is there any reason not having APIC enabled will cripple linux?

Installing linux has always failed for me with
IO APIC enabled in bios
under windows XP i reap massive benefits from this option mainly for my TVCard and choked IDE channels when accessing cdroms.

but linux Mandrake 10 official install discs refuse to boot
and
also Knoppix cd's fail to boot
hanging on the hdx : interrupt lost error
every boot it chose a different IDE device to give this error , so i turned it off and install
is there.

is there anyway i can change the linux install disc to boot with APIC support and stop spitting lost interrupt messages?
allow me to install linux so that APIC can be used


oh and to save using a second thread without fail my computer boots linux and reports eth0 has FAILED during boot but still works once in KDE,
it has happened with only 1 model realtek 10Mbit card (i have 3 of the exact model spare so they arent faulty)
only bothers because it hangs for a fair while before it continues boot.


System specs
AMD Athlon XP 1800+ Thoroughbred B
ECS K7S5A
256MB DDR333
IDE a. Pioneer DVDrom, b Seagate 120gig,
c. Samsung CDrw, d.10gig
Mandrake 10 Official 2.6.3-7mdk kernel
Skywell MagicTV B878 TV tuner (1994 model rebadged as Prolink Pixelview 4E+)

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