I am have used Linux in a work environment before, but this is my first time setting Linux up on my main computer. When I boot Knoppix 3.4 with the 2.4.x kernel, everything seems to load up ok, but not with all the drivers. My sound does not work, which is ok because I do not need it for what I want to do, the video works at 1280X1024X24 but the exact drivers are not loaded, and my SATA drive is not detected. I want to do a hard drive install, but since the SATA drivers do not load I cannot. (I have a 80GB SATA drive, 60GB partitioned NTFS with Windows XP Pro, and the rest of the space I have reserved for Linux.) When I try to boot with the 2.6.5 kernel the boot-up freezes after trying to load, or scan for, the second SCSI module. When I tried to boot with the option no{scsi} it still freezes at that point.
I have heard that if I compile my own kernel I can make the SATA controller work under linux, but how would I do this with Knoppix? Could I boot into Knoppix 3.4 with the 2.4x kernel, then compile my own kernel with 2.6.5 and the SATA drivers, then burn it all onto a CD so it would be bootable like the Knoppix 3.4 cd? And if so, where is a good place to search for the SATA drives and a guide on how to compile your own kernel. Thanks for all your help. (Here is the output for lspci -v.)

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (different version?) (rev c1)
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:00:00.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 1 (rev c1)
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation: Unknown device 0c17
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel

0000:00:00.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 4 (rev c1)
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation: Unknown device 0c17
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel

0000:00:00.3 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 3 (rev c1)
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation: Unknown device 0c17
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel

0000:00:00.4 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 2 (rev c1)
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation: Unknown device 0c17
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel

0000:00:00.5 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 5 (rev c1)
Subsystem: nVidia Corporation: Unknown device 0c17
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel

0000:00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 ISA Bridge (rev a4)
Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology: Unknown device 0c11
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation nForce2 SMBus (MCP) (rev a2)
Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology: Unknown device 0c11
Flags: 66MHz, fast devsel, IRQ 23
I/O ports at e000 [size=32]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology: Unknown device 5004
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 20
Memory at e8003000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology: Unknown device 5004
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22
Memory at e8004000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:00:02.2 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology: Unknown device 5004
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 21
Memory at e8005000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:00:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AC97 Audio Controler (MCP) (rev a1)
Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology: Unknown device a002
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 21
I/O ports at d000 [size=256]
I/O ports at d400 [size=128]
Memory at e8001000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:00:08.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 External PCI Bridge (rev a3) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=32
I/O behind bridge: 00009000-0000bfff
Memory behind bridge: e6000000-e7ffffff

0000:00:09.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation nForce2 IDE (rev a2) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology: Unknown device 5002
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0
I/O ports at f000 [size=16]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (rev c1) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=32
I/O behind bridge: 0000c000-0000cfff
Memory behind bridge: e4000000-e5ffffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: d0000000-dfffffff

0000:01:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)
Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology: Unknown device e000
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 16
I/O ports at 9000 [size=256]
Memory at e7006000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=64K]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:01:0c.0 RAID bus controller: Integrated Technology Express, Inc. IT/ITE8212 Dual channel ATA RAID controller (PCI version seems to be IT8212, embedded seems (rev 10)
Subsystem: Integrated Technology Express, Inc.: Unknown device 0001
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
I/O ports at 9410 [size=8]
I/O ports at 9800 [size=4]
I/O ports at 9c10 [size=8]
I/O ports at a000 [size=4]
I/O ports at a400 [size=16]
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:01:0d.0 Unknown mass storage controller: Silicon Image, Inc. (formerly CMD Technology Inc) Silicon Image Serial ATARaid Controller [ CMD/Sil 3512 ] (rev 01)
Subsystem: Silicon Image, Inc. (formerly CMD Technology Inc) Silicon Image Serial ATARaid Controller [ CMD/Sil 3512 ]
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 18
I/O ports at a800 [size=8]
I/O ports at ac00 [size=4]
I/O ports at b000 [size=8]
I/O ports at b400 [size=4]
I/O ports at b800 [size=16]
Memory at e7004000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=512K]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:01:0e.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB23 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology: Unknown device 1000
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 16
Memory at e7005000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Memory at e7000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon R350 [Radeon 9800] (prog-if 00 [VGA])
Subsystem: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 0002
Flags: bus master, stepping, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 19
Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
I/O ports at c000 [size=256]
Memory at e5000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=128K]
Capabilities: <available only to root>

0000:02:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon R350 [Radeon 9800] (Secondary)
Subsystem: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 0003
Flags: bus master, stepping, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32
Memory at d8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
Memory at e5010000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
Capabilities: <available only to root>