No sound on laptop...gateway 3018gz

[kaoscoded]

laptop: gateway 3018gz
audio: ac '97 compliant intel
version: lucid puppy 525

linux hobbyist here...not a newbie but not a pro either

everything works perfectly except the sound...lucid puppy installed on 2gb memory stick...boots perfectly

tried setting up a swap file on 12gb partition /dev/sda1 of internal drive because i had read somewhere that puppy needs a swap file for audio to work when booting from a memory stick but no success...perhaps i set up the swap file incorrectly?

any suggestions? thanks in advance...