The RC2 installer with the 2.6.18 kernel does NOT fix this bug.
I tried it today on two different PCs (same hardware). The motherboard is an Intel AL440LX PII-233 with a PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0. During post the CD drive is detected by the BIOS as an FX240S. The last couple lines on the screen are as follows: EIP: [<d482b9ch>] ide_execute_command+0x16/0x73 [ide_core] SS:ESP 0068:c030fe94 <0>Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]