Thinkpad T20, Sound Almost Working, But Can't Record

I have installed Suse 10.0 on a Thinkpad T20. Sound works generally. System startup sounds etc. Using kmix I can switch sound input to line or mic, and sounds from both can be heard coming through the Thinkpad's internal speakers.

However, I cannot record from these sources. krecord shows nothing in monitor mode on the input level meters, and nothing records.

When I start Control centre and go to Sound&Multimedia>Sound system, a loud error sound erupts and the message "Unable to start the sound server to retrieve possible sound I/O methods, only auto detection will be available" pops up. Sounds like the problems are connected?

Any suggestions on how to get it to work? I want to record from line in particularly...