I have the same problem as a few others on this forum.
Skype does report that there is no sound device at start up.

My sound does work since I do hear myself through the mic, but
I have discovered that I'm only able to play sounds with aplay if
I become root.
If I try to play a sound with aplay as my regular user I get the following
message:

aplay call_in.wav
ALSA lib dlmisc.c:100:(snd_dlsym_verify) unable to verify version for symbol _snd_pcm_asym_open
ALSA lib pcm.c:1714:(snd_pcm_open_conf) symbol _snd_pcm_asym_open is not defined inside (null)
aplay: main:460: audio open error: No such device or address

I also get this message if I try to start skype through artsdsp

What is wrong?

// Daniel

Looks like your Alsa setup is broken...

Are you able to play any sond on your system? (If yes, then probably only through OSS).
In addition, are you running Alsa sound drivers, or OSS ones?

If you are running alsa drivers, you should update drivers and library + tools/utils to the latest version.

I'm able to play play sound with aplay when I'm the root user and
I get the previous error when I'm trying to use aplay as my regular user.

I don't know that sound system I use, how can I check that?

I do have modules for ALSA loaded in the kernel and also for OSS.

I'll try to update my dirvers and libraries.

// Daniel

[quote=json99]I'm able to play play sound with aplay when I'm the root user and
I get the previous error when I'm trying to use aplay as my regular user.[/quote]
I missed that point... then it's just a problem of permission on /dev/snd/* device files.

[/quote]I don't know that sound system I use, how can I check that?[/quote]
Looking at the drivers loaded should be sufficient :-)
You should have /proc/asound folder with all your sound-cards listed in there. (=> alsa)

I now know that ALSA don't work since I usee yast
(A configuration tool) to remove my sound card.
And I still have sound, it has to be OSS since there is
no asound dir. in /proc (had it before).

How can I turn OSS sound off?
Is it possible to use skype with OSS only?

// Daniel

To remove OSS, rmmod all OSS sound drivers. Then reconfigure your sound with Yast (or manually)

You should ba able to run Skype on OSS, but if the OSS drivers do not support full-duplex for your cards Skype won't work correctly. In any case, make sure you have not two applications trying to use same OSS device at same time!