Ben Steeves wrote: >> 2. How to make sure my sound system is using ALSA ? > > I believe, though I may be mistaken, that if you're using a 2.6 kernel, > you are definitely using ALSA. I don't think that is quite accurate. OSS is "DEPRECATED" but is still an option if you are compiling a vanilla kernel. Incidentally, the first thing I would try in both cases would be the appropriate redhat-config command, viz redhat-config-mouse and redhat-config-soundcard . -- Timothy Murphy e-mail (<80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366 s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland