O M G

I got it to work !

I blew away the alsa-knoppix and the 1alsa files found in /etc/modutils - and did a update-modules -=- and after examining the modules file, and the modules.conf files - everything looked like it did before I did all of this - considering I was forced with a "complete reinstall" - I really didn't have anything to loose here - upon reboot - no messages, and the system is back to its normal (modem usable) state

I took the time, to get the drivers from ALSA, the base, utils, and such, from deb, did the compile, and dpkg, and was able to fire off alsamixer on the first go...

So, now I need to add the aumix -w 75 -v 75 right? BTW - i'm doing an apt-get install of the alsamixergui as I speak...

From what I know, you need to run the alsamixer (or aumix) to "prep" the audio on boot right? Does this "prep" set the volume levels, or is it just to get it running? I tend to like my volume settings on specific things, just a certain way: Master=75, PCM=75, Line=(record) and 75, and CD=75 - if I set these up in the mixer, will they "hold" between shutdowns? They did when I used whatever sound I had before.

After all of this, I think EVERYONE in this thread has been fantastic, thank you to everyone

Cuddles
ps -=- I haven't tried aplay yet, I haven't had the chance, besides, with all the hell that broke loose, I deleted all of my wav files to test with... But, considering that alsamixer is up, I think it is ok [?]