1. All that stuff which was in modules.conf now goes elsewhere: modprobe.conf or modules.conf.alsa. /etc/modprobe.d/alsa is auto-generated but you may need to add your non-autodetected devices. Check with other for most correct place to add then. I actually have it in both. Those /etc/alsa/modutils/ items are, I believe, relevant to the old kernel. 2. Make sure nothing is loading OSS modules. If you do not have them compiled in the kernel, then they are not there. Some folks run "discover", and handy utiltity (Knoppix does this as well) and this load OSS drivers if they are around. 3. If you are using USB devices, you need to have uhci-hcd loaded, ie. in /etc/modules. Note that I am having problems with this module (which replaces usb-uhci used in older kenrels).