SuSE 10.1 Does not See WD 200GB SATA Drive

[ShogunMaster]

Firstly, I took a hiatus from Linux for a couple of years while working on my Master's degree (primarily because none of the software or web apps would work on Linux/OSS). They have finally done away with their uncompatible software so I am getting my feet wet again.

So, I bought a new rig and installed SuSE 10.1 as soon as the final was available. Later I added an extra 200GB SATA drive to use as storage for my mp3s and such. My problem is that SuSE doesn't see my drive.

If I run the Hardware Information from Yast, I can see everyting else including the SATA controllers (VT8251 AHCI/SATA 4-Port Controller) but no SATA drive. I'm not sure what to do here.

I am dual booting on my main IDE drive with WinXP. WinXP can see the drive. Later I figured maybe it would show up if I initialized and formateed the drive in Windows. This didn't help.

I am not sure what else I need to try. Could someone give me a hand?

[gehidore]

Nothing running around near /dev/sd<a-z>?

If not are the correct drivers are installed/loaded in your kernel?

[je_fro]

yeah, what modules are loaded, and did you check the /dev/sdX drives?

[saikee]

My guess is Suse 10.1 would have no problem in picking up the 200Gb Sata.

However as Sata may not have been formatted or with partitions created then it would not appear available.

If one does a
fdisk -l
then a list of hard disks should be there.

Standard Suse as early as 9.1 is already capable of handling Sata.

[ShogunMaster]

Thanks for the quick responses.

Unfortunately, no the drive does not show up in /dev/sdx. As another test I plugged in my external usb drive and it does come up as /dev/sda.

I assumed the the modules for internal sata were built into the kernel since I am using 10.1 (kernel 2.6.13).

I have not done the "fdisk -l". I will try that when I get home. I did the dmesg |more and didn't see it listed there.

[je_fro]

well in looking over all the <Help> screens in my 2.6.16 kernel, there appears to be a via sata driver in:

Device Drivers --->
SCSI device support --->
SCSI low-level drivers --->
<> VIA SATA support

These days, the module name doesn't appear in <Help> so I'm guessing it'll be sata_via.
Try modprobe sata_via

I also have these:

<*> SCSI disk support (try modprobe sd_mod)
<*> SCSI generic support (modprobe sg)

[cwillic]

Maybe not the best way but it worked for me.

Go to Yast-partition manager-and click on the new drive and edit to create a mount point. Suse does not automatically create a mount point for a new drive, you have to manually do it. I put mine in /home/user/newdrive. You may want something different depending on your use for the drive.

[ShogunMaster]

well in looking over all the <Help> screens in my 2.6.16 kernel, there appears to be a via sata driver in:

Device Drivers --->
SCSI device support --->
SCSI low-level drivers --->
<> VIA SATA support

These days, the module name doesn't appear in <Help> so I'm guessing it'll be sata_via.
Try modprobe sata_via

I also have these:

<*> SCSI disk support (try modprobe sd_mod)
<*> SCSI generic support (modprobe sg)

I tried each of these modprobe statements and it kicks down to the next line. (I also included -v but still didn't get any messages back.) Does this mean that they are not loading?

Where did you find this info so that I can look to see if I have anything similar?

[ShogunMaster]

Maybe not the best way but it worked for me.

Go to Yast-partition manager-and click on the new drive and edit to create a mount point. Suse does not automatically create a mount point for a new drive, you have to manually do it. I put mine in /home/user/newdrive. You may want something different depending on your use for the drive.

Thanks cwill but the drive does not show up there to select. I would be all right with setting a mount point in fstab.

I guessing that I need to verify that the kernel modules are there. This is above my head right now. Can anyone else point me in the right direction?

[je_fro]

yeah, no output from modprobe means the module loaded, or was already loaded. take a look at the output from fstab -l and see if your disk is there. also, can you post the output from dmesg and lspci here?

[ShogunMaster]

yeah, no output from modprobe means the module loaded, or was already loaded. take a look at the output from fstab -l and see if your disk is there. also, can you post the output from dmesg and lspci here?

Here's my lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI bridge [K8T800/K8T890 Sout h]
00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8251 AHCI/SATA 4-Port Controller
00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/ C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 07)
00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 90)
00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 90)
00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 90)
00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 90)
00:10.4 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 90)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8251 PCI to ISA Bridge
00:11.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8251 Ultra VLINK Controller
00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 7c)
00:13.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8251 PCI to PCIE Bridge
00:13.1 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8251 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTra nsport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Con troller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscella neous Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 6200 (rev a1)
02:00.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8251 PCIE Root Port
02:00.1 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8251 PCIE Root Port
05:0c.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Audigy LS

[ShogunMaster]

dmesg.txt attached.

sda is my 160 GB external usb drive btw.

[saikee]

May be we are barking at the wrong tree.

How do we know your Sata disk has been connected correctly at the hardware level?

Do you have another OS, like a XP, that can confirm the Sata disk is being read/write satisfactorily?

