I'm using the alsa drivers on SuSE 7.2 with a simple SB 16 PC card that was configured using 'alsaconf' (it just writes the required modules to /etc/modules.conf). This usually works ok but an annoying glitch is that every now and then the alsa server 'artsd' seems to lock the audio device (/dev/dsp) for a period of time - it can be 30 secs or longer. Restarting the alsa server with 'rcalsasound restart' doesn't do any good and I just have to wait for it to clear somehow. Note this is not a timing issue (ie the millisecond delay setting in the Control Center) causing occasional dropouts, but an actual 'lock' on the audio device which can persist for minutes at a time. I could revert to the kernel sound modules but I'd like to give ALSA a serious stab as it's the default in 7.2 (and presumably future versions). ---- Tim Harrell