Just so I covered all bases, I rebooted into windows
and actually made sure the 2496 produces sound (no false connections etc.). Strangest
thing, I can route xmms to ardour2 and see the signals coming in (leds bouncing), but
actual sound coming out of the 2496 alludes me.
I fear this is something simple but it could very well be forest through the trees
scenario.
A bit further down the hierarchy:
Is everything unmuted in alsamixer?
type alsamixer -c 1 (according to your /proc/asound/cards the
2496 is the 2nd entry, numbered 1), unmute all channels (typing 'm')
and pull up the volume faders.
best,
d