Thanks for the tip.  As a newbie, I need more info though.  I ran lsmod & saw 
that there is no  ide-floppy module loaded.  I found the likely module here:  
/lib/modules/2.4.8-26mdk/build/drivers/ide/ide-floppy.c
The /build directory points to /usr/src/linux-2.4.8  What exact command do I 
issue to load this module?  Then I need to load this automagicly.  I need to 
modify /etc/rc.d/init.d, correct?  How?
Here is more info on how the zip is operating now.  It does function 
correctly if I boot with a disk in the drive.  Kudzu, which runs at boot 
time, gets pissed & times out.  If I then run kudzu, it configures a "generic 
serial modem".  everybody is happy ;)  If I then boot with no disk, you 
guessed it....