sound configuration problem

[CRRoot at dstsystems.com]

I tried to get Linux to recognize my sound card last night.  I have an ESS
ES1888, and am running Mandrake-Linux 6.  When I ran sndconfig, the closest
selection in the card list was an ES1868 so I thought I would try it out.

Well, it didn't work.  Not only was the volume set to wake-the-baby level
(literally), but everything  so-so-sou-n-n-n-d-d-s li-li-li-ke-ke-ke
th-th-th-is-s-s.  So I restored /etc/conf.modules to its original content.
Now when I try to open mixer to adjust the volume, it pops an error saying
that I'm not authorized to run it, and suggests that I log on as root and
try  chmod a+rw mixer*.  Of course, I already am logged on as root so I can
run sndconfig.  But I tried it anyway, and I still cannot open mixer.

Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Thanks,
Cory