in dmesg i see the following:

ALSA /home/neenee/alsa-driver-0.9.2/alsa-kernel/core/oss/mixer_oss.c:1211: unable to register OSS mixer device 0:0
ALSA /home/neenee/alsa-driver-0.9.2/alsa-kernel/core/oss/pcm_oss.c:2175: unable to register OSS PCM device 0:0

it is getting warmer i think. i need some time to think and look at the source code. in the meantime turn on *.debug in the syslogd config restart for more verbose errors.

will do.

try to cd $HOME/user/alsa.0.9..../util

and run the alsaconf


hop it helps

I've found that my SB Live 5.1! works better with the module and tools from opensource.creative.com than with alsa.

gordon - i have no alsaconf

aussie - that module is installed by default with
slackware 9, is it not? if so - i prefer to try alsa
as the emu10k1 driver gave me distorted sound
too often.

It's the same module but more advanced than the one that comes with the kernel.

and since i have come so far with alsa, i do not want to
give up until it works. if i am dissatisfied with it then,
i can always choose to try another driver. i do not like
to give up on things.

but thank you for the suggestion; i will keep it in mind.

a new day, with hopefully new chances.

a moment ago i read about some others having the same problem.
for them, it was caused by their tv-card mixer loading before the
alsa one did. they had solved it by loading alsa first, and then bttv.

i could find no info on how to do that, but i learnt that it could be
done in modules.conf (does slackware use modules.conf or should
i put the stuff i put in there in /etc/rc.d/rc.modules instead?).

i read another way though; it would make alsa load as second
card. here is how (though it did not work for me):

------------------------
# we have two cards
options snd snd_cards_limit=2

# the first slot is kept empty, load ALSA to the 2nd slot
alias snd-card-0 off
alias snd-card-1 snd-card-XXX

# make sure that this module is loaded on the 2nd slot
options snd-card-XXX snd_index=1

# ok, these are normal
alias sound-slot-0 snd-card-0
alias sound-slot-1 snd-card-1

# sequencer device exists only for the first card
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss

# OSS emulated mixer, pcm and midi
alias sound-service-1-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-1-3 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-1-11 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-1-12 snd-pcm-oss
------------------------

^ i replaced the snd-card-XXX with snd-emu10k1.

but that did not work.

i also read about someone who had done something with
the loading of modules for his tv-card and had made alsa
to work. he added this to his modules.conf:

------------------------
# i2c
alias char-major-89 i2c-dev
options i2c-core i2c_debug=1
options i2c-algo-bit bit_test=1

# bttv
alias char-major-81 bttv
alias char-major-81-0 bttv
options bttv radio=2 card=10 bttv_verbose=1
options msp3400 debug=2 once=1 simple=1 dolby=1
pre-install bttv modprobe -k btaudio; modprobe -k msp3400; modprobe -k tuner
#LIRC - the Infra-Red Controller
alias char-major-61 lirc_haup
------------------------

i will try ^ that, and report back.

now i report back. that addition about i2c + bttv caused
some problems resulting in my nvidia kernel driver not
being loaded properly and my mouse not working.

back to the drawing board.

Basically the problem seems to be that your oss emulation is not working... I had this problem, and solved it by disabling the sound chip on my motherboard in the bios (which i wasn't using anyway). This may be totally unrelated to your problem, but I thought i'd post it just incase. Apologies if it is way off the mark.

though i have disabled the sound chip on my mainboard in
my bios as well as i use a 'real' sound card, i thank you for
the suggestion, as any is welcome and appreciated, lest
it be relevant, constructive and thought over before posting.

[blog]

today i discovered that that 'pcm' mixer value in gnome
alsa mixer acts as a sort of balance between front and
back speakers. now my front and back speakers work
with xmms and alsa plugin. that means i can listen to
music while i struggle with the oss emulation problem.

[/blog]

hm.. i think the problem is that the bttv (tv card module) uses the
spot the oss emulation tries to use when it is being loaded, hence
it does not load because it does not 'fit'.. or something. i'm taking
long shots here.

i disabled hotplug (chmod 000 /etc/rc.d/rc.hotplug) and alsa
works. i now have to modprobe usb-uhci to get my mouse
working in x, but i expect i can fix that by adding it to rc.local.

i know modules for my tv-card were not loaded because i
disabled hotplug. i reckon i can use modprobe bttv to load
them.. i'll have to add that to rc.local.

hmm... i wonder which other modules i used are now no longer
loaded.... anyone with experience with disabling hotplug is
very welcome to give me hints and such to what was no longer
loaded.

thanks in advance for any advice and for taking the time to read
this lengthy thread.

kind regards.