fresh install lmde xfce has buggered audio

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i've posted about internal problems trying to make this work, but i'd very much like a real fix for this.

this is the last part of the problem for me:

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=199&t=105743

but my main concern is related to this:

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=104507

but this time i can't do the "install a dozen media player" part nor do i have any interest in doing that, so all i can really say is i don't think pulseaudio works oob.

i've followed at least a 1/2 dozen uninstall pulseaudio threads and not 1 of them completely removed it.

can't seem to get/find an official answer as to how to fix this nor as to what i should be using (after hacking out pulseaudio i never had any real issues using alsa .. and didn't SEEM to have any issues if i reinstalled pulseaudio).

please help as this has been my #2 os crash point and aside from the slider control, i never had any issues with this on previous spins or distros.

here is what is indicating the issues for me currently:

1) the panel icon is greyed out, and i have no controls visible (so just what am i supposed to select for sound card & controls) but i still hear music when i play a .mp3 with banshee (previously i had to hack out pulseaudio in order to hear anything, but could not say as to why i don't now).

2) if i open /usr/share/sounds and play a file with banshee, it plays; however, if i go to my login window preferences - accessibility tab and select a sound and try to play it, bupkiss.

3) if i open banshee and adjust the volume using it's slider control i get some odd behavior from the notification box for the sound card/mixer .. if banshee's volume is at 3% the notification will indicate the volume is at a whopper 87% - and it reaches 100% when banshee volume level is at 22% .. and it's different every time i boot, but consistently starts around 75-85%.

i seriously never had an issue with audio before lmde xfce spin before this one that's posted last, some real help here would be awesome!