can't load linux on PIII server w/ Adaptec SCSI card
 

Sorry for the lack of lspci (et al) output, but I can't get ANY distro to boot install/boot. I have tried live CD's including Mepis, Knoppix 4.0, several versions of Damn Small, Puppy 2.11, etc. Tried installing every version of Fedora from Core 1 onward... well, you get the gist.

The system is a Tyan s2507 tiger 230 mobo w/ 2 PIII cpu's (Coppermine) and a VIA VT82c686b.
The cdrom is a scsi, and shares a controller w/ a tape drive. On a separate card are sda/sdb. Is this card is a raid controller? It is an Adaptec.
I was told that the Adaptec card couldn't be used under linux, but several installers seem to see it and load a driver. The chip # on the scsi card are as follows:
Adaptec AIC-7890AB
Intel 21152AB
Adaptec AIC-7815G

The really tough part is that different install attempts seem to fail at different points. I'm really stuck. Any help would be appreciated. Let me know what other info would be useful and I will proceed to gut this sucker if need be.

I have personally never had any luck getting an adaptec scsi card to work in any linux system.
and I've been using linux since 1998, so it's been an ongoing issue with adaptec hardware.

I got the same impression from the local LUG. looks like I'm off to e-bay to find an adapter that works...
Thanks for your reply.:)