> Please be gentle as I'm new to this.  I've used DOS since v2.x and it
> took a team of horses just to pull me into Windows.  So, when I
> decided to venture into something better, namely Unix, I thought it
> shouldn't be too difficult.

Well, there are a lot of mindset changes you'll have to make to really
get your head around it, but I think perhaps we can ease you into it
bit by bit. :-)

> I'm tried to install NetBSD on an older system,but encountered a
> problem.  Here's the layout of the box...
[trimmed for relevance -dM]
> SoundBlaster Vibra 16bit (with IDE interface)
> 1.2GB Hard Disk (C- Drive)
> 1.0GB Hard Disk (D-Drive)
> Creative CD5220 CDROM
> Floppy/HD Controller - Who knows.. 16bit noname

You don't say where everything is connected, except for referring to
"the CDROM on the SB IDE interface"; am I correct to infer that the
"Floppy/HD Controller" has only one IDE chain, and it has the two disks
on it?

> Now the problem was it couldn't identify the CDROM on the SB IDE
> interface.

This doesn't much surprise me; such things often have to be explicitly
configured, especially if (as I suspect) this is a pre-PCI machine.

> However, I need to hook up D-Drive again and put the CDROM back on
> the soundcard IDE interface.  What worries me, is I know NetBSD is
> going to notice the change, but is it going to be able to figure it
> out and access the CDROM while hooked up to the sound card IDE
> interface?

Yes, provided your kernel finds the soundblaster's IDE interface; not
otherwise.

> Will it need to access it because D-Drive has been added?

I'm not sure what you're asking here.  Perhaps it's just because _I_
don't understand the mindset _you're_ coming from, but I can't see any
reason why adding the other disk would make it need to access the CD
drive, which leads me to suspect you're actually trying to ask
something else and phrasing it in a way that's confused me.

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