Okay, I see. Well, since your sound dissapeared after a kernel reconfigure, then your friend most likely didn't compile in the right drivers. If you're feeling brave, you can attempt to recompile your kernel with the right drivers. It isn't that hard, really
So if you want to recompile your kernel, here's what you probably should do (you should be superuser for this, so type "su" if needed):
Note: if you get an error like "bash: cd: /usr/src/linux: No such file or directory", then do the following:
Code:
cd /usr/src
ls
ln -s (insert name of kernel folder here) linux
cd linux
Okay, now you're set to run the configuration. Type:
This should bring up a menu that will allow you to configure your kernel. If you've never done it before, it might be overwhelming, but for your purposes you probably won't have to configure everything.
Select the option "Device Drivers", then arrow down and select "Sound", make sure that "Sound Card Support" is enabled (it should either show a <*> or <M>). Now you should select "Advanced Linux Sound Architecture", and make sure that there is at least an <M> or <*> next to "Advanced Linux Sound Architecture" (if there isn't, space bar toggles this.) You probably want to make sure the other options in this menu have a <M> also, since OSS support can be handy for older applications.
The last step for configuring your kernel will be to select the drivers for your specific sound card. It will most likely be under "PCI Devices". Since your sound card is a Creative, you should probably enable any of the Creative drivers, along with Ensoniq drivers as well. It won't hurt to enable extra drivers, even if they aren't for your specific card. Once you've enabled all of this, you're ready to compile your new kernel. Use the right arrow key to select "Exit" and hit enter, and you'll have to do this a few times until it asks you whether you want to save your new kernel configuration. You should answer Yes here, and hit enter. Now, the next step depends on whether you are compiling a 2.4 or a 2.6 kernel. If you aren't sure, type
and go by what that says. If you are running a 2.6.x kernel, you should now do the following:
Code:
make && make modules_install
If it is a 2.4.x kernel, then the following should work:
Code:
make dep && make && make modules_install
This will probably take a while, but when its done you may have to do one of the following things:
If you chose to compile your drivers as modules (<M>), you probably will be able to reboot your system and see if things are working. If you compiled them into the kernel (<*>), then you will have to copy your new kernel into your boot folder by doing this:
Code:
cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/kernel-2.x.x
, replacing the x's with your kernel version (uname -r). Your last step is to make sure that your bootloader loads this kernel on startup. Most likely you're using GRUB, but you might have Lilo. To find out,
. If this works, then you probably have GRUB. Once in the grub folder, use your favorite text editor to open menu.lst like so:
Now you should add your new kernel by adding the following lines (at the bottom of the file):
Code:
title Linux-2.6.15
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/kernel-2.6.15 root=/dev/hda1
Of course, you'll have to adjust this depending on your kernel version, your boot partition location, and your root partition location. If you want to find these out, you should "cat /etc/fstab" and see what locations your root and boot partitions are. If your boot partition is different, you'll need to adjust the "root (hd0,0)" part of the above. For example, if your boot partition is /dev/hda3, then the line should read "root (hd0,2)". If the root partition is different, you should change the "root=/dev/hda1" part to whatever it is. If you need additional help here, let me know...
Anyway, the result of this should be that you can reboot, choose the new kernel, and hopefully have sound. If not, you might need to tweak your /etc/modules or /etc/modules.autoload.d file to load the new sound card driver modules. I guess what I would say is give the above a go, and if it still doesn't work, let me know and I'll try to help you out some more. Good luck!
sound question with details
