there was a discussion about this some time ago. someone indicated that the alsa settings were actually saved properly at shutdown. but just not restored properly. per that recommendation, i added this to my /etc/rc.d/rc.local and the problem went away: /usr/sbin/alsactl restore john Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult can't sail? can't make pictures? no motorcycle? what else is there? - john bray When I have to die for real, I don't want to look back at my life and have just a long string of I should haves. - bob whitney, in WOTI