3Ware RAID Card not detected?? (and kernel compile questions)

[list]

I tried yoper the other week, and really the only thing it did, that  
ubuntu hasn't, is automatically detect my 3ware RAID card...

It's an escalade 7000 (a mirrored setup), and when I run lsmod, I don't  
see anything mentioning 3ware or 3w-xxxx.

I tried downloading the source (w/ synaptic) and re-compiling a kernel,  
but once I had it all finished, I couldn't figure out how to make an  
initrd.img I assume it is with mkinitrd, but I couldn't figure the  
commands out. I have only used lilo, so I don't know much about grub.

So if anyone knows how to get a stock kernel (I'm using the K7-SMP-3 from  
synaptic) to recognize the 3ware card, and/or how to get grub to make/find  
an initrd.img, that would be great!

Thanks,

--Dean