video solved, sound kinks

[patrick gray <pxgray@home.com>]

first of all, thank you to everyone who responded to my first question 
regarding the xserver, you were right, running svga was bad, i am now happily 
typing away in KDE much to my delight.

my current problem is small, but i can't seem to make it go away.  i have 
compiled kernel version 2.4.6 with my machine specs right into it, so boot 
time is faster and all my hardware works.  sound works as root, but as my 
normal user account it flubs.  the sound programs either say they don't 
recognize a device or that the device is not responding.  if i flip into root 
and run the same program it has no problems!!  is there something wrong with 
my user permissions?  i appreciate the input!

please reply directly to me, i know it's a hassle but i am not subscribed to 
the list :-/