the -f forces the extentions to load at boot. I use at every boot, you can add it to com.apple.Boot.plist which is the boot file at it will work auto. I use -f -v

You can try reinstalling ATY_Triakis.kext with kext helper it may have a permissions problem.

my ac97 audio always works perfect, and the driver is much better than windows, Check if the kext is installed, and install it manually if its not.

If you look you may be able to find a pkg install for it.

Good luck