hi again, here are some revised details of my problem! i am actually running the planetccrma kernel 2.4.20-18.1.caps when running alsaconf i get: [root@localhost robcanning]# /usr/sbin/alsaconf /usr/sbin/alsaconf: line 120: modinfo: command not found /usr/sbin/alsaconf: line 127: modinfo: command not found /usr/sbin/alsaconf: line 135: modinfo: command not found then it finds: hdsp Xilinx Corporation RME Hammerfall DSP (rev 32) &#9474; &#9474; &#9474; &#9474; intel8x0 Intel Corp. 82801EB AC'97 Audio (rev 02) &#9474; &#9474; &#9474; &#9474; legacy Probe legacy ISA (non-PnP) chips then it configures snd-hdsp and runs alsasound start at which point things go wrong: Loading driver... Starting sound driver: snd-hdsp /lib/modules/2.4.20-18.1.caps/kernel/sound/snd-hdsp.o: init_module: No such device Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters. You may find more information in syslog or the output from dmesg /lib/modules/2.4.20-18.1.caps/kernel/sound/snd-hdsp.o: insmod /lib/modules/2.4.20-18.1.caps/kernel/sound/snd-hdsp.o failed /lib/modules/2.4.20-18.1.caps/kernel/sound/snd-hdsp.o: insmod snd-hdsp failed done Setting default volumes... =============================================================================== Now ALSA is ready to use. For adjustment of volumes, use your favorite mixer. Have a lot of fun! more info: 03:0c.0 Multimedia audio controller: Xilinx Corporation RME Hammerfall DSP (rev 32) Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping+ SERR+ FastB2B- Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- Latency: 64 Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 5 Region 0: Memory at feae0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K] [root@localhost robcanning]# dmesg mory allocator: buffers allocated for 1 cards RME Hammerfall-DSP: no cards found Hammerfall memory allocator: buffers allocated for 1 cards RME Hammerfall-DSP: no cards found which is then repeated a number of times thanks, rob