diagnosing possible hardware problem

[Felix Miata]

I've been having all kinds of strange problems installing and using ubuntu
and its various desktop flavors on 3 i440BX systems for over a week and a
half. Most of the problems seem to be connected to one of the 3 HDs I've
used, even though I've run the Seatools diagnostic program on it, which
claims there is no problem with the device. A new 80 pin cable changed
nothing. I've also run memtest86+ for over 8 hours without errors. The
various errors include, but are not limited to:

installer packaging errors
installer can't find kernel to install
apt-get/dpkg errors (e.g. tarfile corruption)
file not found errors
CRC errors

I was not able to get a working installation without using the installation
kernel parameters acpi=off and ide=nodma. I haven't been able to find any
clues in /var/log anywhere, but I tend to think most of the errors are (old)
hardware compatibility issues with their main root in the Seagate HD.

Right now I have the Xubuntu desktop running, and booted on acpi=off and
noapic kernel parameters. Is there something already installed or that I can
apt-get that will rigorously test the hardware and report any errors it
finds? Is there one particular situation that results in CRC errors?

TIA
-- 
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him,
and I am helped."				Psalm 28:7 NIV

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409

Felix Miata  ***  http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/