ALSA driver version 1.0.20 not loaded -> aplay: device_list:223: no soundcards found... -> UNCLAIMED Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:293e] (rev 02) -> no sound on Gigabyte EP35-DS3 in Ubuntu 9.10

Please send us output from step 3 and step 4 from this procedure:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SoundTroubleshootingProcedure

Please also specify the exact model and make of pc that you are using.

Many thanks
Output:
http://pastebin.ca/1650417

I notice:
!!ALSA Version
!!------------

Driver version:
Library version: 1.0.20
Utilities version: 1.0.21

The ALSA reload procedure was done twice.

I also notice there is no "/proc/asound" directory - can't be good.
Also, "sudo alsaconf " reports not found.

Hoping this helps

Hi Mark

Some other information which might be useful. In the reload of ALSA I noticed the following which could be relevant:
-----------------
sudo aptitude -y install alsa-driver alsa-lib alsa-utils alsa-plugins alsa-tools linux-backports-modules-alsa-karmic-generic
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Couldn't find any package matching "alsa-driver". However, the following
packages contain "alsa-driver" in their description:
  linux-backports-modules-alsa-karmic-generic-pae linux-backports-modules-alsa-karmic-generic
Couldn't find any package whose name or description matched "alsa-lib"
Couldn't find any package whose name or description matched "alsa-plugins"
Couldn't find any package matching "alsa-driver". However, the following
packages contain "alsa-driver" in their description:
  linux-backports-modules-alsa-karmic-generic-pae linux-backports-modules-alsa-karmic-generic
Couldn't find any package whose name or description matched "alsa-lib"
Couldn't find any package whose name or description matched "alsa-plugins"
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  alsa-base{a} alsa-utils
0 packages upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 30 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B/1,385kB of archives. After unpacking 2,576kB will be used.
Writing extended state information... Done
Selecting previously deselected package alsa-base.
(Reading database ... 214016 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking alsa-base (from .../alsa-base_1.0.21-0ubuntu1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package alsa-utils.
Unpacking alsa-utils (from .../alsa-utils_1.0.21-0ubuntu3_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for sreadahead ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up alsa-base (1.0.21-0ubuntu1) ...

Setting up alsa-utils (1.0.21-0ubuntu3) ...

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done

Sorry: Step 4 output:
----------------
cat /proc/asound/cards; sudo aptitude install gnome-alsamixer asoundconf-gtk alsa-utils flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound; asoundconf list; aplay -l; sudo lshw -C sound; ls -lart /dev/snd; cat /dev/sndstat; lspci -nn; sudo which alsactl; lsmod | grep snd

cat: /proc/asound/cards: No such file or directory
[sudo] password for christopher:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  asoundconf-gtk flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound gnome-alsamixer
0 packages upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 30 not upgraded.
Need to get 68.3kB of archives. After unpacking 737kB will be used.
Writing extended state information... Done
Get:1 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe asoundconf-gtk 1.6-0ubuntu1 [6,444B]
Get:2 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound 0.0.svn2431-3 [8,160B]
Get:3 http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe gnome-alsamixer 0.9.7~cvs.20060916.ds.1-2 [53.7kB]
Fetched 68.3kB in 2s (32.0kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package asoundconf-gtk.
(Reading database ... 214121 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking asoundconf-gtk (from .../asoundconf-gtk_1.6-0ubuntu1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound.
Unpacking flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound (from .../flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound_0.0.svn2431-3_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package gnome-alsamixer.
Unpacking gnome-alsamixer (from .../gnome-alsamixer_0.9.7~cvs.20060916.ds.1-2_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Setting up asoundconf-gtk (1.6-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound (0.0.svn2431-3) ...
Setting up gnome-alsamixer (0.9.7~cvs.20060916.ds.1-2) ...

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done

asoundconf: command not found
aplay: device_list:223: no soundcards found...
  *-multimedia UNCLAIMED
       description: Audio device
       product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 1b
       bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
       version: 02
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:ec100000-ec103fff
ls: cannot access /dev/snd: No such file or directory
cat: /dev/sndstat: No such file or directory
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller [8086:29c0] (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express PCI Express Root Port [8086:29c1] (rev 02)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2937] (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2938] (rev 02)
00:1a.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 [8086:2939] (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:293c] (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:293e] (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:2940] (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 [8086:2946] (rev 02)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 5 [8086:2948] (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2934] (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2935] (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2936] (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:293a] (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge [8086:244e] (rev 92)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801IB (ICH9) LPC Interface Controller [8086:2918] (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801IB (ICH9) 2 port SATA IDE Controller [8086:2921] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:2930] (rev 02)
00:1f.5 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller [8086:2926] (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation G92 [GeForce 8800 GT] [10de:0611] (rev a2)
03:00.0 SATA controller [0106]: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB362/JMB363 AHCI Controller [197b:2363] (rev 02)
03:00.1 IDE interface [0101]: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB362/JMB363 AHCI Controller [197b:2363] (rev 02)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8168] (rev 01)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ [10ec:8139] (rev 10)
/sbin/alsactl

