Redhat 8.0 Kernel Crashes on Install Boot

[Alan Green <reg redhat com cardboard nu>]

Hi,

I am stuck trying to boot RedHat 8.0 CD#1 to start an install. It
crashes halfway through the kernel startup. 

These are the last few messages on the console (copied by hand, please
forgive spelling errors): 


POSIX conformance testing by UNIFX 
enabled ExtINT on CPU#0 
ESR value before enabling vector: 00000002 


and then the cursor just sits there blinking on the next line, forever,
with the Num Lock light on 

After some googling around, I found a few references to similar problems
to do with APIC (no, not APCI). I found a BIOS setting "APIC
Interrupts", and changed it from Disabled to Enabled. This time, the
boot got a little further: 


POSIX conformance testing by UNIFX 
enabled ExtINT on CPU#0 
ESR value before enabling vector: 00000002 
ESR value after enabling vector: 00000080 
ENABLING IO-APIC IRQs 
Setting 2 in the phys_id_present_map 
... changing IO-APIC physical APIC ID to 2 ... <0>Kernel panic: could
not set ID! 

In idle task - not syncing 


And this time the caps lock and scroll lock lights were blinking. 

I eventually did manage to get the text installer going  by using the
noapic and noprobe boot parameters, but the system was unstable and
appears to have subtly trashed my other OSes - Redhat 7.3 and WinXP. I
suspect that the "APIC Interrupts Enabled" setting is mostly to blame
for the instability.


The PC configuration is: 

- AthlonXP 2000 (a single CPU) 
- VIA KT400/VT8235 Soltek LS-75FRV motherboard (this is not an SMP
motherboard) 
- Seagate HDDs (ST380021A and ST360021A)
- MSI CD-r and MSI DVD 

I currently have RedHat 7.3 up and going, as well as WinXP.


Any help or suggestions much appreciated!

Cheers,

Alan.