From experience Suse should have reserved sda for the internal Sata and called the external hard disk as sdb or even sdc if your Sata controller has two connection ports. The fact sda has been given to an external hard disk could mean at the hardware level no Sata has been found by the Bios.

I feel we need a bit of comfort that it isn't due to a dodgy electrical connection of forgetting to hook up the power supply cable.

[ShogunMaster]

May be we are barking at the wrong tree.

How do we know your Sata disk has been connected correctly at the hardware level?

Do you have another OS, like a XP, that can confirm the Sata disk is being read/write satisfactorily?

From experience Suse should have reserved sda for the internal Sata and called the external hard disk as sdb or even sdc if your Sata controller has two connection ports. The fact sda has been given to an external hard disk could mean at the hardware level no Sata has been found by the Bios.

I feel we need a bit of comfort that it isn't due to a dodgy electrical connection of forgetting to hook up the power supply cable.

Yes saikee. I dual boot with WinXP and when the sata drive didn't show up in SuSE the first time, I went into WinXP and initialized it and formatted it. Switched back to SuSE and it still didn't show. Went back to WinXP and put about 40 GB of data on it and swithed back to SuSE, still with no luck.

I thought about reinstalling SuSE, since I didn't have the sata drive when I built it, but this just seemed silly. At this point, I guess I am willing to try that even though I don't know why it would work then.

[saikee]

OK your information confirms that the Sata is accepted at the hardware level and is in operational state with XP.

I am a bit at a loss with the Sata technology because there is Sata II but not all of the Sata II disks are capable of 3Gb/s. What has happen me was I fitted a Asrock 939 NF4G-Sata2 mobo and bought a Sata II disk. I transferred all my OS across from a Sata I (Sata can only have 16 partitions maximum) and ended with a couple of them refused to boot while others had no problems. I moved those failed to boot in a Sata back to IDE and they are alright again. Therefore I think distros in different stages of development may react to the new Sata differently but I never had any bother with Suse though.

What you can do is to download a couple of distros and try them to see if the Sata is recognised. Knoppix and Mepis are installable Live CDs and so without installing them you get a second and third opinion on you Sata.

[ShogunMaster]

Well thanks again for the help.

I just booted with my PHLAK cd and it did not come up with my SATA driver either.

So, now I don't know what I am going to do. You know this is the one thing that bothers me about Linux. Coming from a Windows world everything just works (it may not work well but it works).

Having little issues like this is discouraging. Now I have to find some way to use may 200GB drive. I suppose I'll have to buy an external enclosure or something.

[saikee]

Linux is far from a full blown commercial system with an army of programmers tackling the drivers for the release of every major hardware. The Linux volunteers' attention is more focus on the generic drivers leaving the manufacturer to supply the proprietary drivers.

To be fair the first question a XP installer ask on a boot-up is to feed SCSI driver up front otherwise the Sata will not be recognised.

We are in a situation that no manufacturer driver is supplied and complaining about the generic driver inside 2.6 kernel not working in a couple of distros is not really a major concern for everybody, especially other users with the same Sata disk may be successfull with different motherboards.

Support for Sata is not universal throughout Linux but that is true for any newish hardware. As soon as a Sata driver module is included out come the Sata II with 3Gb/s interface. The Sata disk capable of using such speed hasn't been invented yet.

MS systems will always enjoy a better support from the hardware manufacturer and Linux is most successful in established hardware available to the mass.

I really don't have much an issue with Sata in the installed 100+ Linux systems in the box. There are possibly 1/4 to 1/3 of them can't read a Sata but the majority does and I have 200 to 300Gb Sata in the system. Many of my installed systems have older 2.4 kernels and I didn't bother to search driver for any of them. I simply use a distro that support Sata if I want information off it.

In your case I would try the current version of Slax or Knoppix (or Kanotix). These distros are pretty up to date and seldom give me any trouble with Sata.

[mrrangerman43]

ShogunMaster

Hi, what is your HD jumper set on? This is just a shot in the dark but, have you tried changing the jumper settings?

[saikee]

There is no jumper setting for a Sata.

If the Sata has been picked up and used in XP then hardware wise it is acceptable to Linux. It is then up to the distro to detect its presence and build up the data base for using it.

[ShogunMaster]

Well, my last post was just frustration talking. I understand that the drivers may not be available at this time and that's fine. At least everything else works. I'll just sit tight until there is support for 3Gb/s.

I'll just continue to store on my external drive and back it up to the internal sata through Windows for now. I guess it's not the end of the world.

I think I will try out Slax. I've never used it before but it seems to be pretty popular.

[je_fro]

You'll be suprised how fast support for hardware moves along in Linux. I can't imagine it'll be more than a couple of months until you have something stable. Remember, it's not the distro, it's the kernel that's holding you back. Keep an eye out for whenever Linus or Andrew do a new release...grep through the changelog and see what's happening.
(I went through the same thing with nforce and I was amazed how fast things moved)