At least a partial clue: alsactl is provided by alsa-utils, still at v 0.5 for me (though I see a newer one has made it to sid). The init script checks for version mismatch between alsa and alsactl, and reports the latter doesn't exist if it's not compatible.
- ALSA problems Ross Boylan
- Re: ALSA problems Ross Boylan
- Re: ALSA problems Andrea Vettorello