[Cialug] Fragile sound support in Debian

[Renegade Muskrat]

Since switching to Debian Sarge i've discovered a rather annoying 
problem. The kernel is updated fairly often (i'm using the 2.4.x 
kernels). Unfortunately, about half the time when a new kernel package 
is released, my sound card stops working. I don't understand why it is 
so fragile. I have a SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, which is an older card, 
but certainly not an unusual one. Since the last kernel update over a 
week ago sound has been broken. I've tried reinstalling the alsa 
packages and rerunning alsaconf to no avail. Alsaconf detects the card 
just fine, but when it saves the configuration it gives lots of errors:

Running update-modules...
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-azx.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-gus-lib.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-hwdep.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-intel8x0.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-mixart.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-mpu401.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-pcm-oss.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-pcm.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-pdaudiocf.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-rawmidi.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-seq-oss.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-seq.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-serialmidi.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-tea575x-tuner.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-timer.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-usb-audio.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-usb-lib.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-usb-usx2y.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-vx-lib.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-wavefront.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-ymfpci.o
depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd.o
Loading driver...
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: unresolved 
symbol mem_map_Rsmp_d65fef63
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: unresolved 
symbol remove_proc_entry_Rsmp_30e0c061
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: unresolved 
symbol create_proc_entry_Rsmp_c8fbffa6
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: unresolved 
symbol vmalloc_to_page_Rsmp_7b95c8b5
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: insmod 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o failed
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: insmod 
snd-sbawe failed


The last few messages look similar to what i get if i do a modprobe:


# modprobe snd-sbawe
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: unresolved 
symbol mem_map_Rsmp_d65fef63
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: unresolved 
symbol remove_proc_entry_Rsmp_30e0c061
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: unresolved 
symbol create_proc_entry_Rsmp_c8fbffa6
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: unresolved 
symbol vmalloc_to_page_Rsmp_7b95c8b5
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: insmod 
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o failed
/lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686-smp/updates/alsa/snd-page-alloc.o: insmod 
snd-sbawe failed


Any idea why Debian's sound support keeps breaking and how to fix it? 
If i ever get sound working again i think i'll put a hold on the 
versions for all packages containing either "alsa" or "kernel" in their 
name... maybe if i never upgrade alsa or kernel it will stop breaking.
                                                -- Dan
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       Daniel Ramaley                  3118 Cottage Grove Ave Apt 8
       dramaley at spatulacity dot cx        Des Moines, Iowa 50311
       http://www.spatulacity.cx/                    (515) 271-5233
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