Problem with certain hardware modules

[el3ktro]

Hi,
I'm trying to install Ubuntu & Gentoo o my new Averatec 2460, it's an Intel Centrino based notebook with Core Duo. Ubuntu won't load at all, and the Gentoo install CD will only load if I boot with "nodetect nohotplug". Of course after doing that, it doesn't find any hardware - and I'm not sure which modules I have to load. Is there a way to just test all existing modules, so I'd see which module will hang the system and I can avoid loading it with the "noload" boot option? One thing I know for sure if that the onboard NIC is causing problems, it's a RTL8139 chip, and the "8139too" module hard-freezes the system. But if I don't load this module, something else screws up the system during hardware detection. It says "Detecting hardware", then it shows the CPUs and the nothing. I've already tried "nopcmcia nosound" etc. to no avail.

So is there a way to load a very minimal Gentoo, and then just load each of the available modules so that I know which one causes problems?

Tom

[el3ktro]

Another related question: Is the "noload" boot option a Gentoo-specific option or is it also available on Ubuntu? If I know which modules hang the system, I could also tell Ubuntu to not load them ...

Tom