This is my system config.
It is an Acer Aspire One which I need mostly for video-conferencing.

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root@littledeb:/home/ckosloff# inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: littledeb Kernel: 3.2.0-2-686-pae i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.6.3)
           Desktop: KDE 4.6.5 (Qt 4.7.4) Distro: Debian GNU/Linux wheezy/sid
Machine:   System: Acer product: AOA150 version: 1
           Mobo: Acer model: N/A Bios: Acer version: v0.3310 date: 10/06/2008
CPU:       Single core Intel Atom CPU N270 (-HT-) cache: 512 KB flags: (nx sse sse2 sse3 ssse3) bmips: 3191.88
           Clock Speeds: 1: 1600.00 MHz 2: 800.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0
           X.org: 1.11.3.901 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) tty size: 80x35 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Audio:     Card: Intel N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: 1.0.24
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 3000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Atheros AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) driver: ath5k bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 160.0GB (-) 1: /dev/sda Hitachi_HTS54321 160.0GB 41C
Partition: ID: / size: 148G used: 9.2G (7%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 1.50GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap                                                         
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 68.0C mobo: N/A                           
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A                                       
Info:      Processes: 171 Uptime: 24 min Memory: 414.3/996.7MB Runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 4.6.3 Client: Shell inxi: 1.7.30                                           
root@littledeb:/home/ckosloff#     


The problem is that for some unknown reason, this computer lost the ability to switch automatically to headphones when plugged in, sound continues to flow from speakers.
I also got the "forgotten device" notice from KDE, chose 3rd. option: setup devices.
Connector is set to Analog Headphones.
Lastly, sound settings were starting too low, so set them to 100% and attempted save by the following:

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ckosloff@littledeb:~$ kmixctrl -s
ALSA lib conf.c:1220:(parse_def) show is not a compound
ALSA lib conf.c:1686:(snd_config_load1) _toplevel_:24:26:Unexpected char
ALSA lib conf.c:3406:(config_file_open) /usr/share/alsa/pulse-alsa.conf may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it
ckosloff@littledeb:~$

This is lspci -vv output for audio:
0

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0:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
        Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device 015b
        Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx+
        Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-
        Latency: 0
        Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 45
        Region 0: Memory at 58540000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
                Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=55mA PME(D0+,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+)
                Status: D0 NoSoftRst- PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
        Capabilities: [60] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
                Address: 00000000fee0300c  Data: 4181
        Capabilities: [70] Express (v1) Root Complex Integrated Endpoint, MSI 00
                DevCap: MaxPayload 128 bytes, PhantFunc 0, Latency L0s <64ns, L1 <1us
                        ExtTag- RBE- FLReset-
                DevCtl: Report errors: Correctable- Non-Fatal- Fatal- Unsupported-
                        RlxdOrd- ExtTag- PhantFunc- AuxPwr- NoSnoop+
                        MaxPayload 128 bytes, MaxReadReq 128 bytes
                DevSta: CorrErr- UncorrErr- FatalErr- UnsuppReq- AuxPwr+ TransPend-
                LnkCap: Port #0, Speed unknown, Width x0, ASPM unknown, Latency L0 <64ns, L1 <1us
                        ClockPM- Surprise- LLActRep- BwNot-
                LnkCtl: ASPM Disabled; Disabled- Retrain- CommClk-
                        ExtSynch- ClockPM- AutWidDis- BWInt- AutBWInt-
                LnkSta: Speed unknown, Width x0, TrErr- Train- SlotClk- DLActive- BWMgmt- ABWMgmt-
        Capabilities: [100 v1] Virtual Channel
                Caps:   LPEVC=0 RefClk=100ns PATEntryBits=1
                Arb:    Fixed- WRR32- WRR64- WRR128-
                Ctrl:   ArbSelect=Fixed
                Status: InProgress-
                VC0:    Caps:   PATOffset=00 MaxTimeSlots=1 RejSnoopTrans-
                        Arb:    Fixed- WRR32- WRR64- WRR128- TWRR128- WRR256-
                        Ctrl:   Enable+ ID=0 ArbSelect=Fixed TC/VC=ff
                        Status: NegoPending- InProgress-
                VC1:    Caps:   PATOffset=00 MaxTimeSlots=1 RejSnoopTrans-
                        Arb:    Fixed- WRR32- WRR64- WRR128- TWRR128- WRR256-
                        Ctrl:   Enable- ID=0 ArbSelect=Fixed TC/VC=00
                        Status: NegoPending- InProgress-
        Capabilities: [130 v1] Root Complex Link
                Desc:   PortNumber=0f ComponentID=02 EltType=Config
                Link0:  Desc:   TargetPort=00 TargetComponent=02 AssocRCRB- LinkType=MemMapped LinkValid+
                        Addr:   00000000fed1c000
        Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel


