I decided to try and install my alsa-drivers separately from the kernel like slack did before the kernel 2.6 days. I successful compiled alsa-driver-1.0.19 but no matter what I do I always get the "unresolved symbols" when trying to load any modules. I decided to mrproper my kernel and completely remove any alsa from the kernel and tried again with the same result "unresolved symbols". So I decided to install current and completely removed all alsa packages. I then compiled my own 2.6.29 kernel with soundcore compiled as a module, I then installed all the alsa packages after the kernel and I still got the "unresolved symbols" error. Has anybody successfully compiled alsa separately from the built in kernel alsa-drivers?

same problem here :-/ did you find a solution since then ?
there I m going to try building soundcore from the alsa package..

I think, that You may have misconfigured Your kernel and You have omitted some major for the alsa drivers components. Try to compile kernel fully equipped with drivers, that You theoretically doesn't require Of course, use modules as much, as You can

Or maybe that's not the problem of alsa drivers? When You get this error message? What driver You try to load?

You guessed right Martinezio. To solve this I have had to recompile all kernel-bundled ALSA driver components as modules, and then replace them in their final location with those from the ALSA package. So apparently enabling 'snd' and submodules from the kernel, instead of totally disabling them, will alter soundcore for working with alsa (added symbols)! Which means soundcore alone, as stated in some ALSA howto, doesn t fully support upstream ALSA drivers. -it s still necessary to build modules shipped with the kernel.- that s the conclusion I draw.

Nice to hear that Well, soundcore is just a core The core need much more to live, than just herself. It's just like human organism
What about the sound? Is it working now, any differences?

Yeah it s up now. No more missing symbols in the sound core module

I kind of ignored this post, but I tried again today. I compiled the necessary alsa components as modules into my kernel. Then I replaced them with the alsa-driver package but i am still getting the same result. Unresolved symbols. Am I missing a step?

Which symbols are reported as missing?

trying to insert already compiled modules?

Yes, I compile all my necessary componets as modules with my custom kernel. Everything is working fine. My soundcard is a xonar D1 which uses the snd-virtuoso module. Here is my .config

CONFIG_SOUND=y
CONFIG_SOUND_OSS_CORE=y
CONFIG_SND=m
CONFIG_SND_TIMER=m
CONFIG_SND_PCM=m
CONFIG_SND_HWDEP=m
CONFIG_SND_RAWMIDI=m
CONFIG_SND_SEQUENCER=m
CONFIG_SND_SEQ_DUMMY=m
CONFIG_SND_OSSEMUL=y
CONFIG_SND_MIXER_OSS=m
CONFIG_SND_PCM_OSS=m
CONFIG_SND_PCM_OSS_PLUGINS=y
CONFIG_SND_SEQUENCER_OSS=y
# CONFIG_SND_HRTIMER is not set
# CONFIG_SND_DYNAMIC_MINORS is not set
CONFIG_SND_SUPPORT_OLD_API=y
CONFIG_SND_VERBOSE_PROCFS=y
# CONFIG_SND_VERBOSE_PRINTK is not set
# CONFIG_SND_DEBUG is not set
CONFIG_SND_MPU401_UART=m
CONFIG_SND_DRIVERS=y
# CONFIG_SND_PCSP is not set
CONFIG_SND_DUMMY=m
CONFIG_SND_VIRMIDI=m
CONFIG_SND_MTPAV=m
CONFIG_SND_SERIAL_U16550=m
CONFIG_SND_MPU401=m
CONFIG_SND_PCI=y
# CONFIG_SND_AD1889 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ALS300 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ALS4000 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ALI5451 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ATIIXP is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ATIIXP_MODEM is not set
# CONFIG_SND_AU8810 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_AU8820 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_AU8830 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_AW2 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_AZT3328 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_BT87X is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CA0106 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CMIPCI is not set
CONFIG_SND_OXYGEN_LIB=m
# CONFIG_SND_OXYGEN is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CS4281 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CS46XX is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CS5530 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_CS5535AUDIO is not set
# CONFIG_SND_DARLA20 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_GINA20 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_LAYLA20 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_DARLA24 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_GINA24 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_LAYLA24 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_MONA is not set
# CONFIG_SND_MIA is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ECHO3G is not set
# CONFIG_SND_INDIGO is not set
# CONFIG_SND_INDIGOIO is not set
# CONFIG_SND_INDIGODJ is not set
# CONFIG_SND_INDIGOIOX is not set
# CONFIG_SND_INDIGODJX is not set
# CONFIG_SND_EMU10K1 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_EMU10K1X is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ENS1370 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ENS1371 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ES1938 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ES1968 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_FM801 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDA_INTEL is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDSP is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HDSPM is not set
# CONFIG_SND_HIFIER is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ICE1712 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_ICE1724 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0M is not set
# CONFIG_SND_KORG1212 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_MAESTRO3 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_MIXART is not set
# CONFIG_SND_NM256 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_PCXHR is not set
# CONFIG_SND_RIPTIDE is not set
# CONFIG_SND_RME32 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_RME96 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_RME9652 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_SIS7019 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_SONICVIBES is not set
# CONFIG_SND_TRIDENT is not set
# CONFIG_SND_VIA82XX is not set
# CONFIG_SND_VIA82XX_MODEM is not set
CONFIG_SND_VIRTUOSO=m
# CONFIG_SND_VX222 is not set
# CONFIG_SND_YMFPCI is not set
CONFIG_SND_USB=y
CONFIG_SND_USB_AUDIO=m
CONFIG_SND_USB_USX2Y=m
CONFIG_SND_USB_CAIAQ=m


