[linux-audio-user] Alsa issues

[Terrence]

Hello, all,
	I realized why messages I've sent here probably haven't been
coming through, so I'm trying one more time.  I've been trying to use
alsaconf to set things up so I can use MIDI softsynths.  When I ran
alsaconf, it couldn't find my sound card, and my screen reader, which
has been playing fine through my sound card so far, wouldn't come back
up.  I'm using a variant of Knoppix modified for blind accessibility,
running on an e-machines 433MHZ PC with about 160 gig of ram.
When I rebooted, the screen reader worked fine.  What do I need to do to
get alsa working straight?

Thanks,
Terrence