Ensoniq Soundcard Problem

[Dale Morris <dlm@well.com>]

I have recompiled 2.2.16 kernel to support my creative ensoniq
soundcard. When I run esd from su it makes a 3 tone sound, but then
hangs and I don't get back to the user prompt. If I try to connect to
the ESD volume meter on the desktop while the esd command is hung, it
seems to work. If I try to connect to the mixer, then I receive an
error:  [No mixers found, make sure you have sound support compiled
        in the kernel]
I think there is probably some sort of permission problem here, but I
don't really know where to begin. I'm reading the manual..
any suggestions?
thanks