Hi,
I'm also despairing with Alsa and kernel 2.6.
I have built it as a module, but i think it doesnt matter.
You have alsa built-in in your kernel so you dont need to download the driver again.
Also dont forget to check if the modules are loaded.

For my part they are loaded and i am in the audio group but there is no sound at all. Have i forgotten something. Is there any howto?