Bandoba,

I did a Google search for - "pci=off" linux - and found that your problem is not uncommon. It seems to be a regular problem with users trying to install various versions of Linux, for example! It seems to be a hardware related thing and the solution seems to be to find the right combination of cheatcodes to avoid having to use pci=off. pci=off actually instructs Knoppix not to detect pci devices and I guess your network card is a pci device - which is why it will not work when you have pci=off.

There is an alternative Knoppix cheatcode, pci=bios, which may help in some cases. I have also seen reference to pci=biosirq in cases where there is an interrupt conflict. However, as this is not mentioned on the Knoppix cheat code list, I am not sure of its validity.

What is not obvious is that parameters other than Knoppix cheat codes can be added to the kernel line, because the Linux kernel can accept parameters irrespective of whether it is Knoppix or something else. I think the nomce parameter is a Linux kernel parameter, rather than a Knoppix specific one. I say this because I found a whole web page on the pci parameter. It may be worth trying out some of the possibilities mentioned. You can find this page at:
http://www.bigwebmaster.com/General/...t-HOWTO-4.html

I am not into the mysteries of hardware, but I hope the above mentioned possibilities may lead to a solution to your problem.

ICPUG