My motherboard (Abit BE7 [non SATA, non-RAID]) currently has no available
EIDE connectors. On the Primary channel, I have two hard drives. hda holds
Windows 98SE, Windows 2000 (yes I know it is a waste and I look forward to
the happy day when I can put the space to better use) and a few extra
storage partitions. hdb holds Mandrake Linux and several storage
partitions. On the secondary channel I have a CD burner as master, and a
DVD reader as slave.

I'd like to get a large HD and use it to install more versions of Linux,
and for additional storage. I just got SuSE 9.1 Professional in the mail
with the Novel free technical resource kit and I'm eager to install it.
Also, I'd like to try a permanent HD install of Knoppix.

So my questions are, if I buy a retail box HD (Western Digital, most
likely) that is larger than 137 GB, shouldn't a drive that size come with
a PCI IDE card in the box that will work even though my current IDE
connectors are all in use?

Will I be able to install additional Linux versions to hdc and continue
multi boot with Lilo? Or would I need to use the new drive for storage
only and will I need to contain my additional Linux installs to hdb (or
hda)?

I know I could solve this problem and free up an IDE connection by buying
a new DVD burner / CD burner combo and a new hard drive, but buying a DVD
burner and a new hard drive is a little more than I want to spend right
now.

--
Tony Sivori