[SLUG] Linux 2.4.x woes

[Andrew Macks <andypoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm having two serious problems with Linux 2.4.x which are preventing me
from upgrading and have existed for a long time, so I'm assuming it's
either my fault, nobody cares, or something else.

1. Sluggish Framebuffer

When in console with framebuffer on (either nvidia accelerated or VESA), I
get a *lot* of bus flooding when switching between consoles.  So much so
that it causes the system to lock for up to a second between console
jumps.  This means MP3s skip, hard drive traffic dies, etc.  DMA is on on
the drives, but the behaviour is similar to a lack of DMA (although much
more severe).

Scrolling of text on the console results in the same behaviour.

2. StarOffice/(v)fat Problems

StarOffice 5.2 *refuses* to save files on to vfat partitions under
2.4.x.  It will save fine on ext2, and other programs can still write to
vfat without a problem, but when I go to save some of my business work, I
get a dreaded "General I/O error" or some other not-very-helpful
Microsoftesque error.

These are my 2 major problems with 2.4, there are some little minor things
here and there, but these 2 mean I can not upgrade.

I've tried various 2.4.x kernels over the last 6 months, but what triggers
my sudden problem is that I now have an ATI Radeon card which 'requires'
2.4.x with DRI.  I'm in the process of porting the driver to 2.2.x, but if
anybody could help me, they'd save me much hassle.

Andrew.

-- 

"I don't want a relationship that gives me 30 minutes of pleasure
 and 3 months of despair."