Re: How to setup sound under Debian

[dircha <dircha@dircha.com>]

linuxnand@netscape.net wrote:
> I would like to understand how to setup sound under Debian. I am
> using a 2.6.6-1-686 kernel and I have noticed that there are no alsa
> modules for this kernel on the online repositories that I am using.
>
> So, how do I set it up? Are there any updated howtos?

I see. You must mean that there is no alsa-modules-* package for 
2.6.6-1-686 in the repository.

I'm not using a Debian kernel image so I cannot say for certain, but 
probably the alsa modules were compiled with the kernel and included 
with the kernel-image-* package you are using (and are now in 
/lib/modules/`uname -r`/[...]

If you are running stable, you'll probably want alsa-base and alsa-utils 
and alsaconf. If you are running testing or unstable, alsaconf should be 
included in alsa-utils.

Install these packages and run /usr/sbin/alsaconf.

From the alsaconf manual page:

  Alsaconf is a simple shell script which tries to detect the sound
  cards on your system and writes a suitable configuration file for
  ALSA. It will try to guess what GNU/Linux distribution you're
  running, and will act accordingly to the standards of that
  distribution, if specific sup- port is available.

  Alsaconf will write a modutils snippet which can be then used by
  modutils to load the correct parameters for your sound card.

If successful, it may significantly reduce the time you need to spend 
getting it working.

dircha