SATA detection

[Net Llama!]

On Thu, 8 Mar 2007, Tony Alfrey wrote:
> Net Llama! wrote:
>> On Thu, 8 Mar 2007, Tony Alfrey wrote:
>>> Net Llama! wrote:
>>>> On Thu, 8 Mar 2007, Tony Alfrey wrote:
>>>>> OK, I'm trying to install blag linux, which has an installer that
>>>>> searches for drives.  It does not find my SATA drive controller.  But
>>>>> the bios sees the controller mounted on the PCI buss and announces the
>>>>> two drives I installed.  When I set the bios up on this Gigabyte
>>>>> motherboard to select boot order, it offers me a list of possible boot
>>>>> devices.  It does not offer a "plug-in controller" like the bios on my
>>>>> intel MB, but it does offer a SCSI option.  I assume that this must be
>>>>> the same as a plug-in controller.
>>>>>
>>>>> So I cannot tell if this is a problem with the installer not knowing to
>>>>> look for a SCSI controller or if this is a bios problem.
>>>> Is the SATA controller not being detected, or is the disk attached to it
>>>> not being detected?
>>>>
>>> When the installer looks for hard drives, it cannot find those attached
>>> to the controller.  It does not separately talk about seeing a
>>> controller or disks, it just cannot find disks.
>>
>> Does the controller detect the disk during POST?
>
> I don't know what is POST.

And google is foreign to you as well?
POST = Power On Self Test
Its when all the hardare in the system is discovered, before handing off 
to a bootloader to start an OS.

If the SATA disk isn't getting detected by the controller, then you have 
zero hope of having it work in an OS.

If the SATA controloler isn't getting detected during POST, then you have 
zero hope of having it get detected in an OS, much less any disks hanging 
off of it.

>> If the controller is detected, then the problem isn't the driver.
>>
>
> I don't know how to know if the controller is detected by the installer
> (kernel).  I "know" that the installer cannot find the disks and I am
> assuming that is because it does not know how to find the controller.
> I know that bios sees the controller and disks.

OK, if that's the case, then the distro you're trying to install may be 
lacking support for this controller.  I know zero about 'SLAG Linux'. 
You'd prolly be better off trying a more mainstream distro to verify that 
all the hardware works.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lonni J Friedman                        netllama at linux-sxs.org
LlamaLand				http://netllama.linux-sxs.org