Live cards have always had a reputation for being excellent. Sound is one of those things thats a PITA in linux. Most don't run full duplex, some don't work, but a live card is probably your best shot. I've always had both live and audigy's either work out of the box, or work with some hacking, but never been locked up

There are open creative drivers, might wanna poke around there?? Also, some time at google/linux might find your answer. Sometimes its the stupid little things that fix one issue and create a new one ;(
nvidia does offer drivers, check around there downloads, and visit the forums to see FAQ for your distro.
Be nice to yourself, and use standard lower case letters for your name. Also, get in the habbit of treating files the same way, with no spaces, and you will be a happier man in the long run.