I've finally got my USB/IDE external drive to boot properly.
All I had to do was to disable devfs in the kernel. It needs a little tidying to get the kernel settings and modules just right but it does work.
My next step is an alternative XF86Config-4 for the laptop screen instead of the desktop LCD monitor so that I can try running X.
Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain