8600 scsi problem

[bhairava]

i try to install linux on an 8600 pci mac. i manage to boot after the 
10th try from diskettes, but when i try to acces the harddisk 
("initialize a swap partition" or even "initialize a linux partition" 
after i "do without a swap partition" hangs the system.

switching consoles extremely fast after i press the "yes" helps me find 
out that the error i get is :

Kernel Panic: acces of bad area  pc c0031880  lr c00318c4  address 
9421FFE4  tsk mkfs.ext2/81

(that is in case i try to initialise the linux partition, hence the 
mkfs.ext2).

question is: what can i do ? anyone got that error before ?