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The Big SATA problem


Des Kinsman
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I am new to Linux but I have tried several Distros.

I have the same problem with all of them.......if my SATA drive is connected it will not install. If I disconnect the SATA then there is no problem.

If I connect the SATA after the Distro is installed then it will not load when I boot.

As I said this happens with all the Distros I have tried.

Would this be the controller or the drive which ihas the problem.

The drive is a Maxtor and the controller is a Silicon.

If it's the controller can you suggest one that works.

Can anyone please help, this problem appears to be very common but I have yet to find an answer which solves my problem.

 

Thank you

Edited by Des Kinsman
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Silicon what? Exact model, please.

And AFAIK most SI controllers are supported quite well by the current kernel revisions (provided that the software SATA-RAID is disabled).

Not booting after installation doesn't make much sense, unless you have things like "PnP OS" and "reset configuration data" are enabled within the mainboard BIOS... you should disable them.

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I have attempted to sort this problem of mine, I seem to have tried everything...on various Distros....With Mandrake 10.0 I can install without any problem apart from it does not hold the SATA controller driver, but every other Distro I have tried I get the same problem during installation and that is stopping when it attempts to install the SATA contrller drivers.....it disables the relevant IRQ and stops.

 

In every case, if I disconnect my SATA drive all DIistros run smoothly on my IDE drive.

 

I've tried altering the BIOS . I've entered......noapic.....nolapic.......acpi-off........noscsi..........all to no avail.

It seems to be a very common problem, I've looked on various forums on various Distros but I can't find anything that will correct this frustratiing problem.

 

I am very new to Linux and I am so tempted to revert to Windows.....which would be the easy way out........but I really, really want to use Mandriva, It is my choice of all the Distros.

 

The controller in question is a Sil3112A

 

I would be so pleased if you could sort the problem.

 

Thank you

Edited by Des Kinsman
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What version of Mandriva do you have? Is it LE2005 or 2006? Did you try the live cd to see if this would load and run allowing you to see if your hardware is detected correctly?

 

Check BIOS for an option called "plug and play os". Set to disabled, or the option that means it's not controlled by the OS, else Linux can have problems. It's best that this is controlled by the BIOS. Although sometimes, BIOS's no longer have this option, so if you can't find it, don't worry too much. Just thinking it might not detect your drive correctly.

 

There is a Mandriva Live CD, but maybe try a Knoppix Live CD and see how you get on with that.

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I did a search for hardware compatibility list here:

 

http://wwwnew.mandriva.com/en/hardware

 

chose Serial ATA, then Silicon Image and All distributions. Seems only Mandrake 10.1 is supported for the 3112a. 10.0 was mentioned, but the best result seemed to be with 10.1. LE2005 or 2006 don't show a result for supported hardware.

 

Might be worthwhile downloading Mandrake 10.1 Official (not community), and try this if you haven't already.

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