Howto boot kernel 2.6 + pcmcia nic

[Michael Rommel]

Dear all,

since hours I'm struggling to get the following done:

 - Laptop with an unformatted 2.5" harddrive
 - 3COM 3C574 PCMCIA NIC
 - Floppy

I could load grub/kernel from the floppy, equipped with
rootnfs, pcmcia kernel driver, nic driver and ip autoconfig.

I noticed that there was a thread on this list a while ago 
between Andrew Morton and David Hinds that the order of 
initialisation prevents the kernel from recognising the nic
at the time of ip autoconfiguration.

Since then kernel 2.6 came out but I couldn't find anything
about this problem and I am still stuck. Even using kernel
2.4.27 and the pcmcia_cs package doesn't work, because the
prinitrd-built initrd is larger than one floppy... PXE is not
available with the nic; etherboot and netboot do not have drivers
for it, pxegrub is based on etherboot - I'm running out of ideas
right now.

Am I missing something obvious? I a fairly experienced using
linux and ready for any suggestions, as long as they do not
involve the step of installing the 2.5" disk in another computer,
simply because I have none with a suitable interface and don't
really want to invest in another converter...

Please answer cc: to this personal address - I am not subscribed
to the list.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!!

  Michael.

-- 
Michael Rommel, Erlangen, Germany