nf_nat_tftp,nf_nat_sip,nf_nat_pptp,nf_nat_irc,nf_nat_h323, nf_nat_ftp,nf_nat_amanda,nf_conntrack_amanda,nf_conntrack_sane,nf_conntrack_tftp,nf_conntrack_sip,nf _conntrack_proto_sctp,nf_conntrack_pptp,nf_conntrack_proto_gre,nf_conntrack_netlink,nf_conntrack_net bios_ns,nf_conntrack_broadcast,nf_conntrack_irc,nf_conntrack_h323,nf_conntrack_ftp,xt_helper,xt_conn track,xt_connmark,xt_state,iptable_nat,nf_nat,nf_conntrack_ipv4
iptable_mangle 1220 1
nfnetlink 2570 2 nf_conntrack_netlink,nfnetlink_log
iptable_filter 1092 1
ip_tables 9170 4 iptable_raw,iptable_nat,iptable_mangle,iptable_filter
x_tables 11826 45 xt_time,xt_connlimit,xt_realm,iptable_raw,xt_comment,xt_recent,xt_policy,ipt_ULOG,ipt_REJECT,ipt_RED IRECT,ipt_NETMAP,ipt_MASQUERADE,ipt_ECN,ipt_ecn,ipt_CLUSTERIP,ipt_ah,xt_TPROXY,ip6_tables,xt_tcpmss, xt_pkttype,xt_physdev,xt_owner,xt_NFQUEUE,xt_NFLOG,xt_multiport,xt_mark,xt_mac,xt_limit,xt_length,xt _iprange,xt_helper,xt_hashlimit,xt_DSCP,xt_dscp,xt_dccp,xt_conntrack,xt_connmark,xt_CLASSIFY,ipt_LOG ,xt_tcpudp,xt_state,iptable_nat,iptable_mangle,iptable_filter,ip_tables
ipv6 265552 16 xt_TPROXY,nf_defrag_ipv6
sr_mod 13798 0
sg 23507 0
cdrom 31442 1 sr_mod
i2c_piix4 7084 0
i2c_core 16526 1 i2c_piix4
shpchp 22541 0
binfmt_misc 5746 1
arc4 1086 2
ath5k 127443 0
ath 11961 1 ath5k
mac80211 206311 1 ath5k
cfg80211 144856 3 ath5k,ath,mac80211
rfkill 12586 1 cfg80211
pcmcia 31466 0
yenta_socket 19104 0
pcmcia_rsrc 8872 1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core 10209 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,pcmcia_rsrc
cpufreq_ondemand 5201 0
cpufreq_conservative 4413 0
cpufreq_powersave 674 0
freq_table 2047 1 cpufreq_ondemand
speedstep_lib 2639 0
nvram 4765 0
pciehp 21009 0
pci_hotplug 21865 2 shpchp,pciehp
firewire_ohci 27764 0
firewire_sbp2 11077 0
firewire_core 43371 2 firewire_ohci,firewire_sbp2
crc_itu_t 1069 1 firewire_core
fuse 58708 7
dm_mod 62236 0
sb_lib 38674 0
uart401 6604 1 sb_lib
sound 60701 2 sb_lib,uart401
sound_firmware 943 1 sb_lib
snd_es18xx 22995 1
ppdev 4813 0
snd_pcm 60282 1 snd_es18xx
parport_pc 26679 0
snd_page_alloc 5837 1 snd_pcm
snd_opl3_lib 7218 1 snd_es18xx
irda 90679 0
floppy 49225 0
snd_timer 15343 2 snd_pcm,snd_opl3_lib
snd_hwdep 4844 1 snd_opl3_lib
snd_mpu401_uart 4975 1 snd_es18xx
snd_rawmidi 14818 1 snd_mpu401_uart
uhci_hcd 19832 0
snd_seq_device 4321 2 snd_opl3_lib,snd_rawmidi
usbcore 122231 2 uhci_hcd
crc_ccitt 1095 1 irda
parport 24947 2 ppdev,parport_pc
snd 43879 10 snd_es18xx,snd_pcm,snd_opl3_lib,snd_timer,snd_hwdep,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device
ns558 1799 0
gameport 6616 2 ns558
container 1929 0
soundcore 5025 2 sound,snd
joydev 7535 0
processor 23384 1
usb_common 589 1 usbcore
thermal 6662 0
fan 1902 0
button 3634 0
battery 5021 0
ac 1828 0
evdev 7244 8
ide_pci_generic 2100 0
pata_acpi 2420 0
ata_generic 2455 0
piix 4180 0
ide_gd_mod 21505 0
ide_core 79430 3 ide_pci_generic,piix,ide_gd_mod
ahci 17433 0
libahci 16564 1 ahci
ata_piix 18303 5
libata 145980 5 pata_acpi,ata_generic,ahci,libahci,ata_piix
sd_mod 33585 6
scsi_mod 154041 5 sr_mod,sg,firewire_sbp2,libata,sd_mod
crc_t10dif 1037 1 sd_mod
ext4 380509 2
jbd2 60923 1 ext4
crc16 1069 1 ext4
[paul@localhost ~]$

I tried many distros, including some "Mini's" and "Tiny's", but as said before without any one of those distros succeeding in turning on the sound correctly. I thus decided to go back to my favourite and in this case most suitable distro: PCLinuxOS 2012 LXDE. Sound is a priority with me, but if without it seems logic to stick to the distro running my favourite applications. Still, maybe I will try your suggestion about Tinycore.

Many thanks for your help,
Paul

There's a PCI to ISA bridge in play, so it should show up (if only partially) in lspci. Even if it's just the bridge that shows up and the bridge has the IRQ value that works.

-----

The sound module in use error means that the modprobe -r failed. Stop pulseaudio, and other things touching the snd-es18xx module. Perhaps even a /etc/init.d/alsa-utils stop or whatever applies. It's probably easier to modify the /etc/modprobe.d/ .conf file and reboot unless you're comfortable with things this low level.

$ lsmod | grep -i "snd"

I should probably add that the distro supplied kernel for debian jessie/sid does not include the snd-es18xx module. The wheezy/stable version does (for now) include the snd-es18xx module. Just something to be aware of, as rolling your own kernel might be unavoidable in future distros. The module is still in the isa directory for the 3.11.2 kernel as source code.