I am having problems with soundcard and was wondering if anyone knew where to find a driver for the realtek ac97 onboard chipset. I was considering getting a sb 16 card but would really like to not have to tie up a extra slot. I hear that the 2.6.x kernel supports this much better. I also have an ati 9600se agp and seems to be the only one not supported under this os. Does anyone know where or if there is a driver for this particular card or whether it would be worth my time to get an all in wonder as it is supported. And if I may ask one more question does anyone have a good recommend for a mobo that supports the intel p2.6HT if I decide to upgrade. Be kind with answers I am still wet behind the ears with the linux os. Thanks in advance. P.s I really appreciate this site and for all who answer (wish i knew more so I could help)

The 2.6 kernel uses ALSA. You can get the same level of support with 2.4 by installing ALSA. I couldn't verify if your chipset is supported because I don't think you gave the right information. Look for sound-related stuff in the output of "lspci" and check that against the ALSA support list. ATI offers full support, including hardware OpenGL acceleration, for Radeon >= 8500. You can download the drivers from their website. I don't know about good Intel mobos. The next motherboard I buy will probably be for an Athlon 64.

You can get Linux drivers from Realtek here: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/dlac97-2.aspx?lineid=5&famid=12&series=8&Software=True you need kernel version 2.2.14 or above (I suppose they are in source form so you must compile a new kernel).