I just got a kernel upgrade from the Debian repo and updated/dist-upgraded whole system.
This did not fix this pre-existent issue.
Thanks much in advance.

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ALSA lib conf.c:3406:(config_file_open) /usr/share/alsa/pulse-alsa.conf may be old or corrupted: consider to remove or fix it

Basically, how fix the above?
I tried renaming and restarting, but file did not recreate.

That file is provided by your distribution, please ask them to fix it.

As for switching to headphones, this sounds like your hardware may need a ALSA Quirk to operate properly. If you open System Settings > Multimedia > Phonon, do you see a "Audio Hardware Setup" tab?

If you do, check there to see if there is an explicit option you can choose to send sound only to the headphones.

When going into Multimedia -> Phonon I get popup warning that internal devices have been removed.
Capture and output by pulseaudio sound server have been removed.
Forget them? answer No, but that does not fix issue.
Regarding your question: the tab I see under Phonon is called Speaker Setup, and connector is set to analog headphones, that is the default.
I see that Pulse is completely messed up, and I think solution is purge it and reinstall.
The corrupt file the system sees is not really the issue, more like the tip of the iceberg.
I think the distro does ship a working Pulse because it was working before.
I will check in synaptic and purge all instances of pulse, including config files, then reinstall and see what gives.
Will google what those alsa quirks are and be back here.

No luck, things are getting worse.
KDE is still trying to forget Pulse, but it has been reinstalled from scratch.
More alsa plugins have been installed.
The Multimedia backend is a mess:
for Phonon -> Device Preference I only see Dummy Output.
for Speaker setup, everything is inactive.
I will have to reinstall system or reinstall the whole sound architecture.

First, have you logged out of KDE, and ensured that Pulseaudio has been stopped/killed after doing so?

Also, I recommend that you remove all ~/.pulse* files/folders.

I don't know how to verify that pulse has been stopped/killed after shutting down X.
I will give your suggestion a shot.
From Synaptic I will purge all instances of pulse.
Next, I will shut down X and use the smxi script (smxi.org) to remove left-overs.
Finally, I will delete all ~/.pulse* files/folders.
Restart and re-install pulse.
However, I have a feeling that this will not work, this netbook is too messed up and there is nothing important in there, I can remove temporarily some stuf I need and put it back.
So, if after going through the above procedure things still don't work satisfactorily I will re-install system from scratch.
This device is used primarily for communication purposes: email, browsing, viewing video tutorials, studying pdf's.
I would need to load Libre Office and KDE office tools like Kontact.
Very importantly, I need to use it for video-conferencing over Skype, so camera and headset should work flawlessly.
So, my question is: after re-installing system, what packages should I load to ensure optimal performance?

In general, once you have installed your KDE distribution of choice, install the applications you need (including proprietary codecs, Flash, etc if needed).

Thanks for answer.
More specifically, is pulseaudio a requirement for sound?
Is cheese the only program that will handle a video camera?

Pulseaudio is not a requirement for sound, but the general experience when using it does tend to be more reliable as KDE can ensure sound policies are applied to non-KDE applications as well.

Other applications (such as Kopete) can also use the video camera, however I am not aware of one which allows you to record using a convenient ui. (You could use ffmpeg or mplayer however).