HD errors on Linux 2.4.23, but not on W2K

HD errors on Linux 2.4.23, but not on W2K

[Hal Nine]

I have a MAXSTOR 6L040J2 40 Gb drive that under kernel 2.4.23
is giving me { DriveReady SeekComplete Error } { UncorrectableError }
every two sectors when I try to access it (a simple hdparm -t /dev/hda)
will do.  I tried disable DMA, etc., etc., even chaning to 2.6.0, but
still those errors persists.

Usually this is a sign of old age, bad HD, etc but the strangest
thing is that this is a W2K machine (I'm booting via NFS root here)
and it works like a charm.  Not a single burp, even when copying
files around. 

A surface scan by CHKDSK doesn't find anything.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
H9
.