[ltp] Recovering sound after Xorg 7 & Kernel 2.6?

[linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org]

After upgrading my Debian testing R32 to Xorg 7, I had some headaches that 
I attempted to resolve via upgrading the kernel to 2.6.15 from 2.4.27.

It's not quite back up to speed, but what I need at this stage is to get 
the sound back.

I've tried recompiling alsa using module-assistant, alsaconf, alsamixer, 
etc.  Progress has been that the KDE startup no longer complains "can't 
find sound server"  I still _hear_ nothing.

Any advice on how to reclaim sound?