File README.SuSE of Package alsa
Sound Driver Loading
--------------------
Since openSUSE-11.0, all sound driver modules are loaded via udev.
The setups in /etc/sysconfig/hardware/* that have been used for 10.0
and later systems are no longer used and simply ignored.
Module Configuration on Linux 2.6 Kernels
-----------------------------------------
The configuration of ALSA modules is written to /etc/modprobe.d/sound
file via YaST. Don't modify /etc/modprobe.conf directly, since this
file may be overwritten when the package is updated.
ALSACONF
--------
The alsaconf script included in alsa-utils package is only for older
distros in general. It still might work in some cases, but avoid it
unless you are really sure why you use it.