Knoppix 4.0.2 from 2005-09-23 is able to detect the disk as /dev/sda. This is quite bizarre, since Knoppix is based on Debian and, like the etch installer beta 1, uses the 2.6.12 kernel. The Intel developer who has been putting ICH7 patches into the kernel (the relevant component of the motherboard, I think), says 2.6.12 should be able to handle the hardware.