alsa dependence problem

[dennis furey <fureyd@sbu.ac.uk>]

I've been tracking unstable with daily updates since installation
about six months ago, but have had to put alsa-base and esound-alsa on
hold since versions 0.4.1i-4 and 0.2.17-8 respectively. When I try to
update them, I get conflicts with about twenty other gnome related
packages and libraries including the enlightenment window manager (but
oddly not gnome-audio). 

If it's relevant, I've compiled the alsa modules from the alsa-source
package using kernel-package in the course of upgrading to a 2.2.14
kernel, but even when I try to compile from the latest alsa sources I
get the same problem.

Are these conflicts a true indication of the status of these packages
or has something gone wrong with my dependences? In the latter case,
would anyone want to advise me about how to fix them?

Thanks,

Dennis