Alsa/Thinkpad/No such dsp device?

[Duane Morin]

Apparently getting sound working on a Thinkpad 600E is something
of a problem, if my googling is any indication.  Lots of 
people experiencing problems, lots of different solutions.
Here's where I'm at.  Alsa 0.9.3 installed, alsaconf
claims to find cs4236 card and installs module.  alsasound
seems to work correctly and I can bring up the mixer.

But, despite /dev/dsp existing, any attempt to access it
(even something as simple as cat > /dev/dsp just to test)
says "No such device."  I've tried it as root, same
problem (doesnt seem like a permissions thing).  

Perhaps of note -- when I look in /proc/asound, EVERYTHING
except for dev is 0 length.  Check it out (sorry for the long
cut n paste):

[root at localhost asound]# pwd
/proc/asound
[root at localhost asound]# ls -lR
.:
total 0
dr-xr-xr-x    4 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 card0/
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 cards
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 CS4239 -> card0/
dr-xr-xr-x    2 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 dev/
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 devices
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 hwdep
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 modules
dr-xr-xr-x    2 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 oss/
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 pcm
dr-xr-xr-x    2 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 seq/
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 timers
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 version

./card0:
total 0
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 id
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 oss_mixer
dr-xr-xr-x    3 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 pcm0c/
dr-xr-xr-x    3 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 pcm0p/

./card0/pcm0c:
total 0
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 info
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 oss
dr-xr-xr-x    2 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 sub0/

./card0/pcm0c/sub0:
total 0
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 hw_params
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 info
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 prealloc
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 status
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 sw_params

./card0/pcm0p:
total 0
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 info
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 oss
dr-xr-xr-x    2 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 sub0/

./card0/pcm0c/sub0:
total 0
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 hw_params
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 info
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 prealloc
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 status
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 sw_params

./card0/pcm0p:
total 0
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 info
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 oss
dr-xr-xr-x    2 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 sub0/

./card0/pcm0p/sub0:
total 0
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 hw_params
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 info
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 prealloc
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 status
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 sw_params

./dev:
total 0
crw-rw-rw-    1 root     root     116,   0 May 10 09:46 controlC0
crw-rw-rw-    1 root     root     116,  24 May 10 09:46 pcmC0D0c
crw-rw-rw-    1 root     root     116,  16 May 10 09:46 pcmC0D0p
crw-rw-rw-    1 root     root     116,  33 May 10 09:46 timer

./oss:
total 0
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 devices
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 sndstat

./seq:
total 0
-r--r--r--    1 root     root            0 May 10 09:46 drivers


That certainly can't be good, can it?  What would cause this?
I've done make install from alsa, run ./snddevices, all
that stuff.  And dev has stuff in it.  Why is everything
else 0?

Just for completeness, here's some relevant /dev/* listings:

[root at localhost asound]#  cd /dev
[root at localhost dev]# ls -l dsp*
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            9 May 10 09:12 dsp -> /dev/dsp0
crw-rw----    1 root     audio     14,   3 May 10 09:12 dsp0


Any suggestions?  

Duane