I have a quite old IBM Server just hanging around and thought it could be a useful Mandrake box for certain experiences of mine.

The problem is that it has a very old Adaptec SCSI adapter and the only CD-ROM drive (which is miraculous working and booting after 12 years of service) is not compatible with the ISOLINUX.

I decided to go for a network installation trough HTTP (the easiest protocol available).

The network.img boot disk worked fine, the network_driversr.img found and started my ethernet and the server is also found properly. The problem is when it tries to read the first installation file mdkinst_stage2.bz2 from the Mandrake/base folder. It reports a magical "HTTP: error -2" which is obviously very unclear for me.

I know it finds the file because I tried to rename it on the HTTP server and got a response 404 on the log.

For the record: the HTTP server is a Windows home XP with SP2 runnning HTTP through IIS for a development team. Accessing the base folder via HTTP from a remote machine gives me full access to download every single file.

Why is it giving "error -2"? What I am doing wrong?

If memory serves me, only the Official versions of Mandrake support SCSI drives. Are you using an 'Official' version or the 'Community' version?

It's got the term 'Official' stamped on the ISO image....

Anyway, this machine booted perfectly well with a Red Hat 6.0 CD but does not boot with new distros. Do you think the network installation problem could be something related to the scsi disks lack of drivers?