I just had a system become unbootable -- will post hardware details when I get it bootable again. Basically, sndconfig modified modules.conf (conf.modules?) before testing the sound module it detected. It loaded the module, which hard-locked the box. On reboot, it fsck'd and proceeded to load the sound module in an early initscript, then locked again. The box is a VIA AC-97 686 box (k6-2, FIC VA-503A mobo). I'll post details from lspci when I get the box bootable.
OK, box is booting again. Had to do a linux init=/bin/bash since initscripts was loading the sound module for single-user. sndconfig and lspci report VIA VT82C686 (Apollo Super AC97 Audio)
Can you post the output of 'lspci -v' for that card (specifically, subvendor/subdevice ids?)
Here we go: 00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C597 [Apollo VP3] (rev 04) Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 16 Memory at d8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 1.0 00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C598 [Apollo MVP3 AGP] (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Flags: bus master, 66Mhz, medium devsel, latency 0 Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0 I/O behind bridge: 00009000-00009fff Memory behind bridge: dc000000-dfffffff Prefetchable memory behind bridge: e0000000-e1ffffff 00:07.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super] (rev 1b) Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686/A PCI to ISA Bridge Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 0 00:07.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586 IDE [Apollo] (rev 06) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP]) Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32 I/O ports at a000 Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2 00:07.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586B USB (rev 0e) (prog-if 00 [UHCI]) Subsystem: Unknown device 0925:1234 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 10 I/O ports at a400 Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2 00:07.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586B USB (rev 0e) (prog-if 00 [UHCI]) Subsystem: Unknown device 0925:1234 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 10 I/O ports at a800 Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2 00:07.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super ACPI] (rev 20) Flags: medium devsel 00:07.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super AC97/Audio] (rev 21) Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 5 I/O ports at ac00 I/O ports at b000 I/O ports at b400 Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2 00:09.0 SCSI storage controller: Distributed Processing Technology SmartCache/Raid I-IV Controller (rev 01) Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 9 BIST result: 00 I/O ports at 0500 Expansion ROM at e2000000 [disabled] 00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82557 [Ethernet Pro 100] (rev 08) Subsystem: Intel Corporation EtherExpress PRO/100+ Management Adapter Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 5 Memory at e4100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) I/O ports at c000 Memory at e4000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) Expansion ROM at e3000000 [disabled] Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. Voodoo 3 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [VGA]) Subsystem: 3Dfx Interactive, Inc. Voodoo3 AGP Flags: 66Mhz, fast devsel, IRQ 11 Memory at dc000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) I/O ports at 9000 Capabilities: [54] AGP version 1.0 Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 1