Strange problem with sound card recognition in Foresight 2.0

This is a continuation of the sound problem mentioned in yesterdays post.
It seems the root of the problem is that AlsaMixer does not always "see" my Creative SoundBlaster emu10k1x card and list the WebCams tiny non-playback card as the primary sound card.
Then again, sometimes it IS recognised. So why the difference?
Can't say that I understand but it seems to me it may have something to do with the updates problem I'm currently having in Foresight (122 updates available after I'd been away for a month and I can't seem to get them installed).
This post in the Foresight forum gives some more details.