Created attachment 142725 [details]
scsconfig.log after running Soundcard Detection gui tool

Created attachment 142726 [details]
scsrun.log after running Soundcard Detection gui tool

Since the update to kernel-2.6.18-1.2868.fc6 it seems to be working so far (4
out of 4 reboots).

Unfortunately the problem still occurs occasionally even with the latest kernel
update.

(This is a mass-update to all current FC6 kernel bugs in NEW state)

Hello,

I'm reviewing this bug list as part of the kernel bug triage project, an attempt
to isolate current bugs in the Fedora kernel.

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/KernelBugTriage

I am CC'ing myself to this bug, however this version of Fedora is no longer
maintained.

Please attempt to reproduce this bug with a current version of Fedora (presently
Fedora 8). If the bug no longer exists, please close the bug or I'll do so in a
few days if there is no further information lodged.

Thanks for using Fedora!

This problem still occurs in Fedora 8.

package details:

kernel-2.6.23.9-85.fc8
alsa-lib-1.0.15-1.fc8.i386.rpm
alsa-utils-1.0.15-1.fc8.i386.rpm

Interesting related messages from dmesg:

snd_seq_midi_event: Unknown symbol snd_seq_expand_var_event
usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio
cannot find the slot for index 0 (range 0-0), error: -16
EMU10K1_Audigy: probe of 0000:00:0b.0 failed with error -12

Note that these messages only appear for the sessions where this problem occurs. 
It is still intermittent, with about 50% probability of failing per boot.

Please post the contents of /etc/modules.conf. There is probably not an entry in
there telling the webcam microphone to use slot 1...

Created attachment 292093 [details]
/etc/modprobe.conf

I assume you mean /etc/modprobe.conf. You are correct, there is no entry
relating to the webcam microphone. 

Relevant lines:
alias snd-card-0 snd-emu10k1
options snd-card-0 index=0
options snd-emu10k1 index=0

Whose responsibility (i.e. which package) is it to add this setting to
/etc/modprobe.conf?

Probably none - I would think that the user should configure that, since they
are the only ones that know the configuration details of their hardware.

Consider a scenario with a typical user, someone's grandmother let's say. She
attaches a new webcam to her computer so she can chat with the grandkiddies. She
fires up the computer, logs in and decides to listen to some tunes. Much to her
sorrow, there is no sound output. Where does she go from here?

I think it is unreasonable to expect a typical user to be able to (1) diagnose
the cause of this problem, (2) search the web for a long time to find an obscure
solution, (3) edit /etc/modprobe.conf and hopefully get the options right. 

Perhaps there's not a an easy, automatic solution available, but a problem
exists none-the less. Some might even dare to call this lack of functionality a
bug. 

Now, what is the best way to fix this? Perhaps whatever detects the available
sound devices at boot up could detect which one has the most capabilities
(recording *and* playback, vs recording only) and make this the primary sound
device (a la the modprobe.conf changes mentioned in previous comments). I'm not
intimate with the details of the sound device auto-detection process, i.e.
whether this is done by kudzu or something in the kernel, so I'm not sure to
which component this bug should apply. 

This message is a reminder that Fedora 8 is nearing its end of life.
Approximately 30 (thirty) days from now Fedora will stop maintaining
and issuing updates for Fedora 8.  It is Fedora's policy to close all
bug reports from releases that are no longer maintained.  At that time
this bug will be closed as WONTFIX if it remains open with a Fedora 
'version' of '8'.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you
plan to fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version' 
to a later Fedora version prior to Fedora 8's end of life.

Bug Reporter: Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry that 
we may not be able to fix it before Fedora 8 is end of life.  If you 
would still like to see this bug fixed and are able to reproduce it 
against a later version of Fedora please change the 'version' of this 
bug to the applicable version.  If you are unable to change the version, 
please add a comment here and someone will do it for you.

Although we aim to fix as many bugs as possible during every release's 
lifetime, sometimes those efforts are overtaken by events.  Often a 
more recent Fedora release includes newer upstream software that fixes 
bugs or makes them obsolete.

The process we are following is described here: 
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers/HouseKeeping

Fedora 8 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2009-01-07. Fedora 8 is 
no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any further 
security or bug fix updates. As a result we are closing this bug.

If you can reproduce this bug against a currently maintained version of 
Fedora please feel free to reopen this bug against that version.

Thank you for reporting this bug and we are sorry it could not be fixed.