suprising since I now play Quake 3 under Linux.) You could try libesd-alsa0
instead of libesd0. (My onboard Via sound is supported through Alsa, if this
doesn't apply to you, ignore me!)

I might also try using different kernels for Debian and RedHat. Grab the
latest source, and then apt-get install alsa-source. To compile your kernel,
use make-kpkg. To make things really easy, you should be able to borrow the
config for your current kernel. (My config is at /boot/config-2.2.17 after
installing a kernel.) 

The steps to make-kpkg go something like this:
make menuconfig
make-kpkg --revision=custom.1.0 kernel_image
make-kpkg modules_image (this builds extra modules in /usr/src/modules. The
Debian packages for lm-sensors, alsa-source, i2c, and PCMICA extract to
/usr/src/moduels.) 
cd /usr/src
dpkg -i kernel-image-version.deb modules-image-version.deb
Cross fingers and reboot. 

--
Andy Zbikowski, Sys Admin   | (WEB) http://www.ltiflex.com
LTI Flexible Products, Inc. | (PH)  763-428-9119 (EX) 132
21801 Industrial Blvd       | (FX)  763-428-9126
Rogers, MN  55374           | (PCS) 612-306-6055