No sound KDE

Command not found is pretty indicative of something missing. However, on my Dapper box, where alsa is fine, I do NOT have an /etc/init.d/alsa.

I do have /etc/init.d/alsa-utils. Is that the tool you were looking for?

If you do: alsactl names

what do you end up with in /etc/asound.names?

Ran alsactl names:
alsactl: for_each_card:51: No soundcards found...
alsactl: generate_names:525: probe 0 failed: No such device
alsactl: for_each_card:51: No soundcards found...
alsactl: generate_names:525: probe 1 failed: No such device
alsactl: for_each_card:51: No soundcards found...
alsactl: generate_names:525: probe 2 failed: No such device
alsactl: generate_names:525: probe 3 failed: Permission denied
alsactl: generate_names:538: Cannot open /etc/asound.names for writing

Tried running it as sudo alsactl names but this does nothing...
I to only had alsa-utils, and tried restarting it. It restarted no problem, but this did not fix the problem. I still have no mixers avaible in kmix.

Sorry didn't follow your directions completely. I ran the command you specified as sudo and here is the contents of /etc/asound.names

ctl {
        alsactl1 {
                name hw:0
                comment 'Physical Device - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 with AD1981B at 0x3c080800, irq 11'
        }
}
pcm {
        alsactl1 {
                name default:0
                comment 'Abstract Device - Default Device (Duplex)'
        }
        alsactl2 {
                name plug:default:0
                comment 'Abstract Device With Conversions - Default Device (Duplex)'
        }
        alsactl3 {
                name front:0
                comment 'Abstract Device - Front Speakers (Duplex)'
        }
        alsactl4 {
                name plug:front:0
                comment 'Abstract Device With Conversions - Front Speakers (Duplex)'
        }
        alsactl5 {
                name 'hw:0,0'
                comment 'Physical Device - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 (Duplex)'
        }
        alsactl6 {
                name 'plughw:0,0'
                comment 'Physical Device With Conversions - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 (Duplex)'
        }
        alsactl7 {
                name 'hw:0,1'
                comment 'Physical Device - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - MIC ADC (Capture)'
        }
        alsactl8 {
                name 'plughw:0,1'
                comment 'Physical Device With Conversions - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - MIC ADC (Capture)'
        }
        alsactl9 {
                name 'hw:0,2'
                comment 'Physical Device - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - MIC2 ADC (Capture)'
        }
        alsactl10 {
                name 'plughw:0,2'
                comment 'Physical Device With Conversions - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - MIC2 ADC (Capture)'
        }
        alsactl11 {
                name 'hw:0,3'
                comment 'Physical Device - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - ADC2 (Capture)'
        }
        alsactl12 {
                name 'plughw:0,3'
                comment 'Physical Device With Conversions - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - ADC2 (Capture)'
        }
        alsactl13 {
                name 'hw:0,4'
                comment 'Physical Device - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - IEC958 (Playback)'
        }
        alsactl14 {
                name 'plughw:0,4'
                comment 'Physical Device With Conversions - Intel 82801DB-ICH4 - IEC958 (Playback)'
        }
        alsactl15 {
                name surround40:0
                comment 'Abstract Device - Front and Rear Speakers (Duplex)'
        }
        alsactl16 {
                name plug:surround40:0
                comment 'Abstract Device With Conversions - Front and Rear Speakers (Duplex)'
        }
        alsactl17 {
                name surround51:0
                comment 'Abstract Device - Front, Rear, Center and Woofer (Duplex)'
        }
        alsactl18 {
                name plug:surround51:0
                comment 'Abstract Device With Conversions - Front, Rear, Center and Woofer (Duplex)'
        }
}
rawmidi {
}
timer {
        alsactl1 {
                name 'hw:CLASS=1,SCLASS=0,CARD=-1,DEV=0,SUBDEV=0'
                comment 'Physical Device - system timer'
        }
}
seq {
        alsactl1 {
                name default
                comment 'Default Device - Sequencer (Duplex)'
        }
        alsactl2 {
                name hw
                comment 'Physical Device - Sequencer (Duplex)'
        }
}

Run id to see if you are in the audio group.

$ id
uid=1000(malcolm) gid=1000(malcolm) groups=4(adm),20(dialout),24(cdrom),25(floppy),29(audio),30(dip),44(video),46(plugdev),106(lpadmin),110(scanner),112(admin),1000(malcolm)

Only users in the audio group can use the soundcard.

I was NOT in the audio group. I have added myself to that group and restarted. I seem to have system beeps now, which I didn't before. But kmix still shows no mixers, and when I play sound files there is no output...

Now when I run sudo alsamixer I get the following error:
alsamixer: function snd_ctl_open failed for default: No such device

I do think we are getting closer, I just don't know how to create/setup snd_ctl_open

Check if these packages are installed:
linux-sound-base
alsa-base
alsa-utils
libasound2
gstreamer0.10-alsa

All packages are now installed. The only one that was missing was gstreamer. I installed it, rebooted and still no audio. alsamixer still gives same error too...

Try removing /etc/asound.conf and ~/.asoundrc (Make a backup if you care about the old contents).

Try "ls /dev/snd/"... you should see some files starting with pcm. If not, you might need to load some kernel modules ("modprobe snd_pcm").

I got too impatient and just formatted and re-installed. The problem is now solved. I think adding myself to the audio group would have fixed this, but because of all the other things I had tried I was no longer loading kernel modules. Thanks to EVERYONE for all your help!!!

For your future reference, save lsmod output in order to know which modules are currently loaded in your system.

Hello all:

I'm still working my way through the same problem, can not format and re-install. I follow you all this way, and picking up from Jon's last, I find that I have devices:
controlC1
pcmC1D0c
pcmC1D0p
seq
timer

I have joined the "audio" group, no joy. Any other ideas?

DAvid