FC3 Mixer disappeared

First, I *do* have sound. Realplayer works, and system-config-soundcard properly detects the card (Intel 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller on my Thinkpad T41), and loads what look like the right modules:

$lsmod
...
snd_intel8x0m          19524  0
snd_intel8x0           35776  2
snd_ac97_codec         74872  2 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm_oss            55072  1
snd_mixer_oss          19712  2 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm               111752  4 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              36356  1 snd_pcm
snd                    62564  7 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore              11744  3 snd
snd_page_alloc          9860  3 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
...

Second, this all worked a day or so ago.

But today, my GNOME panel volume control drops back to zero whenever I try to move it. And opening the mixer app produces an error: "Sorry, no mixer elements and/or devices found." (The mic volume control that I added to the panel still appears functional--i.e., it stays where I put it.) Reinstalling the volume control applet doesn't have any effect.

All I did that I know of was reboot. Rebooting again did not solve the problem.

Any idea where to look for what broke?

TIA.

--
		Matthew Saltzman

Clemson University Math Sciences
mjs AT clemson DOT edu
http://www.math.clemson.edu/~mjs