Please try this ALSA upgrade procedure instead, which is currently better tested:

http://monespaceperso.org/blog-en/2009/08/31/upgrade-alsa-1-0-21-on-ubuntu-jaunty-9-04/

After upgrading using this procedure, please resend output from step 3 and step 4 in this procedure:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SoundTroubleshootingProcedure

Hi Mark

http://pastebin.ca/1651111

Out put from steps 3 & 4 follow:
------------------------------------------

cat /proc/asound/version
cat: /proc/asound/version: No such file or directory
ross@cb-desktop:~$ wget -O alsa-info.sh http://212.20.107.51/alsa-info.sh
--2009-11-01 12:51:33-- http://212.20.107.51/alsa-info.sh
Connecting to 212.20.107.51:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found
Location: http://git.alsa-project.org/?p=alsa-driver.git;a=blob_plain;f=utils/alsa-info.sh [following]
--2009-11-01 12:51:34-- http://git.alsa-project.org/?p=alsa-driver.git;a=blob_plain;f=utils/alsa-info.sh
Resolving git.alsa-project.org... 212.20.107.51
Reusing existing connection to 212.20.107.51:80.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 26584 (26K) [text/plain]
Saving to: `alsa-info.sh'

100%[=======================================================================>] 26,584 22.2K/s in 1.2s

2009-11-01 12:51:36 (22.2 KB/s) - `alsa-info.sh' saved [26584/26584]

ross@cb-desktop:~$ bash alsa-info.sh --pastebin
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/sound, it will be ignored in a future release.
ALSA Information Script v 0.4.58
--------------------------------

This script visits the following commands/files to collect diagnostic
information about your ALSA installation and sound related hardware.

  dmesg
  lspci
  lsmod
  aplay
  amixer
  alsactl
  /proc/asound/
  /sys/class/sound/
  ~/.asoundrc (etc.)

See 'alsa-info.sh --help' for command line options.

cat: /proc/asound/version: No such file or directory
grep: /proc/asound/cards: No such file or directory
cat: /proc/asound/cards: No such file or directory
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/sound, it will be ignored in a future release.
cat: /proc/asound/modules: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access /dev/snd/*: No such file or directory
grep: /proc/asound/cards: No such file or directory
/usr/sbin/alsactl: save_state:1502: No soundcards found...
cat: /tmp/alsa-info.46F5RymWQg/alsactl.tmp: No such file or directory
Automatically upload ALSA information to pastebin? [y/N] : y
Uploading information to www.pastebin.ca ... Done!

Your ALSA information is located at http://pastebin.ca/1651111

Please inform the person helping you.

ross@cb-desktop:~$ cat /proc/asound/cards; sudo aptitude install gnome-alsamixer asoundconf-gtk alsa-utils flashplugin-nonfree-extrasound; asoundconf list; aplay -l; sudo lshw -C sound; ls -lart /dev/snd; cat /dev/sndstat; lspci -nn; sudo which alsactl; lsmod | grep snd
cat: /proc/asound/cards: No such file or directory
[sudo] password for ross:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
No packages will be installed, upgraded, or removed.
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 30 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Writing extended state information... Done
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done

asoundconf: command not found
aplay: device_list:223: no soundcards found...
  *-multimedia UNCLAIMED
       description: Audio device
       product: 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 1b
       bus info: pci@0000:00:1b.0
       version: 02
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:ec100000-ec103fff
ls: cannot access /dev/snd: No such file or directory
cat: /dev/sndstat: No such file or directory
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller [8086:29c0] (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express PCI Express Root Port [8086:29c1] (rev 02)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2937] (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2938] (rev 02)
00:1a.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 [8086:2939] (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:293c] (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:293e] (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:2940] (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 [8086:2946] (rev 02)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 5 [8086:2948] (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2934] (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2935] (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2936] (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:293a] (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge [8086:244e] (rev 92)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801IB (ICH9) LPC Interface Controller [8086:2918] (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801IB (ICH9) 2 port SATA IDE Controller [8086:2921] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:2930] (rev 02)
00:1f.5 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller [8086:2926] (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation G92 [GeForce 8800 GT] [10de:0611] (rev a2)
03:00.0 SATA controller [0106]: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB362/JMB363 AHCI Controller [197b:2363] (rev 02)
03:00.1 IDE interface [0101]: JMicron Technology Corp. JMB362/JMB363 AHCI Controller [197b:2363] (rev 02)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8168] (rev 01)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ [10ec:8139] (rev 10)
/usr/sbin/alsactl

Regards
Ross

Hi Ross,

Please run the following commands in a Terminal:

sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install alsa-base
sudo aptitude install linux-backports-modules-alsa-karmic-generic

Then reboot and retest sound.

