[plug] Linux 2.6 test2 - modules and sound issues

[Cameron Patrick]

G'day all,

Have been using Linux 2.6 for the last week or so in the hope that it
might stop the frequent crashes I've been experiencing lately (short
answer: it didn't).  It has, however, caused some new problems: modules
aren't loading automatically like they used to (e.g. when mounting a
floppy disc, in 2.4 the floppy.o module would be pulled in
automatically, while in 2.6 it grizzles about "no such device" unless I
load the module by hand).  I'm also seeing a bunch of errors from
modprobe at boot-up - from /var/log/boot:

Mon Aug 18 10:49:23 2003: FATAL: Module /dev/lp0 not found.
Mon Aug 18 10:49:23 2003: FATAL: Module /dev/lp1 not found.
Mon Aug 18 10:49:23 2003: FATAL: Module /dev/lp2 not found.
Mon Aug 18 10:49:23 2003: FATAL: Module /dev/ttyS0 not found.
Mon Aug 18 10:49:23 2003: FATAL: Module /dev/ttyS1 not found.
Mon Aug 18 10:49:23 2003: FATAL: Module /dev/ttyS2 not found.
Mon Aug 18 10:49:23 2003: FATAL: Module /dev/ttyS3 not found.
Mon Aug 18 10:49:23 2003: FATAL: Module /dev/cdrom0 not found.

(The bottom line about the cdrom is repeated about a dozen times.)
Anyone know what's going on there?

Also, sound is very choppy - if I'm doing anything else (even something
as simple as e.g. scrolling a page in Mozilla) and have XMMS playing,
the sound momentarily cuts out.  Presumably this is because 2.6 uses
ALSA which is new and different and special...  Any suggestions on how
to get it to buffer audio output?  (Preferably not suggestions involving
a sacrificial lamb and dribbly candles.)

TIA,

Cameron.