No sound on any Puppy Linux 4.2.1 games nor with 430, downloaded afterwards
 

I've noticed that I don't hear any sound that should be produced with certain games like: Xsoldier-space arcade or Xmahjongg.
What, if anything, can I do to have all the functionallity from those & other games that I might consider downloading in the near future?
Thanks in advanced!
PS. I posted this same thread in another forum here on 10-31-09 but had no reply so far, so decided to re-post it in here.

You need to post more information in order to get reasonable help.

What distro? release, what desktop?

Does any sound work? Can you play sounds with a program like Amarok?

Do you have system sounds?

Sorry for the lack of info, camorri & thanks for responding. Here I go:
1) I'm running Puppy Linux 4.2.1 as a frugal installation & downloaded (almost running well) PL 430, but this last distro fails to connect to the internet.
2) I've an eBuddy from Earthwalk notebook (old); has only 128 MB of RAM & 20 GB of HD (<4 GB free).
3) I've & use everyday Alsa media player (sometimes with Streamtuner) without any problem, so the system can reproduce sounds (music & any other sounds that might come from gXine media player, which I weekly use, too).
4) With respect to Amarok, I haven't seen nor used that program. I do have PMusic player (which came with the downloaded package) but this one rarely is used & rarely reproduce what I want to hear.
5) I'm not sure what you mean by 'system sounds' so, beleiving you refer to sounds reproduced by the system when certain events happen (as in windows when you close a window or make a bad choice within a menu) I have to say that now that you make me think about it I don't remember having heard the computer emitting any sound at all in relation to any event.

What I trying to find out, does any audio program make sound now, on 4.2.1? I gather from what you posted, yes is the answer.

Just to confirm you have the necessary sound drivers load, would you open a konsole, and run the command '/sbin/lsmod | grep snd' ( without the quotes ), and post the results. It will look something like this...
Amarok is the most common KDE sound player, it is not important if you have it. Once again, I was just trying to find out if you have any sound at all. If not, we look at drivers, if yes, then we look elsewhere.

Have you opened a mixer, made sure nothing is muted and turned up the volume?

I'm going to have a look at puppy, it is not a distro I have ever used... I want to know if it has Pulse Audio as the default sound server. It can cause lots of problems.

Thanks camorri for responding! Yes, I do have the capability to use 'Alsaplayer', 'Gxine' & 'Pmusic' with good sound. I also can web-tune some radio stations & hear them alright.
With respect to the solicited information from the drivers I'm sending them as an attachment because I don't find a way of embedding it in here within these lines (as you did in your post).

You do have the necessary drivers loaded. Since sound works for several applications, you need to look into the sound configuration for the applications.

I would like to know if you are running a sound server. PulseAudio is now becoming common on distros. aRts is one of the older ones that runs with KDE. There are others. Basically, if you have a sound sever running, you may need to point the sound configuration for the failing application to the sound server.

Only one device can use the sound system at a time, if you do not run a sound server. So, it could be that another application has the sound system when you run the game, hence no sound.

Hope this helps...

Thanks camorri for responding so fast!
You say that I "need to look into the sound configuration for the applications". I suppose you mean that within each app. as with 'Pmusic', 'Alsa player' & 'Gxine'. Right now I'm using XP, so can't do it right away; first of all I need to know what I'm going to do (I don't know now how to proceed although I'm thinking of looking inside each individual app. to check if there're options for configuring something, if not then I would search for the folder containing the app. & check there).
This's the first time I hear of "sound server" or "PulseAudio", so I'm going to search for more info on those subjects before I start something concerning them. It's interesting that you say that "Only one device can use the sound system at a time, if you do not run a sound server" because I'm almost sure that I've heard the audio of 2 different sources at the same time as when I'm playing the audio coming from a web station (with Alsaplayer) & at the same time tune-in a station from my browser (Seamonkey 1.1.18) like WQXR or the Royal Phillarmonic Orch. from last.fm. Am I confusing 2 different things here?

If you are hearing sound from more than one source at a time, you have a sound server. No, I don't think you are confusing anything.

Inside the application, in the sound settings, look for something line - Alsa Output plugin - or Pulse Audio Plugin. There should be a plugin for the sound server you have running. That will direct the audio output from the game to the sound system. Keep in mind I don't have your applications. You may have to do some looking around to find out how to configure the audio output.

I can not tell you exactly what you are looking for because I don't know what sound server Puppy linux is running.

Hope this helps.

Benny. Have you ran alsamixer in the start menu? It shows the various channels and sound levels.
Have you tried running alsa sound wizard? I don't think you need to if alsamixer shows something you need to adjust. Alsamixer is a little tricky to navigate - use the tab key to pick playback, capture, or all. Use the arrow keys to navigate channels and adjust volume levels.
There is no pulse audio in puppy just alsa.

Thanks to both, camorri & fair_is_fair, for responding!
I didn't use PL for a couple of days but now I put on a leach on it & we're taking a hike. I made that test again & yes, I was right: I tuned to a web radio station with alsaplayers' saved playing list &, while hearing some music I used the SeaMonkey browser to tune in to WQXR without stopping nor pausing the AlsaPlayers' stream: I heard both simultaneously.
Inside the application I couldn't find anything valuable to configure it but, I went to Pmusic & it openned the AlsaMixer (from there). I toyed a little with it but with no difference.
Now, specifically to 'fair_is_fair'. I ran the AlsaMixer from the Menu & it took me to the same place where I was, although this time I found other 'sub-tabs' to tweak about. The result was the same as before. No sound when playing with "Xsoldier - space arcade".
I might need to get into contact with the Puppy/game developers. Thanks!

PS. If you think of something else let me know...

I've noticed that when I'm playing mahjong & make a non-permitted move a sound is played indicating that I must put more attention to what I'm doing. I've tried on those occasions other games but no sound with them.