R S Chakravarti writes ("Bug#898176: sysvinit-core: Sound doesn't work with
sysvinit but works with systemd."):
> Package: sysvinit-core
> Version: 2.88dsf-59.10
> Severity: normal
...
> * What led up to the situation? Starting gnome-alsamixer gave a blank
> screen.
> * What exactly did you do (or not do) that was effective (or
> ineffective)? Tried starting with systemd.
> * What was the outcome of this action? Sound worked.
> * What outcome did you expect instead?
I don't think this problem can be as general as you imply.
I have at least two sysvinit systems where sound works just fine. On
one I am running stretch with sysvinit, systemd-shim, and
systemd-logind. On another I am running jessie with sysvinit and no
systemd components at all, and my user is in group audio.
Try putting your user in group audio, maybe ?
Ian.
