gentoo kernel AMD64 2.6.7-11 no sound for events

[Guy Rouillier <guy-rouillier speakeasy net>]

I asked this on the gentoo multimedia forum to no avail.  When I startx
into gnome, I hear the startup3.wav file.  Furthermore, I can use both
aplay and esdplay to play any random .wav file, and alsaplayer to listen
 to CDs. However, I have no sound for events, other than the login and
logout events. When I use the Desktop Preferences - Sound applet, I hear
nothing when I click the play button with an event highlighted.

Any ideas, anyone?  I have Mandrake 10.0 AMD64 kernel 2.6.3-9 running on
this same laptop, and everything works fine there.

-- 
Guy Rouillier