Greets Kelvyn It would seem that there is more wrong with your machine than that which can be sorted out simply via e-mail messages.
I'd suggest that you might care to bring it and the monitor and cables to the meeting on Tuesday - tomorrow - I'm sure somebody will be able to sort the thing out while Nick and I are rabbiting on about compiling and kernels. A volunteer please? In the mean time, you might care to try a couple or three quick tests. Can the machine be booted off a live CD? Any rescue or install CD would be ok. It does not have to be Knoppix. Has the machine suddenly stopped accessing the CD after doing so ok in the past? Are you running the kernel plus modules as supplied by the distributor, or is this a kernel you have compiled yourself? Is the cdrom drive an old one ( made during the previous century ) into which you are putting recently cut writable CD images? If this CDROM drive has never worked since you installed it, have you checked that you have the master/slave jumper in the correct location? Recapping some of what others have said:- Checked the seating of the the IDE ribbon cable plugs? Checked that the IDE cable is not broken? Is it in the correct way around? It is sometimes possible to insert it upsidedown. Got the power connected? Seems a silly question I know, but it is possible to forget, or that the power cable is damaged. -- CS
