I just gave it a go: $ tce-load -i alsaconf
$ sudo alsaconf
...
===============================================================================
Now ALSA is ready to use.
For adjustment of volumes, use your favorite mixer.
Have a lot of fun!
$ speaker-test -c 2 -t wav
speaker-test 1.0.27.1
Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
WAV file(s)
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 2048 to 8192
Period size range from 1024 to 1024
Using max buffer size 8192
Periods = 4
was set period_size = 1024
was set buffer_size = 8192
0 - Front Left
1 - Front Right
Time per period = 2.848214
....
..seems to work OK, (and xmms plays mp3's) maybe one of the alsa extensions wasn't updated on your system?