Now after all is up and running I simply compiled alsa-driver package then installed it so that the packages modules would over write the kernel modules. After I rebooted I tried inserting the snd-virtuoso module and got the unresolved symbols again.

How did you call alsa-driver's configure script, and what was its output?

And which symbols are unresolved? (See the output of dmesg, or in /var/log/messages)

./configure --with-isapnp=yes --with-sequencer=yes --with-oss=yes --with-cards=virtuoso,usb-audio
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of executables...
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking for ranlib... ranlib
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /bin/ginstall -c
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -E
checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... /bin/grep
checking for egrep... /bin/grep -E
checking for ANSI C header files... yes
checking for an ANSI C-conforming const... yes
checking for inline... inline
checking whether time.h and sys/time.h may both be included... yes
checking whether gcc needs -traditional... no
checking for current directory... /rm/alsa-driver-unstable
checking cross compile...
checking for directory with kernel source... /lib/modules/2.6.30.1/source
checking for directory with kernel build... /lib/modules/2.6.30.1/build
checking for kernel linux/version.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/autoconf.h... yes
checking for kernel version... 2.6.30.1
checking for GCC version... Kernel compiler: gcc 4.3.3 (GCC) Used compiler: gcc (GCC) 4.3.3
checking for built-in ALSA... no
checking for existing ALSA module... yes
checking for Red Hat kernel... auto
checking for Red Hat kernel... no
checking for SUSE kernel... auto
checking for SUSE kernel... no
checking for updating alsa-kernel version.h... yes
checking for CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL... yes
checking for directory to store kernel modules... /lib/modules/2.6.30.1/kernel/sound
checking for verbose procfs... on
checking for verbose printk... on
checking for debug level... none
checking for ISA support in kernel... no
checking for processor type... mcore2
checking for ISA DMA API... yes
checking for kernel linux/config.h... no
Creating <linux/config.h>...
checking for deprecated linux/config.h... checking to modify of kernel linux/kmod.h... no
checking for kernel linux/utsrelease.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/compiler.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/pm.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/spinlock.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/irq.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/threads.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/rwsem.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/gameport.h... yes
checking for kernel media/v4l2-dev.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/devfs_fs_kernel.h... no
Creating a dummy <linux/devfs_fs_kernel.h>...
checking for kernel linux/highmem.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/workqueue.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/dma-mapping.h... yes
checking for kernel asm/hw_irq.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/device.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/platform_device.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/isa.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/jiffies.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/compat.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/log2.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/adb.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/cuda.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/pmu.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/io.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/moduleparam.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/syscalls.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/firmware.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/err.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/bitmap.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/mutex.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/pm_qos_params.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/kthread.h... yes
checking for kernel asm/irq_regs.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/seq_file.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/debugfs.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/gpio.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/bug.h... yes
checking for kernel linux/math64.h... yes
checking for kernel module symbol versions... no
checking for has ioport support... yes
checking for PCI support in kernel... yes
checking for I2C driver in kernel... yes
checking for I2C_POWERMAC in kernel... unknown
checking for firmware loader... yes
