Alsa soundloop unable to input sound to alsa apps

[Drasica]

I followed http://alsa.opensrc.org/Jack_and_Loopback_device_as_Alsa-to-Jack_bridge, and it has been working well for basic things (e.g. audio from the browser to jack), but I didn't notice until recently that alsa doesn't seem to be able to receive audio from jack....

perhaps I am misunderstanding something, but I should be able to pipe sound from a jack output port into the ploop, and then send the cloop to my firewire board, and voiala!

(the simpler cloop->firewire has been working...it's just the capture business that seems to be fishy)

My key motivation is that I need to get a mic input from my soundboard into skype.

Thanks for any help!