install Linux on SATA drive

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Has anyone installed Linux on a Dimension 8400 with a SATA drive? I've
tried 3 distros, each unsuccessfully.
 
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"Lenny Bruce" wrote:
> Has anyone installed Linux on a Dimension 8400
> with a SATA drive? I've tried 3 distros, each unsuccessfully.

Try the newsgroup comp.os.linux.hardware .

*TimDaniels*
 
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Lenny Bruce <spam@devnul.com> writes:
>Has anyone installed Linux on a Dimension 8400 with a SATA drive? I've
>tried 3 distros, each unsuccessfully.

I have done this on 4700's which are probably similar to the 8400 as far
as SATA goes.

The bios has a normal/combination mode setting which will allow you to
put the IDE controller into a PATA emulation mode.

Fedora Core 3 will install and run OK in normal mode.

RedHat9 will install in combination mode, unfortunately, the IDE disks will
not be recognized as DMA capable - the disk is operated in the slower PIO
mode.

Other Linux distributions would probably install and run in combination mode
(with the same lack of DMA support).

With one of the 2.4.* based distributions up and running in combination mode
you can then download and build the 2.4.29 kernel from www.kernel.org. This
kernel has SATA support. You'll have to build the kernel with ext3 in the
kernel rather than as a module and you'll have to include some modules into
the initrd image. You can then switch the bios into normal mode and boot
the 2.4.29 kernel. This will give you full speed DMA and SATA support.

It can be done but its extra work. FC3 might be an easier way to go if you
aren't running production.

Later

Mark Hittinger x4627
mark.hittinger@utdallas.edu
bugs@hlt.utdallas.edu
 
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Betcha Linux does not have SATA drivers yet. I've run into similar problems in
the past between Linux distros and newly released hardware. Always a time lag.
Usually not as bad as Windows though... Ben Myers

On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 10:31:25 -0800, Lenny Bruce <spam@devnul.com> wrote:

>Has anyone installed Linux on a Dimension 8400 with a SATA drive? I've
>tried 3 distros, each unsuccessfully.