This is a new installation of SUSE Linux v9.1, three days old. SUSE is one of two OSes on the machine; sound works properly on the other.

When I first installed SUSE, it played a short audio file at boot. I never got around to trying out the sound system in any other way. Two days later, at boot, it emitted a continuous tone starting at the time when the small splash screen says it is checking peripherals (not on every boot). Sometimes this squeal stopped when the splash screen vanished, and sometimes it did not. No audio file anymore, whether there was a squeal or not. Now it doesn't squeal anymore, doesn't play the audio file.

I have tried listening to streamed audio from 'Net radio stations. The application does work, as I can see by its graphic signal display, but there is no sound. In the other OS, streaming and all other sound uses work perfectly.

So clearly, the hardware is innocent. What has happened to the sound in SUSE? How to fix it?

Hi, it's crucial to know what audio hardware you have and if the other OS on your computer is Windows or some other Linux distro. When you know your hardware, you can search e.g. forums.suselinuxsupport.de and this site if someone else has had the same problem. Notice also that SuSE 9.1 was released over a year ago and several bug fixes and newer versions have been released since.

The sound card is Soundblaster Live! The other OS is OS/2. Now I am getting system sounds, by the way, but not always: e.g. this morning I had no trumbets on boot, but did on logoff.

I have done Online Upgrade without any noticable change, so that aged files don't account for it.

I've ordered a v9.3 DVD, and hope that will fix it, and some other curiosities too..

Thanks for your advice.