Hmmm.... I changed the permissions with the setting you specified, and added my user to those permissions, but I still get the same error. I`m wondering if i should boot to my old kernel if i want sound, and if i want to use my cd writer, to boot to my new kernel. that would be such a pain though.... Do you think having support for my card compiled right into the kernel is what is making things go wrong? should i compile it as a module? Jerrud