I coincidentally found this lectures about Pd and computer music by Miller Puckette himself. It seems to be a complete course taught at UCSD.

http://pd-la.info/pd-media/miller-puckette-mus171-videos/

I think that you should try to download Pd-extended 0.43.4 again. I believe that the versions on the webpage are nightly builds, so may be the problem that you had, could have been corrected on a newer version. I love the Magic Glass feature (for quickly debugging) and the Autopatch. Also try to update your system before you install it. I hope this time will work for you.

Meanwhile you should also check ASIO4ALL (www.asio4all.com). It's a free ASIO Driver wich will probably recognize your cheap sound card.

I'm a little late to the discussion, but I think these articles of SOS are well explained. They talk about FM and the math in simple terms.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr00/articles/synthsecrets.htm
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may00/articles/synth.htm

Hope it helps!!