error installing 5.3-stable - WRITE_DMA

[Matthias Buelow]

craig wrote:

> out of desperation, i'm going to install a linux distro that i happen to
> have found laying about (as only linux disks can...)
> if it installs fine, then i would assume that the *hardware* is fine and
> that the problem must lie with fBSD.
> is that a fair assumption?

have a look at dmesg when linux has booted.  I've had a similar 
condition when the freebsd sysinstall would abort with the ICRC error, 
and linux booted, but when I looked into dmesg linux noted the exact 
same error, only didn't consider it fatal.  it only occured once at boot 
anyways.  nevertheless, I'd first check the UDMA cable (is it a proper 
80-conductor one?) and the disk's power cable (loose contact?)

-- 
   Matthias Buelow; mkb@{mukappabeta,informatik.uni-wuerzburg}.de