I have tried to install FC2 64 bit version on the aforementioned machine. However, everytime I try to boot the pc it hangs on the PCMCIA probing. is there anyway that I can turn this off. Or anything to solve this problem. Are there any other distros that support the AMD64 chip?

scull7; take a look at http://tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX section 5,single list HOWTO,s page 36 of 56pp,s.PCMCIA HOWTO,s and also at
www.ibiblio.org/mdw/HOWTO/Bootdisk-HOWTO section 5 and 6. scroll scroll.

thank you penguin4. I look at the pcmcia stuff and i think that i learned more than i could ever want to know. unfortunately, it seems that the proplem lies with FC2 x86_64. Do you know of any other distros that support the AMD64 using the 2.6 kernal so that i can take advantage of my 64-bit machine. That i probably paid way too much for.

scull7; sorry amd64 is new maybe linux developers still working on it. your input in the hardware database would accelerate process that is the way we get all of this help from. as soon as everybody gets involved developers,compilers,and programmers have most input to work-on to improve smooth transition with apps,firmware drivers and needed device
peripheral software. then VIOLA!

where would I send my info to input it into the hardware database?

scull7; don,t know FC but mdk has page site with hardware it will accept input. maybe FC has similar database?

thank you for all your help penguin4, I look to get that info in.

scull7:

Y O U R W E L L C O M E!!!!

Well after much research, I haven't found any documentation on the bug in fc2. But one of my friends in my apache server class suggested Gentoo linux, and to build my own kernel and pcmcia module. So I am going to give it a whirl next weekend. I will post my results when my 10 hour kernel building journey is over.

Well after beating my computer into submission... I finally got gentoo installed, well it works great.... except for the whole wireless thing. However I would suggest that anyone considering switching to a 64-bit version of linux keep considering.. at least for a little while. Reason? Well because getting the stupid thing to work tests your patience to the limit. It just seems like comprimise after comprimise.... well this works in 64-bit, but you have to use 32-bit emulation for that ...etc, yada yada yada. I mean I like linux n all but I just don't have the time for something like this,(you'd think it should be easier)... work 40 hrs a week and school full time n all. But then again trying to keep windows from catching a cold is an exercise in true frustration. Well anyway, the only thing that I don't have working currently is the broadcom wireless chip. It seems from the gentoo forums that the only way to get it to work is either replace it or, use the linuxent driver. either way it's too expensive for me especially since i'm broke from buying the laptop. But anyway it does seem that suse and gentoo are the way to go with this laptop, gentoo even has a kernal source just for the emachine m690x series laptops. It appears though that unless you happen to have the m6809 dirver version that you cannot use acpi. I have to say though that I would wait for another month or so before trying the 64 bit version, because your not going to see that much improvement as the applications that you run will still be 32-bit.. So until the apps catch up, just keep that chin on your hand.... and hmmm should i or shouldn't i ... for a little longer

scull7; u did it! take a bow! thats what it is all about trial error retry till it is
done. congrats in order. good job. it is a LEARNING process.

I got around the original FC2 problem with the pcmcia probing on my m6809 by using the interactive startup (It prompts you to hit the (I) key.) and then tell it not to probe the pcmcia. I then loaded serviceconf and unchecked the pcmcia option so it doesn't try loading again. Trying to manually activate it after boot does still freeze the system. So no pcmcia for me.

I'm a newbie, but this worked and opened me up to the host of other wonderful puzzles of getting the system to work. But that's for another topic no doubt.

I might try Gentoo... seems it's been a little over a month since it was recommended to wait a month...

I had run into the same PCMCIA issue...disabled the detection and everything ran fine..up till my next reboot. Then I found that my sound is stuck in a stuttering loop, most likely an IRQ issue and that actually booting in FC2 is not as easy...it crashes due to a lack of a floppy drive, which M6809 does not come with. Is there a workaround this issue? If someone could kindly help me with these two problems (I gave up on broadcom wireless working) I'd be very appreciative. I am a Linux newbie and I haven't programmed anything since high school so please be as detailed and descriptive as you can...I am able to follow instructions
Thank you