Fedora Core 4 and my laptop

Hello all, I'm still relatively new to linux, so forgive me ahead of time. I've been trying to get a couple different distros of Linux to work on my system and been comming up with some wierd problems.

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Hello all, I'm still relatively new to linux, so forgive me ahead of time.
 
I've been trying to get a couple different distros of Linux to work on my system and been comming up with some wierd problems. I started with Slackware, and am now using Fedora Core 4.
 
The problem is, that both flavours don't seem to recognize my USB ports, Integrated Ethernet, or my sound card. Now I know all of these are fully functional because they worked under Windows before hand.
 
The wierd thing is, when the laptop boots, my USB mouse turns on, and acts normally until it comes to the part where it says "Ok, booting kernel..." then it turns off.
 
All the hardware is SiS. And the laptop seems to know it exsists, but for some reason can't use them. I'm reeally lost, even my Linux Guru friend couldn't help me, (Not that he tried very hard, thusly is why I am here).

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Append: The kernel has all of the needed drivers properly loaded. The system recognizes that the hardware is there and what it is, but nothing seems to be working.
 

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Could you post the make and model of your laptop?
 
Did you configure your ethernet and sound during the installation at the hardware configuration screen?

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Yeah, sorry about the delay there. Been moving.
 
Anyways, the laptop is a no-name manufacturer basically called MDG.
 
And yes, I have. It gave me the option to setup my IP and gateway and all that good stuff when I first installed it.
 
When I try to do an ifup on eth0 it gives me the error:
 
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Invalid Argument
Failed to bring uo eth0.
 
Under Gnome when I go into System Tools -> Hardware Browser
it sees all the devices, correctly identifies them, ect.
 
Ethernet: SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet
Sound Cards: SiS Sound Controller
USB devices: SiS USB 1.0 Controller
SiS USB 1.0 Controller
SiS USB 2.0 Controller
 
 

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What model number is it? Do you have a link for the users manual? The MDG site is not very helpful.
 
Most likely, you can get things to work by altering the bios settings a little. There are two settings that I can think of right off. Try disabling PNP OS in the bios. It can usually be found under PNP Configuration in the bios, or advanced features.
 
You may also need to boot with the noapic kernel command. This is not unusual with some laptops. Are you using the Grub bootloader?

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Alrighty, well. First thing: The BIOS settings availiable are limited. It basically appears that they want you to have to goto them for any hardware changes because all that is editable in BIOS is Date/Time, Quiet Boot, Parallel Port info, the Boot sequence, and the USB mass storage. Once I find the CD with the user manual on it I can post the user manual on my site and give you a link to it. Unfortunately I have no idea where to start looking, just moved and all that.
 
And yes, I am indeed using Grub.
 
The BIOS setup is Insyde SCU. Doesn't really give any more information then that.

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Append: noapic didn't make any difference whatsoever