Hello, i am a brand-newbie to linux and trying to figure out how to setup my system. I have the HD installation of knoppix 3.7.0.2 installed (i chose the first option that said 'recommended (Autoconfigure devices)' option when installing. The kernel im using is 2.6.9 and i have an ecs KT600-A motherboard with onboard realtec 6 channel soundcard. It is the Realtek ALC655 chip. I searched for linux drivers for this card because the sound does not autodetect when i boot up my computer. I found what i think are the right drivers, but being so new to linux, still have no idea how to correctly install them. I used the KNOPPIX configure soundcard utility and it gives me the error:

"You dont seem to be running a kernel with modular sound enabled. (soundcore.o was not found in the module search path)"

i had first installed knoppix using the debian installation, and when i ran the sound config utility, it detected my second sound card. I want to have both sound cards working, because the onboard one is suitable for my 5.1 speaker system, which uses all three jacks, but must be switched to 5.1 via software. The other one i would use for my headset/microphone. These are the installation instructions which i dont really understand..

Step 1. unzip source code
tar xfvj azx-021705.tar.bz2

Step 2. Turn on sound support (soundcore module, default turn on)

Step 3. Complied source code
a. ./configure
b. make
c. make install
d. ./snddevices

Step 4. Edit your /etc/modules.conf or conf.modules depending on the distribution
(Please refer to the attached modules.conf)

also, i am trying to figure out how to install the ATI drivers for a radeon 9500. The ati readme says to use ALIEN to unpack the package for debian systems, but it must be done with X not running, and i dont really know how to switch to a lower run level and then switch back.

Any help with these issues would be greatly appreciated. Thanks