Regards,

Mark

Hi Mark

You are sure working hard on this one and which I appreciate very much.

The process above didn't produce sound after re-booting. I have attached the output of those commands below.

Also, output from Step 3 is @ http://pastebin.ca/1652281

Doing a little bit of research I came across the modprobe blacklist concept as maybe having something to do with it. The listing of /etc/modprobe follows:

ross@cb-desktop:/etc/modprobe.d$ ls -l
total 44
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2473 2009-09-12 22:56 alsa-base.conf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 42 2009-10-31 22:15 blacklist-alsa.conf -> /lib/linux-sound-base/noALSA.modprobe.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 325 2009-03-19 03:02 blacklist-ath_pci.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1603 2009-09-16 07:46 blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 213 2009-03-19 03:02 blacklist-firewire.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 662 2009-03-19 03:02 blacklist-framebuffer.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 156 2009-09-12 22:56 blacklist-modem.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1077 2009-09-16 07:46 blacklist-watchdog.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 45 2009-03-06 03:31 dkms.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 16 2009-03-06 05:57 libpisock9.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 115 2009-03-06 08:47 nvidia-kernel-nkc.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 64 2009-11-01 12:35 sound
ross@cb-desktop:/etc/modprobe.d$
-------------------------------------------

The output from the commands you suggested above is shown below:

ross@cb-desktop:~$ sudo aptitude update
[sudo] password for ross:
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic Release.gpg
Ign http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Translation-en_AU
Hit http://archive.canonical.com karmic Release.gpg
Ign http://archive.canonical.com karmic/partner Translation-en_AU
Ign http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Translation-en_AU
Ign http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Translation-en_AU
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security Release.gpg
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Translation-en_AU
Hit http://archive.canonical.com karmic Release
Ign http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Translation-en_AU
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic Release.gpg
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Translation-en_AU
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates Release.gpg
Ign http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Translation-en_AU
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Translation-en_AU
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Translation-en_AU
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Translation-en_AU
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security Release
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic Release
Ign http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Translation-en_AU
Hit http://archive.canonical.com karmic/partner Packages
Ign http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Translation-en_AU
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Packages
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Packages
Ign http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Translation-en_AU
Hit http://archive.canonical.com karmic/partner Sources
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic Release
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates Release
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/main Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/restricted Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Packages
Hit http://ppa.launchpad.net karmic/main Sources
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Packages
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Packages
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/main Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/universe Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com karmic-security/multiverse Sources
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/restricted Sources
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Packages
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/universe Sources
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Packages
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic/multiverse Sources
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Packages
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Packages
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/main Sources
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/restricted Sources
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Packages
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/universe Sources
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Packages
Hit http://au.archive.ubuntu.com karmic-updates/multiverse Sources
Reading package lists... Done

ross@cb-desktop:~$ sudo aptitude install alsa-base
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
No packages will be installed, upgraded, or removed.
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 30 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Writing extended state information... Done
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done

ross@cb-desktop:~$ sudo aptitude install linux-backports-modules-alsa-karmic-generic
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
No packages will be installed, upgraded, or removed.
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 30 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Writing extended state information... Done
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done

Regards
Ross

The issue is that there is still no ALSA driver installed on your system:

Here is the output you sent me:

# ALSA Version
# ------------
#
# Driver version:
# Library version: 1.0.21a
# Utilities version: 1.0.21

Please try upgrading ALSA to version 1.0.21 using this link:

http://monespaceperso.org/blog-en/2009/10/29/upgrade-alsa-1-0-21-on-ubuntu-karmic-koala-9-10/

If that procedure does not work either, then you will need to back up your personal data and do a clean install from the Ubuntu 9.10 LiveCD session.

Actually, I think you already tried the last ALSA upgrade procedure, so it looks like a failed upgrade to Ubuntu 9.10

So I recommend doing a backup of your personal data and doing a clean install from the Ubuntu 9.10 LiveCD session.

Mark Rijckenberg wrote:
> Your question #87686 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/87686
>
> Mark Rijckenberg proposed the following answer:
> Actually, I think you already tried the last ALSA upgrade procedure, so
> it looks like a failed upgrade to Ubuntu 9.10
>
> So I recommend doing a backup of your personal data and doing a clean
> install from the Ubuntu 9.10 LiveCD session.
>
>
That's true. Just doing it again to make doubly sure.

But doesn't it look like the ALSA package has been blacklisted in
/etc/modprobe (if that is the right terminology).

Yes, try deleting the following file by executing this command:

sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-alsa.conf

Then reboot and retest sound.

Thanks for all of your help Mike.

It's a no-go.

So, I'll revert to your suggestion of rebuilding from Ubuntu 9.10 LiveCD session.

Thanks
Ross

Problem solved by switching to the OSS sound system.

I was able to solve this by adding my user too the sound group. See if sudo aplay -l helps.