[Grml] Audio issues with grml HD installation

[Michael Whapples]

Hello,
I have been using GRML installed to a HD for a few months now but have 
started to notice that recently the audio does not always start up (it 
sometimes works without issue but quite a number of times in the last 
week it hasn't). When the audio fails to start it seems to be that the 
modules have not been loaded and using modprobe to load the modules and 
"alsactl restore" brings it back as it should be. Some info about the 
system:
Motherboard is an Asus p4pe with the soundmax onboard sound card 
(snd_intel8x0 is the module for this card). I also have a terratec dmx 
24/96 (module snd_ice1712) installed in the system. When the sound fails 
to start neither card has its modules loaded. I hope this is enough 
system specs.

My questions are:
How can I confirm whether this is a hardware issue or software issue? 
Should I be adding the snd_intel8x0 and snd_ice1712 modules to 
/etc/modules or can I rely on grml's autodetection of hardware? Any 
other suggestions as to the cause of the problem?

One thing which I can't imagine causing the problem but I feel worth 
mentioning as it differs from the norm, is I use speakup 
(www.linux-speakup.org) and recently I switched to using the 
speakup_apollo module (from the software synthesiser module for speakup 
started with boot cheatcode swspeak) for an apollo synthesiser connected 
to ttyS0, although I am haven't noticed any correlation between starting 
using speakup_apollo and the sound issue (however this is through not 
paying attention to exactly when I first noticed the sound issue).

Any help would be welcomed.

Michael Whapples