alsa

update: these days it should be sufficient to activate alsa in /etc/rc.local

here's an article how to set the default soundcard: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Advanced_Linux_Sound_Architecture#Set_the_default_sound_card

it also has info about test programs.

alsactl init X, where X is the number of the soundcard (usually 2) and setting the default soundcard as described in the above article:

~/.asoundrc (or /etc/asound.conf)

defaults.pcm.card 2
defaults.pcm.device 0
defaults.ctl.card 2

the device and card id of the soundcard can be seen with aplay -l

see issue #26