This is an excerpt from the output of the lsmod command run under KNOPPIX on an HP Pavilion a220n desktop computer:
snd_intel8x0 31260 3 snd_ac97_codec 88352 1 snd_intel8x0 8250_pnp 12288 0 snd_ac97_bus 6016 1 snd_ac97_codec snd_pcm_oss 38176 0 snd_mixer_oss 17536 1 snd_pcm_oss snd_pcm 73220 4 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss snd_timer 22148 2 snd_pcm shpchp 37032 0 i2c_nforce2 9856 0 snd 44768 10 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
For some reason neither KNOPPIX 5.0.1 nor the Debian install to the hard disk [provided by the KNOPPIX LiveCD via the knoppix-installer command] seem to be able to get the audio input functionality of the sound card working.
Audio output works okay when the Sound System is enabled via the KNOPPIX control panel, but does not appear to work under the Debian instantiation of KDE.
No version numbers captured yet from the Debian kernel, or the versions of KDE involved (which are different between the Debian install (with updates) and the KNOPPIX distro.