Powerbook 17": ALSA, sleep, mol, cpu scaling?

[Joshua Krage <jkrage@guisarme.net>]

I'm experimenting with Debian/testing on a PB 17" (1Ghz, model 5, chip 287).
The basic system with X11 (nv, 1440x900) is working with the stock 2.6.8-6
kernel.  I've gone though many web pages on PPC linux, but most regarding
the Powerbook are fairly old and/or out of date.  However, I still have some
problems to resolve:

  a) ALSA works but mp3 playback in xmms is slightly fast, with a regular
     clicking sound.

  b) Sleep doesn't seem to work.  Any updates since benh's post in 2003?

     pbbuttonsd is installed and configured.  gtkpbbutons works and shows
     the nifty "going to sleep..." message when the power button is hit.

  c) Mac-on-Linux runs, but I can't get it to recognize anything other than
     8bpp in full-screen console mode.  I haven't found any documentation on
     safely changing the mol video modes to enable higher color depths.

  d) I'm obviously missing something regarding cpufreq.  It doesn't exist in
     /proc/cpufreq.  Modules for cpufreq can't be found via modprobe.  I'd
     like to get my CPU to throttle down so the fan stops whirring at me. :)

Looking for useful leads anyone may have.