audacity problem: no I/O devices

[Marty <martyb@ix.netcom.com>]

Many upgrades and kernel versions after I last ran audacity,
(now using ASLA with OSS emumation and gstreamer) I tried running
audacity again and now I get an error message:

  There was an error intiializing the audio i/o layer.
  You will not be able to play or record audio.

  Error: Host error

Then in the Audacity Preferences dialog under "i/o devices"
there are *no devices* shown for either "Playback" or
"Recording" devices.  The dialog *does not* allow the user
text input to manually enter the device name, but apparently
insists on having "discovered" any devices beforehand.  The dialogs
show no conception of OSS or ALSA.  The man page does not shed any
light on these problems.  A web search proved fruitless.

All my other sound apps work fine, either thru ALSA or OSS emulation
(xmms, xawtv, gmplayer, ogle, and many many more).

Any help, speculation or random guesses are much appreciated.