unable to install on adaptec sata raid system

[Mark Copper <mcopper@titaninterface.com>]

Hi,

I am unable to install Debian on a Supermicro server configured with 2
sata harddrives connected to an Adaptec 2420SA serial RAID pci card.

Although the exact sequence of events differ, I have tried both the
stable and testing installers, each with both 2.4 and 2.6 kernel
choices.  In every case installation fails when the installer cannot
find a harddrive to partition.  The "testing" installation, for example,
contains lines
   aacraid: disagrees about version of symbol register_chrdev
   aacraid: unknown symbol register_chrdev
in its dmesg.

What I *can* do: the RAID array works fine under Knoppix and Ubuntu.

Another failure: I partitioned and mkfs'ed the array under Knoppix,
debootstrap'ed sarge, installed and compiled a kernel on the array under
chroot.  But start-up fails when VFS is unable to open sda.

Can anyone tell me what Knoppix does differently than the installer?

Thanks.