checking for input subsystem in kernel... yes
checking for pc-speaker platform in kernel... yes
checking for SMP... yes
checking for Video device support in kernel... yes
checking for ISA PnP driver in kernel... yes
checking for PnP driver in kernel... yes
checking for Kernel ISA-PnP support... no
checking for Kernel ISA-PnP module support... no
checking for strlcpy... yes
checking for snprintf... yes
checking for vsnprintf... yes
checking for scnprintf... yes
checking for sscanf... yes
checking for vmalloc_to_page... yes
checking for old kmod... no
checking for PDE... yes
checking for pci_set_consistent_dma_mask... yes
checking for pci_dev_present... yes
checking for msleep... yes
checking for msleep_interrupt... yes
checking for msecs_to_jiffies... yes
checking for tty->count is the atomic type... no
checking for video_get_drvdata... yes
checking for video_drvdata... yes
checking for V4L1 layer... yes
checking for V4L2 layer... yes
checking for io_remap_pfn_range... yes
checking for kcalloc... yes
checking for kstrdup... yes
checking for kstrndup... yes
checking for kzalloc... yes
checking for create_workqueue with flags... no
checking for pci_ioremap_bar... yes
checking for saved_config_space in pci_dev... yes
checking for new pci_save_state... yes
checking for register_sound_special_device... yes
checking for driver extra-version...
checking for driver version... 1.0.20
checking for dynamic minor numbers... no
checking for sequencer support... yes
checking for OSS/Free emulation... yes
checking for OSS PCM plugin system inclusion... yes
checking for RTC support... no
checking for HPET support... no
checking for Procfs support... yes
checking for USB support... yes
checking for class_simple... no
checking for old driver suspend/resume callbacks... no
checking for removal of page-reservation for nopage/mmap... no
checking for nested class_device... no
checking for new IRQ handler... yes
checking for gfp_t... yes
checking for GFP_DMA32... yes
checking for page_to_pfn... yes
checking for PnP suspend/resume... yes
checking for device_create_drvdata... no
checking for new unlocked/compat_ioctl... yes
checking for builtin _Bool support... yes
checking for x86-compatible PC... no
checking for High-Res timers... yes
checking for kernel PCMCIA
checking for PCMCIA support... no
checking for PCMCIA module support... no
checking for PC9800 support in kernel... no
checking for parallel port support... no
checking for parallel port module support... no
checking for power management... yes
checking for CONFIG_HAS_DMA... yes
checking for cards to compile driver for... virtuoso usb-audio
checking for additonal options to compile driver for... all
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating version
config.status: creating Makefile.conf
config.status: WARNING: 'Makefile.conf.in' seems to ignore the --datarootdir setting
config.status: creating snddevices
config.status: creating utils/alsa-driver.spec
config.status: creating utils/buildrpm
config.status: creating toplevel.config
config.status: creating utils/alsasound
config.status: creating utils/alsasound.posix
config.status: creating include/pci_ids_compat.h
config.status: creating include/i2c-id_compat.h
config.status: creating include/config.h
config.status: include/config.h is unchanged
config.status: creating include/config1.h
config.status: include/config1.h is unchanged
config.status: creating include/version.h
config.status: include/version.h is unchanged
config.status: creating include/autoconf-extra.h
config.status: include/autoconf-extra.h is unchanged
Hacking autoconf.h...

________________________

modprobe snd-virtuoso
FATAL: Error inserting snd_virtuoso (/lib/modules/2.6.30.1/kernel/sound/pci/oxygen/snd-virtuoso.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)

dmesg=
NET: Registered protocol family 10
lo: Disabled Privacy Extensions
w83627ehf: Found W83627DHG chip at 0x290
coretemp coretemp.0: Using relative temperature scale!
coretemp coretemp.1: Using relative temperature scale!
eth0: no IPv6 routers present
process `skype' is using obsolete setsockopt SO_BSDCOMPAT
AV200 0000:04:02.0: PCI INT A disabled
snd_virtuoso: Unknown symbol snd_verbose_printk
snd_virtuoso: Unknown symbol snd_verbose_printk

The configurations of the kernel and the alsa-driver package are different, and you are using the kernel's snd.ko module together with the new snd-virtuoso.ko module.

Did you install the new modules with "make install-modules", or did you copy some files by hand?

Yes I Did a make modules install, edited lilo rebooted my new kernel. Then I used a old slack 11.0 buildscript edited for my system and made the package. I then installed the package thinking that the package would automatically over write the modules with the ones from the package. But to play it safe I bebooted and thats when I got the unresloved symbols error.

Did you run 'depmode -a' after copying in the new modules?