I have a Gecko EduBook made by NorhTec in Taiwan on which I am having significant problems getting Knoppix booted.

If just allowed to boot normally, it works until Tux shows and then nothing happens (forever).

I have tried all of the suggested Tips & Tricks on the Cheat Code page, but still end up with a locked up unit. The best result to date has been using

knoppix pci=biosirq vga=0 debug -b 3

which shows a lot of messages but then apparently switches video mode at which point the screen goes blank and nothing more happens. I have been trying to determine what is the last shown message, but it does not display for very long.

The hardware appears to be somewhat "interesting". According to the NorhTec web page, the processor is a Xcore86 (Vortex86 MX). Internally, it has two SD card slots, which are commonly used as the bootable media and storage. The unit I have has the internal IDE interface connector populated, and I have been attempting to use this to connect a conventional laptop hard drive, onto which I could install some Linux distro. Grub happily booted from a hard drive set-up on a different PC, so I know the interface is working.

I have been booting Knoppix from a USB connected DVD drive, using the 6.01 CD-ROM.

The unit can be supplied with Puppy Linux, and the company has demonstrated that Windows XP can run on the hardware. The demonstration Windows XP SD card I have from the manufacturer boots and Device Manager identifies some of the hardware.

The video adapter is identified as being a "D1010 VGA(R2)", using drivers that are from a company called RDC Technology Inc. It uses interrupt 14 (which surprised me). Video resolution is 1024 x 600.

The network card is identified as being a RDC PCI Fast Ethernet, using drivers that are from a company called RDC Semiconductor, Inc. It uses interrupt 3.

The IDE controller is identified as being an "Intel 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 24DB", using interrupt 11.

The sound controller is identified as Realtek High Definition Audio.

It has 4 USB ports (one internal), and the Windows Device manager lists two "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller" entries (using interrupts 5 and 9) and two "Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller" entries (using interrupts 4 and 7).

Is there any way I can stop the (apparent) video mode switch (which appears to be the main thing that causes everything to stop), such that I can get to a shell prompt and at least probe the hardware in some way?

Better yet, does anyone have any suggestions on boot options that will allow me to actually get Knoppix running "fully"?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.