PCI woes?

[Brian Koontz <briank crss gar esys com>]

I need some assistance in trying to determine if MetroX's refusal to 
recognize various PCI video cards is a shortcoming of MetroX or an
outdated kernel.

I've tried two PCI cards:  A Matrox Millennium II and an ATI
Pro Turbo 3D, and an old ISA Tseng 4000 card.  I've since discovered
the MII is expressly *not* support by MetroX (at least according to
RH's hardware list). 

I'm running on an FIC PA-2011 m/b.  The VIA chipset is not recognized
by the current kernel (2.0.32), but I do notice it's directly supported in
2.1.71.  Ditto with the ATI card.  

When I attempt to run 'startx' under MetroX, a message is logged stating
the screen probe failed.  The probe finds the chipset, no RAM, and no VGA.
All works well with the ISA card.

I guess my question is, does the kernel have to have explicit support for
a particular PCI device for that device to work properly?

This whole thing really torques me, because every video card vendor has 
their 3D version crap on the shelves, and the older cards are nowhere to
be found.  I just want a PCI card that works.  Is that really too much to
ask?

OK, I lied.  That was three questions.

  --Brian